155 research outputs found
"Double-trace" Deformations, Boundary Conditions and Spacetime Singularities
Double-trace deformations of the AdS/CFT duality result in a new perturbation
expansion for string theory, based on a non-local worldsheet. We discuss some
aspects of the deformation in the low energy gravity approximation, where it
appears as a change in the boundary condition of fields. We relate unique
features of the boundary of AdS to the worldsheet becoming non-local, and
conjecture that non-local worldsheet actions may be generic in other classes of
backgrounds.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, harvmac. v2: minor changes, references added,
version sent to JHEP. v3 minor correction
A Note on Mirror Symmetry for Manifolds with Spin(7) Holonomy
Starting from the superconformal algebras associated with manifolds, I
extend the algebra to the manifolds with spin(7) holonomy. I show how the
mirror symmetry in manifolds with spin(7) holonomy arises as the automorphism
in the extended sperconformal algebra. The automorphism is realized as 14 kinds
of T-dualities on the supersymmetric toroidal fibrations. One class of
Joyce's orbifolds are pairwise identified under the symmetry.Comment: 12 pages, harvmac bi
Relativistic Quantum Gravity at a Lifshitz Point
We show that the Horava theory for the completion of General Relativity at UV
scales can be interpreted as a gauge fixed theory, and it can be extended to an
invariant theory under the full group of four-dimensional diffeomorphisms. In
this respect, although being fully relativistic, it results to be locally
anisotropic in the time-like and space-like directions defined by a family of
irrotational observers. We show that this theory propagates generically three
degrees of freedom: two of them are related to the four-dimensional
diffeomorphism invariant graviton (the metric) and one is related to a
propagating scalar mode. Finally, we note that in the present formulation,
matter can be consistently coupled to gravity.Comment: v4: Erratum added: explanation on the true dynamical fields of the
relativistic theory added. The theory is interpreted as a Tensor-Scalar
relativistic theory. Reference added. Version accepted in JHE
G2 Hitchin functionals at one loop
We consider the quantization of the effective target space description of
topological M-theory in terms of the Hitchin functional whose critical points
describe seven-manifolds with G2 structure. The one-loop partition function for
this theory is calculated and an extended version of it, that is related to
generalized G2 geometry, is compared with the topological G2 string. We relate
the reduction of the effective action for the extended G2 theory to the Hitchin
functional description of the topological string in six dimensions. The
dependence of the partition functions on the choice of background G2 metric is
also determined.Comment: 58 pages, LaTeX; v2: Acknowledgments adde
Gravitational renormalization of quantum field theory: a "conservative" approach
We propose general guidelines in order to incorporate the geometrical
description of gravity in quantum field theory and address the problem of UV
divergences non-perturbatively. In our aproach, each virtual particle in a
Feynman graph should be described by a modified propagator and move in the
space-time generated by the other particles in the same graph according to
Einstein's (semiclassical) equations.Comment: 7 pages, talk given at DICE 200
Killing-Yano equations and G-structures
We solve the Killing-Yano equation on manifolds with a -structure for
and . Solutions
include nearly-K\"ahler, weak holonomy , balanced SU(n) and holonomy
manifolds. As an application, we find that particle probes on
compactifications of type IIA and 11-dimensional supergravity admit a -type of symmetry generated by the fundamental forms. We also explore the
-symmetries of string and particle actions in heterotic and common
sector supersymmetric backgrounds. In the heterotic case, the generators of the
-symmetries completely characterize the solutions of the gravitino
Killing spinor equation, and the structure constants of the -symmetry
algebra depend on the solution of the dilatino Killing spinor equation.Comment: 10 pages, minor change
Negotiating Value: Comparing Human and Animal Fracture Care in Industrial Societies
At the beginning of the twentieth-century, human and veterinary surgeons faced the challenge of a medical marketplace transformed by technology. The socio-economic value ascribed to their patients – people and domestic animals – was changing, reflecting the increasing mechanisation of industry and the decreasing dependence of society upon non-human animals for labour. In human medicine, concern for the economic consequences of fractures “pathologised” any significant level of post-therapeutic disability, a productivist perspective contrary to the traditional corpus of medical values. In contrast, veterinarians adapted to the mechanisation of horse-power by shifting their primary professional interest to companion animals; a type of veterinary patient generally valued for the unique emotional attachment of the owner, and not the productive capacity of the animal. The economic rationalisation of human fracture care and the “sentimental” transformation of veterinary orthopaedic expertise indicates how these specialists utilised increasingly convergent rhetorical arguments to justify the application of innovative fracture care technologies to their humans and animal patients. Keywords: Fracture care, Industrialisation, Veterinary History, Human/animal relation
A web-accessible computer program for calculating electrical potentials and ion activities at cell-membrane surfaces
Increasing evidence indicates that plant responses to ions (uptake/transport, inhibition, and alleviation of inhibition) are dependent upon ion activities at the outer surface of root-cell plasma membranes (PMs) rather than activities in the bulk-phase rooting medium
The chemokine receptor CXCR5 is pivotal for ectopic mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue neogenesis in chronic Helicobacter pylori-induced inflammation
Ectopic lymphoid follicles are a key feature of chronic inflammatory autoimmune and infectious diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, and Helicobacter pylori-induced gastritis. Homeostatic chemokines are considered to be involved in the formation of such tertiary lymphoid tissue. High expression of CXCL13 and its receptor, CXCR5, has been associated with the formation of ectopic lymphoid follicles in chronic infectious diseases. Here, we defined the role of CXCR5 in the development of mucosal tertiary lymphoid tissue and gastric inflammation in a mouse model of chronic H. pylori infection. CXCR5-deficient mice failed to develop organized gastric lymphoid follicles despite similar bacterial colonization density as infected wild-type mice. CXCR5 deficiency altered Th17 responses but not Th1-type cellular immune responses to H. pylori infection. Furthermore, CXCR5-deficient mice exhibited lower H. pylori-specific serum IgG and IgA levels and an overall decrease in chronic gastric immune responses. In conclusion, the development of mucosal tertiary ectopic follicles during chronic H. pylori infection is strongly dependent on the CXCL13/CXCR5 signaling axis, and lack of de novo lymphoid tissue formation attenuates chronic immune responses
The over-representation of binary DNA tracts in seven sequenced chromosomes
BACKGROUND: DNA tracts composed of only two bases are possible in six combinations: A+G (purines, R), C+T (pyrimidines, Y), G+T (Keto, K), A+C (Imino, M), A+T (Weak, W) and G+C (Strong, S). It is long known that all-pyrimidine tracts, complemented by all-purines tracts ("R.Y tracts"), are excessively present in analyzed DNA. We have previously shown that R.Y tracts are in vast excess in yeast promoters, and brought evidence for their role in gene regulation. Here we report the systematic mapping of all six binary combinations on the level of complete sequenced chromosomes, as well as in their different subregions. RESULTS: DNA tracts composed of the above binary base combinations have been mapped in seven sequenced chromosomes: Human chromosomes 21 and 22 (the major contigs); Drosophila melanogaster chr. 2R; Caenorhabditis elegans chr. I; Arabidopsis thaliana chr. II; Saccharomyces cerevisiae chr. IV and M. jannaschii. A huge over-representation, reaching million-folds, has been found for very long tracts of all binary motifs except S, in each of the seven organisms. Long R.Y tracts are the most excessive, except in D. melanogaster, where the K.M motif predominates. S (G, C rich) tracts are in excess mainly in CpG islands; the W motif predominates in bacteria. Many excessively long W tracts are nevertheless found also in the archeon and in the eukaryotes. The survey of complete chromosomes enables us, for the first time, to map systematically the intergenic regions. In human and other chromosomes we find the highest over-representation of the binary DNA tracts in the intergenic regions. These over-representations are only partly explainable by the presence of interspersed elements. CONCLUSIONS: The over-representation of long DNA tracts composed of five of the above motifs is the largest deviation from randomness so far established for DNA, and this in a wide range of eukaryotic and archeal chromosomes. A propensity for ready DNA unwinding is proposed as the functional role, explaining the evolutionary conservation of the huge excesses observed
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