Comment on "Constraint Quantization of Open String in Background B field and Noncommutative D-brane"

In the paper "Constraint Quantization of Open String in Background $B$ field and Noncommutative D-brane", it is claimed that the boundary conditions lead to an infinite set of secondary constraints and Dirac brackets result in a non-commutative Poisson structure for D-brain. Here we show that contrary to the arguments in that paper, the set of secondary constraints on the boundary is finite and the non-commutativity algebra can not be obtained by evaluating the Dirac brackets.Comment: minor corrections, to appear in Phys.Lett.

Convergence of multiple ergodic averages along cubes for several commuting transformations

We prove the norm convergence of multiple ergodic averages along cubes for several commuting transformations, and derive corresponding combinatorial results. The method we use relies primarily on the "magic extension" established recently by B. ~Host

Electrophysiological Studies of Visual Attention and of Emotion Regulation

Electrophysiological methods, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG), measure biological activity that allow us to infer underlying cognitive processes. In the first study, we use EEG to track feature-based attention (FBA), a form of visual attention that helps one detect objects with a particular color, motion, or orientation. We explore the use of SSVEPs, generated by flicker presented peripherally, to track attention in a visual search task presented centrally. Classification results show that one can track an observer’s attended color, which suggests that these methods may provide a viable means for tracking FBA in a real-time task. In the second study, we use cardiovascular measures to examine influences of the emotion regulation strategy of reappraisal. We examine cooperation and cardiovascular responses in individuals that were defected on by their opponent in the first round of an iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma. We find significant differences between the emotion regulation conditions using the biopsychosocial (BPS) model of challenge and threat, where participants primed with the reappraisal strategy were weakly comparable with a threat state of the BPS model and participants without an emotion regulation were weakly comparable with a challenge state of the BPS model. In the third study, we use EEG to study the chromatic sensitivity of FBA for color during a visual search task. We use SSVEP responses evoked through peripheral flicker to measure the spectral tuning of color detection mechanisms and how attentional selection is affected by distractor color. Our results find smaller responses for the distractor colors and suggest that feature-based attention to a particular color involves chromatic mechanisms that both enhance the response to a target and minimize responses to distractors

The complex Monge-Amp\`{e}re equation on some compact Hermitian manifolds

We consider the complex Monge-Amp\`{e}re equation on compact manifolds when the background metric is a Hermitian metric (in complex dimension two) or a kind of Hermitian metric (in higher dimensions). We prove that the Laplacian estimate holds when $F$ is in $W^{1,q_{0}}$ for any $q_{0}>2n$. As an application, we show that, up to scaling, there exists a unique classical solution in $W^{3,q_{0}}$ for the complex Monge-Amp\`{e}re equation when $F$ is in $W^{1,q_{0}}$.Comment: 16 pages; main result improve

Brian Chu, Professor of Art travels to Taiwan and China

Assistance from the CIE Major Grant helped me travel to Taiwan and China in summer 2015. In this 70-day trip I satisfied my three goals of research, teaching, and international education program development

Olfactory Conditioning of Positive Performance in Humans

Olfactory conditioning effects have been widely demonstrated in the animal literature but more seldom in human populations and rarely of consciously controlled human behaviors. Building upon previous work on negative performance, we report the first experimental evidence that odors can be used effectively in a classical conditioning paradigm to positively influence human behavior. In the present study, underachieving schoolchildren experienced unexpected success at a paper-and-pencil task in the presence of an ambient odor. When they later experienced the same odor again, performance on other tasks was superior to that of relevant control groups. These data substantially extend previous results on human olfactory classical conditioning and show that odors potentially can be used to exert positive influences on human behavior