EXPLORATION INTO THE IMPACT OF IDENTITY-RELATED MEMORIES ON SELF-CONCEPT POSITIVITY AND STABILITY

The suppression and stigmatization of minority groups creates division within oursociety. Therefore, our collective need to investigate the nuances of self-perception as it relatesto our perceived identity is becoming increasingly crucial. We aim to understand whetherexperiences related to one’s identity can influence one’s self-concept. Specifically, we willexplore the impact of recalling identity-related experiences, as memories, on self-conceptpositivity and stability. We will perform two behavioral studies. Our first pilot study willexamine the content and reliability of new stimuli (participant-disclosed autobiographicalmemories related to their racial and ethnic identity) later used for an adapted autobiographicalmemory (ABM) recall task. The second full study, using the same ABM recall task, will test theeffects of recalling positive (e.g., celebratory) and negative (e.g., stigmatizing) identity-relatedmemories on self-concept positivity and stability. Participants will rate the self-descriptiveness ofvarious traits after recalling their identity-related memories. In general, we predict that recallingnegative identity-related memories (e.g., experiences with stigma) will be associated with lesspositive trait self-descriptiveness. Additionally, we predict that negative identity-related memoryrecall will have a negative influence on self-concept stability, compared to recalling positiveexperiences. Data from this pilot study could inform a future functional magnetic resonanceimaging study in which we would investigate the neural activations related to recalling identity-related memories. Implications from these studies could inform our understanding of therelationship between identity and self, especially within suppressed and stigmatized identitygroups

The static quark potential from the gauge invariant Abelian decomposition

We investigate the relationship between colour confinement and topological structures derived from the gauge invariant Abelian (Cho-Duan-Ge) decomposition. This Abelian decomposition is made imposing an isometry on a colour field $n$ which selects the Abelian direction; the principle novelty of our study is that we have defined this field in terms of the eigenvectors of the Wilson Loop. This allows us to establish an equivalence between the path ordered integral of the non-Abelian gauge fields with an integral over an Abelian restricted gauge field which is tractable both theoretically and numerically in lattice QCD. By using Stokes' theorem, we can relate the Wilson Loop in terms of a surface integral over a restricted field strength, and show that the restricted field strength may be dominated by topological structures, which occur when one of the parameters parametrising the colour field $n$ winds itself around a non-analyticity in the colour field. If they exist, these objects will lead to an area law scaling for the Wilson Loop and provide a mechanism for quark confinement. We search for these structures in quenched lattice QCD. We perform the Abelian decomposition, and find that the restricted field strength is dominated by peaks on the lattice. Wilson Loops containing these peaks show a stronger area-Law and thus provide the dominant contribution to the string tension.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; v2 some minor changes (including updated numerical results), accepted for publication in Physics Letter

Update on εK\varepsilon_K with lattice QCD inputs

We report updated results for $\varepsilon_K$, the indirect CP violation parameter in neutral kaons, which is evaluated directly from the standard model with lattice QCD inputs. We use lattice QCD inputs to fix $\bar{B}_K$, $|V_{cb}|$, $\xi_0$, $\xi_2$, $|V_{us}|$, and $m_c(m_c)$. Since Lattice 2016, the UTfit group has updated the Wolfenstein parameters in the angle-only-fit method, and the HFLAV group has also updated $|V_{cb}|$. Our results show that the evaluation of $\varepsilon_K$ with exclusive $|V_{cb}|$ (lattice QCD inputs) has $4.0\sigma$ tension with the experimental value, while that with inclusive $|V_{cb}|$ (heavy quark expansion based on OPE and QCD sum rules) shows no tension.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Lattice 2017 proceeding, references update

Interpreting Midway Barn: Understanding Frank Lloyd Wright\u27s Agrarian Vision

At first glance, Midway Barn in Spring Green, Wisconsin presents itself as another example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s distinctive, if evolving style, its horizontal massing, tilted roof planes, and natural materials echoing the hilly landscape of the farm and its environs. Analysis of the documentary record and a range of sources on Wright’s life and thought, however, points to a richer story. Part of Wright’s larger campaign to reclaim his hometown landscape after his return to the Jones Valley, Midway Barn reflects his desire to reenact the agrarian lessons learned in his youth through the Taliesin Fellowship. Viewed in this way, Midway Barn offers insight not only into the architect’s biography but also into his complicated and sometimes contradictory relationship to “rural” values, materials, and ways of life. It also allows us to compare the barn’s striking visual innovations to its more conventional program and use, both of which were quite at home in the agricultural landscape of early 20th-century Wisconsin. Taking a cue from Freeman Tilden’s observation that the key goal of interpretation is “not instruction, but provocation,” this thesis challenges the perception of Midway Barn as a straightforward example of Wright’s modernist interpretation of a traditional American barn. Instead, this study treats the complex as a window to interpret Wright’s ideas about the role of agriculture and rural lifeways in regional and national society

DOES GOVERNMENT AID MODERATES THE EFFECT OF LIVING IN POVERTY ON INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE?

This study examines the relationship between the government aid and intimate partner violence. Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) is used to explain the relationship between poverty and intimate partner violence. Using the individual level data of 8,000 women, this study examines whether the government aid moderates the effect of living in poverty on intimate partner violence. Using the data from the survey questions, a logistic regression analysis is conducted. Results reveal that the relationship between living in poverty and likelihood of intimate partner violence was supported. However, this study does not support the relationship between government aid and intimate partner violence. Thus, further research needed with more accurate data and different method