The N=1 effective actions of D-branes in Type IIA and IIB orientifolds

We discuss the four-dimensional N=1 effective actions of single space-time filling Dp-branes in general Type IIA and Type IIB Calabi-Yau orientifold compactifications. The effective actions depend on an infinite number of normal deformations and gauge connection modes. For D6-branes the N=1 Kaehler potential, the gauge-coupling function, the superpotential and the D-terms are determined as functions of these fields. They can be expressed as integrals over chains which end on the D-brane cycle and a reference cycle. The infinite deformation space will reduce to a finite-dimensional moduli space of special Lagrangian submanifolds upon imposing F- and D-term supersymmetry conditions. We show that the Type IIA moduli space geometry is captured by three real functionals encoding the deformations of special Lagrangian submanifolds, holomorphic three-forms and Kaehler two-forms of Calabi-Yau manifolds. These elegantly combine in the N=1 Kaehler potential, which reduces after applying mirror symmetry to the results previously determined for space-time filling D3-, D5- and D7-branes. We also propose general chain integral expressions for the Kaehler potentials of Type IIB D-branes.Comment: 61 pages, v2: typos corrected and refs adde

Direct calculation of the critical Casimir force in a binary fluid

We show that critical Casimir effects can be accessed through direct simulation of a model binary fluid passing through the demixing transition. We work in the semi grand canonical ensemble, in slab geometry, in which the Casimir force appears as the excess of the generalized pressure, $P_{\bot}-n\mu$. The excesses of the perpendicular pressure, $P_{\bot}$, and of $n\mu$, are individually of much larger amplitude. A critical pressure anisotropy is observed between forces parallel and perpendicular to the confinement direction, which collapses onto a universal scaling function closely related to that of the critical Casimir force

Sanitizing the fortress: protection of ant brood and nest material by worker antibiotics

Social groups are at particular risk for parasite infection, which is heightened in eusocial insects by the low genetic diversity of individuals within a colony. To combat this, adult ants have evolved a suite of defenses to protect each other, including the production of antimicrobial secretions. However, it is the brood in a colony that are most vulnerable to parasites because their individual defenses are limited, and the nest material in which ants live is also likely to be prone to colonization by potential parasites. Here, we investigate in two ant species whether adult workers use their antimicrobial secretions not only to protect each other but also to sanitize the vulnerable brood and nest material. We find that, in both leaf-cutting ants and weaver ants, the survival of the brood was reduced and the sporulation of parasitic fungi from them increased, when the workers nursing them lacked functional antimicrobial-producing glands. This was the case for both larvae that were experimentally treated with a fungal parasite (Metarhizium) and control larvae which developed infections of an opportunistic fungal parasite (Aspergillus). Similarly, fungi were more likely to grow on the nest material of both ant species if the glands of attending workers were blocked. The results show that the defense of brood and sanitization of nest material are important functions of the antimicrobial secretions of adult ants and that ubiquitous, opportunistic fungi may be a more important driver of the evolution of these defenses than rarer, specialist parasites

Innovation in the Intelligent Municipality - a theoretical model and perspectives for the future

In recent years the development of market economy in Poland has caused that ordinary administration in local communities stopped being effective. Implementation of community management has become very useful. Activities being a part of process of the management of territorial self-government unit can be divided into several kinds. The most important ones are: defining rules of community’s policy and coordination of the realization of local policy and monitoring of the usage of sources and means given to community, verification and control of effects of the realization of local policy aims as well as the introduction of territorial marketing which is to be used to create specific unit’s image and help in its development in a particular region. Unfortunately, elements of management in the modern economy more and more often are insufficient, that is why specialists are looking for new instruments supporting communities’ activities in the region by introducing innovation to create more intelligent municipality. That is why in many TSUs introduction of innovation is a must, not just a need. What is more, innovation inevitably involves a degree of risk because it changes the status quo or contributes towards an alternative future. As such, an appetite for risk and risk management is essential; and risk avoidance is an impediment to innovation. In this regard, a number of agencies have given increased priority to building and maintaining the capability, including the human capital, necessary to take a long-term perspective and to better anticipate and respond to the needs of government and stakeholder groups (Report innovation in the public sector, 2009). That is why the main goal of this article is to determine the model of intelligent TSU at theoretical level