Agency—Principal Held Notified Through Agent Acting for Both Seller and Purchaser of Real Property

Farr v. Newman, 14 N.Y.2d 183, 199 N.E.2d 369, 250 N.Y.S.2d 272 (1964)

Municipal Corporations—Fellow Servant Rule Not a Valid Defense to Liability of City for Negligence of Its Employee in Operating a Municipal Vehicle

Poniatowski v. City of New York, 14 N.Y.2d 76, 198 N.E.2d 237, 248 N.Y.S.2d 849 (1964)

Global Perspectives on Democracy and Public Stadium Finance

Arenas, ballparks, and stadiums built for professional sports teams or mega-events all around the world often come with large public costs. In democratic states, citizens are assumed to have a role in public policymaking, but previous research suggests the strength of this role can vary case-to-case. To examine the incidence of public stadium finance and public participation across the geopolitical landscape, a collective case study was employed and organized into regime type (i.e., full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, authoritarian regimes). The results of the study show clear contrasts in the financing mechanisms within and between regime types. Additionally, each case-study grouping contained examples of citizen-led public participation, though the efficacy of these democratic actions is questionable. This review complements the growing literature on public policy and stadium finance by assessing public engagement in current stadium-subsidy debates around the world

Maximum and minimum toughness of graphs of small genus

AbstractA new lower bound on the toughness t(G) of a graph G in terms of its connectivity ϰ(G) and genus γ(G) is obtained. For γ > 0, the bound is sharp via an infinite class of extremal graphs all of girth 4. For planar graphs, the bound is t(G) > ϰ(G)/2 − 1. For ϰ = 1 this bound is not sharp, but for each ϰ = 3, 4, 5 and any ϵ > 0, infinite families of graphs {G(ϰ, ϵ)} are provided with ϰ(G(ϰ, ϵ)) = ϰ, but t(G(ϰ, ϵ)) < ϰ/2 − 1 + ϵ.Analogous investigations on the torus are carried out, and finally the question of upper bounds is discussed. Several unanswered questions are posed

¿When is it the Gesture that Counts: Telling Stories that cut to the [Cyber]chase – or, gest get to the po¡nt!

Lakoff and Nuñez (2000) argue that the origins of mathematical thinking arise from the progressive development of the human sensorium and experience. Cognitive science research in in education plays a big role in developing new pedagogies, especially those that leverage new “Cyberlearning” technologies. The current study employs two principle frameworks for creating pedagogy for learning mathematical fractions: (1) grounded and embodied cognition (Varela, Thompson & Rosch, 1991; Glenberg, 1997; 2003; Barsalou, 1999; 2008), (2) situated cognition (Lesh, 1981; Lave 1988, Greeno, 1998; Roth, 2002). Grounded and embodied cognition was operationalized through the gesture. Although gesture is traditionally discussed as a spontaneous co-articulation of speech (Kendon, 1972; McNeill & Levy, 1980; 1992; Goldin-Meadow, 1986) it is taking on a new role with the advent of 21st century technologies that utilize gestural interface. Using gestures as simulated action (Hostetter and Alibali, 2008), we developed two sets of gestural mechanics based on an exploratory study on the gestures elementary students used to explain mathematical fractions (Swart, 2014): (1) iconic gestures (I) – i.e., enactive of the processes to create objects, (2) deictic gestures (D) – i.e., index pointing to ground or identify objects or locations. Situated cognition was operationalized through narrative (Black and Bower, 1980; Graesser, Hauft-Smith, Cohen, and Pyles 1980; Graesser, Singer, Trabasso, 1994). Researchers crafted two types of narratives in order to create a situated learning environment (Hennessy, 1993): (1) strong narrative (S) – with a setting, characters and plot (based on the popular PBS Kids television show, Cyberchase, (2) weak narrative (W) – without an explicit setting, characters or plot. Combining these two factors together, the research team designed and developed Mobile Mathematics Movement (M3). Using the two independent variables, gesture (I vs. D) and narrative (S vs. W), M3 was crafted into 4 different versions: SI, SD, WI, WD. The first two iterations, M3:i1 and M3:i2, were tested in randomized factorial experiments in afterschool programs with high-needs populations. After completing these studies employing a design-based research (DBR) methodology, the tutor-game developed into its latest iteration, M3:i3. The curriculum of M3 had students employing a splitting objects (i.e., parts-to-whole) schema (Steffe, 2004) and was divided into two parts: (Part 1) object fracturing (x5 per level): estimating, denominating, numerating, re-estimating; (Part 2) object equivalency (comparing 5 fractions): comparing, ordering, verifying magnitudes, verifying positions on vertical number line. In the final dissertation study, 131 students (x̄age = 8.78 yrs, 52.6% Female; 39.7% Hispanic; 32.8% African-American; 19.9% South-East Asian; 3.8% Caucasian; 3.8% South Asian (Indian); 97.7 % received free/reduced lunch) from the Harlem and Lower East Side neighborhoods of New York City were consented and assented and completed the study. Students were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 conditions, completed a direct pre-assessment of the curriculum as well as a transfer pre-assessment, played all seven levels of the tutor-game, completed an exit survey (free response and 5-point likert – motivation, self-efficacy, engagement, learning), completed a direct post-assessment of the curriculum as well as a transfer post-assessment (parallel forms) and a 7 minute semi-structured clinical interview. Factorial ANOVAs indicated a significant interaction between gesture and narrative (though all groups showed significant learning pre to post) on the direct assessment. Both the SI and WD groups significantly outperformed the other two groups, though were not different from each other. Though there was not a significant interaction between gesture and narrative on for the transfer assessment, pair-wise comparisons and planned contrasts showed that the SI group outperformed all the other groups. Follow up hierarchical linear regressions (HLR) showed that game play significantly mediated students’ learning. Specifically, students’ performances estimating and denominating were predictive of direct learning of the curriculum while estimating, denomination and numeration were all predictive of transfer. Further HLRs also found that students’ learning was moderated by their existing proficiencies for fractions. This finding helped clarify the nature of the narrative-gesture interaction, such that low-proficiency students improved more in the WD condition and high-proficiency students improved more in the SI condition. An exploratory factor analysis of the 5-point likert exit survey showed loaded on four factors as anticipated, with significant loadings for engagement and learning, but revealed no significant differences between the conditions. The significant interaction revealed that both a weak narrative (non-contextualized) environments using deictic (identity) gestures as well as strong narrative (contextualized) environments using iconic (enactive) gestures are differentially beneficial for learning. Contrary to our interaction hypothesis, learning for novices benefitted from a more abstract environment, supporting the work of (Kaminski, Sloutsky, Heckler, 2008) and learning for those with higher proficiencies at fractions was better in the more concrete environment (e.g., Moreno, Ozogul, & Reisslein (2011). The likert data supports research suggesting that students find digital platforms engaging and empowering, regardless of learning or not (for review see Wouters, van Nimwegen, van Oostendorp, & van der Spek, 2013). Together, these results have important implications for the design of learning environments and a digital pedagogy and follow-up work is necessary for expounding on the interactions between gestures and narratives as well as the possible mediation by task complexity

ASMR-Experience questionnaire (AEQ): a data-driven step towards accurately classifying ASMR responders

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) describes an atypical multisensory experience of calming, tingling sensations that originate in the crown of the head in response to a specific subset of audio-visual triggers. There is currently no tool that can accurately classify both ASMR-Responders and non-responders, while simultaneously identifying False-Positive cases that are similar sensory-emotional experiences. This study sought to fill this gap by developing a new online psychometric tool – the ASMR-Experiences Questionnaire (AEQ). Participants watched a series of short ASMR videos and answered sensory-affective questions immediately afterwards. Using a k-means clustering approach, we identified five data-driven groupings, based on tingle- and affect-related scores. ASMR-Responders differentiate based on ASMR propensity and intensity (ASMR-Strong; ASMR-Weak); non-responders differentiate based on response valence (Control+; Control−; False-Positive). Recommendations for how the AEQ and the respective output groups can be best utilized to enhance ASMR research are discussed

Efficient generation of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-pseudotypes bearing morbilliviral glycoproteins and their use in quantifying virus neutralising antibodies

Morbillivirus neutralising antibodies are traditionally measured using either plaque reduction neutralisation tests (PRNTs) or live virus microneutralisation tests (micro-NTs). While both test formats provide a reliable assessment of the strength and specificity of the humoral response, they are restricted by the limited number of viral strains that can be studied and often present significant biological safety concerns to the operator. In this study, we describe the adaptation of a replication-defective vesicular stomatitis virus (VSVΔG) based pseudotyping system for the measurement of morbillivirus neutralising antibodies. By expressing the haemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) proteins of canine distemper virus (CDV) on VSVΔG pseudotypes bearing a luciferase marker gene, neutralising antibody titres could be measured rapidly and with high sensitivity. Further, by exchanging the glycoprotein expression construct, responses against distinct viral strains or species may be measured. Using this technique, we demonstrate cross neutralisation between CDV and peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). As an example of the value of the technique, we demonstrate that UK dogs vary in the breadth of immunity induced by CDV vaccination; in some dogs the neutralising response is CDV-specific while, in others, the neutralising response extends to the ruminant morbillivirus PPRV. This technique will facilitate a comprehensive comparison of cross-neutralisation to be conducted across the morbilliviruses