Pleasure as self-discovery

This paper uses readings of two classic autobiographies, Edmund Gosse’s Father & Son and John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography, to develop a distinctive answer to an old and central question in value theory: What role is played by pleasure in the most successful human life? A first section defends my method. The main body of the paper than defines and rejects voluntarist, stoic, and developmental hedonist lessons to be taken from central crises in my two subjects’ autobiographies, and argues for a fourth, diagnostic lesson: Gosse and Mill perceive their individual good through the medium of pleasure. Finally, I offer some speculative moral psychology of human development, as involving the waking, perception, management, and flowering of generic and individual capacities, which I suggest underlies Gosse and Mill’s experiences. The acceptance of one’s own unchosen nature, discovered by self-perceptive pleasure in the operation of one’s nascent capacities, is the beginning of a flourishing adulthood in which that nature is fully developed and expressed

AJAE Appendix: The Profitability of Transitioning to Organic Grain Crops in Indiana

The material contained herein is supplementary to the article named in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

More on the Cohort-Component Model of Population Projection in the Context of HIV/AIDS: A Leslie Matrix Representation and New Estimates

This article presents an extension of the cohort component model of population projection (CCMPP) first formulated by Heuveline that is capable of modeling a population affected by HIV. We extend this work by developing the Leslie matrix representation of the CCMPP that greatly facilitates implementation of the model for parameter estimation and projecting. The Leslie matrix also contains information about the stable tendencies of the corresponding population, such as the stable age distribution and time to stability. We validate our reformulation of the model by comparing parameter estimates obtained through maximum likelihood and bootstrap methods to those presented by Heuveline.Africa, AIDS/HIV, cohort component method, estimation, incidence, Leslie matrices, model, prevalence

Toward a Unified Timestamp with explicit precision

Demographic and health surveillance (DS) systems monitor and document individual- and group-level processes in well-defined populations over long periods of time. The resulting data are complex and inherently temporal. Established methods of storing and manipulating temporal data are unable to adequately address the challenges posed by these data. Building on existing standards, a temporal framework and notation are presented that are able to faithfully record all of the time-related information (or partial lack thereof) produced by surveillance systems. The Unified Timestamp isolates all of the inherent complexity of temporal data into a single data type and provides the foundation on which a Unified Timestamp class can be built. The Unified Timestamp accommodates both point- and interval-based time measures with arbitrary precision, including temporal sets. Arbitrary granularities and calendars are supported, and the Unified Timestamp is hierarchically organized, allowing it to represent an unlimited array of temporal entities.demographic surveillance, standardization, temporal databases, temporal integrity, timestamp, valid time

In vivo Observation of the Release of Norepinephrine and In Vivo Optical Studies on the Direct and Indirect Paths of the Striatum

This thesis focuses on my work using optical techniques to study different brain regions in vivo. The ability to optically study neurons and the circuits they comprise in vivo is an important method to better understand their role in the healthy brain and their dysfunction in disease. The first part of my thesis focuses on my work using on a collaborative project using a new optical probe to study norepinephrine synapses in vivo. In this work we were able to observe the effects of amphetamine on norepinephrine release in vivo and observed some evidence of potential silent synapses. I also describe a new method of cranial window surgery I developed for optical imaging. This technique called PHASOR, is faster, and has a higher success rate, than traditional surgical methods. The improvements demonstrated in this new surgical technique may enable more widespread use of optical imaging methods. In the second part of my thesis, I used optical techniques to study the dorsal striatum in vivo in awake behaving mice. The direct and indirect paths of the dorsal striatum play an important role in motor behavior and motor learning. Dysfunction in these paths has been implicated in motor diseases as well as in mood disorders. In this thesis, I provide a review of the anatomy and physiology of the neurons that comprise the dorsal striatum, and the circuits that they form. The next chapters describe my work using optical techniques to record from these neurons in vivo. In my first set of experiments, I recorded from the direct and indirect paths during a behavioral task of anxiety and observed differential firing depending on the anxiety state of the mouse. Finally, in a preliminary set of experiments, I record from the direct and indirect paths during tasks of motor learning. I found that both paths show changes in firing during motor learning and that these changes differ between the dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatum

United States Air Force Applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems: Modernizing Airfield Damage Assessment

Modernizing airfield damage assessment has long been a priority mission at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC). Previously, AFCEC has made advances to expedite unexploded ordnance (UXO) neutralization and pavement repair. Missing from these initiatives is the initial assessment component. This thesis expands the idea of using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS), applies it to the Air Force mission, and provides SUAS vehicle configuration and sensor recommendations. In this study, 25 civil engineer officers reviewed airfield imagery gathered using two small air vehicles. For the first review, participants attempted to identify UXOs and foreign object debris (FOD) in a computer interface that leverages images collected by a fixed-wing air vehicle. The second review uses a two-dimensional map created using a hex-rotor. The results of both systems were then compared to the status quo. Resulting statistics indicate that, irrespective of image resolution, additional analysis time does not result in greater object detection or correct identification. Overall, this thesis concludes that SUAS use for afield damage assessment shows promise. Moreover, they can provide the Air Force improved precision for locating UXOs and FOD, as well as estimate dimensions of damage. Dedicating resources to developing this technology will also assist with improving object detection and manpower efficiency. Further research is required for optimal image characterization requisite for reducing and/or eliminating the occurrence of false negative events

BS

thesisThe cooperative investigations of the State of Utah with the Federal Government, during the years 1919-1924, proved that Utah contains a number of very important bodies of carbonaceous materials offering excellent opportunities for producing desirable new solid fuels, oil products and gas, and thereby add new wealth to the State. Published data by the investigators are comprehensive, but it is probable that the commercial significance of these researches have not as yet been fully appreciated by the Utah public, otherwise commercial uses of the results of these investigations would undoubtedly have been applied