Conformal field theories and compact curves in moduli spaces

We show that there are many compact subsets of the moduli space $M_g$ of Riemann surfaces of genus $g$ that do not intersect any symmetry locus. This has interesting implications for $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric conformal field theories in four dimensions.Comment: Update acknowledging recent development

Protein stabilization explains the gag requirement for transformation of lymphoid cells by Abelson murine leukemia virus

The single protein encoded by Abelson murine leukemia virus is a fusion of sequence from the retroviral gag genes with the v-abl sequence. Deletion of most of the gag region from the transforming protein results in a virus capable of transforming fibroblasts but no longer capable of transforming lymphoid cells. Smaller deletions in gag reveal that p15 gag sequences are responsible for this effect, whereas deletion of p12 sequences had no effect on lymphoid transformation. In transformed fibroblasts, p15-deleted and normal proteins had similar activities and subcellular localization. When the p15-deleted genome was introduced into previously transformed lymphoid lines, its protein product exhibited a marked instability. The tyrosine-specific autophosphorylation activity per cell was less than 1/20th that of the nondeleted protein. Although pulse-Ia-beling showed that the p15-deleted protein was synthesized efficiently, immunoblotting demonstrated that its steady-state level was less than 1/10th that of the nondeleted Abelson protein. The specific instability of the p15-deleted protein in lymphoid cells explains the requirement of these sequences for lymphoid but not fibroblast transformation

Accounting for government guarantees: perspectives on fiscal transparency from four modes of accounting

Government guarantees are increasingly important as a policy instrument in public infrastructure investment and to assist the banking and financial sectors following the global financial crisis. This paper analyses how different modes of accounting characterize such guarantees in the contexts of public sector financial reporting, statistical accounting, budgeting and long-term fiscal projections. Guarantees are difficult to specify for accounting treatment and consistent conceptualization of liabilities. These difficulties make it attractive for governments to treat obligations as off-budget and off-balance sheet contingent liabilities, rather than recognize them in financial statements and statistical accounts. Miller and Power’s territorializing, mediating, adjudicating and subjectivizing roles of accounting are utilized to analyse the reporting of UK government guarantees. Provisioning for guarantees is complex in financial reporting statements and often absent in national accounts, a deficiency which Eurostat has attempted to address by devising the concept of standardized guarantees and by securing more disclosure of contingent liabilities. There is potential for future research especially where there is greater mediation between the four modes of government accounting

Volatility Spillovers from the Chinese Stock Market to Economic Neighbours

This paper examines whether there is evidence of spillovers of volatility from the Chinese stock market to its neighbours and trading partners, including Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and USA. China’s increasing integration into the global market may have important consequences for investors in related markets. In order to capture these potential effects, we explore these issues using an Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) return equation. A univariate GARCH model is then adopted to test for the persistence of volatility in stock market returns, as represented by stock market indices. Finally, univariate GARCH, multivariate VARMA-GARCH, and multivariate VARMA-AGARCH models are used to test for constant conditional correlations and volatility spillover effects across these markets. Each model is used to calculate the conditional volatility between both the Shenzhen and Shanghai Chinese markets and several other markets around the Pacific Basin Area, including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, during four distinct periods, beginning 27 August 1991 and ending 17 November 2010. The empirical results show some evidence of volatility spillovers across these markets in the pre-GFC periods, but there is little evidence of spillover effects from China to related markets during the GFC. This is presumably because the GFC was initially a US phenomenon, before spreading to developed markets around the globe, so that it was not a Chinese phenomenon.Volatility spillovers;VARMA-GARCH; VARMA-AGARCH; Chinese stock market

Meditation Matters: Replies to the Anti-McMindfulness Bandwagon!

A critical reply to the anti-mindfulness critics in the collection, who oppose the popular secularized adoption of mindfulness on various grounds (it is not Buddhism, it is Buddhism, it is a tool of neo-capitalist exploitation, etc.), I argue that mindfulness is a quality of consciousness, opposite mindlessness, that may be cultivated through practice, and is almost always beneficial to those who cultivate it

Robust spatial coherence 5 μ\,\mum from a room-temperature atom chip

We study spatial coherence near a classical environment by loading a Bose-Einstein condensate into a magnetic lattice potential and observing diffraction. Even very close to a surface (5$\,\mu$m), and even when the surface is at room temperature, spatial coherence persists for a relatively long time ($\ge$500$\,$ms). In addition, the observed spatial coherence extends over several lattice sites, a significantly greater distance than the atom-surface separation. This opens the door for atomic circuits, and may help elucidate the interplay between spatial dephasing, inter-atomic interactions, and external noise.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, revised for final publication. This manuscript includes in-depth analysis of the data presented in arXiv:1502.0160

A critical structured review of economic evaluations of interventions for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and resource cost amongst the elderly population. Hip fracture is the most serious of the osteoporotic fractures, with approximately 10-20% of patients dying within six months of sustaining a fracture. Furthermore, hip fractures are the most expensive manifestation of osteoporosis, incurring about 87% of the total costs of osteoporotic fractures. This public health and economic burden is likely to increase in developed nations due, in part, to ageing populations. In addition, there is strong evidence that the age-specific incidence of fracture is rising. There are a number of treatments which can be used to prevent fracture including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), bisphosphonates, vitamin D and calcium. These interventions have been used for primary prevention, secondary prevention and the treatment of established osteoporosis. This Discussion Paper details the results of a structured review, the purpose of which was to identify and critically appraise economic evaluations relating to interventions for osteoporosis. The focus of the work is a critical assessment of the methodology of those studies. A total of 16 economic evaluations was identified on the basis of a computerised search of three bibliographic databases. All studies were based on decision analytical models and all took the form of cost-effectiveness analysis. Seven studies were from the US and four from the UK. The majority of studies focused on either primary prevention alone (seven) or both primary and secondary prevention where high-risk women were identified on the basis of bone mineral density screening (seven). Most studies considered the cost-effectiveness of HRT. Most of the published studies conclude that treatment using HRT is relatively cost-effective among symptomatic women or women who have had a prior hysterectomy. In contrast, for asymptomatic women, the results are more equivocal. The most recent cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken by the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) which makes the explicit assumption that HRT is the treatment of choice. For women unwilling or unable to take HRT, the next recommended treatment was alendronate; should alendronate not be tolerated, calcitonin was recommended. Many of the models included in the review exhibit methodological weaknesses which suggest heir results should be treated with some caution. One of these concerns the dearth of formally elicited health state preference data from patients or members of the public: only two studies in the review derive preferences empirically rather than use the authors’ judgement. A second limitation of many studies is the inappropriate application of costeffectiveness decision rules with the frequent use of average cost-effectiveness ratios. Areas of methodological controversy, such as whether or not to include costs unrelated to osteoporosis in life-years added as a result of treatment, increase uncertainty regarding how to interpret the results of the studies.osteoporosis, HRT