Now showing items 21-29 of 29

    • Polynomial invariants of singular knots and links

      Ceniceros, Jose; Churchill, Indu R.; Elhamdadi, Mohamed (World Scientific Pub Co Pte Lt, 2021-02-25)
      We generalize the notion of the quandle polynomial to the case of singquandles. We show that the singquandle polynomial is an invariant of finite singquandles. We also construct a singular link invariant from the singquandle polynomial and show that this new singular link invariant generalizes the singquandle counting invariant. In particular, using the new polynomial invariant, we can distinguish singular links with the same singquandle counting invariant.
    • Singquandle shadows and singular knot invariants

      Ceniceros, Jose; Churchill, Indu R.; Elhamdadi, Mohamed (Canadian Mathematical Society, 2021-09-24)
      We introduce shadow structures for singular knot theory. Precisely, we define two invari- ants of singular knots and links. First, we introduce a notion of action of a singquandle on a set to define a shadow counting invariant of singular links which generalize the classical shadow colorings of knots by quandles. We then define a shadow polynomial invariant for shadow structures. Lastly, we enhance the shadow counting invariant by combining both the shadow counting invariant and the shadow polynomial invariant. Explicit examples of computations are given.
    • Cocycle Invariants and Oriented Singular Knots

      Ceniceros, Jose; Churchill, Indu R.; Elhamdadi, Mohamed; Hajij, Mustafa (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021-09-07)
      We extend the quandle cocycle invariant to oriented singular knots and links using algebraic structures called oriented singquandles and assigning weight functions at both regular and singular crossings. This invariant coincides with the classical cocycle invariant for classical knots, but provides extra information about singular knots and links. The new invariant distinguishes the singular granny knot from the singular square knot.
    • Accessibility as a Foundation for an Equitable Digital Civic Engagement Infrastructure

      Rank, Allison; Mushtare, Rebecca (Missouri State University, 2021-11-30)
      Individuals and organizations in both higher education and civic engagement have become increasingly aware of their obligation to foster a sense of belonging among students and to support historically underrepresented populations within their work. As part of this effort, the authors argue that the civic engagement infrastructure (CEI)—a term they use to capture the full range of organizations and associated resources directed toward improving civic engagement within higher education which stems from actors both on and off campus—must pay more attention to digital accessibility. The authors document this need by establishing the degree to which higher education institutions rely on off-campus organizations and resources in civic engagement programming, as well as campus’s legal and ethical obligations to provide accessible digital content to students. To assess the current status of digital accessibility within the CEI, the authors performed accessibility audits on the websites of 11 organizations that contribute in various ways to voter mobilization efforts on college campuses. The findings revealed accessibility barriers embedded in the content and in the page templates used for these sites. The authors close with a discussion of the responsibility that content creators, content sharers, and decision makers have in meeting accessibility standards and how on- and off-campus actors fit into these roles. They also offer guidance on how to move forward with this work.
    • Students Achievement and Interest in Elementary Structural Design: The Fixed Vs Floating Facilitator Approaches of Problem Based Learning

      Omeje, Hyginus Osita; Ogwo, B. A. (Informa UK Limited, 2021-10-25)
      The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of fixed vs floating facilitator approaches of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on students’ achievement and interest in Elementary Structural Design (ESD). The design was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest nonequivalent 2 × 2 factorial design. The participants (78) were randomized to treatment conditions. The researchers conducted a repeated-measures analysis of variance and univariate analysis of variance to compare changes across the treatment groups. Results show that using the fixed facilitator model of PBL approaches is more effective in improving students’ achievement, while both models increase students’ interest in elementary structural design (ESD). Also, the study revealed that there was no influence attributable to gender on students’ achievement and interest in ESD. Hence, the fixed facilitator instructional model was advocated for technical teachers to foster students’ achievement and interest in ESD in Nigeria.
    • Procedural and Distributive Justice in Sexual Harassment Arbitrations: Evolution of Decisions in the Union Context

      Abraham, Steven E.; Voos, Paula B. (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021-03-29)
      We examine the evolution of labor arbitration decisions between 1988 and 2018 in which a union-represented employee was alleged to have committed sexual harassment. We find that management punished sexual harassment more stringently over time and that arbitrators became more sensitive to whether or not good procedure was followed by management over time. Distributive justice was also a major concern for arbitrators. The results suggest that it is essential for management to exercise procedural justice in disciplining employees, but that it is just as important for management to consider distributive justice when it comes to imposing discipline for inappropriate behavior.
    • The reception of Malthus’s Essay on Population in the United States

      Andrews, David (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020)
      The American Declaration of Independence reflects the same Enlightenment ideals that led William Godwin and the Marquis de Condorcet to argue for the possibility of the perfectibility of humanity through institutional reform, so Malthus’s Essay on Population also serves as a rebuke to Americans who, believing that European poverty was due to European institutions, sought to build a new society that would provide freedom, equality and general prosperity. But there were competing visions. Nationalist supporters of government promotion of manufacturing argued that Malthusian misery and vice were not inevitable because, in the absence of oppressive European institutions, productivity increases as population increases. Southern defenders of slavery, on the other hand, viewed Malthus as a symbol of the horrific so-called ‘free labour system’, under which wage workers, who could be exploited and discarded, were worse off than slaves because of the slave owners’ interest in the well-being of their property
    • Cutting and Adapting Text for the Virtual Performing Landscape

      Malone, Toby; Huber, Aili (New and Noteworthy: The LMDA Newsletter, 2020-12-21)
      Cutting is almost inevitable in the process of performing classical texts, for time management; company logistics; sense; structure; or adaptation. Over the last year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the process of cutting has changed markedly as performances have moved into the virtual realm.
    • Responsive Redesign and its Effects on Perceived Usefulness

      Fischer, Kimberly; Schofield, Damian (AIRCC Publishing Corporation, 2021-02-26)
      This paper describes the introduction of a new website at TCGplayer, who provide an online store for Magic the Gathering collectible cards. This paper describes an experiment that was undertaken to test a new, responsive design, against the current, non-responsive design. It was predicted that redesigning the shopping cart for a mobile device screen, will result in a higher Perceived Usability (PU), and higher satisfaction, as indexed using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).