Symmetric Inkball Alignment with Loopy Models

Alignment tasks generally seek to establish a spatial correspondence between two versions of a text, for example between a set of manuscript images and their transcript. This paper examines a different form of alignment problem, namely pixel-scale alignment between two renditions of a handwritten word or phrase. Using loopy inkball graph models, the proposed technique finds spatial correspondences between two text images such that similar parts map to each other. The method has applications to word spotting and signature verification, and can provide analytical tools for the study of handwriting variation

Towards Automated Processing of Folk Song Recordings

Folk music is closely related to the musical culture of a specific nation or region. Even though folk songs have been passed down mainly by oral tradition, most musicologists study the relation between folk songs on the basis of symbolic music descriptions, which are obtained by transcribing recorded tunes into a score-like representation. Due to the complexity of audio recordings, once having the transcriptions, the original recorded tunes are often no longer used in the actual folk song research even though they still may contain valuable information. In this paper, we present various techniques for making audio recordings more easily accessible for music researchers. In particular, we show how one can use synchronization techniques to automatically segment and annotate the recorded songs. The processed audio recordings can then be made accessible along with a symbolic transcript by means of suitable visualization, searching, and navigation interfaces to assist folk song researchers to conduct large scale investigations comprising the audio material

Balancing versus bandwagoning : the strategic dilemma of Australia’s China policy

Recent research on power shift, or the change in relative power of states in an international structure, has focused on how states adapt to strategic difficulties. As a key change in international politics, scholars have long discussed how states react strategically to power shift. One school in international studies, neorealism, emphasizes the prime importance of security affairs over other strategic concerns in an anarchic international structure. It explores states’ dilemma in choosing between balancing a more powerful state or bandwagoning with it. While this approach sheds important insights on the study of international politics, the parsimony of neorealism suffers from a lot of criticisms and challenges. Among these, argument on the multi-faced nature of a state’s strategic interests has gained the strongest traction. Power shift profoundly impacts the Asia-Pacific region. The rise of China, for example, draws concerns for changing distribution of power in the region and around the globe. Others regional states, especially secondary powers, have to redefine their strategies to adapt to the changing geopolitical landscape. However, strategic choices of these states are barely studied. Australia’s reaction to the power shift, for instance, challenges the neorealists’ “balancing versus bandwagoning” model. Australia’s search for her own regional position is filtered through its threat perception. Seeing ideological differences with a rising China, Australian politicians have continuously tried to engage China to gain profit while remaining skeptical about a more assertive China. This thesis challenges the balancing literature and investigates why hedging has been the strategic response used by Australia to deal with the power shift. This research analyzes and interprets Australia’s strategic dilemma with evidence collected from the Australian government, academics, and media. This thesis affirms the neorealists’ position on the predominance of self-help principle in international politics. However, it also tries to move further to argue that security is the principle that cannot be over-emphasized. Australia simultaneously maximizes her strategic interests, which include security interests and economic interests. Principally, Australia aims at maintaining her status quo position while concurrently balancing against a rising China and bandwagoning with China economically for profit-maximization. By managing the strategic risk posed by China and not turning the China problem into China threat, Australia cautiously decides on her strategic response to prevent a riskier situation

Big Data for All: Privacy and User Control in the Age of Analytics

We live in an age of “big data.” Data have become the raw material of production, a new source for immense economic and social value. Advances in data mining and analytics and the massive increase in computing power and data storage capacity have expanded by orders of magnitude the scope of information available for businesses and government. Data are now available for analysis in raw form, escaping the confines of structured databases and enhancing researchers’ abilities to identify correlations and conceive of new, unanticipated uses for existing information. In addition, the increasing number of people, devices, and sensors that are now connected by digital networks has revolutionized the ability to generate, communicate, share, and access data. Data creates enormous value for the world economy, driving innovation, productivity, efficiency, and growth. At the same time, the “data deluge” presents privacy concerns which could stir a regulatory backlash dampening the data economy and stifling innovation. In order to craft a balance between beneficial uses of data and individual privacy, policymakers must address some of the most fundamental concepts of privacy law, including the definition of “personally identifiable information,” the role of individual control, and the principles of data minimization and purpose limitation. This article emphasizes the importance of providing individuals with access to their data in usable format. This will let individuals share the wealth created by their information and incentivize developers to offer user-side features and applications harnessing the value of big data. Where individual access to data is impracticable, data are likely to be de-identified to an extent sufficient to diminish privacy concerns. In addition, since in a big data world it is often not the data but rather the inferences drawn from them that give cause for concern, organizations should be required to disclose their decisional criteria

Big Data for All: Privacy and User Control in the Age of Analytics

We live in an age of “big data.” Data have become the raw material of production, a new source for immense economic and social value. Advances in data mining and analytics and the massive increase in computing power and data storage capacity have expanded by orders of magnitude the scope of information available for businesses and government. Data are now available for analysis in raw form, escaping the confines of structured databases and enhancing researchers’ abilities to identify correlations and conceive of new, unanticipated uses for existing information. In addition, the increasing number of people, devices, and sensors that are now connected by digital networks has revolutionized the ability to generate, communicate, share, and access data. Data creates enormous value for the world economy, driving innovation, productivity, efficiency, and growth. At the same time, the “data deluge” presents privacy concerns which could stir a regulatory backlash dampening the data economy and stifling innovation. In order to craft a balance between beneficial uses of data and individual privacy, policymakers must address some of the most fundamental concepts of privacy law, including the definition of “personally identifiable information,” the role of individual control, and the principles of data minimization and purpose limitation. This article emphasizes the importance of providing individuals with access to their data in usable format. This will let individuals share the wealth created by their information and incentivize developers to offer user-side features and applications harnessing the value of big data. Where individual access to data is impracticable, data are likely to be deidentified to an extent sufficient to diminish privacy concerns. In addition, since in a big data world it is often not the data but rather the inferences drawn from them that give cause for concern, organizations should be required to disclose their decisional criteria

‘Let’s talk, but not about that’: How parents who self-report as having had depression respond discursively to reading children’s picture books on parental depression

Whether and how people talk about mental distress has been a focus of prominent public-health efforts designed to decrease stigmatizing of mental illness (e.g., Bell’s “Let’s Talk” campaign). In the context of parental depression, researchers have oriented to exploring the risks that such depression can pose for offspring. However, this discursive preoccupation with children’s vulnerability could work against public-health efforts to promote open discussion of parental depression. Given the public focus on increasing discussion about mental distress, I investigated the following question: How do individuals who have had depression while parents (regardless of whether formally or self-diagnosed) interact with, respond to, and evaluate their readings of parental depression in children’s books on the topic? To do so, I conducted interviews (two per participant) with 12 parents (4 fathers and 8 mothers; age range: 25¬¬¬¬¬¬-67 years; average age: 41.5 years) who experienced depression during parenthood. In each interview, parents read and responded to 1-2 children’s books with explicit themes of parental depression (3 books in total across interviews). I employed discourse analysis, focusing on how parents used language to structure their responses. Parents constructed sharing related to mental illness as valuable, to varying degrees, but also risky and requiring caution. Participants creatively mobilized discursive devices to re-frame silences in ways that resisted positioning the parent as “person who silences mental illness” and “parent who might place their offspring at risk through exposure to mental illness.” I contend that parents’ demonstrations of careful navigation of sharing and identity indicates how anti-stigma talk might be differentially accessible to certain populations, and I discuss the relevance of my analyses for public-health efforts, such as anti-stigma campaigns

Survival of the cheapest: How proteome cost minimization drives evolution

Darwin's theory of evolution emphasized that positive selection of functional proficiency provides the fitness that ultimately determines the structure of life, a view that has dominated biochemical thinking of enzymes as perfectly optimized for their specific functions. The 20th-century modern synthesis, structural biology, and the central dogma explained the machinery of evolution, and nearly neutral theory explained how selection competes with random fixation dynamics that produce molecular clocks essential e.g. for dating evolutionary histories. However, the quantitative proteomics revealed that fitness effects not related to functional proficiency play much larger roles on long evolutionary time scales than previously thought, with particular evidence that some universal biophysical selection pressures act via protein expression levels. This paper first summarizes recent progress in the 21st century towards recovering this universal selection pressure. Then, the paper argues that proteome cost minimization is the dominant, underlying "non-function" selection pressure controlling most of the evolution of already functionally adapted living systems. A theory of proteome cost minimization is described and argued to have consequences for understanding evolutionary trade-offs, aging, cancer, and neurodegenerative protein-misfolding diseases

Strategies to Mitigate Supply Chain Disruptions in Miniconvenience Stores

Implementing strategies and polices and maintain standards are essential to improving supply chain systems. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies miniconvenience store managers used to mitigate supply chain disruptions to sustain productivity and increase profits. The population was 4 managers of miniconvenience stores within gas stations located in the southeastern region of the United States who successfully maintained productivity during a supply chain disruption. The conceptual framework for this study was resource dependency theory. Data were collected using company documents, face-to-face interviews and semistructured, open-ended questions. Two themes were identified from the data analysis: building relationships and effective communication. The findings from this study could contribute to positive social change by providing miniconvenience store managers with strategies to increase supply chain capabilities while reducing the impact disruptions have on business performance, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Store managers who minimize supply chain disruptions might improve organizational operative purchasing, decrease prices, increase customer gratification, and improve the standard of living for customers in the communities served

Aluminum Production Costs: A Comparative Case Study of Production Strategy

Slumping world aluminum prices have energized some aluminum producers to institute strategies to reduce product costs. This multiple comparative case study explored the strategies used by 4 aluminum producers in Western Europe: 2 companies that have successfully reduced production costs and 2 companies that have not. Wicksteed\u27s economic theory of production and production costs was the conceptual framework for this research. Data from the companies\u27 strategic and industry reports and from interviews with 32 senior managers were analyzed using pattern finding and clustering, a recursive approach to data gathering and analysis established by Miles, Huberman, and Saldana. Six themes emerged: (a) upstream integration, (b) energy and price efficiency, (c) carbon-manufacturing capability, (d) operational excellence and productivity, (e) technological and research developmental abilities, and (f) circular economy. The analysis of these themes indicated that the most significant opportunities for productivity improvement include (a) minimizing energy and material use, specifically alumina, cathodes, and carbon, (b) vertically integrating alumina production, (c) developing an efficient circular economic model that integrates the material properties to expand the recyclability of waste, and (d) increasing the electrolytic cell life cycle. Overall, vertical integration provides a competitive advantage and gives the producer ability to control costs. In-house carbon manufacturing capacity reduces a smelter\u27s operating cost. Technological capabilities can minimize energy and material consumption rates. Increased productivity and reduced energy and material use can yield positive social changes, such as the preservation of natural resources, reduced emissions, and waste

BRIDGING THE GAP: INSTILLING MORAL COURAGE AND IMPELLING MORAL ACTION IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY SPHERE

The credibility and legitimacy of law enforcement agencies are largely contingent on the moral behavior of their workforces. Recent and historical instances of moral failure have reduced public trust in law enforcement organizations and undermined their missions. A better understanding of the determinants of moral behavior and drivers of moral failure in policing is needed to craft meaningful strategies that enhance the moral competence of individual officers. Using a relational developmental systems (RDS) approach, this thesis investigates the individual, team, organizational, and situational dimensions of law enforcement to identify conditions that influence moral behavior. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart CRASH scandal, Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force scandal, and death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police are used as case studies to test theoretical assertions and provide consistency. This research affirms the linkage between the individual and context, as posited by RDS. Findings of this work include the importance of value congruence, a multidimensional preference for disengagement, and the power exercised by salience, socialization, and self-efficacy in manifesting moral action. From these conclusions, this thesis recommends integrating ethical considerations throughout law enforcement training, reimaging the field training program as a moral apprenticeship, and adopting a just-culture approach to ethical accountability.Civilian, City of Yuma Fire DepartmentApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited