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Let Mφ be a surface bundle over a circle with monodromy φ: S → S. We study deformations of certain reducible representations of π1(Mφ)intoSL(n, C), obtained by composing a reducible representation into SL(2, C) with the irreducible representation SL(2, C) → SL(n, C). In particular, we show that under certain conditions on the eigenvalues of φ∗, the reducible representation is contained in a (n + 1 + k)(n − 1) dimensional component of the representation variety, where k is the number of components of ∂Mφ . This result applies to mapping tori of pseudo-Anosov maps with orientable invariant foliations whenever 1 is not an eigenvalue of the induced map on homology, where the reducible representation is also a limit of irreducible representations. © 2022, Osaka University. All rights reserved.

The sharpest optical images of the R136 cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud are presented, allowing us for the first time to resolve members of the central core, including R136a1, the most-massive star known. These data were taken using the Gemini speckle imager Zorro in medium-band filters with effective wavelengths similar to BVRI achieving angular resolutions between 30-40 mas. All stars previously known in the literature, having V < 16 mag within the central 2″ × 2″, were recovered. Visual companions (≥40 mas; 2000 au) were detected for the WN5h stars R136 a1 and a3. Photometry of the visual companion of a1 suggests it is of mid-O spectral type. Based on new photometric luminosities using the resolved Zorro imaging, the masses of the individual WN5h stars are estimated to be between 150 and 200 M ⊙, lowering significantly the present-day masses of some of the most-massive stars known. These mass estimates are critical anchor points for establishing the stellar upper-mass function. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

The STAR Collaboration reports measurements of back-to-back azimuthal correlations of di-π0s produced at forward pseudorapidities (2.6<η<4.0) in p+p, p+Al, and p+Au collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV. We observe a clear suppression of the correlated yields of back-to-back π0 pairs in p+Al and p+Au collisions compared to the p+p data. The observed suppression of back-to-back pairs as a function of transverse momentum suggests nonlinear gluon dynamics arising at high parton densities. The larger suppression found in p+Au relative to p+Al collisions exhibits a dependence of the saturation scale Q2s on the mass number A. A linear scaling of the suppression with A1/3 is observed with a slope of −0.09±0.01.

Composites of MnO2/multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared using different weight ratios of MWCNTs: KMnO4 (1:2, 1:5, 1:10, 1:15, 1:20, and 1:25) using a one-pot hydrothermal method. The synthesized materials were physically characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) BET, and thermogravimetric analysis. TEM and SEM studies indicate that MnO2 is homogeneously entangled with MWCNTs. The electrochemical performance evaluation was performed in a 3-electrode system using MnO2/MWCNT electrodes coated onto a Ni mesh as the working electrode, a Pt foil as the counter electrode, and Ag/AgCl as the reference electrode. The specific capacitance was obtained from charge–discharge studies at varying current densities between 0.5 and 5 A/g. The specific capacitance of MWCNT-KMnO4 (1:10, 1:15, and 1:25) samples was obtained as 114, 164, and 100 F/g, respectively, at a current density of 1 A/g.

Paraeducators often support students with the most intensive academic, life, and behavioral needs, which includes students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD; e.g., autism spectrum disorder; ASD), yet they typically enter the classroom with inadequate preparation to perform their roles effectively. Using a multiple-baseline research design replicated across participants, we evaluated the effects of job-embedded bug-in-ear (BIE) coaching delivered by the teacher on paraeducators’ use of behavior specific praise (BSP) while teaching transition-age students with ASD. Findings confirmed each of the three paraeducators immediately increased the percentage of occurrence and rate per minute in which they offered BSP. They sustained these high levels during fading. Further, the special education teacher, who served as the eCoach, and the paraeducators reported BIE was an effective form of paraeducator professional development. Finally, changes in expressive social and communicative behaviors were observed in student participants as a result of the intervention. These results extend literature on BSP and also help establish BIE coaching as an evidence-based practice for paraeducators. © Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Economic load dispatch (ELD) is a challenge optimization problem to minimize the total cost of the thermally generated power that satisfies a set of equality and inequality constraints. We need to maximize the power network load under several operational constraints to solve this problem. Meanwhile, we need to minimize the cost of power generation and minimize the loss in the network transmission. Traditional optimization methods were used to solve such problems as linear programming. Meta-heuristic search algorithms have shown encouraging performance in solving various real-life engineering problems. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive comparison between nine meta-heuristic search algorithms, including Genetic Algorithms (GAs), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Crow Search Algorithm (CSA), Differential Evolution (DE), Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA), Harmony Search (HS), Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA), Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO), and Moth-Flame Optimization Algorithm (MFO) for solving the economic load dispatch problem. Our developed results demonstrated that meta-heuristics search algorithms (i.e., CSA and DE) offer the optimal power set for each power station. These computed power fulfill the supply needs and maintain both minimum power costs and power losses in power transmission.

Lebanon is a diverse and dynamic nation of six million people that has experienced considerable disruption for the last two decades. The Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011, resulted in the displacement of 1.1 million Syrians to Lebanon. Today, Lebanon is the country with the largest per capita number of refugees in the world. In addition, the country experienced a social, economic, and political crisis in 2019 that destabilized the entire society-circumstances that were further complicated by COVID-19 pandemic. With all of the competing calamities in Lebanon, there has been limited scientific investigation into substance use and the risk of HIV infection among the country's population. To address this gap in knowledge, a qualitative rapid situational assessment (RSA) of substance use and risk of HIV infection in and around Beirut, the nation's capital, was conducted. The goal of this analysis is to describe the demographics and drug use patterns of this population, explore their HIV knowledge and risks, and build knowledge about their perceptions of and access to substance use treatment and other social services.

Our research aimed to investigate the potential learning benefits to young children of implementing digital interactive multimodal technologies that provide both visual and haptic experiences in elementary mathematics classrooms. We studied the ways in which fourth-grade students collaboratively create collective strategies for solving mathematical problems utilizing dynamic geometry software with multi-touch interfaces, a combination we call a multi-touch Dynamic Geometry Environment. We examine in-depth two case studies each illustrating how mathematical strategies, collaboration, and socially mediated metacognition emerge in the small groups of children while working on an activity using the Geometer’s Sketchpad® on the iPad to make sense of an intuitive idea of covariation. We found that children’s interactions with their peers, the interviewer, and the mDGE favored the emergence of varied collaborative behaviors and socially mediated metacognitive processes that fostered the co-construction and development of mathematical strategies over a short period of time. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Cycling of organic carbon in the ocean has the potential to mitigate or exacerbate global climate change, but major questions remain about the environmental controls on organic carbon flux in the coastal zone. Here, we used a field experiment distributed across 28° of latitude, and the entire range of 2 dominant kelp species in the northern hemisphere, to measure decomposition rates of kelp detritus on the seafloor in relation to local environmental factors. Detritus decomposition in both species were strongly related to ocean temperature and initial carbon content, with higher rates of biomass loss at lower latitudes with warmer temperatures. Our experiment showed slow overall decomposition and turnover of kelp detritus and modeling of coastal residence times at our study sites revealed that a significant portion of this production can remain intact long enough to reach deep marine sinks. The results suggest that decomposition of these kelp species could accelerate with ocean warming and that low-latitude kelp forests could experience the greatest increase in remineralization with a 9% to 42% reduced potential for transport to long-term ocean sinks under short-term (RCP4.5) and long-term (RCP8.5) warming scenarios. However, slow decomposition at high latitudes, where kelp abundance is predicted to expand, indicates potential for increasing kelp-carbon sinks in cooler (northern) regions. Our findings reveal an important latitudinal gradient in coastal ecosystem function that provides an improved capacity to predict the implications of ocean warming on carbon cycling. Broad-scale patterns in organic carbon decomposition revealed here can be used to identify hotspots of carbon sequestration potential and resolve relationships between carbon cycling processes and ocean climate at a global scale.

Motivation for bodily movement, physical activity and exercise varies from moment to moment. These motivation states may be “affectively-charged,” ranging from instances of lower tension (e.g., desires, wants) to higher tension (e.g., cravings and urges). Currently, it is not known how often these states have been investigated in clinical populations (e.g., eating disorders, exercise dependence/addiction, Restless Legs Syndrome, diabetes, obesity) vs. healthy populations (e.g., in studies of motor control; groove in music psychology). The objective of this scoping review protocol is to quantify the literature on motivation states, to determine what topical areas are represented in investigations of clinical and healthy populations, and to discover pertinent details, such as instrumentation, terminology, theories, and conceptual models, correlates and mechanisms of action. Iterative searches of scholarly databases will take place to determine which combination of search terms (e.g., “motivation states” and “physical activity”; “desire to be physically active,” etc.) captures the greatest number of relevant results. Studies will be included if motivation states for movement (e.g., desires, urges) are specifically measured or addressed. Studies will be excluded if referring to motivation as a trait. A charting data form was developed to scan all relevant documents for later data extraction. The primary outcome is simply the extent of the literature on the topic. Results will be stratified by population/condition. This scoping review will unify a diverse literature, which may result in the creation of unique models or paradigms that can be utilized to better understand motivation for bodily movement and exercise.

We incorporate deep learning techniques into capacitive images of body parts (ear, four fingers, and thumb) to improve the performance of user authentication in smartphones. Use of a capacitive touchscreen as an image sensor has several advantages, such as it is less sensitive to poor illumination conditions, occlusions, and pose variations. Also, it does not need an additional hardware like iris or fingerprint scanner. Use of capacitive images for user authentication is not new. However, the performance, specially, false reject rates (FRRs) of the state-of-the-art capacitive image-based systems are poor. In this paper, we focus on improving the performance and leverage deep learning. Deep learning techniques demonstrated spectacular performance in previous physical biometrics-based research. However, to our knowledge, effectiveness of deep learning is still unexplored in capacitive touchscreen-based user authentication. In order to bridge this research gap, we devise a multi-modal deep learning model, namely UASNet, and compare its performance with a large set of uni- and multi-modal baselines. Using the UASNet, we achieve an accuracy of 99.77%, an EER of 0.48%, and an FRR of 1.19% at FAR of 0.06%.

The United States’ seaweed industry is worth over $300 million annually thanks in part to the rising popularity of seaweed-based products. Seaweed has myriad uses and great potential for novel product innovation and development while also providing numerous environmental benefits including carbon and nitrogen sequestration and other crucial ecosystem services . One of the most promising and prevalent species under domestic cultivation is Saccharina latissma. Also known as sugar kelp, this abundantly grown cold-water species dominates the edible seaweed market in the United States . This paper provides an in-depth geographical analysis of the current state of the U.S. sugar kelp industry, comparing regional market differences and opportunities for growth in Maine, Alaska, and Connecticut. Data was collected from the 2020 National Sea Grant Seaweed Symposium (https://seaweedhub.org/symposium/) and through a series of semi-structured interviews with key industry participants, yielding insights into the challenges that seaweed stakeholders face across the country. Proposed solutions for increasing the profitability of sugar kelp are explored and include market differentiation through regional origin labels, eco-labels, and quality labels.

Flowers of Jaltomata weigendiana (Solanaceae) secrete red nectar that is visible through the partially translucent corolla. We report the pattern of nectar presentation during the sexual phases of the flower and characterize the breeding system. Comparison of flower sets experiencing daily removal starting Day 1 with flowers that accumulated nectar for one or two days prior to daily removal revealed no discernible effect on the life-of-the-flower nectar production, sugar production and floral longevity. Flowers produce about the same cumulative volume of nectar during the two sexual phases. However, cumulative nectar sugar production is about 4 times higher during the male phase. Nectar standing crop ranged from 4–26.6 µl for Day 1 flowers and 0–8.7 µl for flowers from which nectar was removed the previous day. With daily removal of nectar, 21 of 40 flowers contained no nectar during the last day of the flower’s life. All unmanipulated flowers developed fruits (autonomous self-pollination). However, manual self-pollinations and manual cross-pollinations resulted in fruits that weighed significantly more and had significantly more seeds than fruits produced by autonomous self-pollination. Protogyny and herkogamy promote cross-pollination, but delayed autonomous selfing at the end of the flower’s life ensures seed set if pollinator-mediated pollination fails.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are increasingly called upon to help assess students with word-recognition difficulties, including dyslexia. Although SLPs tend to have comparatively strong knowledge regarding the phonological awareness skills that support word reading, findings from survey research indicate that many SLPs report limited knowledge and training on word recognition and phonics. The purpose of this article is to provide a systematic framework for assessing and interpreting students’ word reading skills. Five potential components of word reading assessment will be examined: word recognition, phonological decoding, automaticity, performance with specific phonics patterns, and reading multimorphemic and multisyllabic words. Emphasis will be given to how specific test formats and procedures can be used to help identify patterns of word reading difficulty.

Employees often demonstrate various regulatory intentions toward multiple responsibilities they must fulfill on the job. Therefore, it is possible that employees’ motivation changes during the workday because of the various situations they have experienced and that these motivational fluctuations affect their subjective well-being across different activities. Following the integrated frameworks of the self-determination theory (SDT) and the hierarchical model of motivation (H-SDT), the present research studied the variations of employees’ daily motivation for work across different activities using the survey of day reconstruction method (DRM). Multi-level structural equation modeling (MSEM) was used to analyze the variations in the perceived three basic psychological (i.e., autonomy-, relatedness-, and competence-) needs-supportive features (NSFs), situational motivation, and variables capturing the employees’ subjective well-being (including vitality and positive/negative affect) laid out according to a list of work episodes in DRM. Results of this study confirmed that employees’ subjective well-being (mainly vitality and positive affect) were positively promoted by NSFs pertained to specific work activities via the indirect path of situational autonomous motivation at work. Furthermore, vitality and positive affect were also directly predicted by situational autonomous motivation. These empirical findings expanded the research evidence supporting employees’ subjective well-being as a multi-level and multi-dimensional dynamic motivational consequence promoted by configurable specific NSFs at work. We also discussed the limitations and future directions for this line of research.

The U.S. coal industry is in the midst of a transition. Changes in regulation and technological innovation from other fossils and renewables have affected its competitiveness. These could have significant impacts on the labor market where jobs could be lost. In this study, we investigate how changes in employment in the coal industry affect wages in 20 industries in 10 U.S. coal producing states. We assess how these transitions impact welfare programs, since coal producing regions are associated with higher poverty levels. Results show that in the long run, migration of coal workers decreased wages in the construction, manufacturing sectors. Point estimates reveal that an increase in separations of coal workers increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) caseloads. In states where coal mining has a smaller contribution to GDP, an increase in coal employment increases SNAP caseloads.

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"This book explores the work of five influential pro-BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) queer academic activists-Sarah Schulman, Jasbir Puar, Angela Davis, Dean Spade, and Judith Butler-each of whom exemplify different ideological and critical practices around anti-Zionism"--