The monodromy group of a function on a general curve

Let C_g be a general curve of genus g>3. Guralnick and others proved that the monodromy group of a cover C_g-> P^1 of degree n is either S_n or A_n. We show that A_n occurs for n>2g. The corresponding result for S_n is classical

A GAP package for braid orbit computation, and applications

Let G be a finite group. By Riemann's Existence Theorem, braid orbits of generating systems of G with product 1 correspond to irreducible families of covers of the Riemann sphere with monodromy group G. Thus many problems on algebraic curves require the computation of braid orbits. In this paper we describe an implementation of this computation. We discuss several applications, including the classification of irreducible families of indecomposable rational functions with exceptional monodromy group

Factors controlling headspace pressure in a manual manometric BMP method can be used to produce a methane output comparable to AMPTS

The manual manometric biochemical methane potential (mBMP) test uses the increase in pressure to calculate the gas produced. This gas production may be affected by the headspace volume in the incubation bottle and by the overhead pressure measurement and release (OHPMR) frequency. The biogas and methane yields of cellulose, barley, silage and slurry were compared with three incubation bottle headspace volumes (50, 90 and 180ml; constant 70ml total medium) and four OHPMR frequencies (daily, each third day, weekly and solely at the end of experiment). The methane yields of barley, silage and slurry were compared with those from an automated volumetric method (AMPTS). Headspace volume and OHPMR frequency effects on biogas yield were mediated mainly through headspace pressure, with the latter having a negative effect on the biogas yield measured and relatively little effect on methane yield. Two mBMP treatments produced methane yields equivalent to AMPTS

Moral (dis)engagement with anthropogenic climate change in online comments on newspaper articles

Anthropogenic climate change (ACC) is widely acknowledged to be morally significant, but little is known about everyday moralising around ACC. We addressed this gap via quantified thematic analysis of 300 online comments to British newspaper articles on ACC, drawing on Bandura’s moral disengagement theory. Moral disengagement through denial of ACC was widespread. Other disengagement strategies, such as palliative comparison and diminishing agency, occurred less often. There was also some moral engagement, most often through assertions of the existence of ACC and/or its harmful effects. Moral disengagement was significantly more common in comments on right wing than left wing newspapers, while the opposite was true of moral engagement. While Bandura’s framework provided a useful starting point to make sense of ACC moralising, it did not capture moral concerns that extended beyond its ‘harm / care’ remit. In particular, many ‘denial’ comments included a ‘dishonesty’ discourse, whereby ACC proponents were accused of deception for ulterior motives. To classify this discourse as moral disengagement obscures its engagement with a different set of moral issues around trust and honesty. We suggest that Bandura’s theory represents one possible ‘moral landscape’ around ACC, and could be extended to encompass a broader range of moral concerns

What's in a name:Are cultured red blood cells 'natural'?

The case of cultured red blood cells currently being grown in a laboratory for future use in human transfusion raises questions about the ontological status of such products of modern biotechnology. This paper presents results from a six-year ethnographic study involving interviews, focus groups and other forms of engagement with the scientific research team and other stakeholders, including public groups, which sought to understand respondents’ reactions to cultured red blood cells. These cells, derived from stem cell technology, have the potential to address the global shortage of donated blood. How these blood cells are situated within the spectrum of ‘natural’ to ‘synthetic’ will shape expectations and acceptance of this product, both within the scientific community and by wider publics: these blood cells are both novel and yet, at the same time, very familiar. Drawing on discussions related to classification and ‘anchoring’, we examine the contrasting discourses offered by our respondents on whether these blood cells are ‘natural’ or not and consider the impact that naming might have on both their future regulation and the eventual uptake of cultured red blood cells by society. [183 words]Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Personality psychology: Lexical approaches, assessment methods, and trait concepts reveal only half of the story—Why it is time for a paradigm shift

This article develops a comprehensive philosophy-of-science for personality psychology that goes far beyond the scope of the lexical approaches, assessment methods, and trait concepts that currently prevail. One of the field’s most important guiding scientific assumptions, the lexical hypothesis, is analysed from meta-theoretical viewpoints to reveal that it explicitly describes two sets of phenomena that must be clearly differentiated: 1) lexical repertoires and the representations that they encode and 2) the kinds of phenomena that are represented. Thus far, personality psychologists largely explored only the former, but have seriously neglected studying the latter. Meta-theoretical analyses of these different kinds of phenomena and their distinct natures, commonalities, differences, and interrelations reveal that personality psychology’s focus on lexical approaches, assessment methods, and trait concepts entails a) erroneous meta-theoretical assumptions about what the phenomena being studied actually are, and thus how they can be analysed and interpreted, b) that contemporary personality psychology is largely based on everyday psychological knowledge, and c) a fundamental circularity in the scientific explanations used in trait psychology. These findings seriously challenge the widespread assumptions about the causal and universal status of the phenomena described by prominent personality models. The current state of knowledge about the lexical hypothesis is reviewed, and implications for personality psychology are discussed. Ten desiderata for future research are outlined to overcome the current paradigmatic fixations that are substantially hampering intellectual innovation and progress in the field