w_{\infty} Algebras, Conformal Mechanics, and Black Holes

We discuss BPS solitons in gauged ${\cal N}=2$, D=4 supergravity. The solitons represent extremal black holes interpolating between different vacua of anti-de Sitter spaces. The isometry superalgebras are determined and the motion of a superparticle in the extremal black hole background is studied and confronted with superconformal mechanics. We show that the Virasoro symmetry of conformal mechanics, which describes the dynamics of the superparticle near the horizon of the extremal black hole under consideration, extends to a symmetry under the $w_{\infty}$ algebra of area-preserving diffeomorphisms. We find that a Virasoro subalgebra of $w_{\infty}$ can be associated to the Virasoro algebra of the asymptotic symmetries of $AdS_2$. In this way spacetime diffeomorphisms of $AdS_2$ translate into diffeomorphisms in phase space: our system offers an explicit realization of the $AdS_2/CFT_1$ correspondence. Using the dimensionally reduced action, the central charge is computed. Finally, we also present generalizations of superconformal mechanics which are invariant under ${\cal N} =1$ and ${\cal N} =2$ superextensions of $w_{\infty}$.Comment: Latex, 23 pages, minor errors corrected, references added; final version to appear in Class. Quant. Gra

Update on the effects of antioxidants on diabetic retinopathy : In vitro experiments, animal studies and clinical trials

Current therapies for diabetic retinopathy (DR) incorporate blood glucose and blood pressure control, vitrectomy, photocoagulation, and intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factors or corticosteroids. Nonetheless, these techniques have not been demonstrated to completely stop the evolution of this disorder. The pathophysiology of DR is not fully known, but there is more and more evidence indicating that oxidative stress is an important mechanism in the progression of DR. In this sense, antioxidants have been suggested as a possible therapy to reduce the complications of DR. In this review we aim to assemble updated information in relation to in vitro experiments, animal studies and clinical trials dealing with the effect of the antioxidants on DR

The Asymptotic Dynamics of two-dimensional (anti-)de Sitter Gravity

We show that the asymptotic dynamics of two-dimensional de Sitter or anti-de Sitter Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity is described by a generalized two-particle Calogero-Sutherland model. This correspondence is established by formulating the JT model of (A)dS gravity in two dimensions as a topological gauge theory, which reduces to a nonlinear 0+1-dimensional sigma model on the boundary of (A)dS space. The appearance of cyclic coordinates allows then a further reduction to the Calogero-Sutherland quantum mechanical model.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, no figures, uses JHEP.cls. v2: Some references and comments added. v3: Minor errors correcte

A New Spin-Orbit Induced Universality Class in the Quantum Hall Regime ?

Using heuristic arguments and numerical simulations it is argued that the critical exponent $\nu$ describing the localization length divergence at the quantum Hall transition is modified in the presence of spin-orbit scattering with short range correlations. The exponent is very close to $\nu=4/3$, the percolation correlation length exponent, the prediction of a semi-classical argument. In addition, a region of weakly localized regime, where the localization length is exponentially large, is conjectured.Comment: 4 two-column pages including 4 eps figure