Inequality and Austerity after the Global Financial Crisis: Law, Gender and Sexuality

<p>This special issue of the Onati Socio-legal Series analyses legal and economic inequality, and policies of austerity after the global financial crisis (GFC) at the intersections of gender and sexuality. Each of the articles included in this issue speak to one or more of these themes. Collectively, the articles place questions of gender and sexuality at the centre of an analysis of reforms motivated by &lsquo;economic rationalisation&rsquo; and austerity measures. They highlight the political economy of policies that differentially impact women, indigenous populations and socially or economically marginalised groups.</p> <hr /><p>Este n&uacute;mero especial de la O&ntilde;ati Socio-legal Series analiza la desigualdad legal y econ&oacute;mica, y las pol&iacute;ticas de austeridad despu&eacute;s de la crisis financiera global (CFG) en las intersecciones entre g&eacute;nero y sexualidad. Cada uno de los art&iacute;culos de este n&uacute;mero tratan sobre uno o m&aacute;s de estos temas. De forma colectiva, los art&iacute;culos plantean cuestiones sobre g&eacute;nero y sexualidad en el centro de un an&aacute;lisis de las reformas motivadas por la &ldquo;racionalizaci&oacute;n econ&oacute;mica&rdquo; y las medidas de austeridad. Destacan la pol&iacute;tica econom&iacute;a de las pol&iacute;ticas que impactan de forma diferente en mujeres, poblaci&oacute;n ind&iacute;gena y grupos marginados social o econ&oacute;micamente.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2736309" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2736309</a></p

Effect of cochlear implant electrode insertion on middle-ear function as measured by intra-operative laser Doppler vibrometry

Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of cochlear implant electrode insertion on middle-ear low frequency function in humans.Background: Preservation of residual low frequency hearing with addition of electrical speech processing can improve the speech perception abilities and hearing in noise of cochlear implant users. Preservation of low frequency hearing requires an intact middle-ear conductive mechanism in addition to intact inner-ear mechanisms. Little is known about the effect of a cochlear implant electrode on middle-ear function.Methods: Stapes displacement was measured in seven patients undergoing cochlear implantation. Measurements were carried out intra-operatively before and after electrode insertion. Each patient acted as his or her own control. Sound was delivered into the external auditory canal via a speaker and calibrated via a probe microphone. The speaker and probe microphone were integrated into an individually custom-made ear mould. Ossicular displacement in response to a multisine stimulus at 80 dB SPL was measured at the incudostapedial joint via the posterior tympanotomy, using an operating microscope mounted laser Doppler vibrometry system.Results: Insertion of a cochlear implant electrode into the scala tympani had a variable effect on stapes displacement. In three patients, there was little change in stapes displacement following electrode insertion. In two patients, there was a significant increase, while in a further two there was a significant reduction in stapes displacement. This variability may reflect alteration of cochlear impedance, possibly due to differing loss of perilymph associated with the electrode insertion.Conclusion: Insertion of a cochlear implant electrode produces a change in stapes displacement at low frequencies, which may have an effect on residual low frequency hearing thresholds

Experiences of aiding autobiographical memory using the sensecam

Human memory is a dynamic system that makes accessible certain memories of events based on a hierarchy of information, arguably driven by personal significance. Not all events are remembered, but those that are tend to be more psychologically relevant. In contrast, lifelogging is the process of automatically recording aspects of one's life in digital form without loss of information. In this article we share our experiences in designing computer-based solutions to assist people review their visual lifelogs and address this contrast. The technical basis for our work is automatically segmenting visual lifelogs into events, allowing event similarity and event importance to be computed, ideas that are motivated by cognitive science considerations of how human memory works and can be assisted. Our work has been based on visual lifelogs gathered by dozens of people, some of them with collections spanning multiple years. In this review article we summarize a series of studies that have led to the development of a browser that is based on human memory systems and discuss the inherent tension in storing large amounts of data but making the most relevant material the most accessible

Fast sampling from Wiener posteriors for image data with dataflow engines

We use Dataflow Engines (DFE) to construct an efficient Wiener filter of noisy and incomplete image data, and to quickly draw probabilistic samples of the compatible true underlying images from the Wiener posterior. Dataflow computing is a powerful approach using reconfigurable hardware, which can be deeply pipelined and is intrinsically parallel. The unique Wiener-filtered image is the minimum-variance linear estimate of the true image (if the signal and noise covariances are known) and the most probable true image (if the signal and noise are Gaussian distributed). However, many images are compatible with the data with different probabilities, given by the analytic posterior probability distribution referred to as the Wiener posterior. The DFE code also draws large numbers of samples of true images from this posterior, which allows for further statistical analysis. Naive computation of the Wiener-filtered image is impractical for large datasets, as it scales as [Formula presented], where [Formula presented] is the number of pixels. We use a messenger field algorithm, which is well suited to a DFE implementation, to draw samples from the Wiener posterior, that is, with the correct probability we draw samples of noiseless images that are compatible with the observed noisy image. The Wiener-filtered image can be obtained by a trivial modification of the algorithm. We demonstrate a lower bound on the speed-up, from drawing [Formula presented] samples of a [Formula presented] image, of 11.3 ± 0.8 with 8 DFEs in a 1U MPC-X box when compared with a 1U server presenting 32 CPU threads. We also discuss a potential application in astronomy, to provide better dark matter maps and improved determination of the parameters of the Universe

Determinants of Motivation and Its Implications Toward the Performance of Lecturers at Private Colleges in Manado

The purpose of this study was to find out and analyze the influence of competence, organizational culture, and career development on motivation and the influence of competence, organizational culture, career development, and motivation on the performance of lecturers at private colleges in Manado, both partially and simultaneously. The methods used in this study are descriptive and explanatory survey with a sample size of 200 respondents; data collection was done using a questionnaire instrument with a Likert scale and structural equation modeling analysis technique with the Lisrel 8.80 program. The results showed partially that competency, organizational culture, and career development had positive and significant effect on motivation. Competence, organizational culture, and career development simultaneously have positive and significant effect on motivation. But when viewed partially, it turns out that competence has the most dominant influence on motivation. Partially, competency, organizational culture, career development, and motivation have positive and significant effect on lecturer performance. Competence, organizational culture, career development, and motivation simultaneously have positive and significant effect on the performance of lecturers. But when viewed partially, it turns out that career development has the most dominant influence on lecturer performance. &nbsp; &nbsp; Keywords: competence, organizational culture, career development, motivation, lecturer performanc

Analyzing Digital Image by Deep Learning for Melanoma Diagnosis

Image classi cation is an important task in many medical applications, in order to achieve an adequate diagnostic of di erent le- sions. Melanoma is a frequent kind of skin cancer, which most of them can be detected by visual exploration. Heterogeneity and database size are the most important di culties to overcome in order to obtain a good classi cation performance. In this work, a deep learning based method for accurate classi cation of wound regions is proposed. Raw images are fed into a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) producing a probability of being a melanoma or a non-melanoma. Alexnet and GoogLeNet were used due to their well-known e ectiveness. Moreover, data augmentation was used to increase the number of input images. Experiments show that the compared models can achieve high performance in terms of mean ac- curacy with very few data and without any preprocessing.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Evaporation of pinned droplets containing polymer - an examination of the important groups controlling final shape

Controlling the final shape resulting from evaporation of pinned droplets containing polymer, is important in the fabrication of P-OLED displays by inkjet printing. Typically, a coffee - ring shape arises, due to the pinning and associated outward capillary flow. For operational reasons, this is undesirable – a flat topography is required. The aim of this work is to understand the important groups governing the shape, to provide a practical guide to ink selection. The theory presented is based on a thin-film lubrication model. The governing equations are solved numerically and continuously track the lateral progression of a liquid/gel front. A large capillary number or large ratio of initial to maximal polymer volume fraction can suppress the coffee-ring. White light interferometry is used to confirm these findings experimentally.This research has been funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, UK and CASE studentship funding from Cambridge Display Technology Ltd., UK. The authors thank Dr Mark Dowling of Cambridge Display Technology Ltd., for help with the experimental setup.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aic.14777

Violation of the London Law and Onsager-Feynman quantization in multicomponent superconductors

Non-classical response to rotation is a hallmark of quantum ordered states such as superconductors and superfluids. The rotational responses of all currently known single-component "super" states of matter (superconductors, superfluids and supersolids) are largely described by two fundamental principles and fall into two categories according to whether the systems are composed of charged or neutral particles: the London law relating the angular velocity to a subsequently established magnetic field and the Onsager-Feynman quantization of superfluid velocity. These laws are theoretically shown to be violated in a two-component superconductor such as the projected liquid metallic states of hydrogen and deuterium at high pressures. The rotational responses of liquid metallic hydrogen or deuterium identify them as a new class of dissipationless states; they also directly point to a particular experimental route for verification of their existence.Comment: Nature Physics in print. This is an early version of the paper. The final version will be posted 6 months after its publication Nature Physics, according to the journal polic

Thin, binary liquid droplets, containing polymer: An investigation of the parameters controlling film shape

For the fabrication of P-OLED displays, using inkjet printing, it is important to control the final shape resulting from evaporation of droplets containing polymer. Due to peripheral pinning and consequent outward capillary flow, a ring-like final shape is typically observed. This is often undesirable, with a spatially uniform film usually required. Several experimental studies have shown that binary liquid inks can prevent ring formation. There is no consensus of opinion on the mechanism behind this improvement. We have developed a model for the drying of thin, binary liquid droplets, based on thin-film lubrication theory, and we solve the governing equations to predict the final shape. White-light interferometry experiments are conducted to verify the findings. In addition, we present the results of a linear stability analysis that identifies the onset of an instability driven by a difference in surface tension. If the more volatile liquid is more abundant, an instability becomes increasingly likely.This research has been funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, UK and CASE studentship funding from Cambridge Display Technology Ltd., UK. We thank Dr Mark Dowling of Cambridge Display Technology Ltd., for help with the experimental setup.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2016.16

Will oral food challenges still be part of allergy care in 10 years' time?

Oral food challenges (OFCs) are currently the definitive diagnostic procedure in food allergy. Their design has evolved over the decades to maximize safety, optimize convenience, and address several specific clinical questions. However, they are a resource-intensive investigation that carry a risk for severe allergic reaction in which fatal outcomes, although rare, have been reported. In this review, we explore the many roles that OFC fulfil in the clinical and research settings. We also discuss progress that has been made in developing alternative diagnostic tools and how far these have reached in offering a viable replacement to OFC in clinical practice. Finally, we discuss the ongoing importance of research OFC to improve the future diagnostic capabilities of novel diagnostic tools