Circle actions, central extensions and string structures

The caloron correspondence can be understood as an equivalence of categories between $G$-bundles over circle bundles and $LG \rtimes_\rho S^1$-bundles where $LG$ is the group of smooth loops in $G$. We use it, and lifting bundle gerbes, to derive an explicit differential form based formula for the (real) string class of an $LG \rtimes_\rho S^1$-bundle.Comment: 25 page

Catholic Higher Education and Latino(a) Students: Exploring the Experience of University Undergraduates

The experience of Latino(a) undergraduates at Notre Dame was the focus of this study. In general, the students had a positive experience at the university, but one that included challenges, including physical separation from family and familiar community. Family and spiritual supports were important to the Latino(a) students as they coped with difficulties they encountered at the university, than for a comparable sample of Anglo students attending Notre Dame

The caloron correspondence and higher string classes for loop groups

We review the caloron correspondence between $G$-bundles on $M \times S^1$ and $\Omega G$-bundles on $M$, where $\Omega G$ is the space of smooth loops in the compact Lie group $G$. We use the caloron correspondence to define characteristic classes for $\Omega G$-bundles, called string classes, by transgression of characteristic classes of $G$-bundles. These generalise the string class of Killingback to higher dimensional cohomology.Comment: 21 pages. Author addresses adde

The basic bundle gerbe on unitary groups

We consider the construction of the basic bundle gerbe on SU(n) introduced by Meinrenken and show that it extends to a range of groups with unitary actions on a Hilbert space including U(n), diagonal tori and the Banach Lie group of unitary operators differing from the identity by an element of a Schatten ideal. In all these cases we give an explicit connection and curving on the basic bundle gerbe and calculate the real Dixmier-Douady class. Extensive use is made of the holomorphic functional calculus for operators on a Hilbert space

Characterization of Hybrid CNT Polymer Matrix Composites

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been studied extensively since their discovery and demonstrated at the nanoscale superior mechanical, electrical and thermal properties in comparison to micro and macro scale properties of conventional engineering materials. This combination of properties suggests their potential to enhance multi-functionality of composites in regions of primary structures on aerospace vehicles where lightweight materials with improved thermal and electrical conductivity are desirable. In this study, hybrid multifunctional polymer matrix composites were fabricated by interleaving layers of CNT sheets into Hexcel IM7/8552 prepreg, a well-characterized toughened epoxy carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite. The resin content of these interleaved CNT sheets, as well as ply stacking location were varied to determine the effects on the electrical, thermal, and mechanical performance of the composites. The direct-current electrical conductivity of the hybrid CNT composites was characterized by in-line and Montgomery four-probe methods. For [0](sub 20) laminates containing a single layer of CNT sheet between each ply of IM7/8552, in-plane electrical conductivity of the hybrid laminate increased significantly, while in-plane thermal conductivity increased only slightly in comparison to the control IM7/8552 laminates. Photo-microscopy and short beam shear (SBS) strength tests were used to characterize the consolidation quality of the fabricated laminates. Hybrid panels fabricated without any pretreatment of the CNT sheets resulted in a SBS strength reduction of 70 percent. Aligning the tubes and pre-infusing the CNT sheets with resin significantly improved the SBS strength of the hybrid composite To determine the cause of this performance reduction, Mode I and Mode II fracture toughness of the CNT sheet to CFRP interface was characterized by double cantilever beam (DCB) and end notch flexure (ENF) testing, respectively. Results are compared to the control IM7/8552 laminate

The State of Neuro-Oncology During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Worldwide Assessment

To assess the impact of the pandemic on the field, we performed an international web-based survey of practitioners, scientists, and trainees from 21 neuro-oncology organizations across 6 continents from April 24 through May 17. Of 582 respondents, 258 (45%) were in the US, and 314 (55%) were international. 80.4% were affiliated with academic institutions. 94% respondents reported changes in clinical practice; 95% reported conversion to telemedicine for at least some appointments. However, almost 10% practitioners felt the need to see patients in person specifically because of billing concerns and perceived institutional pressure. Over 50% believed neuro-oncology patients were at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. 67% practitioners suspended enrollment for at least one clinical trial: 53% suspended phase II and 62% suspended phase III trial enrollment. 71% clinicians feared for their or their families’ safety, specifically because of their clinical duties. 20% percent said they did not have enough PPE to work safely; about the same percentage were unhappy with their institutions’ response to the pandemic. 43% believed the pandemic would negatively affect their academic career, and 52% fellowship program directors were worried about losing funding for their training programs. While 69% respondents reported increased stress, 44% were offered no psychosocial support. 37% had their salary reduced. 36% researchers had to temporarily close their laboratories. In contrast, the pandemic created positive changes in perceived patient and family satisfaction, quality of communication, and use of technology to deliver care and interactions with other practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic has altered standard treatment schedules and limited investigational treatment options for patients. In some cases, clinicians felt institutional pressure to continue conducting billable in-person visits when telemedicine visits would have sufficed. A lack of institutional support created anxiety among clinicians and researchers. We make specific recommendations to guide clinical and scientific infrastructure moving forward

6. Development of Grounded Theories of Complex Cognitive Processing: Exhaustive Withinand Between-Study Analyses of Think-Aloud Data

I am going to begin with claims that may seem heretical at the Buros Institute, the host for this symposium: Much can be understood about cognition and its metacognitive regulation through qualitative analysis. Qualitative analyses of complex cognitive and metacognitive processes makes a great deal of sense before even attempting quantitative analyses of those processes. In particular, I am going to explain here the advances made by my associates and me in understanding skilled reading using the method of constant comparison, a qualitative approach for developing what Strauss and Corbin (1990) refer to as grounded theories. If that does not offend Buros regulars, perhaps the types of data used as input to the theory construction process will. I believe, as do others (see Ericsson & Simon, 1993), that the most telling analyses of complex, conscious, self-regulated cognitive processes have been produced using verbal protocol procedures-that is, when people have thought aloud as they performed complex tasks. My associates and I have been using verbal protocols of reading to develop grounded theories of consciously regulated reading. Given that preconceptions do influence research, it is important to layout one\u27s assumptions and understandings about a to be researched problem at the outset of the study and to audiences who must evaluate the work. Thus, I begin this chapter by laying out briefly my theoretical sensitivities before I conducted the research reported here, an essential step in qualitative analyses. They included a history of success with both verbal protocol analyses and grounded theory approaches, a long-term interest in reading comprehension, some successes in studying it using traditional quantitative, experimental approaches, but also some important frustrations doing so. After laying out my preconceptions, I will cover a specific verbal protocol study conducted by my colleagues and me in which constant comparison was used to develop a grounded theory of how social sciences professors read research articles in their areas of expertise. This will be followed by a discussion of how Pressley and Afflerbach (1995) used constant comparison to generate a more general grounded theory of the conscious processes in reading. They used all of the data generated in verbal protocol studies published to date, with the result a grounded theory that is a qualitative meta-analysis of the verbal protocols of reading reported to date. I will conclude the chapter with a brief discussion of the implications of the work reviewed here for future individual research projects on conscious processing during reading, the development of standardized measures of reading comprehension skill, and the construction of more complete grounded theories of complex cognition and behavior