D\u27Ou Etes-Vous Revisited

D\u27Ou Etes-Vous deals with a phenomenon which has always been of interest to me. Not only in French, but in Russian as well, the naming of people from their places of origin is very complicated

Method for reducing snap in magnetic amplifiers

Method of reducing snap in magnetic amplifiers uses a degenerative feedback circuit consisting of a resistor and a separate winding on a magnetic core. The feedback circuit extends amplifier range by allowing it to be used at lower values of output current

Fourier transforming a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate by waiting a quarter of the trap period: simulation and applications

We investigate the property of isotropic harmonic traps to Fourier transform a weakly interacting Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) every quarter of a trap period. We solve the Gross–Pitaevskii equation numerically to investigate the time evolution of interacting BECs in the context of the Fourier transform, and we suggest potential applications

Three Little Sacks

In former times people depended much more than nowadays on a well-stocked memory, or at least one differently stocked with little reference to printed materials. Few could read, fewer still had many books, and pens and paper were expensive. So it was, for instance, that names of rulers were associated with tags and epithets which immediately summoned up qualities or events which located them in the history of their countries. In the United States we have a few ekenames like The Father of His Country, Honest Abe and The Great Communicator, but of these only the first and second seem to have settled in, although neither is much used. The Great Communicator is more of a movable epithet than anything else, has been applied to others before, and undoubtedly will be applied to others later

Simulation of superresolution holography for optical tweezers

Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic particles using foci of light beams. Their performance is therefore limited by diffraction. Using computer simulations of a model system, we investigate the application of superresolution holography for two-dimensional (2D) light shaping in optical tweezers, which can beat the diffraction limit. We use the direct-search and Gerchberg algorithms to shape the center of a light beam into one or two bright spots; we do not constrain the remainder of the beam. We demonstrate that superresolution algorithms can significantly improve the normalized stiffness of an optical trap and the minimum separation at which neighboring traps can be resolved. We also test if such algorithms can be used interactively, as is desirable in optical tweezers

Nonprofits and Philanthropy in Nevada

Nevada is a study in contrasts: the rural North and the urban jungle of Las Vegas, the wealth of millionaires gambling in high end casinos contrasting with the plight of those struggling to make ends meet, the beauty and majesty of the Nevada landscape versus the over-the-top sparkle of neon on the “Strip.” Deep contrasts for which Nevada is famous permeate its nonprofit sector. While it is growing rapidly and achieving tangible results, this sector faces serious problems that threaten to undermine the quality of life in the Silver State. Nevada urgently needs to augment its nonprofit sector resources, streamline relevant state policies, increase the number of nonprofits per capita, and improve educational support and training for those working in the field

Ritual and Beyond: A Field Study of Black Pentecostalism

This paper is the result of a field study of Holiness Tabernacle, a pseudonym for a local Black Pentecostal church. I conceived of the project as a way to combine my interest in both anthropology and religion and also to provide me with an introduction to anthropological fieldwork. The primary focus of my work, then, has been on fieldwork rather than on library research, although I have integrated both in this paper. Further, because of my emphasis on fieldwork I have chosen not to concentrate on the fact that this is a Black church, due to my lack of knowledge in the realm of Black Studies. While by no means ignoring that Holiness Tabernacle is a Black church, I have focused instead on its Pentecostal identity. This paper thus begins by setting out a context in which to understand Holiness Tabernacle and its ritual and ends by examining ways in which beliefs expressed in the ritual are acted out in daily life. It presents a picture of a church that strives to maintain a close relationship with God, one that grows out of the ritual and then is carried into daily life. The value of such a study is not limited to an understanding of one small church in one small town, however. It enhances the understanding of a myriad of other small sects that, while differing on minor points, share the same Pentecostal/holiness orientation. It is, finally, a contribution to a topic of perennial interest to anthropology, that of humanity\u27s age-old involvement in the realm of the religious

Probing Coherent Vibrations of Organic Phosphonate Radical Cations with Femtosecond Time-Resolved Mass Spectrometry

Organic phosphates and phosphonates are present in a number of cellular components that can be damaged by exposure to ionizing radiation. This work reports femtosecond time-resolved mass spectrometry (FTRMS) studies of three organic phosphonate radical cations that model the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone: dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), diethyl methylphosphonate (DEMP), and diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP). Upon ionization, each molecular radical cation exhibits unique oscillatory dynamics in its ion yields resulting from coherent vibrational excitation. DMMP has particularly well-resolved 45 fs (732 ± 28 cm−1) oscillations with a weak feature at 610–650 cm−1, while DIMP exhibits bimodal oscillations with a period of ∼55 fs and two frequency features at 554 ± 28 and 670–720 cm−1. In contrast, the oscillations in DEMP decay too rapidly for effective resolution. The low- and high-frequency oscillations in DMMP and DIMP are assigned to coherent excitation of the symmetric O–P–O bend and P–C stretch, respectively. The observation of the same ionization-induced coherently excited vibrations in related molecules suggests a possible common excitation pathway in ionized organophosphorus compounds of biological relevance, while the distinct oscillatory dynamics in each molecule points to the potential use of FTRMS to distinguish among fragment ions produced by related molecules

Ritual and Beyond: A Field Study of Black Pentecostalism

This paper is the result of a field study of Holiness Tabernacle, a pseudonym for a local Black Pentecostal church. I conceived of the project as a way to combine my interest in both anthropology and religion and also to provide me with an introduction to anthropological fieldwork. The primary focus of my work, then, has been on fieldwork rather than on library research, although I have integrated both in this paper. Further, because of my emphasis on fieldwork I have chosen not to concentrate on the fact that this is a Black church, due to my lack of knowledge in the realm of Black Studies. While by no means ignoring that Holiness Tabernacle is a Black church, I have focused instead on its Pentecostal identity. This paper thus begins by setting out a context in which to understand Holiness Tabernacle and its ritual and ends by examining ways in which beliefs expressed in the ritual are acted out in daily life. It presents a picture of a church that strives to maintain a close relationship with God, one that grows out of the ritual and then is carried into daily life. The value of such a study is not limited to an understanding of one small church in one small town, however. It enhances the understanding of a myriad of other small sects that, while differing on minor points, share the same Pentecostal/holiness orientation. It is, finally, a contribution to a topic of perennial interest to anthropology, that of humanity\u27s age-old involvement in the realm of the religious

Post-Soul Speculation: An Exploration Of Afro-Southern Speculative Fiction

ABSTRACT This thesis is an examination of female authored, post-soul, Afro-Southern speculative fiction. The specific texts being examined are My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due, Stigmata by Phyllis Alesia Perry, and Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Through exploration of these texts, I posit two large arguments. First, I posit that this thesis as a collective work illustrates how women-authored Afro-Southern speculative fiction based in the post-soul era embodies and champions womanist politics and praxis critical for liberation through speculative elements. Second, I assert that this thesis is demonstrative of how this particular type of fiction showcases the importance of specificity of setting and reflects other, often erased facets of African American identity and realities by centering the experiences of contemporary Black Southerners. This thesis also attends to several smaller arguments that may be particular to an individual chapter or chapters. First, Afro-Southern cultural markers are critical to freedom-making and identity-making processes. Next, speculative elements are used to connect post-soul readers to complicated pasts as well as to explore how the past influences the present and the future. Additionally, the texts disrupt the erasure of modern rural and small town Black Southerners. Finally, the employment of superficial examples of integration in connection to ideas surrounding linear progress is critiqued. Ultimately, this thesis endeavors to present a complicated contemporary South and the possibilities that it holds for change