EQSE Diagonalization of the Hubbard Model

The application of enhanced quasi-sparse eigenvector methods (EQSE) to the Hubbard model is attempted. The ground state energy for the 4x4 Hubbard model is calculated with a relatively small set of basis vectors. The results agree to high precision with the exact answer. For the 8x8 case, exact answers are not available but a simple first order correction to the quasi-sparse eigenvector (QSE) result is presented.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the International Light-Cone Meeting on Non-Perturbative QCD and Hadron Phenomenology, Heidelberg, June 200

Taking Food Fights Online: Analysis of Chipotle’s Attempt to Cultivate Conversation with \u3cem\u3eThe Scarecrow\u3c/em\u3e Video

This study examines Chipotle’s use of The Scarecrow, an animated YouTube video, to initiate conversation about food sustainability issues. Results illustrate publics were highly engaged in conversation with one another, even though the organization did not directly engage with publics or employ principles of dialogic communication. We highlight the importance of network approaches to studying online interaction between stakeholder groups for public relations scholars interested in dialogical theory frameworks

Understanding Dialogue and Engagement Through Communication Experts’ Use of Interactive Writing to Build Relationships

Dialogic communication is an important public relations theory, yet scholarship has found few organizations using it to its full potential. Meanwhile, multiple overlapping definitions exist for related terms like engagement, interactivity, and responsiveness, causing potential confusion for researchers and professionals. This research reports the results of in-depth interviews with top digital public relations professionals regarding how they use interactive writing, a form of social media engagement, to build relationships. Through their own unprompted words, the research also describes how professionals use terms such as dialogue, engagement, interactivity, and responsiveness, and corresponding definitions, to refer to their daily work. Our model clarifies relationships between similar concepts and recommends areas of future research to advance theory informed by practic

Farmed and Dangerous? A Case Study of Chipotle’s Branded Entertainment Series and Polarized Reactions to its Satirical Depiction of Farming and Agribusiness

This study follows Chipotle’s innovative strategy of using branded entertainment and satire to enhance its brand image and positive consumer perceptions, while negatively portraying an entire industry. The study explores audience reactions to Chipotle’s satirical Farmed and Dangerous program, part of the company’s broader “Food with Integrity” campaign. Increasing agricultural literacy and understanding among the general public is a priority (Doerfert, 2011). Yet marketing communication campaigns—and responses or reactions to those campaigns—that simplify issues into distinct “sides,” or focus on attacks, prevent deep discussion of the complexity of our food system and efforts to collaborate on solutions. Research presented uses a case study, supported by focus group methodology and in-depth survey responses of YouTube commenters, to examine consumer and stakeholder reactions to Chipotle’s content. Findings reveal sharply divided reactions and significant anger and frustration within the agricultural community toward Chipotle for its satirical portrayal of the food production industry. Findings also reveal generally positive attitudes toward Chipotle from those without agricultural experience, and clear perceptions of “sides” in the food debate. Discussion of Chipotle’s marketing strategy explores whether the negative sentiment the company has generated among agricultural stakeholders through efforts like its Farmed and Dangerous webisode series is worth it for the brand, considering the broader positive image the company has gained among much of the general public, as well as related implications for the company linked to more recent struggles with food safety issues and attacks from political groups

Work-Life Balance 2.0? An Examination of Social Media Management Practice and Agency Employee Coping Strategies in a 24/7 Social World

This study examines the work experiences of public relations agency professionals who specialize in social media and digital strategy for clients and those who manage employees tasked with monitoring, updating and responding to social media content. Building upon existing literature focused on work-life balance dynamics for strategic communicators, the research draws from a series of in-depth interviews and correspondence conducted with 26 agency professionals, representing a brand range of the industry. Participants were asked to describe how social media has impacted the nature and volume of their job responsibilities over the past five years, and to discuss how social media management duties have influenced career satisfaction within the industry. Interviewees were also asked about strategies their agencies are using to help employees respond to client needs and the 24/7 nature of social media. Common themes among responses were identified, as well as noteworthy anecdotal evidence. While interviewees expressed mixed emotions related to social media and its impact on their careers, personal lives and the broader industry, participants agreed the rise of social media has dramatically altered agency practice and client expectations, especially related to the speed of the workflow. Participants discussed issues of employee burnout and reported specific challenges related to keeping pace with quickly evolving technology, and the perceived need to maintain a personal brand conveying cutting-edge expertise. Others highlighted opportunities and unique challenges social media has created for more junior agency employees. Interviewees also described family dynamics and the distinct work-life challenges faced by parents, especially mothers, in juggling care-giving roles with agency responsibilities. Findings include identification of best practices and potential strategies for addressing contemporary work-life balance challenges

The Impact of Delay on Retrieval Success in the Parietal Memory Network

Recent work has identified a Parietal Memory Network (PMN), which exhibits regular patterns of activation during memory encoding and retrieval. Among these characteristic patterns, this network displays a strong “retrieval success” effect, showing greater activation for correctlyremembered studied items (hits) compared to correctly-rejected novel items (CRs). To date, most relevant studies have used short retention intervals. Here, we ask if the retrieval success effect seen in the PMN would remain consistent over a delay. Twenty participants underwent fMRI while encoding and recognizing scenes. Greater activity for hits than for correctly-rejected lures within PMN regions was observed after a short delay (~10 min), replicating prior reports. However, after a long retention interval (~48 hours), the network showed an attenuated (but still present) retrieval success effect, with the disparity driven primarily by attenuated activation for hits (i.e., correctly-rejected lures exhibited little to no activity at both delays). Importantly, this difference cannot be entirely explained by a decrease in participant confidence after the delay. These findings suggest a degree of temporal constraint on experiences with stimuli that elicit activation in the PMN

Change Attorneys and Courts Can Believe In: Reviewing the Retroactive Application of Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in United States v. Tolliver, 570 F.3d 1062 (8th Cir. 2009)

The Eighth Circuit in United States v. Tolliver, relying in part on amendment 651, reached the correct conclusion that defendants convicted of crack cocaine offenses, who qualify as career offenders (an enhancement to their sentence) and are later granted a downward departure, are not eligible for a sentence reduction under amendment 706. Though the conclusion is reasonable, the court failed to provide any justification for relying on amendment 651. The court never addressed whether the amendment was substantive or clarifying and its lack of reasoning was attacked by later decisions. This Note seeks to supplement the reasoning in Tolliver by explaining why the Eighth Circuit was justified in relying on amendment 651 to reach its conclusion and how properly resolving the applicability of amendment 651 cures the circuit split. More generally, this Note seeks to provide a framework for determining when subsequent amendments are clarifying and may properly be relied upon by attorneys and courts. Part II of this Note discusses the Guidelines, their history, and their proper application. Part III reviews the retroactive applicability of amendments and specifically amendments 651 and 706. Part IV addresses the current circuit split and the divergent reasoning regarding the applicability of the amendments. Part V analyzes the flaws of both sides of the split in determining the applicability of amendment 651 and proposes a new test for determining when an amendment is clarifying or substantive. Part VI concludes the Note by describing how the new test not only resolves the current split regarding the application of amendment 706 but also provides a framework for analyzing the applicability of retroactive amendments going forward

The generation and fate of strained, unsaturated, bicyclic hydrocarbons

Bicyclo (2.2.2) oct-1-ene 1 was generated by gas phase elimination of trimethylsilyl bromide from 1-bromo-2-(trimethylsilyl)-bicyclo (2.2.2) octane (2). The elimination was effected by passing vapors of 2 over solid-supported tetra-n-butyl ammonium fluoride at room temperature and reduced pressure. Three dimers of 1 were identified by their X-ray crystal structures. A pair of diastereomeric, head-to-head dimers, along with the previously known head-to-tail dimer demonstrate the non-ionic character of the Bredt olefin 1. Attempts to generate bicyclo (2.2.2) octa-1,2-diene are reported;Bicycloalkylidene carbenes are generated in the gas phase and in solution. Factors influencing the fate of these species are discussed. Force field calculations of a series of cyclic and bicyclic vinylidenes are reported and analyzed in the context of ring expansion versus ring contraction. Attempts to synthesize a low temperature, thermal precursor to bicyclic vinylidene are discussed

THE EFFECTS OF SADDLE ANGLE/INCLINATION ON LUMBOPELVIC KINEMATICS AND CARDIOMETABOLIC MEASURES

Lower back pain (LBP) is a condition which affects the lumbar portion of the spinal column that can lead to mild to extreme physical pain during seated tasks and has been shown to be prevalent in people who spend long durations sitting particularly in a slumped position or in a position with a large degree of lumbar flexion. LBP can cause regular interruptions in work and in a person’s ability to engage in exercise, and in most extreme cases warrants surgical interventions for clinical treatment. While LBP is prevalent in sedentary populations, it is also quite prevalent in cycling populations where athletes frequently train and perform in a seated position with a large degree of lumbar flexion. Bike alterations, primarily adopting a downward inclination of the anterior tip of the saddle, have been a proposed method to increase anterior pelvic tilt and decrease lumbar flexion, which may contribute to decreased incidence of LBP in cyclists. However, alterations to the fit of a bicycle have the potential to impact performance and cardiometabolic measures, and also have a potential to effect men and women differently, as bicycles were traditionally designed with the male anatomy in mind resulting in differences in the way the sexes traditionally position themselves on bicycles when they ride. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the differences in torso, lumbar and pelvic kinematics differences, cardiometabolic differences (VO2 and HR), and sex-based kinematic differences of the torso, lumbar, and pelvis during a synonymous cycling task on a traditional flat (relative to the horizontal) saddle compared to a saddle angle with an anterior inclination of 12.5 degrees. We performed kinematic and cardiometabolic assessments in recreational and competitive cyclists without existing chronic LBP during an 8-minute cycling task with a fixed work rate with the flat and inclined saddle angles. A bicycle-based GXTmax (graded exercise test) was conducted in order to establish peak VO2 and peak work rate (in watts) to be used for the kinematic and cardiometabolic assessments. Two subsequent rides conducted at a work rate which corresponded with 80% of elicited peak VO2 were performed during which kinematic or cardiometabolic measures were collected. For kinematic differences motion capture of the torso, pelvis and lower limbs was conducted along with perceived rating of LBP. For cardiometabolic differences VO2 (ml·kg·min-1) and HR (bpm) were collected. For sex-based differences the kinematic data was assessed for each sex and then compared via a 2 way ANOVA analysis. The results showed that in a population of cyclists without existing chronic LBP no significant differences were exhibited as a result of the two saddle angles in lumbar, trunk or pelvic kinematics, perceived LBP, cardiometabolic measures, or kinematics between sexes. These results only directly pertain to short duration, high intensity cycling, and differences may occur if a different cycling task, particularly one of longer duration, were performed. In conclusion, a saddle inclination of 10-15 degrees does not incur any significant kinematic, cardiometabolic or sex-based differences when compared to a flat saddle angle during short duration, high intensity cycling, but further investigation on kinetics in the lumbar spine and lower limbs as a result of these saddle angles is warranted