Seven exercises planned to stimulate the flow of ideas in creative composition

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

The Fewer the Merrier?: Assessing Stigma Surrounding Consensually Non‐monogamous Romantic Relationships

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102091/1/asap1286.pd

Stabilization of heterodimensional cycles

We consider diffeomorphisms $f$ with heteroclinic cycles associated to saddles $P$ and $Q$ of different indices. We say that a cycle of this type can be stabilized if there are diffeomorphisms close to $f$ with a robust cycle associated to hyperbolic sets containing the continuations of $P$ and $Q$. We focus on the case where the indices of these two saddles differ by one. We prove that, excluding one particular case (so-called twisted cycles that additionally satisfy some geometrical restrictions), all such cycles can be stabilized.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figure

The random case of Conley's theorem

The well-known Conley's theorem states that the complement of chain recurrent set equals the union of all connecting orbits of the flow $\phi$ on the compact metric space $X$, i.e. $X-\mathcal{CR}(\phi)=\bigcup [B(A)-A]$, where $\mathcal{CR}(\phi)$ denotes the chain recurrent set of $\phi$, $A$ stands for an attractor and $B(A)$ is the basin determined by $A$. In this paper we show that by appropriately selecting the definition of random attractor, in fact we define a random local attractor to be the $\omega$-limit set of some random pre-attractor surrounding it, and by considering appropriate measurability, in fact we also consider the universal $\sigma$-algebra $\mathcal F^u$-measurability besides $\mathcal F$-measurability, we are able to obtain the random case of Conley's theorem.Comment: 15 page

Variations in Melosira islandica valve morphology in Lake Ontario sediments related to eutrophication and silica depletion

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109796/1/lno19853020414.pd

Measuring a Light Neutralino Mass at the ILC: Testing the MSSM Neutralino Cold Dark Matter Model

The LEP experiments give a lower bound on the neutralino mass of about 46 GeV which, however, relies on a supersymmetric grand unification relation. Dropping this assumption, the experimental lower bound on the neutralino mass vanishes completely. Recent analyses suggest, however, that in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), a light neutralino dark matter candidate has a lower bound on its mass of about 7 GeV. In light of this, we investigate the mass sensitivity at the ILC for very light neutralinos. We study slepton pair production, followed by the decay of the sleptons to a lepton and the lightest neutralino. We find that the mass measurement accuracy for a few-GeV neutralino is around 2 GeV, or even less if the relevant slepton is sufficiently light. We thus conclude that the ILC can help verify or falsify the MSSM neutralino cold dark matter model even for very light neutralinos.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure; references adde

Gender Similarities and Differences in Casual Sex Acceptance Among Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Popular wisdom and scientific evidence suggest women desire and engage in casual sex less frequently than men; however, theories of gender differences in sexuality are often formulated in light of heterosexual relations. Less is understood about sexual behavior among lesbian and gay people, or individuals in which there is arguably less motivation to pursue sex for reproductive purposes and fewer expectations for people to behave in gender-typical ways. Drawing from scripts theory and pleasure theory, in two studies (N1 =  465; N2 =  487) we examined lesbian and gay people’s acceptance of casual sex. We asked participants who had been propositioned for casual sex whether they accepted the offer and to rate their perceptions of the proposer’s sexual capabilities and sexual orientation. They also reported on their awareness of stigma surrounding casual sex. We found a gender difference in acceptance: Gay men were more likely than lesbian women to have accepted a casual sex offer from other gay/lesbian people, and this difference was mediated by participants’ stigma awareness. We also found the proposer’s sexual orientation played a role in people’s acceptance. Lesbian women and gay men were equally likely to accept offers from bisexual proposers but expressed different acceptance rates with “straight-but-curious” proposers, which was mediated by expected pleasure. We discuss dynamics within lesbian and gay communities and implications for studying theories of sexual behavior and gender differences beyond heterosexual contexts

On the Margins: Considering Diversity among Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationships

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) encompasses romantic relationships in which all partners agree that engaging in sexual and/or romantic relationships with other people is allowed and part of their relationship arrangement (Conley, Moors, Matsick & Ziegler, 2012). Previous research indicates that individuals who participate in CNM relationships are demographically homogenous (Sheff & Hammers, 2010; Sheff, 2005); however, we argue that this may be an artifact of community-based recruitment strategies that have created an inaccurate reflection of people who engage in CNM. To achieve a more nuanced understanding of the identities of individuals engaged in departures from monogamy, the present study provides a comparative analysis of descriptive statistics of those in CNM relationships and those in monogamous relationships. Using data from two large online samples, we examined the extent to which individuals with certain demographic variables (gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and age) are over- or under-represented in CNM and monogamous relationships. Overall, we aim to promote future research of CNM that is more inclusive of diverse identities

Does Monogamy Harm Women? Deconstructing Monogamy with a Feminist Lens

In this paper, we utilize a critical feminist lens to analyze the advantages and disadvantages found within two different romantic relationship configurations: monogamy and polyamory. While visibility of polyamorous relationships has increased in recent years, there is still a lack of information and a plethora of misinformation concerning non-monogamous romantic relationship dynamics (Conley, Moors, Matsick, & Ziegler, 2012; Conley, Ziegler, Moors, Matsick, & Valentine, 2012). One such notion is that polyamory is differentially damaging to women vis-à-vis men.  From a phenomenological perspective, sociocultural values dictate that women, unlike men, are prescribed to be dependent upon monogamy in order to define their selfhood; and indeed, research has provided evidence in support of this idea, as women are more apt to be offended by the idea of concurrent multiple relationships and are less likely to report a willingness to engage in these types of relationships than men are (Moors, Conley, Edelstein, & Chopik, under review-a). Using a previous review of monogamy as a starting point (Conley, Ziegler, Moors, Matsick, & Valentine, 2012), we will reanalyze two major points from the review piece: sex benefits and jealousy in monogamous and polyamorous relationships. Throughout, we examine if the presumed benefits of monogamy extend to women or if alternative relationship structures, specifically polyamory, afford greater advantages. Additionally, we consider other benefits that may be unique to polyamory for women, including increased agency, financial resources, and extended social support

It’s Not Just a Gay Male Thing: Sexual Minority Women and Men are Equally Attracted to Consensual Non-monogamy

Concerned with the invisibility of non-gay male interests in alternatives to monogamy, the present study empirically examines three questions: Are there differences between female and male sexual minorities in a) attitudes toward consensual non-monogamy, and b) desire to engage in different types of consensual non-monogamy (e.g., sexual and romantic/polyamory versus sexual only/swinging), and c) schemas for love? An online community sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (n = 111) were recruited for a study about attitudes toward relationships. Results show that sexual minority men and women hold similar attitudes toward CNM and similar levels of desire to engage in these types of relationships. Additionally, there were no differences between male and female sexual minorities’ desire to engage in sexual and romantic types of consensual non-monogamy (polyamory) or sexual-oriented types of consensual non-monogamy (swinging). There were also no differences in preference for specific types of love styles among LGB individuals. In sum, it is not just gay men who express interest in these types of relationships