Free Speech and the Confluence of National Security and Internet Exceptionalism

In this Article, I argue that, notwithstanding these contemporary developments, the Court got it mostly right in Brandenburg. Or, I want to at least suggest that it is premature to reconstruct the Brandenburg test to address perceived changes in our global environment. For the most part, Brandenburg has succeeded in mediating the balance between protecting political or ideological advocacy and enabling the government to regulate actual incitement, even in the contemporary era. Moreover, I argue that society should be especially wary of calls to narrow Brandenburg’s speech-protective standard because such changes might be significantly influenced by the confluence of two forms of exceptionalism—national security exceptionalism and internet exceptionalism—both of which are continuing to evolve in real time. In development of this argument, this Article contains three parts

Branch-coverage testability transformation for unstructured programs

Test data generation by hand is a tedious, expensive and error-prone activity, yet testing is a vital part of the development process. Several techniques have been proposed to automate the generation of test data, but all of these are hindered by the presence of unstructured control flow. This paper addresses the problem using testability transformation. Testability transformation does not preserve the traditional meaning of the program, rather it deals with preserving test-adequate sets of input data. This requires new equivalence relations which, in turn, entail novel proof obligations. The paper illustrates this using the branch coverage adequacy criterion and develops a branch adequacy equivalence relation and a testability transformation for restructuring. It then presents a proof that the transformation preserves branch adequacy

Interactive product catalogue with user preference tracking

In the context of m-commerce, small screen size poses serious difficulty for users to browse effectively through a product catalogue, given the limited number of products that may be presented on-screen. Despite the availability of search engines, filters and recommender systems to aid users, these techniques focus on a narrow segment of product offering. The users are thus denied the opportunity to do a more expansive exploration of the products available. This paper describes a novel approach to overcome the constraints of small screen size. Through integration of a product catalogue with a recommender system, an adaptive system has been created that guides users through the process of product browsing. An original technique has been developed to cluster similar positive examples together to identify areas of interest of a user. The performance of this technique has been evaluated and the results proved to be promising

Dynamic Speed and Separation Monitoring with On-Robot Ranging Sensor Arrays for Human and Industrial Robot Collaboration

This research presents a flexible and dynamic implementation of Speed and Separation Monitoring (SSM) safety measure that optimizes the productivity of a task while ensuring human safety during Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). Unlike the standard static/fixed demarcated 2D safety zones based on 2D scanning LiDARs, this research presents a dynamic sensor setup that changes the safety zones based on the robot pose and motion. The focus of this research is the implementation of a dynamic SSM safety configuration using Time-of-Flight (ToF) laser-ranging sensor arrays placed around the centers of the links of a robot arm. It investigates the viability of on-robot exteroceptive sensors for implementing SSM as a safety measure. Here the implementation of varying dynamic SSM safety configurations based on approaches of measuring human-robot separation distance and relative speeds using the sensor modalities of ToF sensor arrays, a motion-capture system, and a 2D LiDAR is shown. This study presents a comparative analysis of the dynamic SSM safety configurations in terms of safety, performance, and productivity. A system of systems (cyber-physical system) architecture for conducting and analyzing the HRC experiments was proposed and implemented. The robots, objects, and human operators sharing the workspace are represented virtually as part of the system by using a digital-twin setup. This system was capable of controlling the robot motion, monitoring human physiological response, and tracking the progress of the collaborative task. This research conducted experiments with human subjects performing a task while sharing the robot workspace under the proposed dynamic SSM safety configurations. The experiment results showed a preference for the use of ToF sensors and motion capture rather than the 2D LiDAR currently used in the industry. The human subjects felt safe and comfortable using the proposed dynamic SSM safety configuration with ToF sensor arrays. The results for a standard pick and place task showed up to a 40% increase in productivity in comparison to a 2D LiDAR

Designing programs for eliminating canine rabies from islands: Bali, Indonesia as a case study

<p>Background: Canine rabies is one of the most important and feared zoonotic diseases in the world. In some regions rabies elimination is being successfully coordinated, whereas in others rabies is endemic and continues to spread to uninfected areas. As epidemics emerge, both accepted and contentious control methods are used, as questions remain over the most effective strategy to eliminate rabies. The Indonesian island of Bali was rabies-free until 2008 when an epidemic in domestic dogs began, resulting in the deaths of over 100 people. Here we analyze data from the epidemic and compare the effectiveness of control methods at eliminating rabies.</p> <p>Methodology/Principal Findings: Using data from Bali, we estimated the basic reproductive number, R0, of rabies in dogs, to be ~1·2, almost identical to that obtained in ten–fold less dense dog populations and suggesting rabies will not be effectively controlled by reducing dog density. We then developed a model to compare options for mass dog vaccination. Comprehensive high coverage was the single most important factor for achieving elimination, with omission of even small areas (<0.5% of the dog population) jeopardizing success. Parameterizing the model with data from the 2010 and 2011 vaccination campaigns, we show that a comprehensive high coverage campaign in 2012 would likely result in elimination, saving ~550 human lives and ~$15 million in prophylaxis costs over the next ten years.</p> <p>Conclusions/Significance: The elimination of rabies from Bali will not be achieved through achievable reductions in dog density. To ensure elimination, concerted high coverage, repeated, mass dog vaccination campaigns are necessary and the cooperation of all regions of the island is critical. Momentum is building towards development of a strategy for the global elimination of canine rabies, and this study offers valuable new insights about the dynamics and control of this disease, with immediate practical relevance.</p&gt