Quantum Mechanics and the Metrics of General Relativity

A one-to-one correspondence is established between linearized space-time metrics of general relativity and the wave equations of quantum mechanics. Also, the key role of boundary conditions in distinguishing quantum mechanics from classical mechanics will emerge naturally from the procedure. Finally, we will find that the methodology will enable us to introduce not only test charges but also test masses by means of gauges.Comment: 24 pages, to be published in Foundation of Physics (IARD proc.

Virtual learning environments in action

In this workshop Paul and Patricia demonstrated the webcast lectures developed at Glasgow Graduate School of Law as part of a learning environment where students can take control of their own learning experience. They outlined the practical benefits of such a learning environment for both professional and undergraduate legal education, and discussed the theoretical implications of this approach for the pedagogy of legal education

The role of D-serine and glycine as co-agonists of NMDA receptors in motor neuron degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The fundamental role of D-serine as a co-agonist at the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), mediating both physiological actions of glutamate in long term potentiation and nociception and also pathological effects mediated by excitotoxicty, are well-established. More recently, a direct link to a chronic neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease (ALS) has been suggested by findings that D-serine levels are elevated in sporadic ALS and the G93A SOD1 model of ALS (Sasabe et al., 2007, 2012) and that a pathogenic mutation (R199W) in the enzyme that degrades D-serine, D-amino acid oxidase (DAO), co-segregates with disease in familial ALS (Mitchell et al., 2010). Moreover, D-serine, its biosynthetic enzyme, serine racemase (SR) and DAO are abundant in human spinal cord and severely depleted in ALS. Using cell culture models, we have defined the effects of R199W-DAO, and shown that it activates autophagy, leads to the formation of ubiquitinated aggregates and promotes apoptosis, all of which processes are attenuated by a D-serine/glycine site NMDAR antagonist. These studies provide considerable insight into the crosstalk between neurons and glia and also into potential therapeutic approaches for ALS

Gravitational Coset Models

The algebra A(D-3)+++ dimensionally reduces to the E(D-1) symmetry algebra of (12-D)-dimensional supergravity. An infinite set of five-dimensional gravitational objects trivially embedded in D-dimensions is constructed by identifying the null geodesic motion on cosets embedded in the generalised Kac-Moody algebra A(D-3)+++. By analogy with supergravity these are bound states of dual gravitons. The metric interpolates continuously between exotic gravitational solutions generated by the action of the Geroch group but is not a continuously transforming solution of the Einstein-Hilbert action. We investigate mixed-symmetry fields in the brane sigma model, identify actions for the full interpolating bound state and understand the obstruction to the bound state being a solution of the Einstein-Hilbert action.Comment: 46 page