Multicultural literature through the magic of storytelling

Creative dynamics and literature

The race for change: an examination of the literature curriculum of one high school

Discussions about diversifying the literary canon have been going on for decades. Colleges and universities have seen changes in their literary curricula due to such debate; more women and people of color are being taught now more than ever. Though changes are prevalent in higher education, literary studies have yet to see the same changes at the secondary level. This descriptive study seeks to evaluate what secondary educators at one midwestern high school are teaching. Specifically, seven ninth-grade teachers were investigated in order to interpret exactly what works of literature are available and taught. Two sets of data were analyzed: What literature is available to teachers to use in the classroom and the works teachers choose to include in their curricula.;The results show that the subjects mainly teach traditional selections of literature. That is, they most often teach literary works by white men of European roots. These findings suggest that, at the secondary level, the literary canon has not changed. Teachers, by and large, are teaching works that reflect the majority culture of this country. Following the result section of the study is a section dedicated to diversifying the teachers\u27 curricula. Suggestions of specific pieces of literature are given. The selections, chosen due to their diverse nature, will allow ninth-grade teachers in the school studied to include authors of differing backgrounds into their English classrooms

Reducing the Effects of Unequal Number of Games on Rankings

Ranking is an important mathematical process in a variety of contexts such as information retrieval, sports and business. Sports ranking methods can be applied both in and beyond the context of athletics. In both settings, once the concept of a game has been defined, teams (or individuals) accumulate wins, losses, and ties, which are then factored into the ranking computation. Many settings involve an unequal number of games between competitors. This paper demonstrates how to adapt two sports rankings methods, the Colley and Massey ranking methods, to settings where an unequal number of games are played between the teams. In such settings, the standard derivations of the methods can produce nonsensical rankings. This paper introduces the idea of including a super-user into the rankings and considers the effect of this fictitious player on the ratings. We apply such techniques to rank batters and pitchers in Major League baseball, professional tennis players, and participants in a free online social game. The ideas introduced in this paper can further the scope that such methods are applied and the depth of insight they offer

Men and women from the STRIDE clinical trial: An assessment of stimulant abstinence symptom severity at residential treatment entry

Background and Objectives Gender‐specific factors associated with stimulant abstinence severity were examined in a stimulant abusing or dependent residential treatment sample (N = 302). Method Bivariate statistics tested gender differences in stimulant abstinence symptoms, measured by participant‐reported experiences of early withdrawal. Multivariate linear regression examined gender and other predictors of stimulant abstinence symptom severity. Results Women compared to men reported greater stimulant abstinence symptom severity. Anxiety disorders and individual anxiety‐related abstinence symptoms accounted for this difference. African American race/ethnicity was predictive of lower stimulant abstinence severity. Discussion and Conclusions Women were more sensitive to anxiety‐related stimulant withdrawal symptoms. Scientific Significance Clinics that address anxiety‐related abstinence symptoms, which more commonly occur in women, may improve treatment outcome. (Am J Addict 2015;XX:XX –XX

Strengthening Family Practices for Latino Families

The study examined the effectiveness of a culturally-adapted Strengthening Families Program (SFP) for Latinos to reduce risks for alcohol and drug use in children. Latino families, predominantly Puerto Rican, with a 9–12 year old child and a parent(s) with a substance abuse problem participated in the study. Pre- and post-tests were conducted with each family. Parental stress, parent-child dysfunctional relations, and child behavior problems were reduced in the families receiving the intervention; family hardiness and family attachment were improved. Findings contribute to the validation of the SFP with Latinos, and can be used to inform social work practice with Puerto Rican families

Backward error analysis and the substitution law for Lie group integrators

Butcher series are combinatorial devices used in the study of numerical methods for differential equations evolving on vector spaces. More precisely, they are formal series developments of differential operators indexed over rooted trees, and can be used to represent a large class of numerical methods. The theory of backward error analysis for differential equations has a particularly nice description when applied to methods represented by Butcher series. For the study of differential equations evolving on more general manifolds, a generalization of Butcher series has been introduced, called Lie--Butcher series. This paper presents the theory of backward error analysis for methods based on Lie--Butcher series.Comment: Minor corrections and additions. Final versio

High-precision measurement of the half-life of 62^{62}Ga

The beta-decay half-life of 62Ga has been studied with high precision using on-line mass separated samples. The decay of 62Ga which is dominated by a 0+ to 0+ transition to the ground state of 62Zn yields a half-life of T_{1/2} = 116.19(4) ms. This result is more precise than any previous measurement by about a factor of four or more. The present value is in agreement with older literature values, but slightly disagrees with a recent measurement. We determine an error weighted average value of all experimental half-lives of 116.18(4) ms.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Overview of (pro-)Lie group structures on Hopf algebra character groups

Character groups of Hopf algebras appear in a variety of mathematical and physical contexts. To name just a few, they arise in non-commutative geometry, renormalisation of quantum field theory, and numerical analysis. In the present article we review recent results on the structure of character groups of Hopf algebras as infinite-dimensional (pro-)Lie groups. It turns out that under mild assumptions on the Hopf algebra or the target algebra the character groups possess strong structural properties. Moreover, these properties are of interest in applications of these groups outside of Lie theory. We emphasise this point in the context of two main examples: The Butcher group from numerical analysis and character groups which arise from the Connes--Kreimer theory of renormalisation of quantum field theories.Comment: 31 pages, precursor and companion to arXiv:1704.01099, Workshop on "New Developments in Discrete Mechanics, Geometric Integration and Lie-Butcher Series", May 25-28, 2015, ICMAT, Madrid, Spai

Inventaire des mollusques d'eau douce en Ituri (Haut-Zaïre) : conséquences sanitaires pour l'homme et le bétail

Cent soixante-dix points d'abreuvement pour le bétail ont été prospectés de juin 1986 à août 1988 en Ituri (nord-est du Zaïre) afin de déterminer les principaux mollusques d'eau douce pouvant intervenir dans la transmission des trématodoses animales et humaines. Dix-neuf espèces de gastéropodes ont été rencensées. Quatre gîtes sur dix n'hébergent pas ou très peu de mollusques. Les trois espèces les plus fréquemment rencontrées sont #Lymnaea natalensis, #Biomphalaria pfeifferi$(27,6$ (15,3 %). La distribution des deux premières espèces semble très homogène au niveau régional et ne permet pas l'établissement d'une relation avec le risque parasitaire (#Fasciola gigantica et #Schistosoma mansoni). Inversement, la répartition de #Bulinus africanus (et secondairement celle de #B. forskalii) correspond globalement à la distribution de #Schistosoma bovis chez les bovins. L'association de #Lymnaea natalensis et de #Bulinus africanus au sein des gîtes rend compte de l'association des infestations à #Fasciola gigantica et #Schistosoma bovis$ chez les bovins. (Résumé d'auteur