Beyond "position" and "valence". A unified framework for the analysis of political issues

Starting from a review of models of positional and valence issues, the paper – by tapping into the original definition of valence issue – introduces a classification of issues based on their level of overall, dychotomic agreement. This allows the placement of both positional and valence issues on a same continuum. A second dimension is then introduced, which identifies how much specific issues are over- or undersupported within a specific party. A visual classification of issues based on these two dimensions (the AP diagram) is then introduced, highlighting risks and opportunities for a party in campaigning on specific issues. Specific indicators (namely, issue yield) and hypotheses derived from the AP model are tested on survey data from the EU Profiler project, which collected issue profiles of Internet users from the 27 EU Countries before the EP 2009 Elections. The results show that the suggested dimensions and indicators identify a wide cross-country and cross-issue variance. Also, indicators generated by the AP model are powerful predictors of issue saliency, even subsuming traditional Downsean indicators.political issues; valence; position; party competition; European elections

Event-based Face Detection and Tracking in the Blink of an Eye

We present the first purely event-based method for face detection using the high temporal resolution of an event-based camera. We will rely on a new feature that has never been used for such a task that relies on detecting eye blinks. Eye blinks are a unique natural dynamic signature of human faces that is captured well by event-based sensors that rely on relative changes of luminance. Although an eye blink can be captured with conventional cameras, we will show that the dynamics of eye blinks combined with the fact that two eyes act simultaneously allows to derive a robust methodology for face detection at a low computational cost and high temporal resolution. We show that eye blinks have a unique temporal signature over time that can be easily detected by correlating the acquired local activity with a generic temporal model of eye blinks that has been generated from a wide population of users. We furthermore show that once the face is reliably detected it is possible to apply a probabilistic framework to track the spatial position of a face for each incoming event while updating the position of trackers. Results are shown for several indoor and outdoor experiments. We will also release an annotated data set that can be used for future work on the topic

POLICRYPS-based electrically switchable Bragg reflector

The formation and characterization of a switchable volume reflective element fabricated from a polymer liquid crystal (LC) polymer slice (POLICRYPS) structure by holographic photopolymerization at high temperature (65 °C) using a photosensitive/nematic liquid crystal prepolymer mixture is reported. The submicron Bragg structure formed consists of periodic continuous polymeric walls separated by periodic LC channels. The phase separated NLC self-aligns in a homeotropic alignment between the polymer walls as indicated by polarizing optical microscopy analysis (Maltese cross). The resulting periodic grating structure results in a Bragg reflection notch upon illumination with white light due to the periodic variation in refractive index. Electro-optical experiments realized through in-plane electrodes and temperature experiments confirm that the multilayer structure acts as a Bragg mirror whose reflection efficiency can be controlled by either a small (∼3V/μm) electric field or temperature

Imaging crystal orientations in multicrystalline silicon wafers via photoluminescence

We present a method for monitoring crystal orientations in chemically polished and unpassivated multicrystalline silicon wafers based on band-to-band photoluminescence imaging. The photoluminescence intensity from such wafers is dominated by surface recombination, which is crystal orientation dependent. We demonstrate that a strong correlation exists between the surface energy of different grain orientations, which are modelled based on first principles, and their corresponding photoluminescence intensity. This method may be useful in monitoring mixes of crystal orientations in multicrystalline or so-called “cast monocrystalline” wafers.H. C. Sio acknowledges scholarship support from BT Imaging and the Australian Solar Institute, and the Centre for Advanced Microscopy at ANU for SEM access. This work has been supported by the Australian Research Council

Early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in workers: role of standard and advanced echocardiography

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) still remains the main cause of morbidity and mortality and consequently early diagnosis is of paramount importance. Working conditions can be regarded as an additional risk factor for CVD. Since different aspects of the job may affect vascular health differently, it is important to consider occupation from multiple perspectives to better assess occupational impacts on health. Standard echocardiography has several targets in the cardiac population, as the assessment of myocardial performance, valvular and/or congenital heart disease, and hemodynamics. Three-dimensional echocardiography gained attention recently as a viable clinical tool in assessing left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV), volume, and shape. Two-dimensional (2DSTE) and, more recently, three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3DSTE) have also emerged as methods for detection of global and regional myocardial dysfunction in various cardiovascular diseases, and applied to the diagnosis of subtle LV and RV dysfunction. Although these novel echocardiographic imaging modalities have advanced our understanding of LV and RV mechanics, overlapping patterns often show challenges that limit their clinical utility. This review will describe the current state of standard and advanced echocardiography in early detection (secondary prevention) of CVD and address future directions for this potentially important diagnostic strategy

Political Involvement and Electoral Competition

Recent literature highlights how political knowledge and involvement matter for most political attitudes. Political involvement is here proposed as a second "spatial" dimension, orthogonally complementing left-right ideological positions of citizens. In such a space, a logical quantitative model is developed, hypothesizing that more involved citizens cast votes in a heavily structured manner, strongly connected to their overall ideological orientation, while less involved citizens present higher probabilities of voting for a party that apparently contradicts their self-declared ideological orientation. This logical quantitative model is then applied to data from the Italian National Election Studies 2001 survey. Results confirm the hypothesis, and show that the "competitive area", where voting probabilities are similar for both major blocs, is spatially quite narrow for very involved citizens, and significantly "widens" as the level of involvement decreases. Separate analyses are then carried out for different geo-political areas of the country, with interesting results

Toward Fault-Tolerant Applications on Reconfigurable Systems-on-Chip

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen