Neural Audio: Music Information Retrieval Using Deep Neural Networks

The use of deep neural networks has exploded in popularity recently. Thinking that music information retrieval should not be left out of this trend in machine learning, we explore two different applications of this technology in the field. The first we looked at was genre identificaton, using the initial categories of \u27popular music,\u27 \u27art music,\u27 and \u27traditional music.\u27 This was found to be a difficult problem - classifying music into these categories can be challenging even for experts, and assembling a large dataset for use in training represents a significant problem. The second approach we took to using these techniques was looking at instrument identification, specifically for the purpose of identifying the time and category (from guitar, vocal, or drum ) of solos in popular music

The physical basis for Parrondo's games

Several authors have implied that the original inspiration for Parrondo's games was a physical system called a ``flashing Brownian ratchet''. The relationship seems to be intuitively clear but, surprisingly, has not yet been established with rigor. In this paper, we apply standard finite-difference methods of numerical analysis to the Fokker-Planck equation. We derive a set of finite difference equations and show that they have the same form as Parrondo's games. Parrondo's games, are in effect, a particular way of sampling a Fokker-Planck equation. Physical Brownian ratchets have been constructed and have worked. It is hoped that the finite element method presented here will be useful in the simulation and design of flashing Brownian ratchets.Comment: 10 pages and 2 figure

Optimizing genetic algorithm strategies for evolving networks

This paper explores the use of genetic algorithms for the design of networks, where the demands on the network fluctuate in time. For varying network constraints, we find the best network using the standard genetic algorithm operators such as inversion, mutation and crossover. We also examine how the choice of genetic algorithm operators affects the quality of the best network found. Such networks typically contain redundancy in servers, where several servers perform the same task and pleiotropy, where servers perform multiple tasks. We explore this trade-off between pleiotropy versus redundancy on the cost versus reliability as a measure of the quality of the network.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Galaxy pairs as a probe for mergers at z ~ 2

In this work I investigate the redshift evolution of pair fraction of a sample of 196 massive galaxies from z = 0 to 3, selected from the COSMOS field. We find that on average a massive galaxy undergoes ~ 1.1 \pm 0.5 major merger since z = 3. I will review the current limitations of using the pair fraction as a probe for quantifying the impact of mergers on galaxy evolution. This work is based on the paper Man et al. (2011).Comment: 4 pages; to appear on the Conference Proceedings for "Galaxy Mergers in an Evolving Universe", held in Hualien, Taiwan (October 2011

Intersexed, Intertext: A Critique of Limited Gender Identity in Herculine Barbin and Middlesex

Relying on the work of poststructuralists Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Judith Halberstam for their findings on gender and sexuality, as well as the sociological study of intersexed individuals by Sharon Preves, this thesis will show the identity construction of the intersexed both before and after intervention by closely charting their plight as it is presented in Michel Foucault\u27s Herculine Barbin (1980) and Jeffrey Eugenides\u27s Middlesex (2003). These texts vary greatly in historical significance, genre, and audience, but nevertheless suggest the same argument regarding the construction of identity. Ultimately, it is the self whose definition is of the greatest importance. This work expands on the importance and process of constructing an accurate gendered identity by focusing on desire for the other and for the desire of the other with a discussion of the relationship between the subject and object. It will also address the body as restrictive and oppressive, but also as a sanctuary which houses difference and the idea of isolation versus socialization, the concept of finding oneself, but doing so by rejecting society. Society may mark and mangle, may suggest and single out, those who do not conform to the standard norms, but as is evident by the desire of both Barbin and Calliope to shed the confining eye of society to escape into isolation, one\u27s gendered identity must be created independently from what others perceive as appropriate