Aspects of (0,2) Orbifolds and Mirror Symmetry

We study orbifolds of (0,2) models and their relation to (0,2) mirror symmetry. In the Landau-Ginzburg phase of a (0,2) model the superpotential features a whole bunch of discrete symmetries, which by quotient action lead to a variety of consistent (0,2) vacua. We study a few examples in very much detail. Furthermore, we comment on the application of (0,2) mirror symmetry to the calculation of Yukawa couplings in the space-time superpotential.Comment: 13 pages, TeX (harvmac, big) with 4 enclosed PostScript figures, one reference adde

Influence of diluent alkyl substitution on the extraction of Am(III) and Eu(III) by a 6,6’-bis(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-2,2’-bipyridine ligand dissolved in alkylated cyclohexanone Diluents

Several alkylated cyclohexanones were investigated as potential diluents for the selective extraction of Am(III) from Eu(III) from nitric acid solutions by the CyMe4-BTBP ligand. No significant extraction of either of the metal ions was observed for these diluents themselves. In the extractions from 1 M HNO3, 3-methylcyclohexanone and 4-methylcyclohexanone gave comparable results to cyclohexanone whereas in the extractions from 4 M HNO3, 2-methylcyclohexanone, 3-methylcyclohexanone and 4-methylcyclohexanone all gave superior results. For the monomethylated diluents, DAm and SFAm/Eu decreased in the order of alkyl substitution 2 > 4 ~ 3. However, alkyl substitution of cyclohexanone significantly slows down the extraction kinetics compared to cyclohexanone, and the position of alkyl substitution was found to play an important role in the solvents properties. 3-Methylcyclohexanone was identified as the most promising of the diluent

W3W_3 strings, parafermions and the Ising model

We show that any covariant scattering amplitude of the $W_3$ string will contain, as part of its integrand, a factor that obeys the differential equations satisfied by an Ising model correlation function. This factor can thus be identified with such a correlation function, in agreement with a previous result of the authors. The $W_3$ string is also shown to contain an $N=2$ parafermion theory, and hence to contain in addition the non-linear infinite-dimensional $W$-algebra corresponding to this parafermion theory. The physical states form a representation of this algebra.Comment: 14 pages, KCL-TH-93-1

The RMS Charge Radius of the Proton and Zemach Moments

On the basis of recent precise measurements of the electric form factor of the proton, the Zemach moments, needed as input parameters for the determination of the proton rms radius from the measurement of the Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen, are calculated. It turns out that the new moments give an uncertainty as large as the presently stated error of the recent Lamb shift measurement of Pohl et al.. De Rujula's idea of a large Zemach moment in order to reconcile the five standard deviation discrepancy between the muonic Lamb shift determination and the result of electronic experiments is shown to be in clear contradiction with experiment. Alternative explanations are touched upon.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, final version includes discussion of systematic and numerical error

PU.1 controls fibroblast polarization and tissue fibrosis

Fibroblasts are polymorphic cells with pleiotropic roles in organ morphogenesis, tissue homeostasis and immune responses. In fibrotic diseases, fibroblasts synthesize abundant amounts of extracellular matrix, which induces scarring and organ failure. By contrast, a hallmark feature of fibroblasts in arthritis is degradation of the extracellular matrix because of the release of metalloproteinases and degrading enzymes, and subsequent tissue destruction. The mechanisms that drive these functionally opposing pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory phenotypes of fibroblasts remain unknown. Here we identify the transcription factor PU.1 as an essential regulator of the pro-fibrotic gene expression program. The interplay between transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that normally control the expression of PU.1 expression is perturbed in various fibrotic diseases, resulting in the upregulation of PU.1, induction of fibrosis-associated gene sets and a phenotypic switch in extracellular matrix-producing pro-fibrotic fibroblasts. By contrast, pharmacological and genetic inactivation of PU.1 disrupts the fibrotic network and enables reprogramming of fibrotic fibroblasts into resting fibroblasts, leading to regression of fibrosis in several organs

Less Debate, More Analysis: A Meta-Analysis of Literature on Broken Windows Policing

In their broken windows thesis, Wilson and Kelling (1982) propose that social and physical disorder leads to a breakdown in informal social controls, thereby allowing more serious crime to occur. This framework had a tangible impact on policy, though research has shown mixed results with regard to its effectiveness. This thesis conducts a meta-analysis of 66 effect sizes, nested within eleven studies, in order to better understand the effect of broken windows policing on crime according to the literature. Results show that broken windows policing does have an effect on crime and that methodological characteristics of the studies are related to the effect. The discussion section considers the relationship between these findings and other meta-analyses on policing innovations, such as hot spots and problem-oriented policing

Quantum Moduli Spaces of N=1N=1 String Theories

Generically, string models with $N=1$ supersymmetry are not expected to have moduli beyond perturbation theory; stringy non-perturbative effects as well as low energy field-theoretic phenomena such as gluino condensation will lift any flat directions. In this note, we describe models where some subspace of the moduli space survives non-perturbatively. Discrete $R$ symmetries forbid any inherently stringy effects, and dynamical considerations control the field-theoretic effects. The surviving subspace is a space of high symmetry; the system is attracted to this subspace by a potential which we compute. Models of this type may be useful for considerations of duality and raise troubling cosmological questions about string theory. Our considerations also suggest a mechanism for fixing the expectation value of the dilaton.Comment: 26 pages; uses harvmac. Footnote re fixing dilaton adde

D-branes in Gepner models and supersymmetry

Boundary states corresponding to wrapped D-branes in Calabi-Yau compactifications of type II strings are discussed using Gepner models. In particular boundary conditions corresponding to D-0 branes and D-instantons in four dimensions are investigated. The boundary states constructed by Recknagel and Schomerus are analyzed in the light-cone gauge and the broken and conserved space-time supersymmetry charges are found. The geometrical interpretation of these algebraically constructed boundary states is clarified in some simple cases. Moreover, the action of mirror symmetry and other discrete symmetries of the Gepner model on the boundary states are discussed. As an application the boundary states are used to calculate instanton induced corrections to metric on the hypermultiplets in the N=2 effective action.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures, uses harvmac and epsf, minor changes, typos corrected, a reference adde

Spider: A BFT Architecture for Geo-Replicated Cloud Services

Traditionally, Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) in geo-replicated systems is achieved by executing complex agreement protocols over large-distance communication links, and therefore typically incurs high response times. In this paper we address this problem with Spider, a resilient and modular BFT replication architecture for geo-distributed systems that leverages characteristic features of today's public-cloud infrastructures to minimize both complexity as well as latency. Spider is composed of multiple largely independent replica groups that each are distributed across different availability zones of their respective cloud region. This design offers the possibility to provide low response times by placing replica groups in close geographic distance to clients, while at the same time enabling intra-group communication over short-distance links. To handle the interaction between groups that is necessary for strong consistency, Spider uses a novel message-channel abstraction with first-in-first-out semantics and built-in flow control that greatly simplifies system design.Comment: 32 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2009.1004