A Life Sentence: An Evaluation of Voter Disenfranchisement Through a Constitutional Lens

As the number of incarcerated pupils has increased in the United States, so has the number of pupils who cannot vote, due to a felony conviction. This paper is organized, (i) the history of felon voter disenfranchisement, (ii) statistics on state and federal levels, (iii) the collateral consequences of felon voter disenfranchisement, (iv) different perspectives about felon voter disenfranchisement, (v) understanding suspect classification and voting as a fundamental right, (vi) understanding strict scrutiny, (vii) examining past court rulings, (viii) identifying why the United States needs to change its current laws on felon voter disenfranchisement, an (ix) the proposal of a new legal argument. In conclusion, this paper will demonstrate why felon voter disenfranchisement for non-incarcerated pupils is unconstitutional

Roughness fluctuations, roughness exponents and the universality class of ballistic deposition

In order to estimate roughness exponents of interface growth models, we propose the calculation of effective exponents from the roughness fluctuation (sigma) in the steady state. We compare the finite-size behavior of these exponents and the ones calculated from the average roughness for two models in the 2+1-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) class and for a model in the 1+1-dimensional Villain-Lai-Das Sarma (VLDS) class. The values obtained from sigma provide consistent asymptotic estimates, eventually with smaller finite-size corrections. For the VLDS (nonlinear molecular beam epitaxy) class, we obtain alpha=0.93+-0.01, improving previous estimates. We also apply this method to two versions of the ballistic deposition model in two-dimensional substrates, in order to clarify the controversy on its universality class raised by numerical results and a recent derivation of its continuous equation. Effective exponents calculated from sigma suggest that both versions are in the KPZ class. Additional support to this conclusion is obtained by a comparison of the full roughness distributions of those models and the distribution of other discrete KPZ models.Comment: 12 pages (4 figures included); to be published in Physica

Psychotic symptoms in young adults exposed to childhood trauma - A 20 year follow-up study

Childhood adversity has been shown to increase the risk of psychotic symptoms in adult life. However, there are no previous studies looking at the association between experiencing a natural disaster during childhood and the development of psychotic symptoms in young adulthood. Eight hundred and six bushfire-exposed children and 725 control children were evaluated following the 1983 South Australian bushfires. Five hundred and twenty nine (65.6%) of the bushfire group and 464 (64%) controls participated in a follow up study 20 years later. Childhood data on emotional and behavioural disorders and dysfunctional parenting was available. The adult assessment included the Australian National Health and Well-Being psychosis screen and detailed information about trauma, childhood adversity and alcohol and cannabis abuse. 5.6% of subjects responded positively to the psychosis screen and 2.6% responded positively to a further probe question. Psychotic symptoms were more common in subjects exposed to a greater number of traumas, and were associated with higher rates of childhood adversity, emotional and behavioural disturbance, dysfunctional parenting, and alcohol and cannabis abuse. Subjects exposed to bushfires as children did not have a greater risk of psychosis. Our results indicate that exposure to multiple traumas, rather than a single major trauma, increases the risk of later psychosis.Cherrie Galletly, Miranda Van Hooff, Alexander McFarlan

Actieonderzoek als vehicle voor werken, leren en ontwikkelen in de verpleeghuissector

Veel medewerkers geven de voorkeur aan informele vormen van leren en ontwikkelen op de werkplek, terwijl formele leeractiviteiten gangbaarder zijn in organisaties. Deze activiteiten lijken vaak geïnitieerd door managers en HR-functionarissen en vinden veelal buiten de werkplek plaats. Dit terwijl arbeidsmarkttekorten noodzaken om leren en ontwikkelen in het dagelijkse werk vorm te geven. Dit artikel gaat in op het potentieel van participatief actieonderzoek om te leren en te ontwikkelen op de werkplek. Er wordt verslag gedaan van een actieonderzoeksproject binnen de verpleeghuiscontext. Onderzocht is hoe leren en ontwikkelen plaatsvonden en welke werkzame elementen binnen het actieonderzoeksproject hieraan bijdroegen. Resultaten laten zien dat leren en ontwikkelen in en van werk plaatsvinden op het moment dat authentieke situaties, direct beleefd worden. Ook helpt het als de authentieke situaties verkend worden vanuit verschillende perspectieven en als er mogelijkheden gezien worden voor nieuw of anders handelen. Regels en routines kunnen de integratie van leren en ontwikkelen in het werk beperken. Op basis van opgedane ervaringen en geleerde lessen worden aanbevelingen gegeven

Recovering the nonlinear density field from the galaxy distribution with a Poisson-Lognormal filter

We present a general expression for a lognormal filter given an arbitrary nonlinear galaxy bias. We derive this filter as the maximum a posteriori solution assuming a lognormal prior distribution for the matter field with a given mean field and modeling the observed galaxy distribution by a Poissonian process. We have performed a three-dimensional implementation of this filter with a very efficient Newton-Krylov inversion scheme. Furthermore, we have tested it with a dark matter N-body simulation assuming a unit galaxy bias relation and compared the results with previous density field estimators like the inverse weighting scheme and Wiener filtering. Our results show good agreement with the underlying dark matter field for overdensities even above delta~1000 which exceeds by one order of magnitude the regime in which the lognormal is expected to be valid. The reason is that for our filter the lognormal assumption enters as a prior distribution function, but the maximum a posteriori solution is also conditioned on the data. We find that the lognormal filter is superior to the previous filtering schemes in terms of higher correlation coefficients and smaller Euclidean distances to the underlying matter field. We also show how it is able to recover the positive tail of the matter density field distribution for a unit bias relation down to scales of about >~2 Mpc/h.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Imaging-based frequency mapping for cochlear implants – Evaluated using a daily randomized controlled trial

BackgroundDue to variation in electrode design, insertion depth and cochlear morphology, patients with a cochlear implant (CI) often have to adapt to a substantial mismatch between the characteristic response frequencies of cochlear neurons and the stimulus frequencies assigned to electrode contacts. We introduce an imaging-based fitting intervention, which aimed to reduce frequency-to-place mismatch by aligning frequency mapping with the tonotopic position of electrodes. Results were evaluated in a novel trial set-up where subjects crossed over between intervention and control using a daily within-patient randomized approach, immediately from the start of CI rehabilitation.MethodsFourteen adult participants were included in this single-blinded, daily randomized clinical trial. Based on a fusion of pre-operative imaging and a post-operative cone beam CT scan (CBCT), mapping of electrical input was aligned to natural place-pitch arrangement in the individual cochlea. That is, adjustments to the CI’s frequency allocation table were made so electrical stimulation of frequencies matched as closely as possible with corresponding acoustic locations in the cochlea. For a period of three months, starting at first fit, a scheme was implemented whereby the blinded subject crossed over between the experimental and standard fitting program using a daily randomized wearing schedule, and thus effectively acted as their own control. Speech outcomes (such as speech intelligibility in quiet and noise, sound quality and listening effort) were measured with both settings throughout the study period.ResultsOn a group level, standard fitting obtained subject preference and showed superior results in all outcome measures. In contrast, two out of fourteen subjects preferred the imaging-based fitting and correspondingly had better speech understanding with this setting compared to standard fitting.ConclusionOn average, cochlear implant fitting based on individual tonotopy did not elicit higher speech intelligibility but variability in individual results strengthen the potential for individualized frequency fitting. The novel trial design proved to be a suitable method for evaluation of experimental interventions in a prospective trial setup with cochlear implants

Fully Dynamic Numerical Simulation of the Hammer Peening Fatigue Life Improvement Technique

AbstractThis paper presents the results of the development process for a Finite Element Analysis of the Hammer Peening Fatigue Life Improvement Technique. The Fatigue Life of welded structures is still in need for improvement. The sheer number of Fatigue Live Improvement Techniques parameters leads to the need of simulating and predicting their results. For this study, two different materials were used, an Austenitic Stainless Steel and a Duplex Stainless Steel. Non-load carrying cruciform weld joints were produced and fatigue tested, with and without the Hammer Peening treatment. Finally a FEA code (ABAQUS®) was used to simulate the Hammer Peening technique. A fully dynamic model was used, combined with the Chaboche Kinematic-hardening material model and different Hammering parameter experimentally determined. Alongside the residual stresses introduced by the Hammer Peening Technique, the predicted Fatigue Life using the FEA model were compared with the experimental results, showing a very good agreement between them. Also the effect of several parameters, like the hammering impact load, the hammer positioning or the number of hammering passages, were analysed as a way to validate the FEA model. The most important result was of course the Fatigue Strength Gain factor, for the Hammer Peening Technique, that in both cases was found to be superior to 1.3

Cost-effectiveness of a community-integrated home-based depression intervention in older African Americans.

OBJECTIVES: To test the cost-effectiveness of a home-based depression program: Beat the Blues (BTB). DESIGN: A cost-effectiveness analysis as part of a previously reported randomized controlled trial that compared BTB with a wait-list control group. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: English-speaking, cognitively intact (Mini-Mental State Examination score ≥24), African Americans aged 55 and older with depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire score ≥5) (N = 129). INTERVENTION: Participants randomly assigned to BTB received up to 10 home visits over 4 months from licensed social workers who provided care management, referral and linkage, stress reduction, depression education, and behavioral activation to help participants achieve self-identified goals. MEASUREMENTS: Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of BTB versus wait-list controls during the 4-month study period. The primary ICER was defined as cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) using the Euro Quality of Life 5D (EQ-5D) and secondarily using the Health Utilities Index-3 (HUI-3). Additional ICERs were calculated using clinical measures (cost per depression improvement, cost per depression remission). Costs included BTB intervention, depression-related healthcare visits and medications, caregiver time, and social services. RESULTS: BTB cost per participant per month was $146. Base case ICERs were$64,896 per QALY (EQ-5D) and $36,875 per QALY (HUI-3). Incremental cost was$2,906 per depression improvement and $3,507 per remission. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses yielded a cost/QALY range of$20,500 to $76,500. CONCLUSION: Based on the range of cost-effectiveness values resulting from this study, BTB is a cost-effective treatment for managing depressive symptoms in older African Americans that compares favorably with the cost-effectiveness of previously tested approaches