Warped Functional Analysis of Variance

This article presents an Analysis of Variance model for functional data that explicitly incorporates phase variability through a time-warping component, allowing for a unified approach to estimation and inference in presence of amplitude and time variability. The focus is on single-random-factor models but the approach can be easily generalized to more complex ANOVA models. The behavior of the estimators is studied by simulation, and an application to the analysis of growth curves of flour beetles is presented. Although the model assumes a smooth latent process behind the observed trajectories, smoothness of the observed data is not required; the method can be applied to the sparsely observed data that is often encountered in longitudinal studies

Micro-Housing in Seattle: A Case for Community Participation in Novel Land Use Decisions

Rather than relying solely on the formal interpretations of government regulators invited by the structure of local zoning ordinances, the City of Seattle should adopt a process that invites community-based mediation and problem-solving when a significant shift in housing density is contemplated in a developer’s proposal. Greater resident participation in development projects allows the City of Seattle to better support those residents in their reliance interests arising from zoning ordinances while simultaneously furthering the policies that underpin urban zoning. This is especially true when such development projects raise the possibility of substantial impacts on the character of a community or its commons. Moreover, such alternative dispute resolution processes may also help to mitigate potential detriments to the community commons or provide a mechanism for an equitable exchange of capital between developers and residents to offset negative impacts to property values. This Note specifically examines the development of urban residential property into micro-housing apartment buildings in the City of Seattle, the possible consequences, and a potential community-based solution for disputes regarding such development. Part I introduces the issue using anecdotal and quantitative information, including snapshots of some of the conflicts between urban homeowners and developers and the sometimes questionable application of local zoning ordinances to favor development in the context of micro-housing in Seattle. Included in this discussion is a summary of the “smart growth” principles that supported the development and the countervailing interests of incumbent residents. Part II examines Washington State’s Growth Management Act and suggests how it may have impacted the quick acceptance of micro-housing development in Seattle. Part III explores incumbent residents’ reliance interests in zoning ordinances for protection against externalities and maintenance of consumer surplus in their homes. Part IV reviews the potential harms suffered by residents adjacent to dramatic residential development and the legal remedies available at law. Finally, I offer a community-based solution to allow for the redress of such harms

Combating Religious Divisiveness with Cosmopolitanism

This thesis examines cosmopolitanism as a potential means of preventing conflicts between religious groups. In order to effectively determine what cosmopolitanism might be capable of accomplishing in this regard, religious interactions are examined during two major historical events – the Crusades and World War II. This thesis studies both of these events with the intention of identifying cosmopolitan behaviors and non-cosmopolitan behaviors, and determining how these behaviors impacted the relationships between the religious groups involved. Later, obstacles that stand between religious groups and cosmopolitanism are acknowledged, and methods of overcoming those obstacles are discussed. This thesis finds that the proceedings of the two aforementioned events suggest that cosmopolitanism does indeed possess the potential to reduce the frequency and severity of interreligious conflicts. However, it concedes that cosmopolitanism might be incapable of preventing such conflicts before certain changes are made to some modern religions

Structural Covariance in the Hard Sphere Fluid

We study the joint variability of structural information in a hard sphere fluid biased to avoid crystallisation and form fivefold symmetric geometric motifs. We show that the structural covariance matrix approach, originally proposed for on-lattice liquids [Ronceray and Harrowell, JCP 2016], can be meaningfully employed to understand structural relationships between different motifs and can predict, within the linear-response regime, structural changes related to motifs distinct from that used to bias the system

The Superstitious Lawyer's Inference

In Lehrer’s case of the superstitious lawyer, a lawyer possesses conclusive evidence for his client’s innocence, and he appreciates that the evidence is conclusive, but the evidence is causally inert with respect to his belief in his client’s innocence. This case has divided epistemologists ever since Lehrer originally proposed it in his argument against causal analyses of knowledge. Some have taken the claim that the lawyer bases his belief on the evidence as a data point for our theories to accommodate, while others have denied that the lawyer has knowledge, or that he bases his belief on the evidence. In this paper, we move the dialectic forward by way of arguing that the superstitious lawyer genuinely infers his client’s innocence from the evidence. To show that the lawyer’s inference is genuine, we argue in defense of a version of a doxastic construal of the ‘taking’ condition on inference. We also provide a pared-down superstitious lawyer-style case, which displays the key features of the original case without including its complicated and distracting features. But interestingly, although we argue that the lawyer’s belief is based on his good evidence, and is also plausibly doxastically justified, we do not argue that the lawyer knows that his client is innocent