Novel Fourier Quadrature Transforms and Analytic Signal Representations for Nonlinear and Non-stationary Time Series Analysis

The Hilbert transform (HT) and associated Gabor analytic signal (GAS) representation are well-known and widely used mathematical formulations for modeling and analysis of signals in various applications. In this study, like the HT, to obtain quadrature component of a signal, we propose the novel discrete Fourier cosine quadrature transforms (FCQTs) and discrete Fourier sine quadrature transforms (FSQTs), designated as Fourier quadrature transforms (FQTs). Using these FQTs, we propose sixteen Fourier-Singh analytic signal (FSAS) representations with following properties: (1) real part of eight FSAS representations is the original signal and imaginary part is the FCQT of the real part, (2) imaginary part of eight FSAS representations is the original signal and real part is the FSQT of the real part, (3) like the GAS, Fourier spectrum of the all FSAS representations has only positive frequencies, however unlike the GAS, the real and imaginary parts of the proposed FSAS representations are not orthogonal to each other. The Fourier decomposition method (FDM) is an adaptive data analysis approach to decompose a signal into a set of small number of Fourier intrinsic band functions which are AM-FM components. This study also proposes a new formulation of the FDM using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) with the GAS and FSAS representations, and demonstrate its efficacy for improved time-frequency-energy representation and analysis of nonlinear and non-stationary time series.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figure

Shall Businesses Profit If Their Owners Lose Their Souls? Examining Whether Closely Held Corporations May Seek Exemptions from the Contraceptive Mandate

May for–profit, secular corporations claim the protection of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)? This question is central to numerous lawsuits against the federal government in which business owners argue that certain regulations under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act substantially burden the exercise of their religion. This Note examines the threshold hurdle that for–profit business owners must clear to successfully state a claim under RFRA: the question of whether the businesses are “persons” the statute protects. This is an issue of first impression for the U.S. Supreme Court, and it has split the circuit courts of appeal. First, this Note provides an overview of free exercise jurisprudence, with a focus on the ebbs and flows of the Supreme Court’s exemption doctrine. This overview includes a discussion of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the laws, regulations, and religious objections that form the basis of the current disputes. Second, this Note introduces the conflict among circuit courts and their varying interpretations of whether for–profit corporations are “persons” under RFRA. Third, this Note assesses this conflict by examining RFRA’s text and the context in which Congress enacted the statute. Nothing within this context precludes corporations from stating RFRA claims. In addition, this Note examines legislative history that supports application of the Dictionary Act, which explains that the word “person” in federal statutes includes corporations. This Note ultimately concludes that RFRA does indeed grant corporations the ability to seek exemptions, but that the statute will require courts to undertake the task of ascertaining the proper contours of the law as applied to different corporate forms

Cognate facilitation effects in bilingual children of varying language dominance

A widely accepted theory is that bilinguals activate both of their languages regardless of which is in use. Though there is abundant research on this phenomenon in bilingual adults, less research has focused on bilingual children. Cognates (i.e., words that share meaning and sound across languages) have frequently been used to explore language co-activation. The present study investigates cognate facilitation effects in child bilinguals of varying language dominance. Spanish-English bilingual children between 6 and 10 years old performed a picture-naming task that included pictures of cognates and non-cognates. Children who were more English-dominant experienced larger cognate facilitation effects when producing words in their non-dominant language but not in their dominant language. In contrast, children with more balanced dominance did not experience cognate facilitation effects in either language. The findings from this study may have implications for the development of the bilingual lexicon.Psycholog

Putting a Gag on Farm Whistleblowers: The Right to Lie and the Right to Reamin Silent Confront State Agricultural Protectionism

Whistleblowers play an important role in filling gaps in government food safety systems. Unfortunately, several dominant food-producing states have pursued legislative initiatives that punish farm whistleblowers and silence investigative tactics. First, this research describes various state legislative initiatives that curb criticism of agriculture. The work analyzes the federal food safety system and how these protections limiting agricultural criticism contravene that food safety net. Further, the research analyzes the free speech concerns in the newest protectionist laws. The analysis recommends strategies and future research to improve agricluture safety and protect free speech in an evolving food safety landscape

Melodías de niño: interferencia fonológica griego-inglés

En este artículo, voy a discutir la interferencia fonológica en términos de la teoría psicolingüística y fonológica. Para ello, utilizo datos naturalísticos de una niña bilingüe griego-inglés de 2;7 años. Es decir, se trata de un par de idiomas poco investigado con respecto al bilingüismo. El objetivo final es descifrar los procesos psicolingüísticos y lingüísticos involucrados en la interferencia fonológica del niño en un nivel cualitativo (o nivel melódico), también respaldado por pruebas cuantitativas. Se analiza la interacción fonológica en las fonologías en desarrollo del niño en un contexto lingüístico poco representado: uno de los idiomas (inglés) se adquiere de forma exógena y, por lo tanto, se caracteriza por una exposición comprometida en términos de cantidad y calidad de información. Los resultados sostienen la manifestación de la interferencia fonológica tanto en la superficie como en los niveles subyacentes de algunas unidades melódicas en los idiomas de los bilingües, pero no en todo el ámbito melódico. Los análisis subsiguientes iluminan la interacción indiscutible de múltiples desarrollos.In this paper, I will operationalise phonological interference in terms of psycholinguistic and phonological theory by utilizing a Greek-English bilingual girl’s naturalistic speech data for a month at age 2;7, in a language pair that is not researched much in bilingualism. The ultimate goal is to decipher the psycholinguistic and linguistic processes involved in the child’s phonological interference at a qualitative level (the melodic tier), also backed by in-depth quantitative evidence. Phonological interaction is scrutinised in the child’s developing phonologies in an under-represented linguistic context: one of the languages (English) is exogenously acquired and, thus, characterized by compromised exposure in terms of quantity and quality of input. The results sustain the manifestation of phonological interference at both the surface and underlying levels of only certain melodic units in the bilingual’s languages, rather than across the board. The ensuing analyses illuminate the indisputable interaction of several developments at work. Neste artigo, operacionalizarei a interferência fonológica em termos de teoria psicolinguística e fonológica, utilizando dados naturalísticos de uma menina bilíngue greco-inglesa de 2;7 anos, em um par de idiomas que não é muito pesquisado no bilinguismo. O objetivo final é decifrar os processos psicolinguísticos e linguísticos envolvidos na interferência fonológica da criança em um nível qualitativo (o nível melódico), também apoiado por evidências quantitativas. A interação fonológica é examinada nas fonologias em desenvolvimento da criança em um contexto linguístico sub-representado: uma das línguas (inglês) é adquirida exogenamente e, portanto, caracterizada pela exposição comprometida em termos de quantidade e qualidade de entrada. Os resultados sustentam a manifestação da interferência fonológica tanto na superfície quanto nos níveis subjacentes de certas unidades melódicas nos idiomas bilíngues, mas não em todo o quadro melódico. As análises que se seguem iluminam a interação indiscutível de vários desenvolvimentos.In this paper, I will operationalise phonological interference in terms of psycholinguistic and phonological theory by utilizing a Greek-English bilingual girl’s naturalistic speech data for a month at age 2;7, in a language pair that is not researched much in bilingualism. The ultimate goal is to decipher the psycholinguistic and linguistic processes involved in the child’s phonological interference at a qualitative level (the melodic tier), also backed by in-depth quantitative evidence. Phonological interaction is scrutinised in the child’s developing phonologies in an under-represented linguistic context: one of the languages (English) is exogenously acquired and, thus, characterized by compromised exposure in terms of quantity and quality of input. The results sustain the manifestation of phonological interference at both the surface and underlying levels of only certain melodic units in the bilingual’s languages, rather than across the board. The ensuing analyses illuminate the indisputable interaction of several developments at work