Some Comments on Branes, G-flux, and K-theory

This is a summary of a talk at Strings2000 explaining three ways in which string theory and M-theory are related to the mathematics of K-theory.Comment: 10pp., late

Fairness in international trade : the case of economic partnership agreements.

This book arises out of papers delivered at the World Congress of the International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics (ISBEE) held in Cape Town in 2008. There are two sections. First, a number of key papers provide an insight into global business, wealth creation and welfare issues with particular reference to the African continent - appropriate for a Congress that was based in South Africa and drew wide participation from African scholars. Second, it provides the output from a global research project on "Fairness in International Trade" which ran over the two years prior to the Congress. This project drew together the work of scholars in five regions across the globe and is the first time that such a global perspective has been attempted. This book is aimed at academics working in the area of international trade or development economics particularly those who have an interest in the ethical dimensions of trade. It will also be of interest to students of development economics and business ethics particularly at Masters and Doctoral level

Are randomised controlled trials positivist? Reviewing the social science and philosophy literature to assess positivist tendencies of trials of social interventions in public health and health services

Background: We have previously proposed that trials of social interventions can be done within a ‘realist’ research paradigm. Critics have countered that such trials are irredeemably positivist and asked us to explain our philosophical position. Methods: We set out to explore what is meant by positivism and whether trials adhere to its tenets (of necessity or in practice) via a narrative literature review of social science and philosophical discussions of positivism, and of the trials literature and three case studies of trials. Results: The philosophical literature described positivism as asserting: 1) the epistemic primacy of sensory information; 2) the requirement that theoretical terms equate with empirical terms; 3) the aim of developing universal laws; and 4) the unity of method between natural and social sciences. Regarding 1), it seems that rather than embodying the epistemic primacy of sensory data, RCTs of social interventions in health embrace an anti-positivist approach aiming to test hypotheses derived deductively from prior theory. Considering 2), while some RCTs of social interventions appear to limit theorization to concepts with empirical analogues, others examine interventions underpinned by theories engaging with mechanisms and contextual contingencies not all of which can be measured. Regarding 3), while some trialists and reviewers in the health field do limit their role to estimating statistical trends as a mechanistic form of generalization, this is not an inevitable feature of RCT-based research. Trials of social interventions can instead aim to generalize at the level of theory which specifies how mechanisms are contingent on context. In terms of 4), while RCTs are used to examine biomedical as well as social interventions in health, RCTs of social interventions are often distinctive in using qualitative analyses of data on participant accounts to examine questions of meaning and agency not pursued in the natural sciences. Conclusion: We conclude that the most appropriate paradigm for RCTs of social interventions is realism not positivism

On Consistent Boundary Conditions for c=1 String Theory

We introduce a new parametrisation for the Fermi sea of the $c = 1$ matrix model. This leads to a simple derivation of the scattering matrix, and a calculation of boundary corrections in the corresponding $1+1$--dimensional string theory. The new parametrisation involves relativistic chiral fields, rather than the non-relativistic fields of the usual formulations. The calculation of the boundary corrections, following recent work of Polchinski, allows us to place restrictions on the boundary conditions in the matrix model. We provide a consistent set of boundary conditions, but believe that they need to be supplemented by some more subtle relationship between the space-time and matrix model. Inspired by these boundary conditions, some thoughts on the black hole in $c=1$ string theory are presented.Comment: 13 pages, 2 postscript figures include

Book Review - Introducing Romans, Richard Longenecker

Review of Richard Longenecker\u27s Introducing Romans