305 research outputs found
'Kristen Hovers At The Edge': First Chapter of 'I Know How To Live': The Life of Kristen Pfaff (with an afterword by Jason Pfaff).
No full textOpening chapter of biography of Kristen Pfaff by Guy Mankowski. ‘Mankowski, through painstaking research, has given a powerful voice to one of our lesser understood musical forces. A brilliant, alternative look at the 90s music scene.’ Lucy Nichol, author of The 27 Club. </p
Pfaff, D. Estrogens and brain function
No full textDonald W. Pfaff. Estrogens and brain function: neural analysis of a hormone-controlled mammalian reproductive behavior
By integrating a vast array of empirical findings, this book advances the frontier of knowledge about estrogen’s effects on nerve cells and behavior. Systematically examining the effects of estrogen on the neural circuitry underlying reproductive behavior, the author uses electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, and neuroendocrine experimental techniques to develop a complete analysis of the mechanisms for essential mammalian mating behavior.
Based on an extensive research program, Estrogens and Brain Function traces the pathways that control lordosis behavior. This book also describes the anatomical basis of hormonal accumulations in the brain and illustrates how these hormones alter neural circuits. Both the methods and the results delineated here promise to have an important impact on future investigations of brain mechanisms of mental and behavioral states.https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/ru-authors/1147/thumbnail.jp
Auxiliary Linear Problem, Difference Fay Identities and Dispersionless Limit of Pfaff-Toda Hierarchy
No full textRecently the study of Fay-type identities revealed some new features of the DKP hierarchy (also known as ''the coupled KP hierarchy'' and ''the Pfaff lattice''). Those results are now extended to a Toda version of the DKP hierarchy (tentatively called ''the Pfaff-Toda hierarchy''). Firstly, an auxiliary linear problem of this hierarchy is constructed. Unlike the case of the DKP hierarchy, building blocks of the auxiliary linear problem are difference operators. A set of evolution equations for dressing operators of the wave functions are also obtained. Secondly, a system of Fay-like identities (difference Fay identities) are derived. They give a generating functional expression of auxiliary linear equations. Thirdly, these difference Fay identities have well defined dispersionless limit (dispersionless Hirota equations). As in the case of the DKP hierarchy, an elliptic curve is hidden in these dispersionless Hirota equations. This curve is a kind of spectral curve, whose defining equation is identified with the characteristic equation of a subset of all auxiliary linear equations. The other auxiliary linear equations are related to quasi-classical deformations of this elliptic spectral curve.The author is grateful to Ralf Willox and Saburo Kakei for useful information and comments. This work is partly supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 19540179 and No. 21540218 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Peacekeeping and the Just War Tradition
No full textMajor Tony Pfaff, a former Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the United States Military Academy, addresses an important source of much of the confusion that currently surrounds many of the Operations Other Than War (OOTW) that the military finds itself participating in with increasing frequency. The author points out that, though the source of this confusion is primarily ethical, it has important operational implications as well. In the Just War Tradition, as well as the Law of War, there has always been a tension between winning and fighting well, and the peacekeeping environment does not change this. Commonly, the resolution of this tension is expressed in the maxim: always use the least amount of force necessary to achieve the military objective. This maxim applies, regardless of what environment one is in. The author\u27s contention is, however, that the understanding of necessary is radically different in the peacekeeping environment than it is in more conventional operations. Failure to understand this results in a great deal of confusion as soldiers try to apply an ethic designed for dealing with enemies in environments where there are none.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1128/thumbnail.jp
Constructing and classifying fully irreducible outer automorphisms of free groups
No full textThe main theorem of this document emulates, in the context of Out(F_r) theory, a mapping class group theorem (by H. Masur and J. Smillie) that determines precisely which index lists arise from pseudo-Anosov mapping classes. Since the ideal Whitehead graph gives a finer invariant in the analogous setting of a fully irreducible outer automorphisms of free groups, we instead focus on determining which of the twenty-one connected, loop-free, five-vertex graphs are ideal Whitehead graphs of ageometric, fully irreducible outer automorphisms of free groups in rank three. Our main theorem accomplishes this by showing that there are precisely eighteen graphs arising as such. We also give a method for identifying certain complications called periodic Nielsen paths, prove the existence of conveniently decomposed representatives of ageometric, fully irreducible outer automorphisms of free groups having connected, (2r-1)-vertex ideal Whitehead graphs, and prove a criterion for identifying representatives of ageometric, fully irreducible outer automorphisms of free groups. The strategies we use for constructing fully irreducible outer automorphisms of free groups, as well as our identification and decomposition techniques, can be used to extend our main theorem, as they are valid in any rank. Our methods of proof rely primarily on Bestvina-Feighn-Handel train track theory and the theory of attracting laminations.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Catherine Pfaf
New Members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield\u27s 5 Year Club
No full textPhotograph of newly initiated members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida\u27s 5 Year Club for employees; members left to right, front row: Emily Tillman, Mabel Fleming, Martha Harvey, Betty White, Ina DeVane, Louise Perkinson; second row: Clarence Bolin, Veedy Rice, Alene Phelps, Ruby Wells, Emily Pfaff, Ilene Glason, Don Hugenot; third row: Jimmy Hopper, Joe Stansell, Jimmy Williams, Chuck Smith, John L. Bentley, Arnold Semanik; photo date 4/2/1959
Newsletter Issue: News of the Blues April, 1959https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/flablue_images/1017/thumbnail.jp
Complex Shear Modulus of Hydrogels using a Dynamic Nanoindentation Method
No full textThe micromechanical properties of soft tissues and materials are of considerable interest for biomedical applications. Nanoindentation is a powerful technique for determining localized material properties of biological tissues and has been used widely for hard tissue and material characterization. However, the technique is much more challenging when utilized for soft tissues due to their compliance as well as due to the limitations of commercial instruments which were originally developed for stiff, engineering materials. This study explores the use of a dynamic indentation method with a cylindrical punch (100 μm diameter) to characterize gelatin gel and low molecular weight hydrogels. A Keysight Technologies DCM II actuator is used with the Continuous Stiffness Measurement (CSM) to determine the complex shear modulus of these gels. The method overcomes surface detection issues with standard quasi-static nanoindentation as a change in phase angle can be used to accurately detect the sample surface. The data collected in this study is found to be comparable with macroscopic rheology and demonstrates the utility of the method for characterization of hydrogels
Complex Shear Modulus of Hydrogels using a Dynamic Nanoindentation Method
No full textThe micromechanical properties of soft tissues and materials are of considerable interest for biomedical applications. Nanoindentation is a powerful technique for determining localized material properties of biological tissues and has been used widely for hard tissue and material characterization. However, the technique is much more challenging when utilized for soft tissues due to their compliance as well as due to the limitations of commercial instruments which were originally developed for stiff, engineering materials. This study explores the use of a dynamic indentation method with a cylindrical punch (100 μm diameter) to characterize gelatin gel and low molecular weight hydrogels. A Keysight Technologies DCM II actuator is used with the Continuous Stiffness Measurement (CSM) to determine the complex shear modulus of these gels. The method overcomes surface detection issues with standard quasi-static nanoindentation as a change in phase angle can be used to accurately detect the sample surface. The data collected in this study is found to be comparable with macroscopic rheology and demonstrates the utility of the method for characterization of hydrogels
Quantum measurement and entanglement of spin quantum bits in diamond
No full textThis thesis presents a set of experiments that explore the possible realisation of a macroscopic quantum network based on solid-state quantum bits. Such a quantum network would allow for studying quantum mechanics on large scales (meters, or even kilometers), and can open new possibilities for applications in quantum information processing. A promising candidate platform for such a network is the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond. The NV center is a lattice defect in diamond that has excellent quantum properties and allows optical access to a quantum register of individual electronic and nuclear spins. We use optical spectroscopy and magnetic resonance techniques at liquid helium temperature to manipulate individual spins, and perform projective quantum measurements on them. We first show an experiment in which we create entanglement between two non-interacting nuclear spins by a projective quantum measurement. Second, we demonstrate the creation of an entangled state between two NV electronic spins located in different setups at a distance of three meters. Finally, we demonstrate the deterministic teleportation of the quantum state of a nuclear spin onto an electronic spin over three meters. Our results demonstrate the great potential of the NV center for the realization of a large-scale quantum network.Quantum NanoscienceApplied Science
Facilitating Human-Machine Teaming in Machine Learning Problem Formulation
No full textThe first step in any applied machine learning (ML) task is formulating what needs to be predicted and how to define it, considering the available data. It often takes significant trial-and-errors for practitioners to identify a problem formulation that is both relevant to the task and realistic given the available data. Despite its importance, this process is not well supported by existing tools. This is a task where humans and machines bring complementary expertise, thus potentially amenable to human-machine teaming. My research was focused on answering a core research question: How can we facilitate problem formulation through human-machine teaming and what's the impact of human-machine teaming. We first conducted a study to investigate the impact of two human-machine teaming strategies: 1) Performance First: machines leading the process by recommending problem formulations based on predictive performance, and 2) Relevance First: humans leading the process by selecting relevant proxies. Then, we conducted a second study to understand the impact of different machine recommendation strategies: 1) recommend based on relevance, 2) recommend based on predictive performance, and 3) recommend Pareto optimal problem formulations by considering it as a multi-objective optimization task. Across two studies, introducing automation to facilitate rapid prototyping increases the number of candidates that users can examine. However, we also observed a consistent bias towards quantitative metrics of model quality, risking misalignment with application goals. We show that systems should explicitly support the evaluation of user objectives and facilitate multi-criteria tradeoffs during the problem formulation process. Together, these insights help provide a concrete step toward interactive problem formulation tools that not only accelerate iteration but also support multi-objective exploration.Doctor of Philosoph
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