4303 research outputs found
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The Longest Night
No full textThe Longest Night tells the story of a girl who thinks she can control the moon. When she is taken in by police on the basis of bizarre behavior she proves whether or not her beliefs are reality. In this student short film made at Carleton College, themes of exploitation and doubt toward women emerge through a mix of early experimental movie shots and 4K footage
Physical Reservoir Computing
No full textReservoir Computing (RC) is an emerging field at the border of Computer Science and Physics. It leverages properties of dynamical systems with specific characteristics, called reservoirs, to provide additional computational power for analyzing data. The internal dynamics of these systems are used to project inputs into high-dimensional phase space, creating linear relationships in the data that were not originally present. This allows simple analysis methods such as linear regression to extract key features from the data. Physical reservoir computing (PRC) uses physical systems as reservoirs, which can provide advantages such as low power consumption and increases in processing ability. This paper discusses the properties of linear data, the models we use to process it, the properties of reservoirs, the theory behind reservoir computing, and details of how physical reservoirs are implemented
Measuring the Mind’s Muscle: How to Assess the Effectiveness of Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Practice
No full textNo Exit, No Excuses: Sartre, Authenticity, and the Weight of Existence
No full textSartre said that “at first he is nothing,...and only afterwards will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be” (EIAH, 28).1 This quote could function as the very foundation for what Sartre believes what it means to “be”. To Sartre, we are vastly more free than we may think. So free, that our freedom becomes a burden. It is this abundance of freedom that allows us to craft our own core nature and identity, and is something that we must do. If we elect to run away from our responsibility of freedom, then we are inauthentic. Because at first we are nothing in terms of our purpose, it is our existence in this world that allows us to create what we will become, which will become our essence. This paper will be defending Sartre’s existentialist philosophy, especially his ideas on authenticity, and how “existence preceding essence” can allow us understand the human condition more fulfillingly
Estimating Parameters of the Matching Function for Labor Search
No full textThe Cobb-Douglas functional form is the most commonly used specification for the matching function in the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides family of models. In this paper, I estimate the three parameters of this functional form – matching efficiency, the elasticity of matching with respect to unemployment, and the elasticity of matching with respect to vacancies – using US labor market data from December 2000 to July 2024 and three different estimation techniques: ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression, instrumental variables (IV) regression, and state-space modeling. I find that state-space modeling produces estimates which most closely resemble the findings of earlier studies, while the estimates generated from OLS and IV regressions are much less intuitive
Quantifying topographic controls on debris flows in residential and heavily trafficked areas on the post-glacial landscape of Prince of Wales Island, southeast Alaska
No full textDebris flows are becoming an increasingly prevalent issue in southeast Alaska due to more frequent and intense atmospheric rivers. These changes pose serious risks to the infrastructure and lives in isolated communities, like Craig and Hollis, on Prince of Wales Island. The valleys where the towns reside, shaped by glaciation, feature U-shaped valleys with steep slopes and underlying layers of glacial till that can act as failure planes. Craig and Hollis are flanked by hillslopes with a history of debris flows and are at risk of future landslides, which would cause major destruction. Homes in Craig are built on debris flow fans, while a debris flow near Hollis could cut off its road connection and resource transport. To assess landslide risks, I use data from the Tongass National Forest landslide inventory (created by the USFS) and airborne LIDAR data acquired in 2017. I evaluate different data collection methods by averaging pixels around initiation points to reduce data noise without significantly affecting results. I examine the topographic characteristics of past debris flow initiation as well as debris flow mobility. Debris flows in Craig and Hollis initiate on slopes \u3e30° with log10 drainage areas of ~2-3. Mobility height vs length (H/L) ratios were ~0.51, similar to previously determined H/L ratios of deglaciated landscapes (0.42), indicating lower mobility than non-glaciated areas (0.25). This analysis helps future studies to establish slope stability thresholds for Prince of Wales Island and to better predict future landslides near the communities of Hollis and Craig
Communicating Mathematics Portfolio
No full textPortfolio of technical papers written on myriad math topic
Microcredit as a Public Health Initiative: Studying the Effects of Access to Microcredit on Women’s Health in India
No full textMicrocredit programs have emerged as a development tool aimed at alleviating poverty and empowering women. This study examines the relationship between microcredit program awareness and participation and various health indicators among women in India, using survey data from the National Family Health Survey conducted from 2019-2021. Using logistic regression analysis, I assess the effects of microcredit on maternal health service utilization, health knowledge, and preventive health behaviors. Awareness and participation are positively associated with antenatal care visits (β = 0.29; β = 0.45) and tuberculosis knowledge (β = 1.05; β = 0.36). Participation also increases the likelihood of cancer screenings, including oral (β = 0.47) and breast cancer (β = 0.45). Additional findings highlight the role of socioeconomic and cultural factors (wealth, caste, religion, and media access) as determinants of women’s health. The study shows the potential of microcredit programs in improving women’s health outcomes, but underscores the need for policies that address financial, geographical, and social barriers to healthcare access
Statistical Models for Exploring the Impact of Examiner Variability and Response Category Options in Forensic
No full textTraditional reporting methods in forensic science are somewhat subjective, and many potential errors are not accounted for due to categories labeled as “inconclusive” that are not included in the traditional error metrics of false positives and false negatives. More recently, response categories available to forensic examiners have expanded to include more types of inconclusive categories; for instance, an examiner could identify an item as “inconclusive close” to show that they believe an item could be an identification which leads to more response category options. We sought to find a model that accounts for the variability of individual examiner decisions and can be expanded to work in cases of three to five response categories within multiple areas of forensic science. We did this using a Bayesian Ordinal modeling approach that includes a random effect to account for variability among examiners, and we implemented our models by simulating data based on previous studies. We found that considering individual examiner differences led to an increase in accuracy across multiple forensic data sources, however, results were more variable as we changed the number of categories available to examiners
Foreign Lobbying in US politics by Middle Eastern States 2015-2015
No full textThis study examines the role of foreign lobbying in U.S. politics, with a particular focus on Middle Eastern countries in the post-Arab Spring era. Quantitative analysis reveals that foreign lobbying has been effective in influencing U.S. arms sales policy, but not foreign aid allocations, within the examined sample. To complement these findings, the paper presents qualitative case studies of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Consistent with existing literature, the study finds that Israel and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have institutionalized a sustained lobbying strategy that makes reductions in U.S. support to Israel politically untenable. In contrast, Saudi Arabia and Egypt tend to employ reactive lobbying strategies in response to policy threats, yet still succeed in advancing their interests by emphasizing their strategic and geopolitical importance. These findings highlight the significant role of lobbying in shaping U.S. foreign policy and underscore the distinct mechanisms through which different states exert influence. Future research should pursue more extensive quantitative analysis to further unpack the relationship between foreign lobbying efforts and policy outcomes