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African American Parent Stories About How Race, Culture, Class and Personal Experiences Influence Parental Involvement with Public Schools: A Narrative Analysis
No full textThis narrative qualitative research study explored the perceptions of 20 African American parents, in order to understand their roles in the education of their children in public high schools in Los Angeles County, CA, during the period of COVID- 19. The study aimed to understand how factors of race, class, and personal historical experiences influenced parental engagement with the schools. Theoretical concepts from Critical Race Theory and Self Psychology were used to guide the research and inform the analysis of the data. The four major themes that emerged from the narratives were: 1) parents optimized learning experiences for their children; 2) parent involvement was influenced by race, class, and personal history; 3) student experiences were influenced by race and inclusion in high school; and 4) students thrived during virtual learning caused by COVID-19. The study also included an overview of the history of African American parent experiences in the education system and how these experiences have influenced parental engagement with academic institutions
Performance of Near-Infrared High-Contrast Imaging Methods with JWST from Commissioning
Get PDFThe James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will revolutionize the field of high-contrast imaging and enable both the direct detection of Saturn-mass planets and the characterization of substellar companions in the mid-infrared. While JWST will feature unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution will be the key factor when competing with ground-based telescopes. Here, we aim to characterize the performance of several extreme angular resolution imaging techniques available with JWST in the 3-5 µm regime based on data taken during the instrument commissioning. Firstly, we introduce custom tools to simulate, reduce, and analyze JWST NIRCam and MIRI coronagraphy data and use these tools to extract companion detection limits from on-sky NIRCam round and bar mask coronagraphy observations. Secondly, we present on-sky JWST NIRISS aperture masking interferometry (AMI) and kernel phase imaging (KPI) observations from which we extract companion detection limits using the publicly available fouriever tool. Scaled to a total integration time of one hour and a target of the brightness of AB Dor (W1 ≈ 4.4 mag, W2 ≈ 3.9 mag), we find that NIRISS AMI and KPI reach contrasts of ∼ 7-8 mag at ∼ 70 mas and ∼ 9 mag at ∼ 200 mas. Beyond ∼ 250 mas, NIRCam coronagraphy reaches deeper contrasts of ∼ 13 mag at ∼ 500 mas and ∼ 15 mag at ∼ 2 arcsec. While the bar mask performs ∼ 1 mag better than the round mask at small angular separations ≲ 0.75 arcsec, it is the other way around at large angular separations ≳ 1.5 arcsec. Moreover, the round mask gives access to the full 360 deg field-of-view which is beneficial for the search of new companions. We conclude that already during the instrument commissioning, JWST high-contrast imaging in the L- and M-bands performs close to its predicted limits and is a factor of ∼ 10 times better at large separations than the best ground-based instruments operating at similar wavelengths despite its \u3e 2 times smaller collecting area
Prospects for Lattice QFTs on Curved Riemann Manifolds
Get PDFConformal or near conformal Quantum Field Theories QFT) would benefit from a rigorous non-perturbative lattice formulation beyond the flat Euclidean space, Rd. Although all UV complete QFT are generally acknowledged to be perturbatively renormalizable on smooth Riemann manifolds, non-perturbative realization on simplicial lattices (triangulation) encounter difficulties as the UV cut-off is removed. We review the Quantum Finite Element (QFE) method that combines classical Finite Element with new quantum counter terms designed to address this. The construction for maximally symmetric spaces (Sd, R × Sd−1 and AdSd+1) is outlined with numerical tests on R × S2 and a description of theoretical and algorithmic challenges for d = 3, 4 QFTs
CayleyMenger - Circuit Polynomials in the Cayley Menger ideal
No full textCombinatorial Resultants, Combinatorial Resultant Trees and Circuit Polynomials in the Cayley Menger idea
Taking Action: Two Years after the ASP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee’s Call to Action
Get PDFTASP Newsletterhe three main goals of the ASP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee are to (1) build a pipeline that overcomes structural barriers of entry for underrepresented groups of scientists who wish to engage in natural products research, (2) work with members of the ASP to create a more equitable, inclusive, and supportive community, and (3) recognize and highlight the contributions that members from underrepresented communities make to the ASP. In the summer of 2020, we published an article for the ASP Newsletter that described a series of actions to support these three goals. Here we provide an update on what the committee, the society, and the community have accomplished together in 2021– 2022 under the leadership of co-chairs Drs. Lesley-Ann Giddings and Christine Salomon
Repentance, Redemption, Resurrection: Early Christian Art and Exegesis of The Book of Jonah
No full textMacroalgal-Associated Foraminifera in Tide Pools
No full textForaminifera are part of a major group of diverse and important eukaryotes called SAR. Foraminifera hold important roles in marine environments making them good bioindicators and organisms worth studying. Foraminifera inhabit a variety of environments including tide pools where they interact with algae, yet there is not much known about foraminiferal communities on macroalgae in tide pools. Previous studies on epiphytic microbial communities have been morphology based or have not specifically looked at foraminifera. Similarly, of the few molecular studies investigating micro-eukaryotic diversity in tide pools, none have focused on foraminifera. This pilot study uses molecular methods to explore foraminiferal diversity on macroalgae in tide pools in Acadia National Park in Maine. The results of this study show that molecular tools can successfully characterize foraminiferal diversity on macroalgae in tide pools, that foraminiferal communities vary across algae species from different tide pools, and that macroalgae in tide pools host a wide variety of foraminiferal species. The implications of this study help us to better understand microbial biodiversity in extreme environments, specifically tide pools, which is especially important in the midst of climate change
Activational vs. Organizational Effects of Sex Steroids and their Role in the Evolution of Reproductive Behavior: Looking to Foot-Flagging Frogs and Beyond
No full textSex steroids play an important role in regulation of the vertebrate reproductive phenotype. This is because sex steroids not only activate sexual behaviors that mediate copulation, courtship, and aggression, but they also help guide the development of neural and muscular systems that underlie these traits. Many biologists have therefore described the effects of sex steroid action on reproductive behavior as both “activational” and “organizational,” respectively. Here, we focus on these phenomena from an evolutionary standpoint, highlighting that we know relatively little about the way that organizational effects evolve in the natural world to support the adaptation and diversification of reproductive behavior. We first review the evidence that such effects do in fact evolve to mediate the evolution of sexual behavior. We then introduce an emerging animal model – the foot-flagging frog, Staurois parvus – that will be useful to study how sex hormones shape neuromotor development necessary for sexual displays. The foot flag is nothing more than a waving display that males use to compete for access to female mates, and thus the neural circuits that control its production are likely laid down when limb control systems arise during the developmental transition from tadpole to frog. We provide data that highlights how sex steroids might organize foot-flagging behavior through its putative underlying mechanisms. Overall, we anticipate that future studies of foot-flagging frogs will open a powerful window from which to see how sex steroids influence the neuromotor systems to help germinate circuits that drive signaling behavior. In this way, our aim is to bring attention to the important frontier of endocrinological regulation of evolutionary developmental biology (endo-evo-devo) and its relationship to behavior
