Some Mirror partners with Complex multiplication

In this note we provide examples of families of Calabi-Yau 3-manifolds over Shimura varieties, whose mirror families contain subfamilies over Shimura varieties. Therefore these original families and subfamilies on the mirror side contain dense sets of complex multiplication fibers. In view of the work of S. Gukov and C. Vafa this is of special interest in theoretical physics.Comment: 7 page

Saddam Hussein\u27s Trial in Iraq: Fairness, Legitimacy & Alternatives, a Legal Analysis

The paper focuses on Saddam Hussein’s trial in front of the Iraqi High Criminal Court in Baghdad. After providing an overview of the facts surrounding the court’s installation, the applicable international law is identified and the fairness and legitimacy of the current proceedings are analyzed. The paper finishes by considering whether the trial should be relocated and addresses alternative venues that could have been chosen to prosecute Iraq’s ex-dictator

Saddam Hussein\u27s Trial in Iraq: Fairness, Legitimacy & Alternatives, a Legal Analysis

The paper focuses on Saddam Hussein’s trial in front of the Iraqi High Criminal Court in Baghdad. After providing an overview of the facts surrounding the court’s installation, the applicable international law is identified and the fairness and legitimacy of the current proceedings are analyzed. The paper finishes by considering whether the trial should be relocated and addresses alternative venues that could have been chosen to prosecute Iraq’s ex-dictator

pH-Sensitive Chitosan–Heparin Nanoparticles for Effective Delivery of Genetic Drugs into Epithelial Cells

Chitosan has been extensively studied as a genetic drug delivery platform. However, its efficiency is limited by the strength of DNA and RNA binding. Expecting a reduced binding strength of cargo with chitosan, we proposed including heparin as a competing polyanion in the polyplexes. We developed chitosan–heparin nanoparticles by a one-step process for the local delivery of oligonucleotides. The size of the polyplexes was dependent on the mass ratio of polycation to polyanion. The mechanism of oligonucleotide release was pH-dependent and associated with polyplex swelling and collapse of the polysaccharide network. Inclusion of heparin enhanced the oligonucleotide release from the chitosan-based polyplexes. Furthermore, heparin reduced the toxicity of polyplexes in the cultured cells. The cell uptake of chitosan–heparin polyplexes was equal to that of chitosan polyplexes, but heparin increased the transfection efficiency of the polyplexes two-fold. The application of chitosan–heparin small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) silencing of ARPE-19 cells was 25% higher. Overall, chitosan–heparin polyplexes showed a significant improvement of gene release inside the cells, transfection, and gene silencing efficiency in vitro, suggesting that this fundamental strategy can further improve the transfection efficiency with application of non-viral vectors

Geometrical Nonlinearity on Collapse of Reinforced Concrete Piers

The objective of this study is to investigate the possible collapse mechanisms of reinforced concrete columns. Analyses are performed to study the effect of both material and geometrical nonlinearities in the post peak response of flexural columns. Discussion is mainly focussed on the restoring force characteristics, especially in large deformation range, of RC columns having high shear capacity so that the ultimate failure is governed by bending

Metadata: how we relate to images

METADATA. HOW WE RELATE TO IMAGES Lethaby Gallery 10 Jan—3 Feb 2018 An exhibition organised by the International Research Group “Bilderfahrzeuge. Aby Warburg’s Legacy and the Future of Iconology” in collaboration with Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London

Distributed intelligence in pedestrian simulations

In order to accurately simulate pedestrian behaviour in complex situations, one is required to model both the physical environment and the strategic decision-making of individuals We present a method for integrating both of these model requirements, by distributing the computational complexity across discrete modules. These modules communicate with each other via XML messages. The approach also provides considerable flexibility for changing and evolving the model. The model is explained using an example of simulating hikers in the Swiss Alps.SNF, NFP 48, Habitats and Landscapes of the Alp

Separate and overlapping functional roles for efference copies in the human thalamus.

Abstract How the perception of space is generated from the multiple maps in the brain is still an unsolved mystery in neuroscience. A neural pathway ascending from the superior colliculus through the medio-dorsal (MD) nucleus of thalamus to the frontal eye field has been identified in monkeys that conveys efference copy information about the metrics of upcoming eye movements. Information sent through this pathway stabilizes vision across saccades. We investigated whether this motor plan information might also shape spatial perception even when no saccades are performed. We studied patients with medial or lateral thalamic lesions (likely involving either the MD or the ventrolateral (VL) nuclei). Patients performed a double-step task testing motor updating, a trans-saccadic localization task testing visual updating, and a localization task during fixation testing a general role of motor signals for visual space in the absence of eye movements. Single patients with medial or lateral thalamic lesions showed deficits in the double-step task, reflecting insufficient transfer of efference copy. However, only a patient with a medial lesion showed impaired performance in the trans-saccadic localization task, suggesting that different types of efference copies contribute to motor and visual updating. During fixation, the MD patient localized stationary stimuli more accurately than healthy controls, suggesting that patients compensate the deficit in visual prediction of saccades - induced by the thalamic lesion - by relying on stationary visual references. We conclude that partially separable efference copy signals contribute to motor and visual stability in company of purely visual signals that are equally effective in supporting trans-saccadic perception