Testing for Photometric Variability at the L/T Boundary

We construct K_s-band light curves for nine field L and T brown dwarfs using the Palomar 60 inch Telescope. Results of a robust statistical analysis indicate that about half the targets show significant evidence for variability. Two of these variable targets have marginally significant peaks in the Lomb-Scargle periodogram. The phased light curves show evidence for periodic behavior on timescales of about 1.5 and 3.0 hours

The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings From the 2003 California Health Interview Survey

Provides an overview of the shift from job-based health insurance to enrollment in public insurance programs, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of key public policy options to extend coverage to California's uninsured residents

Examining “good singing” in the age of The Voice: Implications for voice pedagogy and practice

The rise to prominence of reality TV singing shows over the past two decades has perpetuated a certain style of singing as the “winning formula”. This formula requires contestants to perform contemporary commercial music using loud, high-pitched, energized singing (usually high belt or chest-mix). What do members of the public make of this style of singing? To test a hypothesis that reality TV singing may be deemed as “good singing” by the public, this study considered how people (N = 52) described and evaluated three stylistically different versions of a melody as sung by amateurs and professional vocalists. We exposed participants to three versions of “Happy Birthday”: 1) amateurs singing “as they would normally sing”; 2) professionals performing a “plain” version; 3) the same professionals singing a version in the style of The Voice reality TV show. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate that both professional versions were considered “better singing” than the amateur singing. While respondents focused on the technical deficiencies for amateurs, descriptions of the professionals concerned style. Contrary to our hypothesis that the popularity of reality TV singing shows would influence public perceptions of good singing, participants’ preferences for “good singing” were split between the two professional versions, with people focused on sophistication and creativity (the “professional voice” version) or vocal quality (the “professional plain” version). While participants were more likely to sing along with the “amateur” version, respondents’ preferred version largely matched their chosen exemplar of “good singing”. When considering studio teaching, these findings have implications for student vocal development and learning: students’ preferences for and aspirations towards “good singing” may not align with the functional capabilities of their voices. Additional Implications will be considered, with discussion invited on the utility of evaluative statements such as “good” and “bad” in relation to singing performance benchmarks

The influence of vocal performance on singing self-concept

Background: A growing body of research demonstrates that musical engagement is associated with wide range of well-being benefits. Additionally, research into musical identities indicates that musical self-concept plays a role in the extent to which we engage in musical activities. Therefore, when considering how to widen musical participation for well-being benefit, it is important to consider the role of individual identities which include some component of music. Musical self-concept, is, however, socially constructed; and little consideration has been given to defining the broader sociocultural factors at play in the formation of musical self-concepts. Aims: The present experiment was designed to better understand socio-cultural factors which are hypothesized as potentially influencing singing self-concept. In particular, drawing on social comparison theory, the experiment considered the potential influence of the exposure to different types of vocal performances on singing self-concept. Social comparison theory states that people evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to other people. The present study asked, “Does exposure to examples of certain types of singing influence participants’ own singing self-concept” and “If so, what is the nature of this influence and is a particular influence correlated with a particular example of singing”. Method: Australian residents were invited to complete an online experiment. After providing demographic information and answering a series of questions to establish a baseline for each participant in relation to music and identity, participants heard a one-minute recorded example of “Happy Birthday”. Participants were randomly allocated into one of four conditions, such that they heard either: 1. Male and female trained singers performing in the style of “The Voice” reality television series 2. Male and female trained singers performing a “plain” version 3. Male and female untrained singers performing “as they would normally sing the song” 4. A control version (unaccompanied piano) After listening to the audio clip, participants responded to a series of items concerning the singing technique, level of difficulty, and perceived similarities/differences between the performer and the participant. Lastly, participants were asked to reflect on their own singing ability. Results: Data collection is currently underway. Preliminary analyses (N = 123) indicate that people judged the quality of the performances differently, such that the quality was rated highest for the traditional professional performance and lowest for the amateur performance. People in the traditional and amateur singing conditions reported higher confidence in being able to sing along with the performers than those in the “The Voice” condition. Interestingly, however, people’s direct ratings for being able to sing well/having no singing talent were not affected by the audio condition, such that it is possible that previous music experience might moderate the relationship. Supplementary analyses will draw on additional data concerning how musical self-concept relates to well-being. Conclusions: The present study extends research into the socio-cultural construction of musical self-concept. Findings have theoretical implications for considering how musical self-concept development may influence adult participation in music activities and, thus, individual well-being. In addition, the findings have practical implications for how music educators develop supportive and engaging music-making opportunities

Starvation Resistance is Associated with Developmentally Specified Changes in Sleep, Feeding and Metabolic Rate

Food shortage represents a primary challenge to survival, and animals have adapted diverse developmental, physiological and behavioral strategies to survive when food becomes unavailable. Starvation resistance is strongly influenced by ecological and evolutionary history, yet the genetic basis for the evolution of starvation resistance remains poorly understood. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provides a powerful model for leveraging experimental evolution to investigate traits associated with starvation resistance. While control populations only live a few days without food, selection for starvation resistance results in populations that can survive weeks. We have previously shown that selection for starvation resistance results in increased sleep and reduced feeding in adult flies. Here, we investigate the ontogeny of starvation resistance-associated behavioral and metabolic phenotypes in these experimentally selected flies. We found that selection for starvation resistance resulted in delayed development and a reduction in metabolic rate in larvae that persisted into adulthood, suggesting that these traits may allow for the accumulation of energy stores and an increase in body size within these selected populations. In addition, we found that larval sleep was largely unaffected by starvation selection and that feeding increased during the late larval stages, suggesting that experimental evolution for starvation resistance produces developmentally specified changes in behavioral regulation. Together, these findings reveal a critical role for development in the evolution of starvation resistance and indicate that selection can selectively influence behavior during defined developmental time points

Positivity of Quasilocal Mass

Motivated by the important work of Brown adn York on quasilocal energy, we propose definitions of quasilocal energy and momentum surface energy of a spacelike 2-surface with positive intrinsic curvature in a spacetime. We show that the quasilocal energy of the boundary of a compact spacelike hypersurface which satisfies the local energy condition is strictly positive unless the spacetime is flat along the spacelike hypersurface.Comment: 4 pages; final published versio

Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English

Twice a year, in the May ann November issues, RTE publishes a selected bibliography of recent research in the teaching of English. Most of the studies appeared during the six-mouth period preceding the complication of the bibliography (July through December; 1999, for the present bibliography), but some studies that appeared earlier are occasionally included. The listing is selective; we make no attempt to include all research and research-related articles that appeared in the period under review. Comments on the bibliography and suggestions about items for inclusion may be directed to the bibliography editors We encourage you to send your suggestions to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]. You may also submit comments or recommend publications through the Annotated Bibliography page of RTE\u27s World Wide Web site at http://www.ncte.org/rte/

Disrupting the Lean: Performing a 2016 Declaration of Sentiments

Inspired by the spirit of disruption, this article narrates the making of a “2016 Declaration of Sentiments,” invented in a roundtable, “Disrupting the Lean: Performing a 2016 Declaration of Sentiments,” at the fifth Biennial Seneca Falls Dialogues (SFD). We open the essay with a brief theoretical overview that informs manifestos written in a feminist theory or senior seminar course that take up questions of gender equity, labor, and acts of resistance. We follow with excerpts from these manifestos as read in the roundtable, closing the essay with a “2016 Declaration of Sentiments,” collaboratively authored and recited by roundtable participants. Looking back but thinking forward, we give you our words and our voice as we seek to bring activism and agency back to Seneca Falls

Who would be affected by a ban on disposable vapes? A population study in Great Britain

OBJECTIVE: The UK government is consulting on banning disposable e-cigarettes. This study aimed to describe trends in disposable e-cigarette use among adults in Great Britain since 2021 and establish who would currently be affected by a ban on disposables. STUDY DESIGN: Nationally-representative monthly cross-sectional survey. METHODS: We analysed data from 69,973 adults surveyed between January 2021 and August 2023. We estimated monthly time trends in the weighted prevalence of current disposable e-cigarette use among adults and by sociodemographic characteristics and smoking status. RESULTS: From January 2021 to August 2023, the prevalence of disposable e-cigarette use grew from 0.1 % to 4.9 %. This rise was observed across all population subgroups but was most pronounced among younger adults (e.g. reaching 15.9 % of 18-year-olds compared with 1.3 % of 65-year-olds), those who currently smoke (16.3 %), and those who stopped smoking in the past year (18.2 %). Use among never smokers remained relatively rare (1.5 %), except among 18- to 24-year-olds (7.1 %). Use was significantly higher in England than Wales or Scotland (5.3 % vs. 2.0 % and 2.8 %) and among less (vs. more) advantaged social grades (6.1 % vs. 4.0 %), those with (vs. without) children (6.4 % vs. 4.4 %), and those with (vs. without) a history of mental health conditions (9.3 % vs. 3.1 %). CONCLUSIONS: A ban on disposable e-cigarettes would currently affect one in 20 adults in Great Britain (approximately 2.6 million people). The proportion who would be affected would be greatest among young people, including the 316,000 18-24 year-olds who currently use disposables but who have never regularly smoked tobacco, which may discourage uptake of vaping in this group. However, a ban would also affect 1.2 million people who currently smoke and a further 744,000 who previously smoked. It would also have a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged groups that have higher rates of smoking and typically find it harder to quit

Descriptions and evaluations of 'good singing' in the age of The Voice

What constitutes 'good singing' can be hotly contested amongst singing voice pedagogues, yet little is known about what the general public considers to be 'good singing'. Within a program of research on musical identity and singing self-concept, this mixed-methods pilot study considered how members of the public (N = 52) described and evaluated stylistically different versions of a sung melody to test a hypothesis that reality TV singing may be deemed as 'good singing'. Participants were exposed to three versions of 'Happy Birthday': 1) amateurs singing 'as they would normally sing'; 2) professionals performing a 'plain' version; 3) the same professionals singing an embellished version in the style of The Voice reality TV show. Results indicate that both professional versions were considered 'better singing' than the amateur singing. While respondents focused on the technical deficiencies for amateurs, descriptions of the professionals concerned style. Stated exemplars of 'good singing' were split between the two professional versions—based on sophistication and creativity ('professional: embellished') or vocal quality ('professional: plain'). While respondents’ preferred version largely matched their chosen exemplar of 'good singing', participants were more likely to sing along with the 'amateur' version. Implications for singing voice pedagogy and engagement in singing activities for wellbeing are considered