The general caloron correspondence

We outline in detail the general caloron correspondence for the group of automorphisms of an arbitrary principal $G$-bundle $Q$ over a manifold $X$, including the case of the gauge group of $Q$. These results are used to define characteristic classes of gauge group bundles. Explicit but complicated differential form representatives are computed in terms of a connection and Higgs field.Comment: 25 pages. New section added containing example

Loop Groups, Higgs Fields and Generalised String Classes

We consider various generalisations of the string class of a loop group bundle. The string class is the obstruction to lifting a bundle whose structure group is the loop group $LG$ to one whose structure group is the Kac-Moody central extension of the loop group. We develop a notion of higher string classes for bundles whose structure group is the group of based loops, $\Omega G$. In particular, we give a formula for characteristic classes in odd dimensions for such bundles which are associated to characteristic classes for $G$-bundles in the same way that the string class is related to the first Pontrjagyn class of a certain $G$-bundle associated to the loop group bundle in question. This provides us with a theory of characteristic classes for $\Omega G$-bundles analogous to Chern-Weil theory in finite dimensions. This also gives us a geometric interpretation of the well-known transgression map $H^{2k}(BG) \to H^{2k-1}(G).$ We also consider the obstruction to lifting a bundle whose structure group is not the loop group but the semi-direct product of the loop group with the circle, $LG \rtimes S^1$. We review the theory of bundle gerbes and their application to central extensions and lifting problems and use these methods to obtain an explicit expression for the de Rham representative of the obstruction to lifting such a bundle. We also relate this to a generalisation of the so-called `caloron correspondence' (which relates $LG$-bundles over $M$ to $G$-bundles over $M \times S^1$) to a correspondence which relates $LG \rtimes S^1$-bundles over $M$ to $G$-bundles over $S^1$-bundles over $M$.Comment: PhD Thesi

Intercultural Communication needs of Mississippi Agricultural Students, Employers, and Hispanic Workers

As the inclusion of Hispanic labor in the Mississippi workforce increses, it is necessary to prepare our students to communicate with these workers. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitude toward Spanish speakers, their culture, and the study of Spanish among agricultural students at Mississippi State University. The study also sought to discover cultural differences that could affect communication between American managers and the Hispanic workforce.The Friedman (1997) questionnaire was administered to 204 students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Additionally, open interviews were conducted with 10 participants: four Mexican Hispanci workers, two community leaders, two students, a crew leader, and a farmer. In regard to students\u27 attitude toward foreign language learning, the results suggested that agricultural students at Mississippi State University have a positive attitude toward study of the language. Results revealed that students have considerably high instrumental motivation, but not integrative motivation. The results also revealed that the students have fairly stereotypical perceptions of native Spanish speakers and their culture; among the most marked stereotype found was the perception that Spanish speakers are hard workers. A few of the stronger sterotype found in previous study and portrayed by the media, were not so obvious in this study. Among these the perceptions of Hispanics as lazy (Cozens 1981; Jackson, 1995; Marin, 1984) and tardy (Friedman 1997; Marin 1984; Ortu(&ntild);o, 1991) the former was not found in this study,students surveyed were undecided about the latter. Like previous studies (Cozens, 1981; Friedman, 1997; Jackson, 1995; Marin, 1984)this study revealed that American students surveyed tended to think of hispanics as poor, dirty, conservative, and non-materialistic. They also assumed Hispanics live in non-developed areas. Interviews revealed Americans assume that everybody is literate in his or her own language, and that Spanish is the only language among Mexicans and Central Americans. American interviwees also had difficulty recognizing hierarchy among workers, and a different connotation in alcohol consumption. In addition, they did not understand that in the Hispanic culture respect is more personal than in the USA

Oyster Spat Survival in Response to Hydrocarbon Contamination and Predation in Barataria Bay, Louisiana

Barataria Bay, in southeast Louisiana is home to productive oyster reefs that are both ecologically and economically important, but was threatened by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010. This study was designed to determine how the oil spill affected long- and short-term oyster recruitment, and spat (juvenile oysters) cellular health. I also investigated how predators in the bay affect spat survival. Four study sites were selected in Barataria Bay: two control and two oiled, each with a low and high salinity location. To determine whether there were long-term effects of the oil spill on oyster recruitment, tiles were placed at each site in 2012 and 2013 and spat recruitment quantified monthly. Results indicate that in 2012, recruitment varied more with salinity, but in 2013 when early summer salinity was lower, recruitment only occurred at the control sites. Tiles with 5 mL of light crude oil absorbed were used to study the short-term effects of oil on oyster and barnacle recruitment in 2013. Spat recruitment was lower on oiled tiles but there was no difference in spat size between treatments; alternately, there was a slight tendency for oil to increase barnacle recruitment. The effect of No (0 ppm), Low (500 ppm) or High (25,000 ppm) oil concentrations in 10 and 20 PSU seawater on spat cellular function was determined. Lysosomal stability was lower in low and high oil treatments suggesting oiling can affect spat health after just 10 days of exposure. The effect of predators on spat survival at each site was determined by quantifying predation on spat with no cage or in predator exclusion cages with 0.5, 1.0, or 3.0 cm mesh openings. The presence of a cage reduced predation of oyster spat. Predation rates were greatest on spat without cages suggesting larger predators such as blue crabs and oyster drills, with access to exposed spat, may play greater roles in post-settlement spat mortality than other predators such as mud crabs. Oyster recruitment and spat survival seems to depend more on salinity and predation than long-term hydrocarbon contamination. However, the short-term effect of hydrocarbon contamination can detrimentally impact spat recruitment and health; thus, clean-up efforts immediately following an oil spill and continuous monitoring efforts are necessary to maintain healthy oyster populations

A Geometric Model for Odd Differential K-theory

Odd $K$-theory has the interesting property that it admits an infinite number of inequivalent differential refinements. In this paper we provide a bundle theoretic model for odd differential $K$-theory using the caloron correspondence and prove that this refinement is unique up to a unique natural isomorphism. We characterise the odd Chern character and its transgression form in terms of a connection and Higgs field and discuss some applications. Our model can be seen as the odd counterpart to the Simons-Sullivan construction of even differential $K$-theory. We use this model to prove a conjecture of Tradler-Wilson-Zeinalian regarding a related differential extension of odd $K$-theoryComment: 36 page

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

Aboriginal Football in Australia: Race Relations and the Socio-historical Meanings of the 2014 Borroloola Tour to the Brazil World Cup

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This paper tells the history of the Borroloola Tour to the 2014 Brazil World Cup, when eight Aboriginal adolescent footballers from the remote town of Borroloola in Australia’s Northern Territory were selected to be part of a tour to Brazil. In Brazil they followed the Australian team from the stands, socialized with football idols such as Tim Cahill, and visited a Brazilian Indigenous tribe. John Moriarty, the first Aboriginal Australian to be selected to Australia’s national football team executed this excursion. Considering that race relations within the Australian sporting arena have historically, been tense and contested, this paper brings to light an under-explored aspect of football in Australia. It is timely too, given the insertion of Australian football within the Asian Football Confederation. The paper examines the historical meanings of the Borroloola Tour through the lens of its key participants; as well as by unveiling John Moriarty’s history as the first Aboriginal person to be selected to play for the Socceroos. In conclusion, it reveals that both the past and contemporary history of Aboriginal people’s involvement in Australian football has an emerging face that will shape football in Australia and in Asia in the coming years

La nuda vita della tana. Una riflessione sul dispositivo etico in Giorgio Agamben a partire da Kafka

L’obiettivo di questo contributo è proporre una riflessione circa il concetto di ēthos a partire dalla lettura agambeniana del racconto di Franz Kafka La Tana, con particolare riferimento ai concetti di “inoperosità” e di “impotenzialità”. Da questa lettura emerge come l’ēthos inteso come “dimora” sia in realtà una “tana”, la quale si presenta come chiusura nei confronti della comunità e delle istituzioni, ossia “nuda vita”.The aim of this paper is to rethink the concept of ēthos, starting from the Agambenian perspective on Franz Kafka’s tale The Burrow, pointing out the concepts of “inoperativity” and “impotentiality”. This reading shows how ēthos understood as “residence” is a “burrow”, appearing as a shutdown against community and institutions, namely “bare life”