United States v. Virginia\u27s New Gender Equal Protection Analysis with Ramifications for Pregnancy, Parenting, and Title VII

In this Article, Professor Kovacic-liTeischer argues that the Supreme Court\u27s recent decision in United States v. Virginia raises gender equal protection analysis to the level of strict scrutiny. Professor Kovacic-Fleischer asserts that the Court\u27s refusal to accept as immutable VMI\u27s single-sex institutional design, and the Court\u27s requirement that VMT make adjustments and alterations that will enable qualified women to undertake VM\u27s curriculum evidences this shift in gender equal protection analysis. Professor Kovacic-Fleischer then turns to the significance of the Court\u27s citation to California Federal Savings & Loan Association v. Guerra. She asserts that this citation indicates that the Court effectively overruled Geduldig v. Aiello\u27s holding that pregnancy discrimination is not necessarily sex-based discrimination. Further, she asserts that the Guerra citation also indicates that United States v. Virginia\u27s adjustments and alterations model of gender equal protection analysis is applicable to Title VII. Under this analysis, workplaces would be required to make adjustments and alterations designed to accommodate pregnancy and parenting. Professor Kovacic- Fleischer concludes that such adjustments and alterations would prove economically beneficial to employers and would facilitate equal allocation of work and responsibilities within families

Book Review: Pregnant Pause: An International Legal Analysis of Maternity Discrimination

Professor Kovacic-Fleischer reviewed Pregnant Pause, which collects legal documents relating to workplace discrimination with emphasis on maternity and paternity leave issues. The book suggests that the United States should provide paid maternity leave as most countries do and paternity leave as some countries do. No country provides women and men with equal amounts of paid family leave. Pregnant Pause explains that without maternity leave, women may lose jobs when they have a baby and/or may pay an economic “child penalty.” Pregnant Pause notes that depending on how much or little leave and pay is allocated to men, parental leave policies can either encourage fathers to take part in child raising or can perpetuate the stereotype of mothers as the main caregivers. In reviewing Pregnant Pause, Professor Kovacic-Fleischer says that it might have delved more into why United States’ leave laws are different from those of most of the world. The United States government does not require any employer to provide employees with paid leave. While many employers do, if they provide leave to mothers beyond disability leave, they must provide fathers with the same. Professor Kovacic-Fleischer therefore notes that the United States applies the “equal treatment” method of defining equality, which requires that the same rules apply to eveyone despite their differing situations. Most other countries apply the “equal opportunity” (also referred to as “special treatment”) method, which adjusts rules to account for peoples’ differences, in this case the reproductive difference between men and women. Professor Kovacic-Fleischer notes that Pregnant Pause demonstrates the conundrum that policy makers face in deciding whether to choose between equal or special treatment. The United States government treats everyone equally. This results in fewer benefits for all, including mothers who often end up disadvantaged by inadequate leave policies. Most other countries, in contrast, provide generous benefits to mothers, but no comparable benefits to fathers, risking that employers will view women as less desirable workers

Book Review: Pregnant Pause: An International Legal Analysis of Maternity Discrimination

Professor Kovacic-Fleischer reviewed Pregnant Pause, which collects legal documents relating to workplace discrimination with emphasis on maternity and paternity leave issues. The book suggests that the United States should provide paid maternity leave as most countries do and paternity leave as some countries do. No country provides women and men with equal amounts of paid family leave. Pregnant Pause explains that without maternity leave, women may lose jobs when they have a baby and/or may pay an economic “child penalty.” Pregnant Pause notes that depending on how much or little leave and pay is allocated to men, parental leave policies can either encourage fathers to take part in child raising or can perpetuate the stereotype of mothers as the main caregivers. In reviewing Pregnant Pause, Professor Kovacic-Fleischer says that it might have delved more into why United States’ leave laws are different from those of most of the world. The United States government does not require any employer to provide employees with paid leave. While many employers do, if they provide leave to mothers beyond disability leave, they must provide fathers with the same. Professor Kovacic-Fleischer therefore notes that the United States applies the “equal treatment” method of defining equality, which requires that the same rules apply to eveyone despite their differing situations. Most other countries apply the “equal opportunity” (also referred to as “special treatment”) method, which adjusts rules to account for peoples’ differences, in this case the reproductive difference between men and women. Professor Kovacic-Fleischer notes that Pregnant Pause demonstrates the conundrum that policy makers face in deciding whether to choose between equal or special treatment. The United States government treats everyone equally. This results in fewer benefits for all, including mothers who often end up disadvantaged by inadequate leave policies. Most other countries, in contrast, provide generous benefits to mothers, but no comparable benefits to fathers, risking that employers will view women as less desirable workers

Strokes2Surface: Recovering Curve Networks From 4D Architectural Design Sketches

We present Strokes2Surface, an offline geometry reconstruction pipeline that recovers well-connected curve networks from imprecise 4D sketches to bridge concept design and digital modeling stages in architectural design. The input to our pipeline consists of 3D strokes' polyline vertices and their timestamps as the 4th dimension, along with additional metadata recorded throughout sketching. Inspired by architectural sketching practices, our pipeline combines a classifier and two clustering models to achieve its goal. First, with a set of extracted hand-engineered features from the sketch, the classifier recognizes the type of individual strokes between those depicting boundaries (Shape strokes) and those depicting enclosed areas (Scribble strokes). Next, the two clustering models parse strokes of each type into distinct groups, each representing an individual edge or face of the intended architectural object. Curve networks are then formed through topology recovery of consolidated Shape clusters and surfaced using Scribble clusters guiding the cycle discovery. Our evaluation is threefold: We confirm the usability of the Strokes2Surface pipeline in architectural design use cases via a user study, we validate our choice of features via statistical analysis and ablation studies on our collected dataset, and we compare our outputs against a range of reconstructions computed using alternative methods.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

Urban robotic experimentation: San Francisco, Tokyo and Dubai

Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and automation have the potential to transform cities and urban social life. However, robotic restructuring of the city is complicated and contested. Technology is still evolving, robotic infrastructure is expensive and there are technical, trust and safety challenges in bringing robots into dynamic urban environments alongside humans. This article examines the nascent field of ‘urban robotics’ in three emblematic yet diverse national-urban contexts that are leading centres for urban robotic experimentation. Focusing on the experimental application of autonomous social robots, the article explores: (i) the rationale for urban robotic experiments and the interests involved, and (ii) the challenges and outcomes of creating meaningful urban spaces for robotic experimentation. The article makes a distinctive contribution to urban research by illuminating a potentially far-reaching but under-researched area of urban policy. It provides a conceptual framework for mapping and understanding the highly contingent, spatially uneven and socially selective processes of robotic urban experimentation

Semantic Shift to Pragmatic Meaning in Shared Decision Making: Situation Theory Perspective

The way humans establish communication depends on the generation and conveyance of meaning. Linguistically, meaning in information is dependent on the meaning that is ascribed to signifiers in the context of the communication. These signifiers can include items such as words, phrases, signs, and symbols. Conveyance of meaning may, however, imprecise and prone to error. The meaning of information in communication may arise from a change in the context in which a signifier is placed (intrinsic), or a change in the paradigm with which the signifier and context are perceived (extrinsic). In simple situations, where paradigms are reconcilable, semantic shift is solely intrinsic. In complex situations, where differing paradigms will generally lead to irreconcilable perspectives (paradoxes and dualities); the semantic shift will be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Decisions are based on an individual\u27s (or individuals\u27 shared) understanding and understanding is in turn contingent on perspective. Decision making will, therefore, be affected by discrepancies in meaning. It is critical to understand the nature of the discrepancies where shared awareness is necessary to enable group decisions. The theoretical construct presented recognizes that (1) a semantic shift may be required where multiple perspectives based on different paradigms come into play and (2) a semantic shift may introduce error, inefficiency, noise or redundancy. Therefore, individual limits can be recognized via shared awareness, which can be studied with situation theory. © 2015 WIT Press

Non-coding RNA in Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is the process wherein endothelial cells lose their typical endothelial cell markers and functions and adopt a mesenchymal-like phenotype. EndMT is required for development of the cardiac valves, the pulmonary and dorsal aorta and arterial maturation, but activation of the EndMT program during adulthood is believed to contribute to several pathologies including organ fibrosis, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs, modulate EndMT during development and disease. Here, we review the mechanisms by which non-coding RNAs facilitate or inhibit EndMT during development and disease and provide a perspective on the therapeutic application of non-coding RNAs to treat fibroproliferative cardiovascular disease

Contemporary and Future Approaches to Precision Medicine in Inherited Cardiomyopathies: JACC Focus Seminar 3/5

Inherited cardiomyopathies are commonly occurring myocardial disorders that are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Clinical management strategies have focused on treatment of heart failure and arrhythmic complications in symptomatic patients according to standardized guidelines. Clinicians are now being urged to implement precision medicine, but what does this involve? Advances in understanding of the genetic underpinnings of inherited cardiomyopathies have brought new possibilities for interventions that are tailored to genes, specific variants, or downstream mechanisms. However, the phenotypic variability that can occur with any given pathogenic variant suggests that factors other than single driver gene mutations are often involved. This is propelling a new imperative to elucidate the nuanced ways in which individual combinations of genetic variation, comorbidities, and lifestyle may influence cardiomyopathy phenotypes. Here, Part 3 of a 5-part precision medicine Focus Seminar series reviews the current status and future opportunities for precision medicine in the inherited cardiomyopathies

Misterios de la vida de Jesucristo en la puerta de madera de la catedral de Split

La catedral de Split es, de hecho, el ex mausoleo del emperador Diocleciano, transformado en Iglesia. La catedral fue enriquecida durante el siglo xiii con varias obras escultóricas románicas de gran maestría. Entre ellas destacan la puerta de madera de doble batiente con escenas que representan los misterios de la vida de Cristo, esculpidas como bajorrelieves por el artista Andrija Buvina, natural de Split, inaugurada el 23 de abril del 1214. Entre las pocas puertas de madera medievales que conservamos es la única que se encuentra aún in situ y en un buen estado de conservación. Sobre cada una de las hojas de la puerta se encuentran siete pares de escenas en bajorrelieve que representan la vida, la muerte y la gloria de Cristo Redentor. Esta puerta está considerada, con razón, como una obra maestra de la escultura medieval en Croacia. La clave iconológica de la obra de Buvina consiste en la mistagogia cristológica y soteriológica de las escenas de la vida del Salvador. ---------------- Split Cathedral is the former mausoleum of the Emperor Diocletian which was transformed into a church. The Cathedral was embellished in the 13th century with several magnificent Romanesque sculptures. Outstanding among these is the double wooden door decorated with scenes representing the life of Christ, carved as a bas-relief by Andrija Buvina, a native of Split, which was inaugurated on 23 April 1214. Of the few medieval wooden doors that are still preserved, this is the only example that is still in its original position and in a good state of conservation. Both of the doors contain seven pairs of scenes in basrelief representing the life, death and glory of Christ the Redeemer. This door is rightly regarded as a master work of medieval sculpture in Croatia. The iconological key to Buvina’s work lies in the Christological mystagogy and soteriology of the life our Our Lord