Pseudorandom Selective Excitation in NMR

In this work, average Hamiltonian theory is used to study selective excitation in a spin-1/2 system evolving under a series of small flip-angle $\theta-$pulses $(\theta\ll 1)$ that are applied either periodically [which corresponds to the DANTE pulse sequence] or aperiodically. First, an average Hamiltonian description of the DANTE pulse sequence is developed; such a description is determined to be valid either at or very far from the DANTE resonance frequencies, which are simply integer multiples of the inverse of the interpulse delay. For aperiodic excitation schemes where the interpulse delays are chosen pseudorandomly, a single resonance can be selectively excited if the $\theta$-pulses' phases are modulated in concert with the time delays. Such a selective pulse is termed a pseudorandom-DANTE or p-DANTE sequence, and the conditions in which an average Hamiltonian description of p-DANTE is found to be similar to that found for the DANTE sequence. It is also shown that averaging over different p-DANTE sequences that are selective for the same resonance can help reduce excitations at frequencies away from the resonance frequency, thereby improving the apparent selectivity of the p-DANTE sequences. Finally, experimental demonstrations of p-DANTE sequences and comparisons with theory are presented.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

DANTE: Deep AlterNations for Training nEural networks

We present DANTE, a novel method for training neural networks using the alternating minimization principle. DANTE provides an alternate perspective to traditional gradient-based backpropagation techniques commonly used to train deep networks. It utilizes an adaptation of quasi-convexity to cast training a neural network as a bi-quasi-convex optimization problem. We show that for neural network configurations with both differentiable (e.g. sigmoid) and non-differentiable (e.g. ReLU) activation functions, we can perform the alternations effectively in this formulation. DANTE can also be extended to networks with multiple hidden layers. In experiments on standard datasets, neural networks trained using the proposed method were found to be promising and competitive to traditional backpropagation techniques, both in terms of quality of the solution, as well as training speed.Comment: 19 page

Dante's Afterlife in Argentina

In the 1890s, Bartolomé Mitre (President of Argentina from 1862-1868) published a Spanish translation of the Divine Comedy that was as key to the diffusion of Dante in the Río de la Plata as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s English translation (1867) was in the U.S. This article examines Mitre’s motives for dedicating a decade of his life to the translation, as well as his mission to bring European (and specifically Italian) high culture to his fledgling nation. I have found Mitre’s reading of Dante to have important resonances with the readings of Risorgimento Italians such as Mazzini, who associated Dante with political unity, morality, and high culture. This study also examines Mitre’s role as an advocate of Italian immigration to Argentina

The Poetry of Christina Rossetti and Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Same Femme, Different Fate

Siblings Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Rossetti both lived during the Victorian era and wrote poetry which epitomizes the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Although they were related, these two poets were drastically different, and their differences are evident in their poetry. Dante Gabriel was infatuated with beautiful women and many of his poems express sexual desire, while Christina was intensely devoted to God and many of her poems provide moral instruction. However, these poets both make femme fatales the subjects of their poems “Body’s Beauty,” “The Card-Dealer,” “The World,” and “Babylon the Great.” This paper analyzes the different ways in which Dante Gabriel Rossetti uses the image of a dangerous, eroticized woman to symbolize the threat that the power of female beauty poses to a man\u27s life, while Christina Rossetti uses this image to symbolize the threat that worldly desires pose to a person\u27s eternal life

The Aporetic Ground of Revelation’s Authority in the Divine Comedy and Dante’s Demarcation and Defense of Philosophical Authority

I discuss Dante’s understanding that human existence is “ordered by two final goals” and how, for Dante, this understanding defines philosophy’s and revelation’s respective scopes of authority in guiding human conduct. Specifically, I show that, although Dante subordinates our earthly beatitude to spiritual beatitude in a way that seems to suggest the subordination of the authority of philosophy to that of revelation, he in fact limits philosophy’s scope to an arena in which its authority is not only legitimate but also crucial to the cultivation of the higher, spiritual beatitude of human activity

Dante's Understanding of the Two Ends of Human Desire and the Relationship between Philosophy and Theology

I discuss Dante’s understanding that human existence is “ordered by two final goals” and how this understanding defines philosophy’s and theology’s respective scopes of authority in guiding human conduct. I show that, while Dante devalues the philosophical authority associated with the traditional Aristotelian emphasis on the significance of contemplative activity, he does so in order to highlight philosophy’s ethico-political authority to guide human conduct toward its “earthly beatitude.” Moreover, I argue that, although Dante subordinates earthly beatitude to spiritual beatitude, he nonetheless maintains that philosophy’s authority to reveal a path to spiritual beatitude requires its fundamental independence from theology

New Voters Will Influence Outcome in New Hampshire Primary

In this data snapshot, authors Kenneth Johnson, Dante Scala, and Andrew Smith discuss factors going into New Hampshire\u27s 2020 Primary that could influence the outcome

The equations of medieval cosmology

In Dantean cosmography the Universe is described as a series of concentric spheres with all the known planets embedded in their rotation motion, the Earth located at the centre and Lucifer at the centre of the Earth. Beyond these "celestial spheres", Dante represents the "angelic choirs" as other nine spheres surrounding God. The rotation velocity increases with decreasing distance from God, that is with increasing Power (Virtu'). We show that, adding Power as an additional fourth dimension to space, the modern equations governing the expansion of a closed Universe (i. e. with the density parameter \Omega_0>1) in the space-time, can be applied to the medieval Universe as imaged by Dante in his Divine Comedy. In this representation the Cosmos acquires a unique description and Lucifer is not located at the centre of the hyperspheres.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur

Poverty, inequality, and welfare in a rapid-growth economy: The Chilean experience

Poverty reduction, Hunger, Inequality, Poverty, Equal opportunity, Education,