Equivariant Universal Coefficient and Kunneth Spectral Sequences

We construct hyper-homology spectral sequences of Z-graded and ROG-graded Mackey functors for Ext and Tor over G-equivariant S-algebras (A-infty ring spectra) for finite groups G. These specialize to universal coefficient and Kunneth spectral sequences

Mathematics and The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games plot features a dystopian future in which twelve outer districts are oppressed by a centralized capital. The story focuses on the heroism of a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss and how she tries to rise above the oppression that she experiences. It also features a special lottery and other twists that are sources of mathematical interest. This essay focuses on some of the mathematical issues raised by The Hunger Games in an effort to show that this story can be used to teach students (as well as other interested parties) some important concepts from mathematics

Summer Plankton Dynamics in Acton Lake, Ohio

Author Institution: Environmental Safety Department, Procter and Gamble CompanyPlankton was quantitatively sampled from Acton Lake during July-September 1982. Eighty-two species of phytoplankton and 18 species of zooplankton were identified. Species of Cyanophyta dominated the phytoplankton, and overall the most abundant species during the study was the blue-green alga Schizothrix calckola. Rotifers dominated the zooplankton. The diversity index, species number and density of phytoplankton progressively increased whereas the same parameters for zooplankton were highest in August. Midday photosynthesis (carbon assimilation) ranged from an average of 20.7 mgC/m3/h in October to 100.4 mgC/m3/h during June

Are Logic and Math Relevant to Social Debates?

Social debates, as well as discussions about certain highly charged issues, such as racism, gender identity, and sexuality, usually turn on the uses or mentions of key words. That is, the conclusions we can draw from such discussions depend on how certain terms are used or mentioned in them. Yet participants in social debates may often fail to precisely define their terms or fail to make important distinctions in terms uttered by others. Both logic and mathematics pay attention to the importance of precise definitions when it comes to engaging in discussions, arguments, or proofs. Logic also makes an important distinction between the use of words and the mention of them. This article reviews ideas from mathematics and logic about definitions, use, and mention of words by applying them to central concepts which have arisen in various social debates

A Path Analysis of the Effect of Welfare on Infant Mortality

Social epidemiologists have found a relationship between poverty and infant mortality. Welfare policy experts have found that welfare benefits affect work effort, family structure, migration, and the rate of intergenerational transmission of welfare receipt. Social epidemiologists have paid little attention to the effects of poverty policies on infant mortality. Welfare policy experts have paid little attention to the effect of welfare on infant mortality. This paper merges the concerns of social epidemiologists and welfare policy experts by examining the relationship between welfare and infant mortality. The key finding is that welfare directly and indirectly affects infant mortality rates. States with higher welfare benefit levels also have lower infant mortality rates. The policy implications of this finding are discussed

COVID-19, Vaccines, and Decision Theory

In this piece, I delve into some thoughts I\u27ve had about decision theory. These have been inspired by the vaccine rollout phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic. I focus on decision making under uncertainty, as it relates to the decision to get vaccinated or not

A Few Contributions of Economic Theory to Social Welfare Policy Analysis

The National Association of Social Workers\u27 (NAS W) code of ethics states that social workers have a professional obligation to advocate for social policies that promote the general welfare (NASW, 1996). Presumably, in an effort to provide social workers with the analytical tools that would allow them to do so, schools of social work typically require students to do course work in the area of social welfare policy. Although these courses provide students with valuable information, it is my view that they tend to be limited in one important respect. They usually do not contain a great deal of content on how technical economic theory can be utilized in the examination of many of the social welfare policy issues that are of interest to social workers. This is unfortunate because, despite having limitations of its own, economics provides a powerful set of conceptual tools that are extremely useful in the analysis of social welfare policy issues. The rest of this paper is an attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of economics in this respect

Technological development and culture change on St. Lawrence Island: A functional typology of toggle harpoon heads

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1995Our understanding of the culture history of the Bering Strait region is based on the chronology of St. Lawrence Island toggle harpoon heads proposed by Henry Collins in 1937. Subsequent attempts to develop harpoon head typologies from other parts of the Bering Strait are built on Collins' stylistic classification, which does not account for the full range of variation in St. Lawrence Island harpoon heads. The resulting confusion of harpoon head categories has clouded the interpretation of patterns in the material remains and has perpetuated a unilineal theory of culture change in Bering Strait Eskimo groups. This dissertation critically examines previous investigations and interpretations of archeological sites on St. Lawrence Island and Punuk Island. A contextual analysis of radiocarbon dates from these sites serves to evaluate the currently accepted chronology of occupation. The typology of St. Lawrence Island toggle harpoon heads proposed is based on a structural analysis of the raw materials and a functional analysis of the components of the harpoon head. The concept of functional strategies explains variation in harpoon head styles and gives meaning to the statistical analysis of attribute associations. A series of dendrochronological dates from the Kukulik site is compared with radiocarbon dates from other sites and combined with the harpoon head typology to develop a chronology of St. Lawrence Island occupations. The harpoon head typology reveals the presence of two distinct culture groups co-resident on St. Lawrence Island and the Bering Strait region from approximately 1600 to 1000 cal C-14 B.P. The Old Bering Sea/Birnirk group, associated with a generalized Eskimo subsistence adaptation, was present from 1600 to 1300 cal C-14 B.P. The Okvik/Ipiutak group, focused on sea mammal and whale hunting, is undated on St. Lawrence Island. Based on comparison with date ranges in other Bering Strait sites, the Okvik/Ipiutak group is assumed to be roughly contemporaneous with the Old Bering Sea/Birnirk group. The interaction of these two groups on St. Lawrence Island, interpreted by Collins as the Punuk culture, was present from 1300 to 1000 cal C-14 B.P

The neurochemical basis of photic entrainment of the circadian pacemaker

Circadian rhythmicity in mammals is controlled by the action of a light-entrainable hypothalamus, in association with two cell clusters known as the supra chiasmatic nuclei (SCN). In the absence of temporal environmental clues, this pacemaker continues to measure time by an endogenous mechanism (clock), driving biochemical, physiological, and behavioral rhythms that reflect the natural period of the pacemaker oscillation. This endogenous period usually differs slightly from 24 hours (i.e., circadian). When mammals are maintained under a 24 hour light-dark (LD) cycle, the pacemaker becomes entrained such that the period of the pacemaker oscillation matches that of the LD cycle. Potentially entraining photic information is conveyed to the SCN via a direct retinal projection, the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT). RHT neurotransmission is thought to be mediated by the release of excitatory amino acids (EAA) in the SCN. In support of this hypothesis, recent experiments using nocturnal rodents have shown that EAA antagonists block the effects of light on pacemaker-driven behavioral rhythms, and attenuate light induced gene expression in SCN cells. An understanding of the neurochemical basis of the photic entrainment process would facilitate the development of pharmacological strategies for maintaining synchrony among shift workers in environments, such as the Space Station, which provide unreliable or conflicting temporal photic clues