Direct Assignment Research Articles

Rethinking the Assignment of Ideological Direction: Concept Measurement in Modern U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression Decisions

Recently, scholars have developed and debated an account of the U.S. Supreme Court’s First Amendment freedom of expression agenda that connects the ideological identity of the speaker to the justices’ votes. Paralleling this discussion, others have debated whether the Roberts Court has been distinctively “pro-speech” or politically conservative in these decisions. These accounts meet in that they share a concern, explicit or implicit, for the importance of content-valid decision direction indicators. This article develops a provisional alternative to conventional and more recent indicators of ideological decision direction (or case polarity) in modern freedom of expression decisions. This “composite indicator” is constructed as a series of “INUS Conditions,” or “an insufficient but non-redundant part of a condition which is itself unnecessary but sufficient for the result,” that takes into account the speaker, speech suppressor, and valence of the speech act identified in each free speech decision issued during the 2005–2014 terms of the Roberts Court and 1994–2004 terms of the Rehnquist Court. In other words, membership in the sets of “conservative,” “liberal,” or “undetermined” categories of Supreme Court decisions follows from the presence of multiple conditions—the type of speaker, speech act, and the partisan identity of the speech suppressor—which can be configured in multiple ways. In assessing the performance of this new concept measurement through a series of fundamental models, I find that conventional indicators may overstate the conservatism of the Court in free expression cases, and that—during the Roberts Court era—the relationship between values and votes becomes more tenuous under the composite indicator. More broadly, it is hoped that this project will encourage continued discussion across the quantitative and qualitative cultures in the course of developing accounts of judicial behavior at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Single-molecule analysis of bovine mitochondrial F1-ATPase for direct assignment of crystal structures and rotational pausing states

Single-molecule analysis of bovine mitochondrial F1-ATPase for direct assignment of crystal structures and rotational pausing states

Preliminary Evaluation of a Wearable Camera-based Collision Warning Device for Blind Individuals.

This work describes a preliminary evaluation of a wearable collision warning device for blind individuals. The device was found to provide mobility benefit in subjects without (or deprived of) vision. This preliminary evaluation will facilitate further testing of this developmental stage device in more naturalistic conditions. We developed a wearable video camera-based device that provided tridirectional collision warnings (right, center, and left) via differential feedback of two vibrotactile wristbands. We evaluated its mobility benefit in blind and normally sighted (NS) blindfolded individuals in indoor mobility courses. Three evaluation experiments were conducted. First, the ability of the device to provide warnings for hanging objects not detected by a long cane was evaluated in eight NS and four blind subjects in an obstacle course with and without the device. Second, the accuracy of collision warning direction assignment was evaluated in 10 NS subjects as they walked toward a hanging object at random offsets and verbally reported the obstacle offset position with respect to their walking path based on the wristbands' vibrotactile feedback. Third, the mobility benefit of collision warning direction information was evaluated by 10 NS and 4 blind subjects when walking with and without differential wristband feedback. In experiment 1, collisions reduced significantly from a median of 11.5 without to 4 with the device (P < .001). Percent preferred walking speed reduced only slightly from 41% without to 36% with the device (P = .04). In experiment 2, the most likely reported relative obstacle positions were consistent with the actual positions. In experiment 3, subjects made more correct navigational decisions with than without the collision warning direction information (91% vs. 69%, P < .001). Substantial mobility benefit of the device was seen in detection of aboveground collision threats missed by a long cane and in enabling better navigational decision making based on the tridirectional collision warning information.

Nanoscale Discrimination between Toxic and Nontoxic Protein Misfolded Oligomers with Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Highly toxic protein misfolded oligomers associated with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are nowadays considered primarily responsible for promoting synaptic failure and neuronal death. Unraveling the relationship between structure and neurotoxicity of protein oligomers appears pivotal in understanding the causes of the pathological process, as well as in designing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies tuned toward the earliest and presymptomatic stages of the disease. Here, it is benefited from tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) as a surface-sensitive tool with spatial resolution on the nanoscale, to inspect the spatial organization and surface character of individual protein oligomers from two samples formed by the same polypeptide sequence and different toxicity levels. TERS provides direct assignment of specific amino acid residues that are exposed to a large extent on the surface of toxic species and buried in nontoxic oligomers. These residues, thanks to their outward disposition, might represent structural factors driving the pathogenic behavior exhibited by protein misfolded oligomers, including affecting cell membrane integrity and specific signaling pathways in neurodegenerative conditions.

Optimizing body fluid recognition from microbial taxonomic profiles

In forensics the DNA-profile is used to identify the person who left a biological trace, but information on body fluid can also be essential in the evidence evaluation process. Microbial composition data could potentially be used for body fluid recognition as an improved alternative to the currently used presumptive tests. We have developed a customized workflow for interpretation of bacterial 16S sequence data based on a model composed of Partial Least Squares (PLS) in combination with Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Large data sets from the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) and the American Gut Project (AGP) were used to test different settings in order to optimize performance. From the initial cross-validation of body fluid recognition within the HMP data, the optimal overall accuracy was close to 98%. Sensitivity values for the fecal and oral samples were ≥0.99, followed by the vaginal samples with 0.98 and the skin and nasal samples with 0.96 and 0.81 respectively. Specificity values were high for all 5 categories, mostly >0.99. This optimal performance was achieved by using the following settings: Taxonomic profiles based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with 0.98 identity (OTU98), Aitchisons simplex transform with C = 1 pseudo-count and no regularization (r = 1) in the PLS step. Variable selection did not improve the performance further. To test for robustness across sequencing platforms, we also trained the classifier on HMP data and tested on the AGP data set. In this case, the standard OTU based approach showed moderately decline in accuracy. However, by using taxonomic profiles made by direct assignment of reads to a genus, we were able to nearly maintain the high accuracy levels. The optimal combination of settings was still used, except the taxonomic level being genus instead of OTU98. The performance may be improved even further by using higher resolution taxonomic bins.

RGB-to-RGBG conversion algorithm with adaptive weighting factors based on edge detection and minimal square error.

The sub-pixel arrangement of the RGBG panel and the image with RGB format are different and the algorithm that converts RGB to RGBG is urgently needed to display an image with RGB arrangement on the RGBG panel. However, the information loss is still large although color fringing artifacts are weakened in the published papers that study this conversion. In this paper, an RGB-to-RGBG conversion algorithm with adaptive weighting factors based on edge detection and minimal square error (EDMSE) is proposed. The main points of innovation include the following: (1)the edge detection is first proposed to distinguish image details with serious color fringing artifacts and image details which are prone to be lost in the process of RGB-RGBG conversion; (2)for image details with serious color fringing artifacts, the weighting factor 0.5 is applied to weaken the color fringing artifacts; and (3)for image details that are prone to be lost in the process of RGB-RGBG conversion, a special mechanism to minimize square error is proposed. The experiment shows that the color fringing artifacts are slightly improved by EDMSE, and the values of MSE of the image processed are 19.6% and 7% smaller than those of the image processed by the direct assignment and weighting factor algorithm, respectively. The proposed algorithm is implemented on a field programmable gate array to enable the image display on the RGBG panel.

Detection of the Vehicle Direction with Adaptive Threshold Algorithm Using Magnetic Sensor Nodes

In this paper, we describe how, so as to perform vehicles direction detection in road traffic using proposed method along with the average-constant threshold and contributions of adaptive threshold detection algorithm (ATDA) thanks to special-purpose sensor nodes integrated with magnetic sensors. In this study, proposed algorithm with the adaptive threshold value as a magnetic resultant force has produced more pronounced and precise results than the average-fix threshold value. In this mean, it is clear that detected adaptive threshold generates more correct result for the systems like vehicle existence, direction assignment, and speed detection in different grounds where magnetic field is changeable as a result of environmental measurements. The direction of motion of the vehicles on the x-axis was determined as well as whether it was from left to right or from right to left, and the results were 97% average accurate. The simplicity of the proposed algorithms, the absence of any complex computations, the low cost of the sensor node and integration and the low power depletetion of the communication system show the avantage of this system in comparison with the other studies.

The Forbidden 11Bu- Excited Singlet State in Peridinin and Peridinin Analogues.

Theoretical studies have predicted the presence of a forbidden 11Bu- state in proximity to the strongly allowed 11Bu+ excited state in polyenes and carotenoids. The 11Bu- state is invariably predicted to have a very low oscillator strength, which precludes direct optical spectroscopic assignment. We report here a direct UV-vis optical spectroscopic feature assigned to the 11Bu- state of S-2-peridinin, a synthetic analogue of the naturally occurring carotenoid, peridinin. The shift of the ground state dipole of S-2-peridinin compared to natural peridinin enhances the oscillator strength of absorption from the ground state to the 11Bu- state by 2 orders of magnitude relative to peridinin. It is postulated that this is due to a quadrupolar electrostatic field generated from the more central location of the lactone ring along the polyene chain in S-2-peridinin. MNDO-PSDCI and EOM-CCSD calculations provide a theoretical basis for this assignment and explain the unique properties of the 11Bu- state and why the transition from the ground state to this state has such a low oscillator strength in most other polyenes and carotenoids.

THEMATICALLY CHARACTER-BASED LEARNING MATERIALS IN EARLY CHILD EDUCATION: A PRELIMINARY

Character education has become a reference for the development of learning patterns of schools in Indonesia. The development of classroom learning instructions integrating character education has been applied in a variety of interesting teaching and learning patterns, despite not all of them being capable of promoting character education appropriately. In its capacity as a reference for learning, learning materials should be able to act as a basic guideline which is to be further developed by teachers in the learning environment. This study aims to identify the needs of PAUD teaching materials in PAUD institutions in West Java and to find teaching materials that had been and are being used in PAUD institutions in West Java. The subjects of the study were three PAUD institutions in West Java selected based on the accreditation of BAN PNF West Java. The instruments used were document analysis, questionnaire, and observation. From the interim results, it was found that the teaching materials used still has not integrated thematic learning in a friendly character education environment. Initial needs analysis of the thematically character-based materials shows that teachers still do not understand in detail about the characteristics of a well-designed thematically character-based learning materials. The teacher's knowledge of evaluating teaching materials has not been able to support teachers' understanding on how the thematically character-based learning materials were developed integrated with character education, whether in the forms of direct instruction, games, or assignments. Related to teaching materials that had been and are being used, there are differences of understanding where an institution have begun to evaluate and integrate the vision and mission of the institution with the vision and mission of national education and other two institutions regard textbook as a standard reference on how the learning process should take place.

Direct assignment of 13C solid-state NMR signals of TFoF1 ATP synthase subunit c-ring in lipid membranes and its implication for the ring structure.

FoF1-ATP synthase catalyzes ATP hydrolysis/synthesis coupled with a transmembrane H+ translocation in membranes. The Fo c-subunit ring plays a major role in this reaction. We have developed an assignment strategy for solid-state 13C NMR (ssNMR) signals of the Fo c-subunit ring of thermophilic Bacillus PS3 (TFo c-ring, 72 residues), carrying one of the basic folds of membrane proteins. In a ssNMR spectrum of uniformly 13C-labeled sample, the signal overlap has been a major bottleneck because most amino acid residues are hydrophobic. To overcome signal overlapping, we developed a method designated as COmplementary Sequential assignment with MInimum Labeling Ensemble (COSMILE). According to this method, we generated three kinds of reverse-labeled samples to suppress signal overlapping. To assign the carbon signals sequentially, two-dimensional Cα(i+1)-C'Cα(i) correlation and dipolar assisted rotational resonance (DARR) experiments were performed under magic-angle sample spinning. On the basis of inter- and intra-residue 13C-13C chemical shift correlations, 97% of Cα, 97% of Cβ and 92% of C' signals were assigned directly from the spectra. Secondary structure analysis predicted a hairpin fold of two helices with a central loop. The effects of saturated and unsaturated phosphatidylcholines on TFo c-ring structure were examined. The DARR spectra at 15ms mixing time are essentially similar to each other in saturated and unsaturated lipid membranes, suggesting that TFo c-rings have similar structures under the different environments. The spectrum of the sample in saturated lipid membranes showed better resolution and structural stability in the gel state. The C-terminal helix was suggested to locate in the outer layer of the c-ring.

An integrative mating system assessment of a nonmodel, economically important Pacific rockfish (Sebastes melanops) reveals nonterritorial polygamy and conservation implications for a large species flock.

Characterizing the mating systems of long‐lived, economically important Pacific rockfishes comprising the viviparous Sebastes species flock is crucial for their conservation. However, direct assignment of mating success to sires is precluded by open, offshore populations and high female fecundity. We addressed this challenge by integrating paternity‐assigned mating success of females with the adult sex ratio (ASR) of the population, male evolutionary responses to receptive females, and reproductive life history traits—in the framework of sexual selection theory—to assess the mating system of Sebastes melanops. Microsatellite parentage analysis of 17 pregnant females, 1,256 of their progeny, and 106 adults from the population yielded one to four sires per brood, a mean of two sires, and a female mate frequency distribution with a truncated normal (random) pattern. The 11 multiple paternity broods all contained higher median allele richness than the six single paternity broods (Wilcoxon test: W = 0, p < .001), despite similar levels of average heterozygosity. By sampling sperm and alleles from different males, polyandrous females gain opportunities to enhance their sperm supply and to lower the cost of mating with genetically incompatible males through reproductive compensation. A mean of two mates per mated female with a variance of one, an ASR = 1.2 females per male, and the expected population mean of 2.4 mates for mated males (and the estimated 35 unavailable sires), fits polygamous male mate frequency distributions that distinguish polygynandry and polyandrogyny mating systems, that is, variations of polygamy, but not polyandry. Inference for polygamy is consistent with weak premating sexual selection on males, expected in mid‐water, schooling S. melanops, owing to polyandrous mating, moderately aggregated receptive females, an even ASR, and no territories and nests used for reproduction. Each of these characteristics facilitates more mating males and erodes conspicuous sexual dimorphism. Evaluation of male evolutionary responses of demersal congeners that express reproductively territorial behavior revealed they have more potential mechanisms for producing premating sexual selection, greater variation in reproductive success, and a reduced breeding effective population size of adults and annual effective size of a cohort, compared to S. melanops modeled with two mates per adult. Such divergence in behavior and mating system by territorial species may differentially lower their per capita birth rates, subsequent population growth, and slow their recovery from exploitation.

An Improved Spinal Neural System-Based Approach for Heterogeneous AUVs Cooperative Hunting

Cooperative hunting by a multi-AUV system in unknown 3D underwater environment is not only a research hot spot but also a challenging task. To conduct this task, each AUV needs to move quickly without obstacle collisions and cooperate with other AUVs considering the overall interests. In this paper, the heterogeneous AUVs cooperative hunting problem is studied, including two main tasks, namely the search and pursuit of targets, and a novel spinal neural system-based approach is proposed. In the search stage, a partition and column parallel search strategy is used in this paper, and a search formation control algorithm based on an improved spinal neural system is proposed. The presented search algorithm not only accomplishes the search task but also maintains a stable formation without obstacle collisions. In the cooperative pursuit stage, a dynamic alliance method based on bidirectional negotiation strategy and a pursuit direction assignment method based on improved genetic algorithm are presented, which can realize the pursuit task efficiently. Finally, some simulations are conducted and the results show that the proposed approach is capable of guiding multi-AUVs to achieve the hunting tasks in unknown 3D underwater environment efficiently.

Solvability conditions and design for synchronization of discrete‐time multiagent systems

SummaryThis paper provides solvability conditions for state synchronization with homogeneous discrete‐time multiagent systems with a directed and weighted communication network under partial‐ or full‐state coupling. Our solvability conditions reveal that the synchronization problem is solvable for all possible, a priori given, set of graphs associated with a communication network only under the condition that the agents are at most weakly unstable (ie, agents have all eigenvalues in the closed unit disc). However, if an upper bound on the eigenvalues inside the unit disc of the row stochastic matrices associated with any graph in a given set of graphs is known, then one can achieve synchronization for a class of unstable agents. We provide protocol design for at most weakly unstable agents based on a direct eigenstructure assignment method and a standard H2 discrete‐time algebraic Riccati equation. We also provide protocol design for strictly unstable agents (ie, agents have at least one eigenvalue outside the unit disc) based on the standard H2 discrete‐time algebraic Riccati equation.

Повесть Собака Баскервилей А. Конан Дойла и ее киноверсия И. Масленникова в контексте теории культурного трансфера

A. Conan Doyle’s story The Hound of the Baskervilles and its film-version by I. Maslennikov in a context of a cultural transfer theory In article the problem of a film adaptation of a literary work in a context of a cultural transfer theory is investigated. On a material of the Soviet film adaptation of A. Conan Doyle’s story The Hound of the Baskervilles is analyzed process direct and inversive assignments of other culture elements, which result becomes introduction in use of concepts “Russian Sherlock Holmes”, “Russian England”. The strategy of game realized in game behaviour of characters, has allowed the Soviet director to pass the parodicalironic tone, inherent in the Victorian epoch. Created by the Soviet director in The Hound of the Baskervilles an image of Russian England and the Russian Englishmen-heroes who have taken roots in Russian national cultural ground, the initial English culture has apprehended as own, durably identifying Konan Doyle`s characters with Russian actors – V. Livanov, V. Solomin, N. Mikhalkov, etc.

New military femininities: humanitarian violence and the gendered work of war among U.S. servicewomen

This article examines ‘military femininity’ in new gendered forms of labor employed by the U.S. military in the post-September 11 wars. Between 2003 and 2013, when women were technically banned from direct assignment to ground combat units, the U.S. military deployed all-female counterinsurgent teams in Iraq and Afghanistan. In various forms, these teams searched Iraqi women at checkpoints and in home raids, provided medical assistance to Afghan women and children, and participated in highly combative special operations missions alongside Army Rangers and Green Berets in Afghanistan. Recent literature on the gendering of counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan focuses mainly on the teams’ deployment of humanitarianism and affect as weapons of war, while older feminist critiques analyze women’s marginalization within military institutions. This article reconceptualizes military femininity, departing from the prevailing marginalization and humanitarian frameworks. Drawing on military and policy documents, first-hand observations of military trainings, and interviews with military trainers, I show how women were integrated into ground combat through the promotion of certain gender essentialisms, such as feminine domesticity, alongside military violence. A new form of military femininity has emerged that eschews humanitarian rhetoric, and instead emphasizes servicewomen’s lethality.

On Orienting Edges of Unstructured Two- and Three-Dimensional Meshes

Finite element codes typically use data structures that represent unstructured meshes as collections of cells, faces, and edges, each of which require associated coordinate systems. One then needs to store how the coordinate system of each edge relates to that of neighboring cells. However, we can simplify data structures and algorithms if we can a priori orient coordinate systems in such a way that the coordinate systems on the edges follow uniquely from those on the cells by rule. Such rules require that every unstructured mesh allow the assignment of directions to edges that satisfy the convention in adjacent cells. We show that the convention chosen for unstructured quadrilateral meshes in the deal.II library always allows to orient meshes. It can therefore be used to make codes simpler, faster, and less bug prone. We present an algorithm that orients meshes in O ( N ) operations. We then show that consistent orientations are not always possible for 3D hexahedral meshes. Thus, cells generally need to store the direction of adjacent edges, but our approach also allows the characterization of cases where this is not necessary. The 3D extension of our algorithm either orients edges consistently, or aborts, both within O ( N ) steps.

Discrete-Time Low-Frequency-Ratio Synchronous-Frame Full-Order Observer for Position Sensorless IPMSM Drives

This paper proposes a complex-vector based discrete-time synchronous-frame full-order observer for position sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drives with a low-pulsewidth modulation (PWM) to operating fundamental frequency ratio, a situation common for middle- and high-power applications as well as high-frequency permanent magnet synchronous motor drives. A complex-vector based discrete-time domain zero-order hold equivalent model of IPMSM is developed explicitly incorporating with the stationary frame voltage latch effect of a PWM voltage source inverter. Whereby, a full-order observer is designed and implemented using direct pole assignment in the discrete-time domain to guarantee the stability and dynamic performance with low-frequency ratios. The proposed scheme was verified on a sensorless IPMSM drive. Experimental results confirm both the design methodology and the expected performance attained by the proposed control strategy with low-frequency ratios.

Anatomy of a mountain: The Thebes Limestone Formation (Lower Eocene) at Gebel Gurnah, Luxor, Nile Valley, Upper Egypt

We present a detailed geologic study of the Thebes Formation at Gebel Gurnah in its locus typicus on the West Bank (opposite Luxor) of the Nile River in the Upper Nile Valley, Egypt. This is the first detailed measurement and lithologic description of the ∼340 m thick (predominantly) carbonate section. The Thebes Formation is divided into thirteen major lithic units (A to M). We interpret data on the lithologic succession and variations, whole rock/clay mineralogy, and macro/micropaleontology in terms of deposition on a shallow carbonate platform episodically influenced by continental runoff, and describe six depositional sequences that we place in the global framework of Lower Eocene (Ypresian) sequence stratigraphy. We note however significant incompatibilities between the Thebes depositional sequences and the global sequences. We emend the definition of the Thebes Formation by defining its top as corresponding to level 326 m at the top of Nodular Limestone ‘L’ (NLL), and assigning the overlying beds to the Minia Limestone Formation. New biostratigraphic data and revision of previous studies establish the direct assignment of the Thebes Formation to planktonic foraminiferal Zones E4/P6b (upper part), E5/P7 and (indirectly) Zone E6/P8, and (probably, indirectly) Zone E7a/”P9”, and to calcareous nannofossil Zone NP12 and lower Zone NP13 of the Lower Eocene (Ypresian) and provide a temporal framework spanning ∼ 2.8 Myr from <52.45 to ∼49.6 Ma for the deposition of the Thebes Formation prior to the prominent sea level fall (∼49.6 Ma) towards the end of the Early Eocene. Dominantly carbonate deposition, with a strongly reduced detrital influx, occurred on a very wide shelf (probably) at least ∼ 100 km from the coastline. The thick sedimentary succession and the marked vertical lithologic variations are interpreted as resulting from sea level fluctuations imprinted on a long-term decrease in sea-level associated with rapid subsidence reflecting tectonic relaxation after the major Late Paleocene tectonic reorganization of the Syrian Arc.

Effective blind speech watermarking via adaptive mean modulation and package synchronization in DWT domain

This paper outlines a package synchronization scheme for blind speech watermarking in the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) domain. Following two-level DWT decomposition, watermark bits and synchronization codes are embedded within selected frames in the second-level approximation and detail subbands, respectively. The embedded synchronization code is used for frame alignment and as a location indicator. Tagging voice active frames with sufficient intensity makes it possible to avoid ineffective watermarking during the silence segments commonly associated with speech utterances. We introduce a novel method referred to as adaptive mean modulation (AMM) to perform binary embedding of packaged information. The quantization steps used in mean modulation are recursively derived from previous DWT coefficients. The proposed formulation allows for the direct assignment of embedding strength. Experiment results show that the proposed DWT-AMM is able to preserve speech quality at a level comparable to that of two other DWT-based methods, which also operate at a payload capacity of 200 bits per second. DWT-AMM exhibits superior robustness in terms of bit error rates, as long as the recovery of adaptive quantization steps is secured.

Discrimination of Diverse Coherences Allows Identification of Electronic Transitions of a Molecular Nanoring.

The role of quantum coherence in photochemical functions of molecular systems such as photosynthetic complexes is a broadly debated topic. Coexistence and intermixing of electronic and vibrational coherences has been proposed to be responsible for the observed long-lived coherences and high energy transfer efficiency. However, clear experimental evidence of coherences with different origins operating at the same time has been elusive. In this work, multidimensional spectra obtained from a six-porphyrin nanoring system are analyzed in detail with support from theoretical modeling. We uncover a great diversity of separable electronic, vibrational, and mixed coherences and show their cooperation in shaping the spectroscopic response. The results permit direct assignment of electronic and vibronic states and characterization of the excitation dynamics. The clear disentanglement of coherences in molecules with extended π-conjugation opens up new avenues for exploring coherent phenomena and understanding their importance for the function of complex systems.