Aster's Hoity Toity Belt

This fictitious story centers on a celestial family of asteroids and their adventures in the "skyborhood." Students will learn about smaller bodies of our solar system and the Dawn mission by identifying some aspects of the story that are true, some that might be true, and some that are false. Educators can choose from three versions, including storyteller, learning notations, or illustrators. The storyteller version can be used to tell the story without comment. The learning version is annotated to provide further explanation to assist in identifying aspects of the story. The illustrator's version contains space for the children to make their own illustrations to accompany the text. Educational levels: Primary elementary, Intermediate elementary

On a conjecture by Naito-Sagaki: Littelmann paths and Littlewood-Richardson Sundaram tableaux

We prove a special case of a conjecture of Naito-Sagaki about a branching rule for the restriction of irreducible representations of $\mathfrak{sl}(2n,\mathbb{C})$ to $\mathfrak{sp}(2n,\mathbb{C})$. The conjecture is in terms of certain Littelmann paths, with the embedding given by the folding of the type $A_{2n-1}$ Dynkin diagram. We propose and motivate an approach to the conjecture in general, in terms of Littlewood-Richardson Sundaram tableaux.Comment: 13 pages. Comments welcom

Word reading is a crystal morphism

We observe that word reading is a crystal morphism. This leads us to prove that, in the case of the complex special linear group, the map from all galleries to MV cycles is a morphism of crystals.Comment: 15 pages, comments welcom

Potential inbreeding in a small population of a mass flowering species, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii (Xanthorrhoaceae): is your mother my father?

Xanthorrhoea johnsonii is a long lived slow growing perennial understorey species, that produces a large quantity of passively dispersed seed every 3-5 years. Reproductive maturity is not reached until 20-30 years of age. The temporal asynchrony of the flowering event in this population was analogous to geographic isolation through fragmentation. A small population of plants flowering in isolation provided the opportunity to examine outcrossing rates, genetic diversity and the paternity of progeny at a small spatial scale (0.2 ha). The geographic location and physical characteristics of the adult plants were recorded, and both adults and their seed were sampled for genetic analysis. Four microsatellite loci were screened for genetic diversity and spatial structure analysis. A population outcrossing rate was estimated, as well as the number of paternal parents required to resolve the progeny multilocus genotypes. High genetic diversity was found in both adults and progeny with an estimated 97% outcrossing rate. All maternal lines required several paternal contributors, with no evidence of dominant paternal genotypes. Pollen transfer occurred between both geographically close and distant plants

Intervention designs for perceived improved access to farm productivity- enhancing resources in the drylands : case study of Kenya

In Kenya's dryland districts, gaps in access to productivity-enhancing resources are disconcertingly wide despite the growing number of external interventions. This research paper evaluates five past interventions to identify resource access gaps and effective designs replicable in the region. The study used cross-sectional data collected from sampled participants in each of the interventions. A two-stage regression model was used to assess the perceived effectiveness of the interventions. Results of the analysis showed that access to productivity-enhancing resources particularly irrigation, quality seeds, fertilizers and markets was patchy and low. Furthermore, access was significantly high where complementary resources could be found in a single intervention. Conclusively, resource planning should be an integral part of every intervention. Towards this end, irrigation and markets for credit and produce are critical. Moreover, use of the participatory intervention design is recommended in order to foster identification of complementary resources, which are relevant for specific socio-economic and natural contexts

Supporting people with cognitive disabilities in decision making – processes and dilemmas

The exploratory study found that participants, including those with cognitive disability, mostly supported the broad concept of supported decision making. However supporters saw this as a complex, dynamic and frequently chaotic process. Fundamental to the process were relationships and tailoring support to the individual. The skills and knowledge required included communication skills, self-awareness, the capacity for reflective discussion, conflict resolution skills, and knowledge of strategies for tailoring the decision making process to the individual. The study revealed multiple dilemmas and tensions associated with supporting someone with cognitive disability to make a decision but most commonly mentioned were remaining neutral, managing conflicting perspectives amongst differing supporters, balancing rights with risk and best interests, and resource constraints. The study provides some key insights into the practice of supporting people with cognitive disability to make decisions and knowledge that can be incorporated into training programs for people in this role. The findings also highlight the need for further research in this area, particularly in relation to ‘what works’ in support for decision making for people with cognitive disabilit

Public Sector Debt Dynamics: The Persistence and Sources of Shocks to Debt in Ten EU Countries

We document that, at business cycle frequencies, fluctuations in nominal variables, such as aggregate price levels and nominal interest rates, are substantially more synchronized across countries than fluctuations in real output. To the extent that domestic nominal variables are largely determined by domestic monetary policy, this might seem surprising. We ask if a parsimonious international business cycle model can account for this aspect of cross-country aggregate fluctuations. It can. Due to spillovers of technology shocks across countries, expected future responses of national central banks to fluctuations in domestic output and inflation generate movements in current prices and interest rates that are synchronized across countries even when output is not. Even modest spillovers produce cross-country correlations such as those in the data.International business cycles, prices, interest rates.