African Art: What and to Whom? Anxieties, Certainties, Mythologies

It has taken nearly a whole century to publish two books on African art that recognize the continent as a complex cultural unit within which there is diversity, A History of Art in Africa (Blackmun Visona, M et al, 2001) and Africa, The Art of a Continent (Phillips, T. 1995). Why it taken so long far North and East Africa past and present to be included in texts labeled African art? Why were they not recognized as African? India, also a place of diversity of race and ethnicity, has not similarly treated. The assumptions underlying the norms a representation of Africa were deeply rooted, their influence scholarship related to African art and culture was profound and, even if attenuated at present, persistent. They have impacted on the organization of information related to Africa, influencing from cataloging, the content of texts and videos, to museum layout exhibitions. Only by becoming conscious of the pervasive power of this hidden curriculum can we take steps to counter its influence. Those underlying assumptions are symptomatic of European fear5aJlII desires related to African identity

The University as an Industrial Plant: How A Workplace Theory of Discriminatory Harassment Creates a “Hostile Environment” for Free Speech in America’s Universities

Gall uses Rodney A. Smolla\u27s article Academic Freedom, Hate Speech, and the Idea of a University as a basis for his discussion of hostile environments for free speech among colleges and universities

Further Eastern Range Extension and Host Records for \u3ci\u3eLeptoglossus Occidentalis\u3c/i\u3e (Heteroptera: Coreidae): Well-Documented Dispersal of a Household Nuisance

Leptoglossus occidentalis is reported for the first time from Connecticut, New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming, representing an eastern range extension from Indiana and Michigan. Tsuga canadensis and Pinus mugo are added to the long list of coniferous hosts of this coreid. Approximately 233 of 316 northeastern specimens were collected inside or on the outside of buildings from August-May, confirming previous observations that L. occidentalis uses buildings for overwintering. Isolated records from Con- necticut and eastern Pennsylvania suggest human-mediated dispersal may augment its natural dispersal. The pattern of distribution records on a map of North America identifies L. occidentalis as one of the best documented examples of a native insect expanding its range eastward in North America. Striking differences in the color pattern of the abdominal dorsum facilitates separation of the closely related L. occidentalis and L. corculus

Improved Quantum Algorithm for Triangle Finding via Combinatorial Arguments

In this paper we present a quantum algorithm solving the triangle finding problem in unweighted graphs with query complexity $\tilde O(n^{5/4})$, where $n$ denotes the number of vertices in the graph. This improves the previous upper bound $O(n^{9/7})=O(n^{1.285...})$ recently obtained by Lee, Magniez and Santha. Our result shows, for the first time, that in the quantum query complexity setting unweighted triangle finding is easier than its edge-weighted version, since for finding an edge-weighted triangle Belovs and Rosmanis proved that any quantum algorithm requires $\Omega(n^{9/7}/\sqrt{\log n})$ queries. Our result also illustrates some limitations of the non-adaptive learning graph approach used to obtain the previous $O(n^{9/7})$ upper bound since, even over unweighted graphs, any quantum algorithm for triangle finding obtained using this approach requires $\Omega(n^{9/7}/\sqrt{\log n})$ queries as well. To bypass the obstacles characterized by these lower bounds, our quantum algorithm uses combinatorial ideas exploiting the graph-theoretic properties of triangle finding, which cannot be used when considering edge-weighted graphs or the non-adaptive learning graph approach.Comment: 17 pages, to appear in FOCS'14; v2: minor correction

Inequality, Incomplete Contracts, and the Size Distribution of Business Firms

This paper analyzes the effects of intrafirm bargaining on the formation of firms in an economy with imperfect capital markets and contracting constraints. In equilibrium wealth inequality induces a heterogenous distribution of firm sizes allowing for firms both too small and too large in terms of technical efficiency. The findings connect well to empirical facts such as the missing middle of size distributions in developing countries. The model identifies a number of properties of the firm size distribution with respect to the wealth distribution and can encompass a non-monotonic relationship between aggregate wealth and inequality.Intrafirm bargaining, matching, firm size distribution

An Efficient Quantum Algorithm for some Instances of the Group Isomorphism Problem

In this paper we consider the problem of testing whether two finite groups are isomorphic. Whereas the case where both groups are abelian is well understood and can be solved efficiently, very little is known about the complexity of isomorphism testing for nonabelian groups. Le Gall has constructed an efficient classical algorithm for a class of groups corresponding to one of the most natural ways of constructing nonabelian groups from abelian groups: the groups that are extensions of an abelian group $A$ by a cyclic group $Z_m$ with the order of $A$ coprime with $m$. More precisely, the running time of that algorithm is almost linear in the order of the input groups. In this paper we present a quantum algorithm solving the same problem in time polynomial in the logarithm of the order of the input groups. This algorithm works in the black-box setting and is the first quantum algorithm solving instances of the nonabelian group isomorphism problem exponentially faster than the best known classical algorithms.Comment: 20 pages; this is the full version of a paper that will appear in the Proceedings of the 27th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2010

Computer studies of baroclinic flow

Programs necessary for computing the transition curve on the regime diagram for the atmospheric general circulation experiment (AGOE) were completed and used to determine the regime diagram for the rotating annulus and some axisymmetric flows for one possible AGOE configuration. The effect of geometrical constraints on the size of eddies developing from a basic state is being examined. In AGOE, the geometric constraint should be the width of the shear zone or the baroclinic zone. Linear and nonlinear models are to be used to examine both barotropic and baroclinic flows. The results should help explain the scale selection mechanism of baroclinic eddies in the atmosphere experimental models such as AGOE, and the multiple vortex phenomenon in tornadoes