Where the sidewalk ends, is where the sidewalk ends

Where the sidewalk ends, is where the sidewalk ends If I view my work as a sidewalk, then that sidewalk would end right where the reaction of the viewer begins their journey. My own experience with this senior project actually begins in the early 2000’s because the central form utilized in this new body of paintings and print appeared as part of an ornamental motif in my work from that period. I am referring to the head in profile form that repeats itself now as a singular structural and compositional element in this work. Though originally it appeared as a simple element in a larger pattern, I wanted this motif to be able to stand on its own by reconstructing the form with new, different, and unfamiliar approaches utilizing paint and texture that I had never before explored. I am using thicker paint and varied methods of application in response to the sensations I wish to create within each painting. With this expanded vocabulary of painting, I am able to to refine and expand upon my own self-appropriated material. Here at Bard, students, faculty, classes, and the surrounding Red Hook community play a large role in the influence and development of this work. Each painting and print in this group is made in reference to specific characters and elements of their behavior and emotional states. For example, there is a painting titled Kyle’s Meridian that is based upon my nephew and inspired by an experience I had with him during a visit last Thanksgiving. Kyle is a self-medicator for serious problems and I wanted to try to capture his energy field and his damage in a painting. In this painting, color and mark-making play a specific role in forming an emotion. The top part of his head looks like debris caught in a stagnant pool, while the lower part of the head is puffed up in shades of red, from all of his vaping and non-stop talking. The ear looks as though it is falling off, because anything I suggest about his current condition is not heard. As in the example of Kyle’s Meridian, specific characters are the source material that guides the development of painterly and formal elements in all of my prints and painting. I would also like to mention the role of patterning in my work. Patterning is something I naturally gravitate to in my work, and at times patterning is a way to trick my own eye into believing that the image is not grounded onto the canvas. This gives the patterned image a vibration or slow moving floating areas. For example in the painting of the Roman Candle head, the patterning of these fonts, firework tubes, and color give the image a vibration. This painting too is based on a specific person, whose outer demeanor appears rather calm, but internally, the explosion could happen at any moment. I will conclude with some thoughts about the role of the monoprints in the development of this body of work. The monoprints helped in the pursuit of many of the formations that went into several of these paintings (and the other way around), either in how paint is applied, how quickly I can form portraits, and how one work leads right into the next, feeding off each other. TIMOTHY WEHRL

Space VLBI Observations of 3C 279 at 1.6 and 5 GHz

We present the first VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP) observations of the gamma-ray blazar 3C 279 at 1.6 and 5 GHz. The combination of the VSOP and VLBA-only images at these two frequencies maps the jet structure on scales from 1 to 100 mas. On small angular scales the structure is dominated by the quasar core and the bright secondary component `C4' located 3 milliarcseconds from the core (at this epoch). On larger angular scales the structure is dominated by a jet extending to the southwest, which at the largest scale seen in these images connects with the smallest scale structure seen in VLA images. We have exploited two of the main strengths of VSOP: the ability to obtain matched-resolution images to ground-based images at higher frequencies and the ability to measure high brightness temperatures. A spectral index map was made by combining the VSOP 1.6 GHz image with a matched-resolution VLBA-only image at 5 GHz from our VSOP observation on the following day. The spectral index map shows the core to have a highly inverted spectrum, with some areas having a spectral index approaching the limiting value for synchrotron self-absorbed radiation of 2.5. Gaussian model fits to the VSOP visibilities revealed high brightness temperatures (>10^{12} K) that are difficult to measure with ground-only arrays. An extensive error analysis was performed on the brightness temperature measurements. Most components did not have measurable brightness temperature upper limits, but lower limits were measured as high as 5x10^{12} K. This lower limit is significantly above both the nominal inverse Compton and equipartition brightness temperature limits. The derived Doppler factor, Lorentz factor, and angle to the line-of-sight in the case of the equipartition limit are at the upper end of the range of expected values for EGRET blazars.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, emulateapj.sty, To be published in The Astrophysical Journal, v537, Jul 1, 200

VLBI Observations of a Complete Sample of Radio Galaxies V. 3C346 and 4C31.04: two Unusual CSS Sources

We present observations at 1.7 and 8.4 GHz of two Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) sources from a complete sample of low-intermediate power radio galaxies. 3C346 shows an asymmetric structure with a one-sided ``jet'' and ``hot spot''. Present observations suggest that the classification of this source as a CSS is inappropriate, and that it is a common radio galaxy at a small angle to the line of sight. Its properties are in agreement with the predictions of unified schemes models. 4C31.04 shows more complex structure with the possibility of a centrally located flat spectrum core in between two close lobes. We suggest that this source could be a low redshift Compact Symmetric Object.Comment: 15 pages, LATEX, uuenconde ps figures To be published in the Astrophysical Journal, October 20th issu

Direct determination of absolute stereochemistry of α-methylselenocysteine using the Mosher method

Mosher amides of α-methylselenocysteine were synthesized to determine the absolute stereochemistry of the sterically hindered α-carbon utilizing 1H, 13C, 19F, and 77Se NMR spectroscopies. After analysis of these spectra using the established Mosher method, the stereochemistry of the α-carbon was determined to be (R), which was subsequently confirmed using x-ray crystallography

Collaboration in a multi-user game: impacts of an awareness tool on mutual modeling

This paper presents an experimental research that focuses on collaboration in a multi-player game. The aim of the project is to study the cognitive impacts of awareness tools, i.e., artifacts that allow users of a collaborative system to be aware of what is going on in the joint virtual environment. The focus is on finding an effect on performance as well as on the representation an individual builds of what his partner knows, plans and intends to do (i.e., mutual modeling). We find that using awareness tools has a significant effect by improving task performance. However, the players who were provided with this tool did not show any improvement of their mutual modeling. Further analysis on contrasted groups revealed that there was an effect of the awareness tool on mutual modeling for players who spent a large amount of time using the too

In the Shadow of the Accretion Disk: Higher Resolution Imaging of the Central Parsec in NGC 4261

The physical conditions in the inner parsec of accretion disks believed to orbit the central black holes in active galactic nuclei can be probed by imaging the absorption (by ionized gas in the disk) of background emission from a radio counterjet. We report high angular resolution VLBI observations of the nearby (about 40 Mpc) radio galaxy NGC 4261 that confirm free-free absorption of radio emission from a counterjet by a geometrically thin, nearly edge-on disk at 1.6, 4.8, and 8.4 GHz. The angular width and depth of the absorption appears to increase with decreasing frequency, as expected. We derive an average electron density of ~10E4 per cc at a disk radius of about 0.2 pc, assuming that the inner disk inclination and opening angles are the same as at larger radii. Pressure balance between the thermal gas and the magnetic field in the disk implies an average field strength of 0.1 milligauss at a radius of 0.2 pc. These are the closest-in free-free absorption measurements to date of the conditions in an extragalactic accretion disk orbiting a black hole with a well-determined mass. If a standard advection-dominated accretion flow exists in the disk center, then the transition between thin and thick disk regions must occur at a radius less than 0.2 pc (4000 Schwarzschild radii).Comment: 20 pages including 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap