Notes on the Verlinde formula in non-rational conformal field theories

We review and extend evidence for the validity of a generalized Verlinde formula in particular non-rational conformal field theories. We identify a subset of representations of the chiral algebra in non-rational conformal field theories that give rise to an analogue of the relation between modular S-matrices and fusion coefficients in rational conformal field theories. To that end we review and extend the Cardy-type brane calculations in bosonic and supersymmetric Liouville theory (and its duals) as well as in the hyperbolic three-plane H3+. We analyze the three-point functions of Liouville theory and of H3+ in detail to directly identify the fusion coefficients from the operator product expansion.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, v2: minor corrections, PRD versio

Thermal radiation in non-static curved spacetimes: quantum mechanical path integrals and configuration space topology

A quantum mechanical path integral derivation is given of a thermal propagator in non-static Gui spacetime. The thermal nature of the propagator is understood in terms of homotopically non-trivial paths in the configuration space appropriate to tortoise coordinates. The connection to thermal emission from collapsing black holes is discussed.Comment: 20 pages, major revised version, 9 figures, new titl

Daunorubicin and doxorubicin but not BCNU have deleterious effects on organotypic multicellular spheroids of gliomas.

In the present study organotypic multicellular spheroids (OMS) were used to study the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on malignant gliomas. Compared with the frequently used cell line models, OMS have several advantages with respect to the preservation of the cellular heterogeneity and the structure of the original tumour. OMS prepared from seven glioma specimens were treated with 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU), daunorubicin or doxorubicin. After exposure to these drugs, the histology and cell proliferation of the OMS were analysed by immunohistochemistry and image analysis. Furthermore, the expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-related protein (MRP), which both can contribute to resistance to daunorubicin and doxorubicin, were immunohistochemically investigated. We found that OMS from gliomas are sensitive for daunorubicin and doxorubicin but not for BCNU in terms of tissue destruction and decrease in cell proliferation. In addition, all gliomas were P-gp and MRP negative, which is in accordance with the sensitivity for daunorubicin and doxorubicin. Considering the potential use of several new alternative drug delivery methods, such as intratumoural implantation of drug-impregnated polymers or liposomal encapsulation of cytostatic drugs, daunorubicin and doxorubicin might be effective in the treatment of malignant gliomas

Interactions of Generated Weather Raster and Soil Profiles in Simulating Adaptive Crop Management and Consequent Yields for Five Major Crops throughout a Region in Southern Germany

Klimaanpassung und MitigationThe ability of bioeconomic simulation modelling to realistically predict agricultural adaptation is limited by the degree of detail in crucial model components. Model robustness must be tested before localized calibrations can be applied to regions of heterogenous environmental conditions. The agent-based model FARMACTOR was used to simulate the timing of field management actions (planting, harvest etc.) in response to environmental conditions, and consequent yields of winter wheat, barley and rapeseed, spring barley and silage maize as the predominant crops in a distinct region of Germany, by linking weather data and the crop growth simulation model EXPERT-N. The integrated models were calibrated to observed experimental data and official phenological observations and then run from 1990 to 2009, forced with climate data from ERA-interim Reanalyses data which was downscaled with the Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) model to a 12 X 12 km² grid. Variability in regional soils was replicated with 10 different soil profiles mapped at 1/25,000 scale. The nature of the forcing climate data dictates temporal aggregation for analysis, so that validity is examined by comparing mean simulated planting and harvest dates and yields to official records in the area. The mean predicted planting dates are very close to observations over the period, within a few days of observations, but show less variance. Harvest dates are accurately predicted as well, within one to two weeks, and the variances are closer to observations. Predicted winter wheat yields are well simulated in comparison to observed data, but maize yields are underestimated, while winter and spring barley and winter rapeseed yields are greater than observed district ("Landkreis") yields. The degree of variance in simulated yields is acceptable in wheat, winter barley and maize, but excessive in spring barley and winter rapeseed. Cross-sectional examination of yields shows that the different soil profiles are responsible for more yield variance than simulated weather cells in all crops. While the coupled models appear accurate in predicting crop management dates and physiological development, the inaccuracy in yields in all crops except winter wheat calls into question the reliability of the integrated models when applied, as is, outside of calibration conditions. That soil parameterization is responsible for more variance than generated weather is helpful in seeking to improve performance and encouraging in terms of the method of weather generation. Reliable extension of the coupled models to include all soils in an area together with artificial spatial climatic variability may require regionalized calibration to increase crop model stability

Global Anomalies in the Batalin Vilkovisky Quantization

The Batalin Vilkovisky (BV) quantization provides a general procedure for calculating anomalies associated to gauge symmetries. Recent results show that even higher loop order contributions can be calculated by introducing an appropriate regularization-renormalization scheme. However, in its standard form, the BV quantization is not sensible to quantum violations of the classical conservation of Noether currents, the so called global anomalies. We show here that the BV field antifield method can be extended in such a way that the Ward identities involving divergencies of global Abelian currents can be calculated from the generating functional, a result that would not be obtained by just associating constant ghosts to global symmetries. This extension, consisting of trivially gauging the global Abelian symmetries, poses no extra obstruction to the solution of the master equation, as it happens in the case of gauge anomalies. We illustrate the procedure with the axial model and also calculating the Adler Bell Jackiw anomaly.Comment: We emphasized the fact that our procedure only works for the case of Abelian global anomalies. Section 3 was rewritten and some references were added. 12 pages, LATEX. Revised version that will appear in Phys. Rev.

Steroid responsive encephalopathy in cerebral amyloid angiopathy: a case report and review of evidence for immunosuppressive treatment

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common but often asymptomatic disease, characterized by deposition of amyloid in cerebral blood vessels. We describe the successful treatment of CAA encephalopathy with dexamethasone in a patient with CAA-related inflammation causing subacute progressive encephalopathy and seizures, which is an increasingly recognized subtype of CAA. The two pathological subtypes of CAA-related inflammation are described and a review of the literature is performed concerning immunosuppressive treatment of CAA-related inflammation with special attention to its pathological subtypes. Immunosuppressive therapy appears to be an appropriate treatment for CAA encephalopathy

Conformal Current Algebra in Two Dimensions

We construct a non-chiral current algebra in two dimensions consistent with conformal invariance. We show that the conformal current algebra is realized in non-linear sigma-models on supergroup manifolds with vanishing dual Coxeter number, with or without a Wess-Zumino term. The current algebra is computed using two distinct methods. First we exploit special algebraic properties of supergroups to compute the exact two- and three-point functions of the currents and from them we infer the current algebra. The algebra is also calculated by using conformal perturbation theory about the Wess-Zumino-Witten point and resumming the perturbation series. We also prove that these models realize a non-chiral Kac-Moody algebra and construct an infinite set of commuting operators that is closed under the action of the Kac-Moody generators. The supergroup models that we consider include models with applications to statistical mechanics, condensed matter and string theory. In particular, our results may help to systematically solve and clarify the quantum integrability of PSU(n|n) models and their cosets, which appear prominently in string worldsheet models on anti-deSitter spaces.Comment: 33 pages, minor correction

Two-dimensional interactions between a BF-type theory and a collection of vector fields

Consistent interactions that can be added to a two-dimensional, free abelian gauge theory comprising a special class of BF-type models and a collection of vector fields are constructed from the deformation of the solution to the master equation based on specific cohomological techniques. The deformation procedure modifies the Lagrangian action, the gauge transformations, as well as the accompanying algebra of the interacting model.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 31 page

PET-based dose painting in non-small cell lung cancer: Comparing uniform dose escalation with boosting hypoxic and metabolically active sub-volumes.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We compared two imaging biomarkers for dose-escalation in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Treatment plans boosting metabolically active sub-volumes defined by FDG-PET or hypoxic sub-volumes defined by HX4-PET were compared with boosting the entire tumour.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten NSCLC patients underwent FDG- and HX4-PET/CT scans prior to radiotherapy. Three isotoxic dose-escalation plans were compared per patient: plan A, boosting the primary tumour (PTVprim); plan B, boosting sub-volume with FDG >50% SUVmax (PTVFDG); plan C, boosting..