The Mod-2 Cohomology Ring of the Third Conway Group is Cohen-Macaulay

By explicit machine computation we obtain the mod-2 cohomology ring of the third Conway group Co_3. It is Cohen-Macaulay, has dimension 4, and is detected on the maximal elementary abelian 2-subgroups.Comment: 12 pages; writing style now more concis

The essential ideal in group cohomology does not square to zero

Let G be the Sylow 2-subgroup of the unitary group $SU_3(4)$. We find two essential classes in the mod-2 cohomology ring of G whose product is nonzero. In fact, the product is the ``last survivor'' of Benson-Carlson duality. Recent work of Pakianathan and Yalcin then implies a result about connected graphs with an action of G. Also, there exist essential classes which cannot be written as sums of transfers from proper subgroups. This phenomenon was first observed on the computer. The argument given here uses the elegant calculation by J. Clark, with minor corrections.Comment: 9 pages; three typos corrected, one was particularly confusin

Playing in the Fields of Desire: Hegemonic Masculinity in Live-Combat LARPs

Gender based research on Role Playing Games (RPG's) has long claimed that many males are attracted to RPG's due to the possibility of creating and performing hegemonic identities in-game. This paper presents a research study of males participating in Live-Action Role Play (LARPS), where we seek to better understand the institutional and social limits on identity generation in RPGs, the extent to which pre-existing masculine hierarchies follow gamers into the game context, and the meanings players make of their experiences in game

Characteristic-free resolutions of Weyl and Specht modules

We construct explicit resolutions of Weyl modules by divided powers and of co-Specht modules by permutational modules. We also prove a conjecture of Boltje-Hartmann on resolutions of co-Specht modules.Comment: 31 page

Capacity investigation of brine-bearing sands of the Frio Formation for geologic sequestration of CO2

The capacity of fluvial brine-bearing formations to sequester CO2 is investigated using numerical simulations of CO2 injection and storage. Capacity is defined as the volume fraction of the subsurface available for CO2 storage and is conceptualized as a product of factors that account for two-phase flow and transport processes, formation geometry, formation heterogeneity, and formation porosity. The space and time domains used to define capacity must be chosen with care to obtain meaningful results, especially when comparing different authors’ work. Physical factors that impact capacity include permeability anisotropy and relative permeability to CO2, brine/CO2 density and viscosity ratios, the shape of the trapping structure, formation porosity and the presence of low permeability layering.National Energy Technology LaboratoryBureau of Economic Geolog

The Effect of Self-Reported Efficacy on Clinical Skill Performance

Context: Self-efficacy can enhance an individual\u27s perception of their ability to perform a challenging task. Objective: To determine whether repeated performance of a skill would improve students\u27 self-efficacy across a range of academic classifications. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Graduate and undergraduate professional athletic training education programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. Participants: Twenty-seven athletic training students (sophomores, n = 10; juniors, n = 10; graduate, n = 7). Intervention: We assessed participants within one day of performing a psychomotor clinical skill (PCS) of joint mobilizations or an upper quarter screen before (PCS1) and after (PCS2) a video intervention. The video that provided augmented feedback was viewed between PCS1 and PCS2. Main Outcome Measures: Outcome measures included self-efficacy scores from the Clinical Skill Performance Self-Efficacy Form assessed over five time points throughout the learning period, PCS performance scores pre- and post-intervention, and the correlation between these measures. Results: Following the intervention, PCS performance significantly improved in sophomores and juniors (Bonferonni post-hoc, P \u3c .001); graduate students performed at a similar high level on PCS1 and PCS2 (Bonferonni post-hoc, P = .72). Academic classification affected baseline self-efficacy with graduate students reporting higher self-efficacy compared to sophomores (9.7 ± 4.1) and juniors (19.1 ± 4.1) (Bonferroni posthoc, P \u3c .001). All groups experienced an increase in self-efficacy ahead of PCS1 with sophomores displaying a further increase between PCS1 and PCS2. With combined participants, we noted a positive correlation between self-efficacy assessed immediately following PCS1 and performance on PCS1 (r = 0.502, P = 0.007), and between relative increases in self-efficacy assessed immediately after PCS performance and relative increases in performance from PCS1 to PCS2 (r = 0.533, P = 0.02). Conclusions: The intervention positively affected performance in those who initially scored low. Students who reported higher degrees of self-efficacy immediately after the first PCS performance also performed better on this PCS. Student self-efficacy and PCS skill performance can be improved with the use of video feedback

On the blocks of the walled Brauer algebra

We determine the blocks of the walled Brauer algebra in characteristic zero. These can be described in terms of orbits of the action of a Weyl group of type $A$ on a certain set of weights. In positive characteristic we give a linkage principle in terms of orbits of the corresponding affine Weyl group. We also classify the semisimple walled Brauer algebras in all characteristics.Comment: 40 pages, 16 figure

Parasympathetic functions in children with sensory processing disorder.

The overall goal of this study was to determine if parasympathetic nervous system (PsNS) activity is a significant biomarker of sensory processing difficulties in children. Several studies have demonstrated that PsNS activity is an important regulator of reactivity in children, and thus, it is of interest to study whether PsNS activity is related to sensory reactivity in children who have a type of condition associated with sensory processing disorders termed sensory modulation dysfunction (SMD). If so, this will have important implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying sensory processing problems of children and for developing intervention strategies to address them. The primary aims of this project were: (1) to evaluate PsNS activity in children with SMD compared to typically developing (TYP) children, and (2) to determine if PsNS activity is a significant predictor of sensory behaviors and adaptive functions among children with SMD. We examine PsNS activity during the Sensory Challenge Protocol; which includes baseline, the administration of eight sequential stimuli in five sensory domains, recovery, and also evaluate response to a prolonged auditory stimulus. As a secondary aim we examined whether subgroups of children with specific physiological and behavioral sensory reactivity profiles can be identified. Results indicate that as a total group the children with severe SMD demonstrated a trend for low baseline PsNS activity, compared to TYP children, suggesting this may be a biomarker for SMD. In addition, children with SMD as a total group demonstrated significantly poorer adaptive behavior in the communication and daily living subdomains and in the overall Adaptive Behavior Composite of the Vineland than TYP children. Using latent class analysis, the subjects were grouped by severity and the severe SMD group had significantly lower PsNS activity at baseline, tones and prolonged auditory. These results provide preliminary evidence that children who demonstrate severe SMD may have physiological activity that is different from children without SMD, and that these physiological and behavioral manifestations of SMD may affect a child\u27s ability to engage in everyday social, communication, and daily living skills

Chern classes and extraspecial groups

The mod-p cohomology ring of the extraspecial p-group of exponent p is studied for odd p. We investigate the subquotient ch(G) generated by Chern classes modulo the nilradical. The subring of ch(G) generated by Chern classes of one-dimensional representations was studied by Tezuka and Yagita. The subring generated by the Chern classes of the faithful irreducible representations is a polynomial algebra. We study the interplay between these two families of generators, and obtain some relations between them