The mixed black hole partition function for the STU model

We evaluate the mixed partition function for dyonic BPS black holes using the recently proposed degeneracy formula for the STU model. The result factorizes into the OSV mixed partition function times a proportionality factor. The latter is in agreement with the measure factor that was recently conjectured for a class of N = 2 black holes that contains the STU model.

Nature of copper in the new cuprate superconductors Pb2Sr2Ca1-xLxCu3O8+δ

Based on Cu K-edge absorption spectroscopy as well as Cu(2p3/2) and Cu(LVV) Auger spectroscopies it is shown that the recently discovered Pb2Sr2Ca1-xLxCu3O8+δ (L=Y or Lu) superconductors contain well-defined Cu1+ species in admixture with Cu2+. The proportion of Cu1+ is small in the nonsuperconducting samples with x=1, a feature which is uniquely different from that in YBa2Cu3O7-δ.

Exergetic analysis of carbon dioxide vapour compression refrigeration cycle using the new fundamental equation of state

The purpose of this paper is to present exergy charts for carbon dioxide (CO2) based on the new fundamental equation of state and the results of a thermodynamic analysis of conventional and trans-critical vapour compression refrigeration cycles using the data thereof. The calculation scheme is anchored on the Mathematica platform. There exist upper and lower bounds for the high cycle pressure for a given set of evaporating and pre-throttling temperatures. The maximum possible exergetic efficiency for each case was determined. Empirical correlations for exergetic efficiency and COP, valid in the range of temperatures studied here, are obtained. The exergy losses have been quantified. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Classical integrability in the BTZ black hole

Using the fact the BTZ black hole is a quotient of AdS(3) we show that classical string propagation in the BTZ background is integrable. We construct the flat connection and its monodromy matrix which generates the non-local charges. From examining the general behaviour of the eigen values of the monodromy matrix we determine the set of integral equations which constrain them. These equations imply that each classical solution is characterized by a density function in the complex plane. For classical solutions which correspond to geodesics and winding strings we solve for the eigen values of the monodromy matrix explicitly and show that geodesics correspond to zero density in the complex plane. We solve the integral equations for BMN and magnon like solutions and obtain their dispersion relation. We show that the set of integral equations which constrain the eigen values of the monodromy matrix can be identified with the continuum limit of the Bethe equations of a twisted SL(2, R) spin chain at one loop. The Landau-Lifshitz equations from the spin chain can also be identified with the sigma model equations of motion.

Higher spin quasinormal modes and one-loop determinants in the BTZ black hole

We solve the wave equations of arbitrary integer spin fields in the BTZ black hole background and obtain exact expressions for their quasinormal modes. We show that these quasinormal modes precisely agree with the location of the poles of the corresponding two point function in the dual conformal field theory as predicted by the AdS/CFT correspondence. We then use these quasinormal modes to construct the one-loop determinant of the higher spin field in the thermal BTZ background. This is shown to agree with that obtained from the corresponding heat kernel constructed recently by group theoretic methods.

Is The Burden of Medical Education Affecting Ethics of Medical Treatment?

A substantial number of medical students in India have to bear an enormous financial burden for earning a bachelor's degree in medicine referred to as MBBS (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery). This degree program lasts for four and one-half years followed by one year of internship. A postgraduate degree, such as MD, has to be pursued separately on completion of a MBBS. Every medical college in India is part of a hospital where the medical students get clinical exposure during the course of their study. All or at least a number of medical colleges in a given state are affiliated to a university that mainly plays a role of an overseeing authority. The medical colleges usually have no official interaction with other disciplines of education such as science and engineering, perhaps because of their independent location and absence of emphasis on medical research. However, many of the medical colleges are adept in imparting high-quality and sound training in medical practices including diagnostics and treatment. The medical colleges in India are generally of two types, i.e., government owned and private. Since only a limited number of seats are available across India in the former category of colleges, only a small fraction of aspiring candidates can find admission in these colleges after performing competitively in the relevant entrance tests. A major advantage of studying in these colleges is the nominal tuition fees that have to be paid. On the other hand, a large majority of would-be medical graduates have to seek admission in the privately run medical institutes in which the tuition and other related fees can be mind boggling when compared to their public counterparts. Except for candidates of exceptionally affluent background, the only alternative for fulfilling the dream of becoming a doctor is by financing one's study through hefty bank loans that may take years to pay back. It is often heard from patients that they are asked by doctors to undergo a plethora of diagnostic tests for apparently minor illnesses, which may financially benefit those prescribing the tests. The present paper attempts to throw light on the extent of disparity in cost of a medical education between state-funded and privately managed medical colleges in India; the average salary of a new medical graduate, which is often ridiculously low when compared to what is offered in entry-level engineering and business jobs; and the possible repercussions of this apparently unjust economic situation regarding the exploitation of patients.

Revisiting some physics issues related to the new mass limit for magnetized white dwarfs

We clarify important physics issues related to the recently established new mass limit for magnetized white dwarfs which is significantly super-Chandrasekhar. The issues include, justification of high magnetic field and the corresponding formation of stable white dwarfs, contribution of the magnetic field to the total density and pressure, flux freezing, variation of magnetic field and related currents therein. We also attempt to address the observational connection of such highly magnetized white dwarfs.

Nitric oxide is the key mediator of death induced by fisetin in human acute monocytic leukemia cells

Nitric oxide ( NO) has been shown to be effective in cancer chemoprevention and therefore drugs that help generate NO would be preferable for combination chemotherapy or solo use. This study shows a new evidence of NO as a mediator of acute leukemia cell death induced by fisetin, a promising chemotherapeutic agent. Fisetin was able to kill THP-1 cells in vivo resulting in tumor shrinkage in the mouse xenograft model. Death induction in vitro was mediated by an increase in NO resulting in double strand DNA breaks and the activation of both the extrinsic and the intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Double strand DNA breaks could be reduced if NO inhibitor was present during fisetin treatment. Fisetin also inhibited the downstream components of the mTORC1 pathway through downregulation of levels of p70 S6 kinase and inducing hypo-phosphorylation of S6 Ri P kinase, eIF4B and eEF2K. NO inhibition restored phosphorylation of downstream effectors of mTORC1 and rescued cells from death. Fisetin induced Ca2+ entry through L-type Ca2+ channels and abrogation of Ca2+ influx reduced caspase activation and cell death. NO increase and increased Ca2+ were independent phenomenon. It was inferred that apoptotic death of acute monocytic leukemia cells was induced by fisetin through increased generation of NO and elevated Ca2+ entry activating the caspase dependent apoptotic pathways. Therefore, manipulation of NO production could be viewed as a potential strategy to increase efficacy of chemotherapy in acute monocytic leukemia.

The New Keynesian Monetary Model: Does it Show the Comovement Between Output and Inflation in the U.S.?

Published as article in: Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control (2008), 32(May), pp. 1466-1488.

How Does the New Keynesian Monetary Model Fit in the U.S. and the Eurozone? an Indirect Inference Approach

This paper estimates a standard version of the New Keynesian monetary (NKM) model under alternative specifications of the monetary policy rule using U.S. and Eurozone data. The estimation procedure implemented is a classical method based on the indirect inference principle. An unrestricted VAR is considered as the auxiliary model. On the one hand, the estimation method proposed overcomes some of the shortcomings of using a structural VAR as the auxiliary model in order to identify the impulse response that defines the minimum distance estimator implemented in the literature. On the other hand, by following a classical approach we can further assess the estimation results found in recent papers that follow a maximum-likelihood Bayesian approach. The estimation results show that some structural parameter estimates are quite sensitive to the specification of monetary policy. Moreover, the estimation results in the U.S. show that the fit of the NKM under an optimal monetary plan is much worse than the fit of the NKM model assuming a forward-looking Taylor rule. In contrast to the U.S. case, in the Eurozone the best fit is obtained assuming a backward-looking Taylor rule, but the improvement is rather small with respect to assuming either a forward-looking Taylor rule or an optimal plan.

Residential Docks and Piers: Inventory of laws, regulations, and policies for the New England region

While the homes threatened by erosion and the developer illegally filling in marshlands are the projects that make the headlines, for many state regulatory programs, it’s the residential docks and piers that take up the most time. When is a dock too long? What about crossing extended property lines? And at what point does a creek have too many docks? There are no easy answers to these questions. At the request of the Georgia Coastal Management Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center published in April 2003 an inventory of residential dock and pier management information for the southeastern U.S. This inventory builds upon that effort and includes five New England states and one municipality: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. Federal laws, state laws and regulations, permitting policies, and contact information are presented in a tabular format that is easy to use. (PDF contains 16 pages)

The new British Freshwater Algal Flora

This brief article provides some of the background to the publication of The Freshwater Algal Flora of the British Isles (John et al. 2002). This publication updates West and Fritsch's A Treatise on British Freshwater Algae (2nd edition) which was published in 1927. Taxonomic experts on the major freshwater algal groups were approached and almost all agreed to collaborate. The book which has taken more than 10 years to complete is illustrated with over 2000 line drawings and there are 20 half tone plates.

Advances in methods for determining fecundity: application of the new methods to some marine fishes

Estimation of individual egg production (realized fecundity) is a key step either to understand the stock and recruit relationship or to carry out fisheries-independent assessment of spawning stock biomass using egg production methods. Many fish are highly fecund and their ovaries may weigh over a kilogram; therefore the work time can be consuming and require large quantities of toxic fixative. Recently it has been shown for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) that image analysis can automate fecundity determination using a power equation that links follicles per gram ovary to the mean vitellogenic follicular diameter (the autodiametric method). In this article we demonstrate the precision of the autodiametric method applied to a range of species with different spawning strategies during maturation and spawning. A new method using a solid displacement pipette to remove quantitative fecundity samples (25, 50, 100, and 200 milligram [mg]) is evaluated, as are the underlying assumptions to effectively fix and subsample the ovary. Finally, we demonstrate the interpretation of dispersed formaldehyde-fixed ovarian samples (whole mounts) to assess the presence of atretic and postovulatory follicles to replace labor intensive histology. These results can be used to estimate down regulation (production of atretic follicles) of fecundity during maturation.

Basque legacy in the New World: on the surnames of Latin American presidents

[EN] In this article we explain the etymology of the surnames of Basque origin that some presidents of Latin American countries have or have had in the past. These family names were created in the language called Euskara, in the Basque Country (Europe), and then, when some of the people who bore them emigrated to America, they brought their surnames with them. Most of the family names studied here are either oiconymic or toponymic, but it must be kept in mind that the oiconymic ones are, very often, based on house-nicknames, that is, they are anthroponymic in the first place. As far as possible, we have related the surname, when its origin is oiconymic or toponymic, to its source, i.e. to the house or place where it was created.