Computation of Superpotentials for D-Branes

We present a general method for the computation of tree-level superpotentials for the world-volume theory of B-type D-branes. This includes quiver gauge theories in the case that the D-brane is marginally stable. The technique involves analyzing the A-infinity structure inherent in the derived category of coherent sheaves. This effectively gives a practical method of computing correlation functions in holomorphic Chern-Simons theory. As an example, we give a more rigorous proof of previous results concerning 3-branes on certain singularities including conifolds. We also provide a new example.Comment: 28 page

The nicotinic receptor of cochlear hair cells: A possible pharmacotherapeutic target?

Mechanosensory hair cells of the organ of Corti transmit information regarding sound to the central nervous system by way of peripheral afferent neurons. In return, the central nervous system provides feedback and modulates the afferent stream of information through efferent neurons. The medial olivocochlear efferent system makes direct synaptic contacts with outer hair cells and inhibits amplification brought about by the active mechanical process inherent to these cells. This feedback system offers the potential to improve the detection of signals in background noise, to selectively attend to particular signals, and to protect the periphery from damage caused by overly loud sounds. Acetylcholine released at the synapse between efferent terminals and outer hair cells activates a peculiar nicotinic cholinergic receptor subtype, the α9α10 receptor. At present no pharmacotherapeutic approaches have been designed that target this cholinergic receptor to treat pathologies of the auditory system. The potential use of α9α10 selective drugs in conditions such as noise-induced hearing loss, tinnitus and auditory processing disorders is discussed.Fil: Elgoyhen, Ana Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Katz, Eleonora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular; ArgentinaFil: Fuchs, Paul A.. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Estados Unido

Hardball

This year’s holiday cheer has been dampened by a series of events that have shaken Taiwan’s sporting world – the abrupt release by the Sinon Bulls (興農牛) baseball team of All-Star catcher Yeh Chun-chang葉君璋, as well as the fishy circumstances surrounding his aborted attempt to resume his career with the Brother Elephants (兄弟象)

Rebuilding

Just over five months have passed since the devastation wrought by Typhoon Morakot, and the survivors of the Siaolin Village 小林村 tragedy are coping as best they can with a lot of help from their friends, charitable organizations, and the government. However, the effects of the disaster still linger. Over 400 bodies of victims buried or washed away in the mudslide that followed hours of torrential rains will never be recovered, and there is not a large enough tract of arable land in the unscathed portions of Siaolin, or even all of Chia-hsien Township 甲仙鄉, to rebuild a community sufficient to house the 247 remaining households, meaning that the survivors have had to accept the reality of having “one village [scattered over] two locations” (一村兩地). Another touching story involves Siaolin’s children, many of whom still suffer emotional scars. The village’s school-age kids now have to attend class at various Chia-hsien schools, not knowing when or where Siaolin Elementary will ever be rebuilt

Dirty Innards

Taiwan has recently been upset by the news that imports of American beef will soon resume, including internal organs. The resulting upheaval has featured more hysteria than science, but has nonetheless had an impact on the current government’s popularity, with President Ma’s approval rating plummeting by 14%. In the midst of the discomfort about potentially contaminated beef, however, concerns are also being raised about other forms of filth at the political and social levels: 1. Yet another KMT legislator is facing the end of his political career, with the Taiwan High Court yesterday upholding a lower court ruling annulling his 2007 election. This is the fourth such case, so far… 2. The recent election of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee (中常委) was so ridden with vote-buying (or at least gift-giving) allegations that it will now have to be redone on November 14. Chairman Ma is now trying to soothe the feelings ofdisgruntled KMT loyalists, especially newly dethroned CSC members. 3. Taiwan’s baseball fans are facing yet another game-fixing scandal. This is the fifth to rock the league in the past twenty years, with the previous one occurring just one year ago (see my China Beat post). Current allegations have even implicated one of the league’s most popular players, former MLB pitcher Tsao Chin-hui 曹錦輝, a fact that has caught the attention of the United States media as well. The government in general and the prosecutors office in particular are facing strong criticism over leaking details of the investigation, perp walking suspected players for show, and failing to lock up the gangster kingpins at the root of this problem. The local media is also living up to its sterling reputation for finding people guilty before they have been convicted of a crime. Despite the fact that only two of the nine suspected players are facing detention (the rest, including Tsao, have been released), there is the possibility that there will be no professional baseball in Taiwan next year. Election fraud, vote-buying, and throwing ballgames are hardly new features of modern Taiwanese life. Political scandals are also party-blind, having afflicted the DPP as well as the KMT. Nonetheless, the nagging persistence of these problems indicates systematic political and social failings that must be addressed. It is high time for Taiwan’s leaders to do their utmost in purging these ills, for while corruption may rank among the world’s oldest cultural phenomena, its vigorous uprooting represents one key hallmark of a successful society

1975 Archaeological Investigations at Old Ursuline Academy San Antonio, Texas

Archaeological investigations were conducted at Old Ursuline Academy (41 BX 235), presently the Southwest Craft Center, during the month of October, 1975. This work was necessitated by planned renovations to the dormitory building, one of the complex of nineteenth century buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Figs. 1, 2). The nature of the renovation would consist of excavating below the present floor of the dormitory basement so that air conditioning ducts and blower units might be installed; transformation of this basement from a storage place into a series of functional rooms and galleries; construction of a new entryway into the basement from the south (Figs. 2, 3); and the construction of a French drain along the south side of the dormitory to prevent flooding of the basement area (Fig. 2). Archaeological excavation units were located in those areas to be most severely disturbed by construction activities: two units in the dormitory basement and three units in the courtyard close to the south wall of the dormitory (Fig. 2). Preliminary analysis of the excavation data showed significant parallels with the 1974 Texas Historical Commission investigations (Clark 1974), permitting a clearance letter to be written almost immediately. Subsequent detailed analyses led to the postulation of a number of activity patterns and foci, with the conclusion that the dormitory courtyard portion of the site can provide a degree of scientific and historic data far in excess of the space that it occupies relative to the rest of the site

Swearing down the Law – A Debate

The following debate between Jérôme Bourgon and Paul R. Katz treats one of the most important issues in the study of Chinese social history in general and Chinese legal culture in particular, namely the striking similarities, or correspondences, between litigation and judicial rituals performed to resolve disputes or even deal with plaints filed by the dead