1,649 research outputs found
Prisoners on the Great White Way: Short Eyes and Zoot Suit as the First US Latina/o Plays on Broadway
The first two Latina/o-written and directed plays on Broadway were Miguel Piñero’s Short Eyes in 1974 and Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit in 1979. Both plays use Latino prisoners as their central characters. Though the reception of the two plays in the popular press differed, with Short Eyes receiving glowing praise and Zoot Suit largely dismissed, the critics used the same rubric to judge them: the plays were overtly evaluated in terms of received notions of cultural authenticity and criminality. Ultimately, the commercial success of Short Eyes and Zoot Suit’s failure on Broadway both had to do with the ways in which New York critics
registered the playwrights’ differing representations of racialized criminality. (AL, Article in English
Correcting political and consumer misperceptions
While fact-checking has grown dramatically in the last decade, little is known about the relative effectiveness of different formats in correcting false beliefs or overcoming partisan resistance to new information. This article addresses that gap by using theories from communication and psychology to compare two prevailing approaches: An online experiment examined how the use of visual “truth scales” interacts with partisanship to shape the effectiveness of corrections. We find that truth scales make fact-checks more effective in some conditions. Contrary to theoretical predictions and the fears of some journalists, their use does not increase partisan backlash against the correction or the organization that produced it
Efficacy of High-performance Vision Training on Improving the Reaction Time of Collegiate Softball Athletes: A Randomized Trial
Purpose. A well-developed visual system is integral to the dynamic nature of sport performance among collegiate athletes. Occupational therapists play an important role in addressing an athlete’s visual skills through incorporating meaningful occupation, in this case sport, into interventions while addressing specific client factors. The aim of the study was to examine the efficacy of occupational therapist led high-performance visual training in improving the reaction time of collegiate softball athletes. Method. A mixed method approach was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected to assess athlete perceptions of sport, and quantitative data were collected using a mixed within group and between group design. Twenty-one participants were randomly allocated into two groups, each receiving a 6-week intervention which followed an evidence-based protocol. Group A consisted of Dynavision™ D2 training, and Group B of non-machine, therapist-led, visual training, twice weekly for 10-15 minutes each. Results. Results of the study highlight perceived meaningfulness of sport and display that both theory-based protocols were effective, as Group A and Group B experienced significant decreases in reaction time. However, decreases in reaction time were more significant for Group A in both proactive and reactive Dynavision™ D2 training modes. Conclusion. Results suggest that both the Dynavision™ D2 and alternative vision training as led by occupational therapists may be beneficial in improving the proactive and reactive reaction times of collegiate athletes, enhancing their abilities to participate in meaningful sports, but the Dynavision™ D2 may be a more effective training tool, especially related to proactive reaction time training
Peptide conformational sampling using the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm
Protein folding -- the problem of predicting the spatial structure of a
protein given its sequence of amino-acids -- has attracted considerable
research effort in biochemistry in recent decades. In this work, we explore the
potential of quantum computing to solve a simplified version of protein
folding. More precisely, we numerically investigate the performance of a
variational quantum algorithm, the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm
(QAOA), in sampling low-energy conformations of short peptides. We start by
benchmarking the algorithm on an even simpler problem: sampling self-avoiding
walks, which is a necessary condition for a valid protein conformation.
Motivated by promising results achieved by QAOA on this problem, we then apply
the algorithm to a more complete version of protein folding, including a
simplified physical potential. In this case, based on numerical simulations on
20 qubits, we find less promising results: deep quantum circuits are required
to achieve accurate results, and the performance of QAOA can be matched by
random sampling up to a small overhead. Overall, these results cast serious
doubt on the ability of QAOA to address the protein folding problem in the near
term, even in an extremely simplified setting. We believe that the approach and
conclusions presented in this work could offer valuable methodological insights
on how to systematically evaluate variational quantum optimization algorithms
on real-world problems beyond protein folding.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figure
O visitante atrás das grades
Apresenta-se aqui a tradução do texto Doin´Time: Through the visiting glass, batizado aqui de O visitante atrás das grades, dramaturgia que resultou de um trabalho a partir das memĂłrias da prĂłpria autora e de pesquisa com familiares de pessoas encarceradas. Composta por doze quadros, o texto explora o impacto da prisĂŁo na intimidade das famĂlias obrigadas a lidar com o contexto carcerário
The effects of water temperature on the juvenile performance of two tropical damselfishes expatriating to temperate reefs
Ocean warming associated with global climate change is already inducing geographic range shifts of marine species. Juvenile coral reef fishes transported into temperate latitudes (termed 'vagrant' fishes) can experience winter water temperatures below their normal thermal minimum. Such environmental extremes may increase energetic costs for such fishes, resulting in reduced performance, which may be the governing factor that limits the potential for poleward range expansion of such fishes. This study compared the juvenile physiological performance and behaviour of two congeneric tropical damselfishes which settle during austral summer months within temperate eastern Australia: Abudefduf vaigiensis have an extended southern range, and lower threshold survival temperature than the congeneric A. whitleyi. Physiological and behavioural performance parameters that may be affected by cooler temperature regimes at higher latitudes were measured in aquaria. Lower water temperature resulted in reduced growth rates, feeding rates, burst escape speed and metabolic rates of both species, with significantly reduced performance (up to six-fold reductions) for fishes reared at 18°C relative to 22°C and 26°C. However, A. whitleyi exhibited lower growth rates than A. vaigiensis across all temperatures, and lower aerobic capacity at the lowest temperature (18°C). This difference between species in growth and metabolic capacity suggests that the extended southern distribution and greater overwintering success of A. vaigiensis, in comparison to A. whitleyi is related to thermal performance parameters which are critical in maintaining individual health and survival. Our results support previous findings in the region that water temperature below 22°C represents a critical physiological threshold for tropical Abudefduf species expatriating into temperate south-eastern Australia
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