The shape of free speech: rethinking liberal free speech theory

Noting the apparent inconsistency in attitudes towards free speech with respect to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in western liberal democracies, this article works through the problem of inconsistency within liberal free speech theory, arguing that this symptomatically reveals an aporia that exposes the inability of liberal free speech theory to account for the ways in which free speech actually operates in liberal social orders. Liberal free speech theory conceptualizes liberty as smooth, continuous, homogeneous, indivisible and extendable without interruption until it reaches the outer limits. This makes it difficult for liberal free speech theory to account for restrictions that lie within those outer limits, and therefore for the ways in which restraints, restrictions and closures are always already at work within the lived experience of liberty, for it is these – and the inconsistencies they give rise to – that give freedom its particular texture and timbre in any given social and cultural context. The article concludes with an alternative ‘liquid’ theory of free speech, which accounts for the ‘shaping’ of liberty by social forces, culture and institutional practices

Recombination in polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells

Recombination of photogenerated charge carriers in polymer bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells reduces the short circuit current (Jsc) and the fill factor (FF). Identifying the mechanism of recombination is, therefore, fundamentally important for increasing the power conversion efficiency. Light intensity and temperature dependent current-voltage measurements on polymer BHJ cells made from a variety of different semiconducting polymers and fullerenes show that the recombination kinetics are voltage dependent and evolve from first order recombination at short circuit to bimolecular recombination at open circuit as a result of increasing the voltage-dependent charge carrier density in the cell. The "missing 0.3V" inferred from comparison of the band gaps of the bulk heterojunction materials and the measured open circuit voltage at room temperature results from the temperature dependence of the quasi-Fermi-levels in the polymer and fullerene domains - a conclusion based upon the fundamental statistics of Fermions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review B. http://prb.aps.org/accepted/B/6b07cO3aHe71bd1b149e1425e58bf2868cda2384d?ajax=1&height=500&width=50

Accelerated artificial neural networks on FPGA for fault detection in automotive systems

Modern vehicles are complex distributed systems with critical real-time electronic controls that have progressively replaced their mechanical/hydraulic counterparts, for performance and cost benefits. The harsh and varying vehicular environment can induce multiple errors in the computational/communication path, with temporary or permanent effects, thus demanding the use of fault-tolerant schemes. Constraints in location, weight, and cost prevent the use of physical redundancy for critical systems in many cases, such as within an internal combustion engine. Alternatively, algorithmic techniques like artificial neural networks (ANNs) can be used to detect errors and apply corrective measures in computation. Though adaptability of ANNs presents advantages for fault-detection and fault-tolerance measures for critical sensors, implementation on automotive grade processors may not serve required hard deadlines and accuracy simultaneously. In this work, we present an ANN-based fault-tolerance system based on hybrid FPGAs and evaluate it using a diesel engine case study. We show that the hybrid platform outperforms an optimised software implementation on an automotive grade ARM Cortex M4 processor in terms of latency and power consumption, also providing better consolidation

Gravitational effects in ultrahigh-energy string scattering

Ultrahigh-energy string scattering is investigated to clarify the relative role of string and gravitational effects, and their possible contributions to nonlocal behavior. Different regimes can be characterized by varying the impact parameter at fixed energy. In the regime where momentum transfers reach the string scale, string effects appear subdominant to higher-loop gravitational processes, approximated via the eikonal. At smaller impact parameters, "diffractive" or "tidal" string excitation leads to processes dominated by highly excited strings. However, new evidence is presented that these excitation effects do not play a direct role in black hole formation, which corresponds to breakdown of gravitational perturbation theory and appears to dominate at sufficiently small impact parameters. The estimated amplitudes violate expected bounds on high-energy behavior for local theories.Comment: 19 pages, harvmac. v2: fixed typos, added refs and discussion of longitudinal spread. v3: minor changes to agree with published versio

Cancer awareness among females of urban slums in their reproductive age group

Background: Cancer is major public health problem affecting millions of people worldwide. The prevalence of cancer is increasing in developing world due to increase in life expectancy, increased urbanization and adoption of western life styles. Thus, the present study was carried out to assess the extent of awareness towards cancer among women of urban slums in their reproductive age group. Methods:Community based cross sectional study was carried outby interviewing women of reproductive age group residing in urban slums using pre-designed and pre-tested proforma to assess awareness towards cancer. Descriptive statistics was applied to assess the awareness level and the association between two attributes was calculated bychi-square test. Results: A total of 182 women were interviewed. Out of which 39.56% were in 20-24 years age group. 46.15% were housewives and most of them belonged to middle class families. Though the knowledge regarding cancer, especially about modes of transmission, symptoms and laboratory diagnosis was found satisfactory but was accompanied by misconceptions. 71.43% women were aware about its prevention, mostly by changing life styles and by getting screening done at regular intervals. Conclusion: Thus, impetus has to be laid upon screening regarding cancer during reproductive age group and enlightenment of the women about cancer screening centres available at the hospitals, so as to heighten the knowledge of facilities for a better reproductive life

Faceted wrinkling by contracting a curved boundary

Single-mode deformations of two-dimensional materials, such as the Miura-ori fold, are important to the design of deployable structures because of their robustness, but usually require careful pre-patterning of the material. Here, we show that inward contraction of a curved boundary produces a novel single-mode deformation without any pre-patterning. Using finite-element simulations of the contraction of a thin circular annular sheet, we show that these sheets wrinkle into a structure with negligible stretching energy, in which the contracted boundary forms spontaneous facets. We construct a strictly isometric wrinkled surface formed of triangles and cones that matches geometric and energy features closely, suggesting that this class of partly-faceted wrinkled deformations is isometric. Isometry favours the restriction of such deformations to a robust low-bending energy channel that avoids stretching. This class of buckling also offers a novel way to manipulate sheet morphology via boundary forces. Finally, it serves as a minimal model for illustrating the strong constraints imposed by geometry in elastic pattern formation.Comment: V3. Double column. 6 pages, 5 figures + S

A prospective comparative study of Lichtenstein procedure with and without mesh-fixation for inguinal hernia repair

Background: Repair of inguinal hernia is one of the most common elective operations performed in general surgery worldwide. Mesh-hernioplasty became the gold standard, because of its low recurrence rate in comparison with tissue repairs. The ideal repair must be simple, safe, easy to perform and require minimal dissection which provides enough space, should be cost effective with less hospital stay, less pain and less recurrence. The present study aimed at comparing the effect of mesh fixation and non-fixation in Lichtenstein technique for inguinal hernia repair.Methods: Hundred (100) patients with primary uncomplicated, unilateral inguinal hernia were treated between April 2019 and September 2020. Patients with inguinal hernia underwent Lichtenstein repair with mesh-fixation (group A) (n=50) and non-fixation (group B) (n=50). The mean operative time, post-operative pain score, average hospital study, post-operative complications and recurrence rates were compared between the two groups.Results: Mean operative time in non-fixation group- (group B) (32.24 min) was shorter as compared to fixation group-(Group A) (49.36 min) with a p value of 0.002. Post-operative pain score was lower in (group B) at 12 and 24 hours (3.71±1.409 and 2.2±0.8169) as compared to Group A at 12 and 24 hours (4.77±1.196 and 2.98±1.295) with a p value of <0.0001. The analgesia required in (group B) was less as compared to (group A). The post-operative complication and recurrence rates were almost identical in both the groups, with lesser incidence of groin pain and paresthesias in group B.Conclusions: In Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair, non-fixation of mesh is safe and preferable option, with less operative time and less postoperative pain

Study protocol for the Anesthesiology Control Tower—Feedback Alerts to Supplement Treatments (ACTFAST-3) trial: A pilot randomized controlled trial in intraoperative telemedicine [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

Background: Each year, over 300 million people undergo surgical procedures worldwide. Despite efforts to improve outcomes, postoperative morbidity and mortality are common. Many patients experience complications as a result of either medical error or failure to adhere to established clinical practice guidelines. This protocol describes a clinical trial comparing a telemedicine-based decision support system, the Anesthesiology Control Tower (ACT), with enhanced standard intraoperative care. Methods: This study is a pragmatic, comparative effectiveness trial that will randomize approximately 12,000 adult surgical patients on an operating room (OR) level to a control or to an intervention group. All OR clinicians will have access to decision support software within the OR as a part of enhanced standard intraoperative care. The ACT will monitor patients in both groups and will provide additional support to the clinicians assigned to intervention ORs. Primary outcomes include blood glucose management and temperature management. Secondary outcomes will include surrogate, clinical, and economic outcomes, such as incidence of intraoperative hypotension, postoperative respiratory compromise, acute kidney injury, delirium, and volatile anesthetic utilization. Ethics and dissemination: The ACTFAST-3 study has been approved by the Human Resource Protection Office (HRPO) at Washington University in St. Louis and is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02830126). Recruitment for this protocol began in April 2017 and will end in December 2018. Dissemination of the findings of this study will occur via presentations at academic conferences, journal publications, and educational materials

Publisher’s Note: “Polymer drag reduction in exact coherent structures of plane shear flow” [Phys. Fluids 16, 3470 (2004)]

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69804/2/PHFLE6-16-12-4761-1.pd