Judicializing Politics, Politicizing Law

Since WWII there has been a profound shift in power away from legislatures and toward courts and other legal institutions around the world. It is no surprise that appointments to both the US Supreme Court and to other federal courts have become partisan political issues. Ferejohn argues that what is at stake, institutionally, is the allocation of legislative power--the power to establish general rules of prospective application

Improving Wheel Speed Sensing and Estiamtion

This master thesis project commissioned by Haldex Brake Products AB (in Landskrona, Sweden), and in association with the Department of Automatic Control, Lund Institute of Technology, deals with the problem of correct wheel speed measurements. Investigation into different types of sensors, Inductive-, Hall Effect- and Magneto-Resistive sensors have been carried out, which are sensors that may be used, when measuring the velocity of a wheel. It also looks into different types of methods that can be used to estimate a velocity; zero detection, estimation with few measurements, and tracking demodulation. Problems, such as noise, time demanding calculations and adapting the sensor signal so it may be used in a microcontroller, which could arise when implementing these methods into a microcontroller, are also investigated. The conclusions are that to obtain wheel speed estimates at low speed sufficiently fast, the information in the sinusoidal signal from the sensors has to be used, and therefore, if one sensor is used, the Few Measurements method is the most appropriate, and if two sensors are used the Tracking Demodulation method. Finally scheduling is suggested, which means that the normal zero detection is used at high speed and the tracking demodulation method is used at low speed

Domino: A new framework for the automated identification of weather event precursors, demonstrated for European extreme rainfall

A number of studies have investigated the large-scale drivers and upstream-precursors of extreme weather events, making it clear that the earliest warning signs of extreme events can be remote in both time and space from the impacted region. Integrating and leveraging our understanding of dynamical precursors provides a new perspective on ensemble forecasting for extreme events, focused on building story-lines of possible event evolution. This then acts as a tool for raising awareness of the conditions conducive to high-impact weather, and providing early warning of their possible development. However, operational applications of this developing knowledge-base is limited so far, perhaps for want of a clear framework for doing so. Here, we present such a framework, supported by open software tools, designed for identifying large-scale precursors of categorical weather events in an automated fashion, and for reducing them to scalar indices suitable for statistical prediction, forecast interpretation, and model validation. We demonstrate this framework by systematically analysing the precursor circulations of daily rainfall extremes across 18 regional- to national-scale European domains. We discuss the precursor rainfall dynamics for three disparate regions, and show our findings are consistent with, and extend, previous work. We provide an estimate of the predictive utility of these precursors across Europe based on logistic regression, and show that large-scale precursors can usefully predict heavy rainfall between two and six days ahead, depending on region and season. We further show how for more continental-scale applications the regionally-specific precursors can be synthesised into a minimal set of indices that drive heavy precipitation. We then provide comments and guidance for generalisation and application of our demonstrated approach to new variables, timescales and regions.Comment: 3 figure SI, 22 manuscript pages, 10 figures, submitted to QJRM

Load magnitude affects patellar tendon mechanical properties but not collagen or collagen cross-linking after long-term strength training in older adults

Abstract Background Regular loading of tendons may counteract the negative effects of aging. However, the influence of strength training loading magnitude on tendon mechanical properties and its relation to matrix collagen content and collagen cross-linking is sparsely described in older adults. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of moderate or high load resistance training on tendon matrix and its mechanical properties. Methods Seventeen women and 19 men, age 62–70 years, were recruited and randomly allocated to 12 months of heavy load resistance training (HRT), moderate load resistance training (MRT) or control (CON). Pre- and post-intervention testing comprised isometric quadriceps strength test (IsoMVC), ultrasound based testing of in vivo patellar tendon (PT) mechanical properties, MRI-based measurement of PT cross-sectional area (CSA), PT biopsies for assessment of fibril morphology, collagen content, enzymatic cross-links, and tendon fluorescence as a measure of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Results Thirty three participants completed the intervention and were included in the data analysis. IsoMVC increased more after HRT (+ 21%) than MRT (+ 8%) and CON (+ 7%) (p < 0.05). Tendon stiffness (p < 0.05) and Young’s modulus (p = 0.05) were also differently affected by training load with a reduction in CON and MRT but not in HRT. PT-CSA increased equally after both MRT and HRT. Collagen content, fibril morphology, enzymatic cross-links, and tendon fluorescence were unaffected by training. Conclusion Despite equal improvements in tendon size after moderate and heavy load resistance training, only heavy. load training seemed to maintain tendon mechanical properties in old age. The effect of load magnitude on tendon biomechanics was unrelated to changes of major load bearing matrix components in the tendon core. The study is a sub-study of the LISA study, which was registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02123641) April 25th 2014

Year-round sub-seasonal forecast skill for Atlantic-European weather regimes

Weather regime forecasts are a prominent use case of sub‐seasonal prediction in the midlatitudes. A systematic evaluation and understanding of year‐round sub‐seasonal regime forecast performance is still missing, however. Here we evaluate the representation of and forecast skill for seven year‐round Atlantic–European weather regimes in sub‐seasonal reforecasts from the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts. Forecast calibration improves regime frequency biases and forecast skill most strongly in summer, but scarcely in winter, due to considerable large‐scale flow biases in summer. The average regime skill horizon in winter is about 5 days longer than in summer and spring, and 3 days longer than in autumn. The Zonal Regime and Greenland Blocking tend to have the longest year‐round skill horizon, which is driven by their high persistence in winter. The year‐round skill is lowest for the European Blocking, which is common for all seasons but most pronounced in winter and spring. For the related, more northern Scandinavian Blocking, the skill is similarly low in winter and spring but higher in summer and autumn. We further show that the winter average regime skill horizon tends to be enhanced following a strong stratospheric polar vortex (SPV), but reduced following a weak SPV. Likewise, the year‐round average regime skill horizon tends to be enhanced following phases 4 and 7 of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) but reduced following phase 2, driven by winter but also autumn and spring. Our study thus reveals promising potential for year‐round sub‐seasonal regime predictions. Further model improvements can be achieved by reduction of the considerable large‐scale flow biases in summer, better understanding and modeling of blocking in the European region, and better exploitation of the potential predictability provided by weak SPV states and specific MJO phases in winter and the transition seasons.The overall sub‐seasonal forecast performance (biases and skill) for predicting seven year‐round Atlantic–European weather regimes is highest in winter and lowest in summer. The year‐round skill horizon is shortest for the European Blocking and longest for the Zonal Regime and Greenland Blocking (see figure). Furthermore, the winter skill horizon tends to be enhanced following a strong stratospheric polar vortex but reduced following a weak one. Madden–Julian Oscillation phases 4 and 7 tend to increase and phase 2 to decrease the year‐round skill horizon.Helmholtz‐Gemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/50110000165

Online encoder-decoder anomaly detection using encoder-decoder architecture with novel self-configuring neural networks &amp; pure linear genetic programming for embedded systems

Recent anomaly detection techniques focus on the use of neural networks and an encoder-decoder architecture. However, these techniques lead to trade offs if implemented in an embedded environment such as high heat management, power consumption and hardware costs. This paper presents two related new methods for anomaly detection within data sets gathered from an autonomous mini-vehicle with a CAN bus. The first method which to the best of our knowledge is the first use of encoder-decoder architecture for anomaly detection using linear genetic programming (LGP). Second method uses self-configuring neural network that is created using evolutionary algorithm paradigm learning both architecture and weights suitable for embedded systems. Both approaches have the following advantages: it is inexpensive regarding resource use, can be run on almost any embedded board due to linear register machine advantages in computation. The proposed methods are also faster by at least one order of magnitude, and it includes both inference and complete training

Spontaneous breathing with airway pressure release ventilation favors ventilation in dependent lung regions and counters cyclic alveolar collapse in oleic-acid-induced lung injury: a randomized controlled computed tomography trial

INTRODUCTION: Experimental and clinical studies have shown a reduction in intrapulmonary shunt with spontaneous breathing during airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) in acute lung injury. This reduction was related to reduced atelectasis and increased aeration. We hypothesized that spontaneous breathing will result in better ventilation and aeration of dependent lung areas and in less cyclic collapse during the tidal breath. METHODS: In this randomized controlled experimental trial, 22 pigs with oleic-acid-induced lung injury were randomly assigned to receive APRV with or without spontaneous breathing at comparable airway pressures. Four hours after randomization, dynamic computed tomography scans of the lung were obtained in an apical slice and in a juxtadiaphragmatic transverse slice. Analyses of regional attenuation were performed separately in nondependent and dependent halves of the lungs on end-expiratory scans and end-inspiratory scans. Tidal changes were assessed as differences between inspiration and expiration of the mechanical breaths. RESULTS: Whereas no differences were observed in the apical slices, spontaneous breathing resulted in improved tidal ventilation of dependent lung regions (P < 0.05) and less cyclic collapse (P < 0.05) in the juxtadiaphragmatic slices. In addition, with spontaneous breathing, the end-expiratory aeration increased and nonaerated tissue decreased in dependent lung regions close to the diaphragm (P < 0.05 for the interaction ventilator mode and lung region). CONCLUSION: Spontaneous breathing during APRV redistributes ventilation and aeration to dependent, usually well-perfused, lung regions close to the diaphragm, and may thereby contribute to improved arterial oxygenation. Spontaneous breathing also counters cyclic collapse, which is a risk factor for ventilation-associated lung injury