Toward a More Humane Public Policy: How the Humanities Can, and Should, Inform the Creation and Analysis of Public Policy

This capstone investigates how the methodologies of the humanities can inform the creation and analysis of public policy. Since the mid-twentieth century, public policy has increasingly turned away from humanistic questions and toward technical questions. The result has been a public policy regime that focuses too much on manipulable variables and not on the humans that the policies are impacting. By applying humanistic methodologies to public policy, we are more likely to appreciate the inarticulable elements of human social organization and therefore devise public policy that is less harmful and more humble

Emanuel Celler to John D. Feerick

Letter from Representative Emanuel Celler to Dean John D. Feerick, regarding his scholarly article on presidential inability.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_correspondence/1006/thumbnail.jp

Recognising the Suzuki groups in their natural representations

Under the assumption of a certain conjecture, for which there exists strong experimental evidence, we produce an efficient algorithm for constructive membership testing in the Suzuki groups Sz(q), where q = 2^{2m + 1} for some m > 0, in their natural representations of degree 4. It is a Las Vegas algorithm with running time O{log(q)} field operations, and a preprocessing step with running time O{log(q) loglog(q)} field operations. The latter step needs an oracle for the discrete logarithm problem in GF(q). We also produce a recognition algorithm for Sz(q) = . This is a Las Vegas algorithm with running time O{|X|^2} field operations. Finally, we give a Las Vegas algorithm that, given ^h = Sz(q) for some h in GL(4, q), finds some g such that ^g = Sz(q). The running time is O{log(q) loglog(q) + |X|} field operations. Implementations of the algorithms are available for the computer system MAGMA

Heart rate regulation during cycle-ergometer exercise via event-driven biofeedback

© 2016, International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering. This paper is devoted to the problem of regulating the heart rate response along a predetermined reference profile, for cycle-ergometer exercises designed for training or cardio-respiratory rehabilitation. The controller designed in this study is a non-conventional, non-model-based, proportional, integral and derivative (PID) controller. The PID controller commands can be transmitted as biofeedback auditory commands, which can be heard and interpreted by the exercising subject to increase or reduce exercise intensity. However, in such a case, for the purposes of effectively communicating to the exercising subject a change in the required exercise intensity, the timing of this feedback signal relative to the position of the pedals becomes critical. A feedback signal delivered when the pedals are not in a suitable position to efficiently exert force may be ineffective and this may, in turn, lead to the cognitive disengagement of the user from the feedback controller. This note examines a novel form of control system which has been expressly designed for this project. The system is called an “actuator-based event-driven control system”. The proposed control system was experimentally verified using 24 healthy male subjects who were randomly divided into two separate groups, along with cross-validation scheme. A statistical analysis was employed to test the generalisation of the PID tunes, derived based on the average transfer functions of the two groups, and it revealed that there were no significant differences between the mean values of root mean square of the tracking error of two groups (3.9 vs. 3.7 bpm, p= 0.65). Furthermore, the results of a second statistical hypothesis test showed that the proposed PID controller with novel synchronised biofeedback mechanism has better performance compared to a conventional PID controller with a fixed-rate biofeedback mechanism (Group 1: 3.9 vs. 5.0 bpm, Group 2: 3.7 vs. 4.4 bpm, p< 0.05)

Strains in Si-onSiO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Structures Formed By Oxygen Implantation: Raman Scattering Characterization

Low-temperature Raman scattering measurements were carried out to characterize Si-on-SiO2 structures formed by oxygen implantation and subsequent furnace or lamp annealing. The experiments were conducted with 413.1 nm laser light to probe only the thin Si layers at the top of the structures. The Raman spectra of the furnace-annealed samples are red shifted and broadened when compared with a virgin Si surface. The shifts and broadenings decrease with increasing annealing temperatures but they are still present in samples annealed above 1250°C for 3 h. No shifts or broadenings affect the Raman peaks of the layers, which were lamp annealed at 1405°C for half an hour. The red shifts indicate that the recrystallized Si layers are under tensile strains, whose origin is attributed to oxide precipitates. Quantitative estimates of the strains and associated stresses are obtained from the measured Raman shifts

Time constant of heart rate recovery after low level exercise as a useful measure of cardiovascular fitness

In this study we aimed to establish the usefulness of the time constant of heart rate recovery (Tr) in the evaluation of cardiovascular fitness. 15 male subjects exercised on recumbent bicycle at three different workloads (75W, 100W 125W) where R-R intervals were monitored to determine Tr. In order to find the maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max) of each subject, oxygen consumption rate (V̇O2) was recorded throughout the treadmill exercise (10km/h). Based on V̇O2max' we classified the subjects into two groups: the "fit" group and the "unfit" group. We found a significant difference in Tr between these two groups only existed when the workload was 75W (p ≤ 0.01) and only at this workload did the R-R intervals achieve stability during the 5 minutes of exercise. Furthermore, we found the cut-off value for predicting cardiovascular fitness at this workload was 55 seconds, with an associated sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 87.5%. © 2006 IEEE