Width is not additive

We develop a construction suggested by Scharlemann and Thompson to obtain an infinite family of pairs of knots $K_{\alpha}$ and $K'_{\alpha}$ so that w(K_{\alpha} # K'_{\alpha})=max{w(K_{\alpha}), w(K'_{\alpha})}. This is the first known example of a pair of knots such that w(K#K') and it establishes that the lower bound w(K#K')\geq max{w(K),w(K')} obtained by Scharlemann and Schultens is best possible. Furthermore, the knots $K_{\alpha}$ provide an example of knots where the number of critical points for the knot in thin position is greater than the number of critical points for the knot in bridge position.Comment: 48 pages, 25 figure

Embracing and Rejecting Student Agency: Documenting Critical Reflection Practices in the Basic Communication Course Classroom

This interpretive study explored classroom power through the implementation of critical reflection exercises aimed at promoting student agency and learning in the basic course classroom. Data included over 400 critical reflection responses from 81 undergraduate students from four different basic course sections. Three emergent patterns revealed students’ positive re-action to the critical reflection process, how students both embrace and reject power in the classroom, and connections between the critical reflection process and student learning. The findings offer teachers support for implementing critical reflection practices in the communication classroom

StarCraft 2 Replay Analysis

This data was used in Thompson et al. (2013). We aggregated screen movements into screen-fixations using a Salvucci & Goldberg (2000) dispersion-threshold algorithm, and defined Perception Action Cycles (PACs) as fixations with at least one action. Time is recorded in terms of timestamps in the StarCraft 2 replay file. When the game is played on \u27faster\u27, 1 real-time second is equivalent to roughly 88.5 timestamps. A list of possible game actions is discussed in Thompson, Blair, Chen, & Henrey (2013). Skip league conditional inference forest classification was used (Bronze-Gold;Silver-Platinum;Gold-Diamond;Platinum-Masters;Diamond-Professional) to show changing patterns of variable importance with skill. Predicted attribute: League (Ordinal

Towards Standardizing Nomenclature in Huntingtons Disease Research.

The field of Huntingtons disease research covers many different scientific disciplines, from molecular biology all the way through to clinical practice, and as our understanding of the disease has progressed over the decades, a great deal of different terminology has accrued. The field is also renowned for its collaborative spirit and use of standardized reagents, assays, datasets, models, and clinical measures, so the use of standardized terms is especially important. We have set out to determine, through a consensus exercise involving basic and clinical scientists working in the field, the most appropriate language to use across disciplines. Nominally, this article will serve as the style guide for the Journal of Huntingtons Disease (JHD), the only journal devoted exclusively to HD, and we lay out the preferred and standardized terminology and nomenclature for use in JHD publications. However, we hope that this article will also serve as a useful resource to the HD research community at large and that these recommended naming conventions will be adopted widely

Family Legacies: Constructing Individual and Family Identity through Intergenerational Storytelling

The current study focused on discovering the ways in which the intergenerational transmission of family legacy stories both enables and constrains individual family members’ sense of their own identities. Using semistructured interviews, 17 third-generation family members identified a multitude of both positive and negative family legacies. Both positive and negative legacies were influenced by the storytelling context. Positive legacies portrayed families as hardworking, caring, and cohesive while negative legacies were more idiosyncratic. Individual family members typically responded to their family legacies by embracing the positive and rejecting the negative. However, individuals’ responses also pointed to additional complexities in accepting or rejecting family legacies. Specifically, some individuals embraced negative family legacies and rejected positive ones; others accepted only portions of the legacies; and some reported their legacies as unembraceable

Attributes of Embodied Leadership: A beginning in the next chapter of leadership development

Research and guidance on leadership behaviour has been documented throughout history, from the epics to more recent leadership theories, evolved over the last century. Why then, when there is so much research and advice available are leaders still making so many errors? A review of literature in leadership studies reveals that recommendations have often been descriptive, assumptive and prescriptive without considering various differences in individuals. Additionally, leadership development often utilises methodologies in which individuals are trained to ‘act’ as leaders rather than fully embody leadership behaviour. This paper explores the generic attributes that describe embodied leadership behaviour. Semistructured interviews were performed on a panel of individuals from different backgrounds and analysed using a grounded theory approach. Along with the interviews, the works of Scharmer (2008) and behavioural traits identified in leadership by Derue, Nahrgang, Wellman and Humphrey (2011) were also taken into consideration. A final consensus was reached using a set of ten attributes that potentially contribute to embodied leadership behaviour; being non-judgemental, embracing uncertainty, active listening, congruence (morals and ethics), intuition, reflective practice, sense of meaning/purpose, holistic decision making, authentic presence and intention

Video Game Telemetry as a Critical Tool in the Study of Complex Skill Learning

Cognitive science has long shown interest in expertise, in part because prediction and control of expert development would have immense practical value. Most studies in this area investigate expertise by comparing experts with novices. The reliance on contrastive samples in studies of human expertise only yields deep insight into development where differences are important throughout skill acquisition. This reliance may be pernicious where the predictive importance of variables is not constant across levels of expertise. Before the development of sophisticated machine learning tools for data mining larger samples, and indeed, before such samples were available, it was difficult to test the implicit assumption of static variable importance in expertise development. To investigate if this reliance may have imposed critical restrictions on the understanding of complex skill development, we adopted an alternative method, the online acquisition of telemetry data from a common daily activity for many: video gaming. Using measures of cognitive-motor, attentional, and perceptual processing extracted from game data from 3360 Real-Time Strategy players at 7 different levels of expertise, we identified 12 variables relevant to expertise. We show that the static variable importance assumption is false - the predictive importance of these variables shifted as the levels of expertise increased - and, at least in our dataset, that a contrastive approach would have been misleading. The finding that variable importance is not static across levels of expertise suggests that large, diverse datasets of sustained cognitive-motor performance are crucial for an understanding of expertise in real-world contexts. We also identify plausible cognitive markers of expertise

The effect of treatment with moxifloxacin or azithromycin on acute bacterial rhinosinusitis in mice

SummaryObjectiveAcute bacterial rhinosinusitis, which is a major health problem, is treated with antibiotics. We developed a mouse model of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease. Our goal was to investigate the response to acute rhinosinusitis when treated with either a bactericidal or a bacteriostatic antibiotic.MethodsC57BL/6 mice were infected intranasally with Streptococcus pneumoniae. One day after inoculation, the mice were treated with either moxifloxacin (bactericidal) or azithromycin (bacteriostatic). Different groups were euthanized during the first five days post-inoculation. Bacterial counts from nasal lavage culture and the cell markers GR1, CD11b, CD3, CD4, and CD8 in sinus tissue were evaluated by flow cytometry.ResultsAzithromycin led to rapid clearance of the bacteria and of the inflammation in contrast to placebo. Surprisingly, moxifloxacin showed a limited effect. Investigations of this limited effect of moxifloxacin suggested a high metabolic clearance, a low concentration at the site of infection, and low persistent post-antibiotic effects of moxifloxacin in mice.ConclusionOur animal model of acute sinusitis has great utility for studying the disease, but the difference between mice and man must always be considered in making extrapolations from animal experiments to the human experience