Maslov index, Lagrangians, Mapping Class Groups and TQFT

Given a mapping class f of an oriented surface Sigma and a lagrangian lambda in the first homology of Sigma, we define an integer n_{lambda}(f). We use n_{lambda}(f) (mod 4) to describe a universal central extension of the mapping class group of Sigma as an index-four subgroup of the extension constructed from the Maslov index of triples of lagrangian subspaces in the homology of the surface. We give two descriptions of this subgroup. One is topological using surgery, the other is homological and builds on work of Turaev and work of Walker. Some applications to TQFT are discussed. They are based on the fact that our construction allows one to precisely describe how the phase factors that arise in the skein theory approach to TQFT-representations of the mapping class group depend on the choice of a lagrangian on the surface.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Figures. to appear in Forum Mathematicu

Application of LANDSAT system for improving methodology for inventory and classification of wetlands

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Why We Can't Wait -- A Case for Philanthropic Action: Opportunities for Improving Life Outcomes for African American Males

This report examines programs and initiatives that impact the life outcomes of African-American males, gathers reflections from the field, and assesses needs and opportunities according to scholars, policy makers, advocates, and organizational leaders. The report documents its findings and recommendations in three categories: academia/research, practitioners/civil society, and public policy/advocacy

Rural Research Brief: Vertical Teaming: K-12 Teachers Engaged in Scientific Research in Rural Settings

Improving the knowledge and skills of practicing K-12 science teachers is our challenge. By doing so, teachers bring a renewed understanding and excitement for science to classrooms and can pass along their enhanced skills and growing expertise to their K-12 students. yet, many K-12 teachers, particularly those in rural areas, find themselves isolated from other scientists and science educators and often have scares resources for experiments and other classroom activities. . . . .This study explores the outcomes of a form of experiential professional development in science education for rural educators that involved teachers working in multi-grade level teams on field based practice science projects with scientists

Workmen\u27s Compensation -- 1961 Tennessee Survey

Two bills amending the Workmen\u27s Compensation Law\u27 were enacted during the survey year. The first placed a limit of 12,500 on compensation payable for any permanent partial injury, not limited to those set forth in the schedule. It also added the following self-explanatory sentence to the first paragraph of section 50-1027, Tennessee Code Annotated: To receive benefits from the Second Injury Fund, the injured employee must be the employee of an employer who has properly insured his workmen\u27s compensation liability or has qualified to operate under the Tennessee Workmen\u27s Compensation Law as a self-insurer. The second amendment changed the definition of employee and the exclusive remedy provision so as to eliminate the election of a legally or illegally employed minor to accept workmen\u27s compensation or prosecute a tort action for work-connected injuries or death. Henceforth, minors will be limited to workmen\u27s compensation benefits, a reversal of the prior rule giving the minor an election of remedies. Thus, minors will be treated as any other employee, which may or may not be of financial advantage to them. For example,the minor employee in Davis v. United States FideZity & Guaranty Co. had previously collected 15,000 in an action for the loss of 75% of his left hand. The instant case was for workmen\u27s compensation for the same injury, which the Tennessee Supreme Court quite properly denied. However, because of the amendment, a similar case should not arise in the future

An Employer\u27s Unilateral Action -- An Unfair Labor Practice?

During the Industrial Revolution, the growth of enormous industrial establishments with a correspondingly large number of workers hired to perform increasingly simple tasks manifested the inability of an individual effectively to bargain with an employer concerning wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of the employment relationship. The resulting discontent among workers produced long and bitter, often bloody, outbreaks of economic warfare between employers and employees. In the abstract, freedom of contract was possible still, but as a practical matter employment benefits and obligations were largely established by managerial fiat. It was felt that if employees could effectively unite for bargaining, their collective power might balance that of the employer, thereby vitalizing the abstraction. The enactment in 1935 of the National Labor Relations Act,\u27 the Wagner Act, represented, in essence, an attempt to strike that balance so as to reduce or eliminate industrial strife in interstate commerce

A study of beryllium and beryllium-lithium complexes in single crystal silicon

When beryllium is thermally diffused into silicon, it gives rise to acceptor levels 191 MeV and 145 meV above the valence band. Quenching and annealing studies indicate that the 145-MeV level is due to a more complex beryllium configuration than the 191-MeV level. When lithium is thermally diffused into a beryllium-doped silicon sample, it produces two acceptor levels at 106 MeV and 81 MeV. Quenching and annealing studies indicate that these levels are due to lithium forming a complex with the defects responsible for the 191-MeV and 145-MeV beryllium levels, respectively. Electrical measurements imply that the lithium impurity ions are physically close to the beryllium impurity atoms. The ground state of the 106-MeV beryllium level is split into two levels, presumably by internal strains. Tentative models are proposed

Workmen\u27s Compensation -- 1962 Tennessee Survey

The Tennessee Supreme Court was again faced with a substantial number of workmen\u27s compensation cases during the current survey year. Fewer of the cases than usual were concerned primarily with whether the decision below was supported by sufficient evidence. However, a number of them were illustrative of aspects of the statutory requirement that an employee suffer an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment in order to be eligible for workmen\u27s compensation benefits