Can X-Ray Jets Be Cosmic Beacons?

If X-rays observed from any extragalactic radio jets are due to inverse Compton scattering on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, then such a source will be detectable with the same surface brightness anywhere in the more distant universe. Chandra observations imply that such systems do exist, and will therefore serve as Cosmic Beacons out to the redshift at which they form.Comment: Proceedings of the conference "Lighthouses of the Universe:

Understanding language-elicited EEG data by predicting it from a fine-tuned language model

Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of brain activity taken while participants read or listen to language are widely used within the cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics communities as a tool to study language comprehension. Several time-locked stereotyped EEG responses to word-presentations -- known collectively as event-related potentials (ERPs) -- are thought to be markers for semantic or syntactic processes that take place during comprehension. However, the characterization of each individual ERP in terms of what features of a stream of language trigger the response remains controversial. Improving this characterization would make ERPs a more useful tool for studying language comprehension. We take a step towards better understanding the ERPs by fine-tuning a language model to predict them. This new approach to analysis shows for the first time that all of the ERPs are predictable from embeddings of a stream of language. Prior work has only found two of the ERPs to be predictable. In addition to this analysis, we examine which ERPs benefit from sharing parameters during joint training. We find that two pairs of ERPs previously identified in the literature as being related to each other benefit from joint training, while several other pairs of ERPs that benefit from joint training are suggestive of potential relationships. Extensions of this analysis that further examine what kinds of information in the model embeddings relate to each ERP have the potential to elucidate the processes involved in human language comprehension.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the 2019 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistic

Mobility and transverse flow visualization using phase variance contrast with spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Phase variance-based motion contrast is demonstrated using two phase analysis methods in a spectral domain optical coherence tomography system. Mobility contrast is demonstrated for an intensity matched Intralipid solution placed without flow within agarose wells. Vasculature oriented transversely to the imaging direction has been imaged for 3-4 dpf in vivo zebrafish using the phase variance contrast methods. 2D phase variance contrast images are demonstrated with imaging times only 25% higher than a Doppler flow image with comparable statistics. En face images created by integrating depth regions of 3D zebrafish intensity and phase variance contrast data demonstrate vasculature consistent with expected images

The debate is dead : how journalists cover climate change now that false equivalence is uncommon

Professional project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Journalism from the School of Journalism, University of Missouri--Columbia

Volumetric microvascular imaging of human retina using optical coherence tomography with a novel motion contrast technique

Phase variance-based motion contrast imaging is demonstrated using a spectral domain optical coherence tomography system for the in vivo human retina. This contrast technique spatially identifies locations of motion within the retina primarily associated with vasculature. Histogram-based noise analysis of the motion contrast images was used to reduce the motion noise created by transverse eye motion. En face summation images created from the 3D motion contrast data are presented with segmentation of selected retinal layers to provide non-invasive vascular visualization comparable to currently used invasive angiographic imaging. This motion contrast technique has demonstrated the ability to visualize resolution-limited vasculature independent of vessel orientation and flow velocity

The Infrastructure Gap and Decentralization

This paper proposes an economic logic for underpinning decentralization in the infrastructure sectors. It starts by detailing the definition of the infrastructure gap and the methodologies to calculate it. It provides some global trends for developing countries in terms of the gap and briefly discusses financing possibilities for developing countries to address the gap. Then it turns to the discussion of the link between the infrastructure gap and decentralization, providing a typology infrastructure subsectors and possible jurisdiction of service provision. It briefly discusses the potential for raising local finances for provision and the relationship between poverty and provision. While it is very difficult to provide blanket recommendations on decentralizing the various sectors and respective subcomponents of infrastructure services, the paper offers a set of guidelines to direct policymakers in their decision to decentralize or not. First, decentralization is intrinsically neither good nor bad for infrastructure; its impact depends entirely on the incentives facing the various decision-makers in the decentralization process; second, decentralization is most fruitful when the decision-makers bear the financial and political cost with respect to design, finance, operation and maintenance; and, finally, political leaders are accountable to their constituents for the manner in which they spend tax revenues and how they use and allocate transfers from the central government