Undervoting and Overvoting in the 2002 and 2006 Florida Gubernatorial Elections

In a participatory democracy where every vote counts, voters expect that every vote will be counted. The voting machine is the instrument with which the voting public records its intent and appoints its representatives. In order for the democratic process to function, voting machines must properly function. Do electronic voting systems that rely on touchscreens work better at reducing undervote and overvote counts than optical scan systems? To answer this question, an analysis of undervote and overvote counts in the 2002 and 2006 Florida Gubernatorial elections was conducted. The undervote and overvote counts across county, voting system, system manufacturer, and election cycle were compared. Mean comparison analyses suggest that counties that primarily used touchscreen technology on Election Day had lower voter error rates than counties using optical scan technology in the 2006 election. Touchscreen technology is associated with less overvoting. Overall, voter error rates were found to be higher in the 2006 election than in the 2002 election for optical scan ballots but not for touchscreen systems

High-throughput and high-precision laser micromachining with ps-pulses in synchronized mode with a fast polygon line scanner

To be competitive in laser micro machining, high throughput is an important aspect. One possibility to increase productivity is scaling up the ablation process i.e. linearly increasing the laser repetition rate together with the average power and the scan speed. In the MHz-regime high scan speeds are required which cannot be provided by commercially available galvo scanners. In this work we will report on the results by using a polygon line scanner having a maximum scan speed of 100 m/s and a 50 W ps-laser system, synchronized via the SuperSync™ technology. We will show the results concerning the removal rate and the surface quality for working at the optimum point i.e. most efficient point at repetition rates up to 8.2 MHz

High throughput surface structuring with ultrashort pulses in synchronized mode with fast polygon line scanner

High precision laser micromachining requires an exact synchronization of the laser pulse train with the mechanical axes of the motion system to ensure for each single pulse a precise control of the laser spot position - on the target. For ultra short pulsed laser systems this was already demonstrated with a conventional two-axis galvanometer scanner. But this solution is limited by the scanner architecture to a marking speed of about 10m/s with a maximum scan line length of about 100mm. It is therefore not suited for average powers far beyond 10W when working at the optimum point with highest removal rate and machining quality is desired. A way to overcome this limitation is offered by polygon line scanners which are able to realize much higher lateral speeds at large scan line lengths. In this work we will report on the results with a polygon line scanner having a maximum moving spot velocity of 100m/s, a scan line length of 170mm, spot diameters of 45µm (1064nm) and 22µm (532nm) together with a 50W, 10-ps laser system. The precise control of the laser spot position i.e. the synchronization is realized via the new SuperSyncTM technology. Decoating, perforation and 3D patterning will act as benchmark processes to evaluate this scanning technology

Physical Design and Experimental Verification of a Huygens' Metasurface Two-lens System for Phased-array Scan-angle Enhancement

Over the past decades, many radome designs to extend the angular scan range of phased-array antennas have been devised by utilizing dielectric materials and metamaterials. More recently, metasurface technology such as planar lenses and beam deflectors have been applied to phased arrays, enabling scan-angle enhancers to have a low profile. In this work, a physical Huygens' metasurface (HMS) two-lens system for scanangle doubling of a phased array is presented. For the HMS unit cells, the wire-loop topology is deployed to achieve high transmission for the required phase-angle shift. The proposed two-lens system is analyzed by full-wave simulations and experiments. The simulation results demonstrate that the scan angle doubles when the incident angle is below 15{\deg} in accordance to the design specification. Furthermore, the directivity degradation of the refracted beams by the two-HMS lenses is in good agreement with theory. Finally, a fabricated two-lens system with two 15{\lambda} long by 15{\lambda} wide metasurface lenses and a 16{\times}16-element patch antenna array as a source is experimentally verified at 10 GHz. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulated results by showing angle-doubling performance with {\pm}2{\deg} scan errors

A tool for crowdsourced building information modeling through low-cost range camera: preliminary demonstration and potential

Within the construction sector, Building Information Models (BIMs) are more and more used thanks to the several benefits that they offer in the design of new buildings and the management of the existing ones. Frequently, however, BIMs are not available for already built constructions, but, at the same time, the range camera technology provides nowadays a cheap, intuitive and effective tool for automatically collecting the 3D geometry of indoor environments. It is thus essential to find new strategies, able to perform the first step of the scan to BIM process, by extracting the geometrical information contained in the 3D models that are so easily collected through the range cameras. In this work, a new algorithm to extract planimetries from the 3D models of rooms acquired by means of a range camera is therefore presented. The algorithm was tested on two rooms, characterized by different shapes and dimensions, whose 3D models were captured with the Occipital Structure SensorTM. The preliminary results are promising: the developed algorithm is able to model effectively the 2D shape of the investigated rooms, with an accuracy level comprised in the range of 5 - 10 cm. It can be potentially used by non-expert users in the first step of the BIM generation, when the building geometry is reconstructed, for collecting crowdsourced indoor information in the frame of BIMs Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) generation

Pulse Echo Ultrasonic Testing of Adhesive Bonded Joints for Automotive Applications

The growing prominence of adhesive bonding technology in automotive manufacture has necessitated the development of reliable and robust quality assurance techniques. Of the different Nondestructive testing technologies available, Ultrasonic testing has shown itself to be the most promising technique to satisfy the requirements in automobile production. The current work attempts to apply two variations of the Ultrasonic Pulse Echo technique namely Contact and Immersion testing for inspecting typical hem bonded automotive joints. The joints have been tested for disbond at the various metal-adhesive interfaces by using an ultrasonic scan comparison method which compares the acquired signals against a reference scan from the unbonded metal sheet. The results for the above tests have been documented. Detection of the absence of adhesive has been possible at the interfaces using the Contact testing variation. In the case of the Immersion testing, suitable distinction between the echoes from the different interfaces has not been achieved. Based on the results obtained, it has been proposed that the testing frequency be increased to obtain a clear distinction between the adherend and adhesive surface echoes

HYSTERESIS IN METHYLAMMONIUM LEAD IODIDE PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS: THE EFFECT OF CHANGING ELECTRON TRANSPORT LAYERS ON OBSERVED HYSTERESIS

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have developed to the point where, currently, power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in excess of 20% have been reported. This in contrast to the first PSC which was reported in 2009 with an efficiency of 3.8 %. This increase in PCE has helped to position PSCs as a photovoltaic technology which could potentially be commercialized. However, hysteretic current-density – voltage (J-V) behaviour has posed a challenge in the development of PSCs. When determining the efficiency of a PSC, their J-V characteristics are measured. However, their J-V response is sensitive to the voltage scan direction used when carrying out J-V tests. During these tests, measurement starts at 0V and ends at a suitable positive value. The direction in which the voltage was initially applied is then reversed during a second voltage scan. The resulting PCEs from each scan differs. This calls into question which value should be taken as correct. This variation in J-V response could also pose power quality issues when used in real world situations. This work explores the origins of hysteresis in PSCs which use Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) as an electron transport layer (ETL) and PSCs which use [6,6]-Phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). Devices illustrated in this work which were fabricated with a compact TiO2 ETL, demonstrated more pronounced hysteresis when compared to devices which were fabricated using a mesoporous TiO2 ETL. Hysteresis was minimal in the PSC which made use of the PCBM ETL. This difference in hysteretic behaviour is attributed to differences in the built-in electric fields present in devices using compact, and/or mesoporous TiO2 as an ETL

Disruptive Technologies in Systems of Care: An Exploratory Study of Social Work with Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facilities

The purpose of this exploratory research was to explore the application of knowledge about disruptive technologies to the long term care setting using the Eden AlternativeTM as an example. The research questions were: What themes of structuration emerge when a long-term care facility implements a disruptive social technology? What is the nature of the disruption between and among workers, long-term care facility culture, and professionals when a new social technology is introduced? How does social work practice with older adults change when a social technology such as Eden is introduced in a long-term care setting? Is Barley\u27s (1984, 1986) model of analysis useful to predict each facility\u27s stage of implementation at a given time? Can the Barley (1984, 1986) model help explain why the same social technology impacts different facilities in distinct and different ways? Can the Barley (1984, 1986) model predict how far along a facility is in implementing the technology? Can Black, Carlile and Repenning\u27s (2004) model of analysis help predict the relationship between activities, expertise and accumulations in a facility implementing the Eden AlternativeTM? The literature on culture and structuration was used in this exploration to highlight the internal struggle of culture to resist or relent to change and how structures would reform in the new culture. In doing so the researcher sought to replicate the successful study conducted by Barley (1984) which investigated the introduction of CAT scan technology in the radiology departments at two different hospitals. Barley (1984) hypothesized that it was not the CAT scan technology that lead to different outcomes in each department of radiology, but the social interaction with the technology. Later, a study by Black et al (2004) further examined the changes in occupational role that might emerge by simulating changes using a recursive model based on Barley\u27s work. This study applies Black\u27s extension of Barley\u27s model to speculate about the emerging role of the social worker in long term care facilities that are exposed to disruptive technologies, assuming that the long term care industry will be radically altered in the next ten years in the direction of social technologies such as the Eden Alternative and under the weight of a rapidly increasingly population of older Americans. For the current study Eden AlternativeTM was implemented in two long-term care facilities at approximately the same time and the researcher conducted observations to see how the two organizational cultures responded to the changes that were made and look at the differences in implementation. In the end this research has discovered that the social technology of the Eden AlternativeTM did indeed behave as a soft technology disrupting the existing culture of both settings into which it was introduced during the observation period. The results, explore the manner in which the behaviors in relationship to the technology are similar to and different from previous research findings

A Resilient Power Capital Scan: How Foundations Could Use Grants and Investments to Advance Solar and Storage in Low-Income Communities

This report, one in a series of reports by Clean Energy Group and Meridian Institute on advancing resilient power in low-income communities, seeks to address how foundations can best develop a portfolio of capital interventions—from grants to impact investments—that together would successfully scale up the solar+storage/resilient power market to benefit low-income populations and to advance their missions. It provides a capital scan of foundation opportunities and actions to guide foundation financial support for this market