Others of My Kind

From the turn of the twentieth century to the 1950s, a group of transgender people on both sides of the Atlantic created communities that profoundly shaped the history and study of gender identity. By exchanging letters and pictures among themselves they established private networks of affirmation and trust, and by submitting their stories and photographs to medical journals and popular magazines they sought to educate both doctors and the public. Others of My Kind draws on archives in Europe and North America to tell the story of this remarkable transatlantic transgender community. This book uncovers threads of connection between Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands to discover the people who influenced the work of authorities like Magnus Hirschfeld, Harry Benjamin, and Alfred Kinsey not only with their clinical presentations, but also with their personal relationships. It explores the ethical and analytical challenges that come with the study of what was once private, secret, or unacceptable to say. With more than 180 colour and black and white illustrations, including many stunning, previously unpublished photographs, Others of My Kind celebrates the faces, lives, and personal networks of those who drove twentieth-century transgender history

Excitation characteristics of different energy transfer in nanotube-perylene complexes

We report the properties of perylene-nanotube complexes that form efficient energy transfer systems. Most perylene-derivatives yield similar ratios between transfer and direct luminescence (0.66 ± 0.04). The photoluminescence spectra of the free compounds and the transfer complex are similar indicating that perylene and nanotubes act as separate systems. A further increase in interaction yields 40% higher transfer rates and luminescence excitation spectra that indicate a change in stacking of the perylene on the nanotube wall. All measurements are consistent with a transfer mechanism based on a dipole-dipole interaction at a distance much smaller than the Förster radius

Effects of Design

Surfactants are needed to create stable suspensions of carbon nanotubes. Increasingly, these surfactants are given additional functionalities, resulting in bigger and more complex molecules with several subunits. We investigate the effect of assembly of these subunits for a class of perylene- based functional surfactants. The subunits that all surfactants are based on are a perylene core, hydrophilic polyglycerol dendrons, and alkyl chains of different orientations and lengths. The assembly of these subunits affects both the molecules' performance as a surfactant and the efficiency of the energy-transfer complexes formed by the nanotube and surfactant through a π–π stacking mechanism. This results in a best practice guide for designing functional surfactants with π–π stacking cores, and affords more general insights that are applicable to non π–π stacking systems as well

Al2O3/InAs metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors on (100) and (111)B substrates

The influence of InAs orientations and high-k oxide deposition conditions on the electrical and structural quality of Au/W/Al2O3/InAs metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors was investigated using capacitance-voltage (C-V) and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy techniques. The results suggest that the interface traps around the conduction band edge are correlated to the As-oxide amount, while less to those of As-As bonds and In-oxides. The quality of the deposited Al oxide determines the border trap density, hence the capacitance frequency dispersion. The comparison of different processing conditions is discussed, favoring a 350 C high-k oxide deposition on (111)B substrates followed by an annealing procedure at 400 oC

Local Density of States and Interface Effects in Semimetallic ErAs Nanoparticles Embedded in GaAs

The atomic and electronic structures of ErAs nanoparticles embedded within a GaAs matrix are examined via cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (XSTM/XSTS). The local density of states (LDOS) exhibits a finite minimum at the Fermi level demonstrating that the nanoparticles remain semimetallic despite the predictions of previous models of quantum confinement in ErAs. We also use XSTS to measure changes in the LDOS across the ErAs/GaAs interface and propose that the interface atomic structure results in electronic states that prevent the opening of a band gap.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figur

Sexual motivation is reflected by stimulus-dependent motor cortex excitability

Sexual behavior involves motivational processes. Findings from both animal models and neuroimaging in humans suggest that the recruitment of neural motor networks is an integral part of the sexual response. However, no study so far has directly linked sexual motivation to physiologically measurable changes in cerebral motor systems in humans. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation in hetero- and homosexual men, we here show that sexual motivation modulates cortical excitability. More specifically, our results demonstrate that visual sexual stimuli corresponding with one's sexual orientation, compared with non-corresponding visual sexual stimuli, increase the excitability of the motor cortex. The reflection of sexual motivation in motor cortex excitability provides evidence for motor preparation processes in sexual behavior in humans. Moreover, such interrelationship links theoretical models and previous neuroimaging findings of sexual behavio

Quantification in Frame Semantics with Hybrid Logic

International audienceThis paper aims at integrating logical operators into frame-based semantics. Frames are semantic graphs that allow to capture lexical meaning in a fine-grained way but that do not come with a natural way to integrate logical operators such as quantifiers. The approach we propose starts from the observation that modal logic is a powerful tool for describing relational structures, hence frames. We use its hybrid logic extension in order to incorporate quantification and thereby allow for inference and reasoning. We develop a type theoretic compositional semantics using this approach, formulated within Abstract Categorial Grammar

Impact of Electrical Current on Single GaAs Nanowire Structure

The impact of electrical current on the structure of single free-standing Be-doped GaAs nanowires grown on a Si 111 substrate is investigated. Single nanowires have been structurally analyzed by X-ray nanodiffraction using synchrotron radiation before and after the application of an electrical current. The conductivity measurements on single nanowires in their as-grown geometry have been realized via W-probes installed inside a dual-beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy chamber. Comparing reciprocal space maps of the 111 Bragg reflection, extracted perpendicular to the nanowire growth axis before and after the conductivity measurement, the structural impact of the electrical current is evidenced, including deformation of the hexagonal nanowire cross section, tilting, and bending with respect to the substrate normal. For electrical current densities below 30 A mm−2, the induced changes in the reciprocal space maps are negligible. However, for a current density of 347 A mm−2, the diffraction pattern is completely distorted. The mean cross section of the illuminated nanowire volume is reconstructed from the reciprocal space maps before and after the application of electrical current. Interestingly, the elongation of two pairs of opposing side facets accompanied by shrinkage of the third pair of facets is found. The variations in the nanowire diameter, as well as their tilt and bending, are confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. To explain these findings, material melting due to Joule heating during voltage/current application accompanied by anisotropic deformations induced by the W-probe is suggested

Osteosarcopenia, an Asymmetrical Overlap of Two Connected Syndromes: Data from the OsteoSys Study

Osteoporosis and sarcopenia are two chronic conditions, which widely affect older people and share common risk factors. We investigated the prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and sarcopenia, including the overlap of both conditions (osteosarcopenia) in 572 older hospitalized patients (mean age 75.1 ± 10.8 years, 78% women) with known or suspected osteoporosis in this prospective observational multicenter study. Sarcopenia was assessed according to the revised defini tion of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2). Low BMD was defined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations as a T-score < −1.0. Osteosarcopenia was diagnosed when both low BMD and sarcopenia were present. Low BMD was prevalent in 76% and the prevalence of sarcopenia was 9%, with 90% of the sarcopenic patients showing the overlap of osteosarcopenia (8% of the entire population). Conversely, only few patients with low BMD demonstrated sarcopenia (11%). Osteosarcopenic patients were older and frailer and had lower BMI, fat, and muscle mass, handgrip strength, and T-score compared to nonosteosar copenic patients. We conclude that osteosarcopenia is extremely common in sarcopenic subjects. Considering the increased risk of falls in patients with sarcopenia, they should always be evaluated for osteoporosis