The Electoral College in the American Nation

Democracy in America is often guided by the visible forces of the moment. Dangers are too often seen in the context of political interest--when fire is seen, the hoses of democratic action come wheeling out. But there is no excitement in smoke alone. The near constitutional crisis of the 1968 Presidential elections, (when the strong third party candidacy of George Wallace threatened to throw the election into the House of Representatives), caused a lot of smoke and a spark of flame. The alarm was sounded and the volunteer firemen from the halls of Congress and Capitol Hill responded. The standers-by, the self-made experts, the institutional geniuses, and the media-reporters-turned-commentators all clamored together in offerings of support and advice. Though the fire is cold embers now--the smoke still trails upward because the dry tinder remains tinder still. The Founding Fathers were tempered by Locke\u27s justification of revolution, by Cook\u27s beliefs in constitutionalism, and Montesquieu\u27s theory of separation of governmental powers when they wrote the Constitution. But in no particular did they take greater pride than in the device they invented for the election of a President. They views it as a means of peaceful, continual revolution and the essence and crowning glory of the system, done by peaceful assemblies, free discussion, and the ballot. But the system, later to become known as the Electoral College, had flaws, and was, as Thomas Jefferson has said, the most dangerous blot on our Constitution. Today it is called an oxcart method of selecting Space Age Presidents and suffers attacks from many quarters. But as the apparent fires abated, so too did the volunteer firemen. The vices and virtues of the system can now be studied, analyzed, and debated by cooler heads, and perhaps reason, not do-something-now-expediency will prevail. At a later date, when the complexities and variables have been studied and weighed and the reports are all in, maybe, just maybe, our volunteer firemen will rush into action as once before, this time armed with an effective, but safe tool to extract the tinder forever and replace it with non-flammables. But there is only smoke now--faintly visible and growing dimmer. It remains to be seen whether the firemen will rush into action before fire rises from the smoke once more

RAFCON: a Graphical Tool for Task Programming and Mission Control

There are many application fields for robotic systems including service robotics, search and rescue missions, industry and space robotics. As the scenarios in these areas grow more and more complex, there is a high demand for powerful tools to efficiently program heterogeneous robotic systems. Therefore, we created RAFCON, a graphical tool to develop robotic tasks and to be used for mission control by remotely monitoring the execution of the tasks. To define the tasks, we use state machines which support hierarchies and concurrency. Together with a library concept, even complex scenarios can be handled gracefully. RAFCON supports sophisticated debugging functionality and tightly integrates error handling and recovery mechanisms. A GUI with a powerful state machine editor makes intuitive, visual programming and fast prototyping possible. We demonstrated the capabilities of our tool in the SpaceBotCamp national robotic competition, in which our mobile robot solved all exploration and assembly challenges fully autonomously. It is therefore also a promising tool for various RoboCup leagues.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

On the noise-induced passage through an unstable periodic orbit II: General case

Consider a dynamical system given by a planar differential equation, which exhibits an unstable periodic orbit surrounding a stable periodic orbit. It is known that under random perturbations, the distribution of locations where the system's first exit from the interior of the unstable orbit occurs, typically displays the phenomenon of cycling: The distribution of first-exit locations is translated along the unstable periodic orbit proportionally to the logarithm of the noise intensity as the noise intensity goes to zero. We show that for a large class of such systems, the cycling profile is given, up to a model-dependent change of coordinates, by a universal function given by a periodicised Gumbel distribution. Our techniques combine action-functional or large-deviation results with properties of random Poincar\'e maps described by continuous-space discrete-time Markov chains.Comment: 44 pages, 4 figure

Violent or non-violent action? Wartime civilian resistance in Colombia and Mozambique

Why do some communities resist armed groups non-violently while others take up arms to do so? Recent research has advanced our knowledge of the causes and consequences of wartime civilian resistance. Yet, the factors explaining the emergence and outcomes of civilian resistance do not account for how people resist. Despite its important consequences for the politics and geography of war, the issue of why civilians engage in violent or non-violent forms of resistance remains poorly understood. We rely on extensive original fieldwork to examine within-case and cross-case variation in violent and non-violent resistance campaigns during the Mozambican and Colombian civil wars. We argue that forms of resistance are linked to prior experiences of collective action, normative commitments, and the role of local political entrepreneurs. Previous experiences make repertoires of resistance “empirically” available, while prevailing local social and cultural norms make them “normatively” available. Political entrepreneurs activate and adapt what is empirically and normatively available to mobilize support for some forms of action and against others. Our analysis advances emerging research on wartime civilian agency and has significant implications for theories of armed conflict, civil resistance, and contentious politics more broadly.NWOInstitutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

Transmembrane anion transport mediated by halogen-bond donors

In biology and chemistry, the transport of anions across lipid bilayer membranes is usually achieved by sophisticated supramolecular architectures. Significant size reduction of transporters is hampered by the intrinsically hydrophilic nature of typical anion-binding functionalities, hydrogen-bond donors or cations. To maximize the atom efficiency of anion transport, the hydrophobic nature, directionality, and strength of halogen bonds seem promising. Unlike the ubiquitous, structurally similar hydrogen bonds, halogen bonds have not been explored for anion transport. Here we report that transport across lipid bilayers can be achieved with small perfluorinated molecules that are equipped with strong halogen-bond donors. Transport is observed with trifluoroiodomethane (boiling point=−22 °C); that is, it acts as a 'single-carbon' transporter. Contrary to the destructive action of small-molecule detergents, transport with halogen bonds is leakage-free, cooperative, non-ohmic and highly selective, with anion/cation permeability ratios <37

A causal role for the anterior mid-cingulate cortex in negative affect and cognitive control

Converging evidence has linked the anterior mid-cingulate cortex to negative affect, pain and cognitive control. Shackman and colleagues proposed this region uses information about punishment to control aversively motivated actions. Studies on the effects of lesions allow causal inferences about brain function; however, naturally occurring lesions in the anterior mid-cingulate cortex are rare. In two studies we therefore recruited 94 volunteers, comprising 15 patients with treatment-resistant depression who had received bilateral Anterior Cingulotomy, which consists of lesions made within the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, 20 patients with treatment-resistant depression who had not received surgery and 59 healthy controls. Using the Ekman 60 Faces paradigm and two Stroop paradigms, we tested the hypothesis that patients who received Anterior Cingulotomy were impaired in recognising negative facial affect expressions but not positive or neutral facial expressions, and impaired in Stroop cognitive control, with larger lesions being associated with more impairment. Consistent with hypotheses, we found that larger volume lesions predicted more impairment in recognising fear, disgust and anger, and no impairment in recognising facial expressions of surprise or happiness. However we found no impairment in recognising expressions of sadness. Also consistent with hypotheses, we found that larger volume lesions predicted impaired Stroop cognitive control. Notably, this relationship was only present when anterior mid-cingulate cortex lesion volume was defined as the overlap between cingulotomy lesion volume and Shackman and colleague’s meta-analysis derived binary masks for negative affect and cognitive control. Given substantial evidence from healthy subjects that the anterior mid-cingulate cortex is part of a network associated with the experience of negative affect and pain, engaging cognitive control processes for optimising behaviour in the presence of such stimuli, our findings support the assertion that this region has a causal role in these processes. Whilst the clinical justification for cingulotomy is empirical and not theoretical, it is plausible that lesions within a brain region associated with the subjective experience of negative affect and pain may be therapeutic for patients with otherwise intractable mood, anxiety and pain syndromes.PostprintPeer reviewe

Langzeit-Datenreihe (2007 - 2017) von Eddy-Kovarianz CO2- und Energieflüssen der arktischen Bayelva-Station, Spitzbergen

Die Messung von ganzjährigen CO2-, Wasser- und Energieflüssen zwischen Erdoberfläche und Atmosphäre in arktischen Regionen wird bisher nur an wenigen Standorten durchgeführt. Derartige Messungen sind aber insbesondere insofern relevant, als dass arktische Tundren bedeutende CO2-Senken darstellen, unter einem sich erwärmenden Klima möglicherweise aber zukünftig im Permafrost gespeicherten Kohlenstoff freisetzen. Durch den Einsatz bodengebundener in situ Messungen können Kohlenstoff- und Energiedynamik bilanziert werden. Des Weiteren sind die gemessenen Gas- und Energieflüsse wertvoll für die Kalibration und Validierung globaler Klimamodelle. Eine Messstation in der europäischen Arktis ist die Bayelva-Messstation (78� 55‘ N, 11� 50‘ O) nahe Ny Ålesund auf Spitzbergen. Der starke Einfluss des Nordatlantikstroms führt dort zu einem maritimen Klima mit kühlen Sommertemperaturen von durchschnittlich 5 °C im Juli und relativ milden Wintertemperaturen von -13 °C im Januar. Es handelt sich somit um eine vergleichsweise warme Permafrostregion mit Jahresmitteltemperaturen von etwa -2.5 °C. Der Jahresniederschlag liegt bei etwa 400 mm und die schneefreie Zeit beträgt typischerweise drei Monate. An der Bayelva-Station fanden von 2007 bis 2017 Messungen von Wasserdampf- und CO2-Konzentrationen (mittels open-path LiCor LI-7500 CO2 und H2O Gasanalysierer) sowie dreidimensionale Messungen der Windgeschwindigkeit (mittels Campbell CSAT 3D sonic anemometer) mit einer Messfrequenz von 20 Hz statt. Mithilfe der Eddy-Kovarianz-Software TK3 ermitteln wir hieraus halbstündliche Gas- und Energieflüsse und führen Qualitätsprüfungen durch. Erste Ergebnisse für das Jahr 2008/2009 zeigen, dass die jährliche CO2-Bilanz des Standortes nahezu bei null liegt, was durch die lange, winterliche Freisetzung von CO2 in die Atmosphäre zu erklären ist. Allerdings sind die Prozesse, welche diese winterliche CO2-Emission bedingen bisher nicht untersucht. Unser Ziel besteht daher nun darin, die Analyse der Gas- und Energieflüsse auf den gesamten Messzeitraum von 2007 bis 2017 auszuweiten. Insbesondere für die Zeiträume Oktober 2012 bis August 2014 sowie Januar 2015 bis September 2016 sind die Messreihen nahezu komplett mit Datenlücken von nur wenigen Tagen pro Zeitraum. Auf der Grundlage der entstehenden Langzeit-Datenreihe können wir durch den Klimawandel bedingte Änderungen der CO2-Flüsse von zwischenjährlicher Variabilität unterscheiden sowie saisonale und jahreszeitliche Schwankungen bilanzieren. Außerdem ermöglicht es uns der mehrjährige Datensatz die Umstände der ablaufenden Prozesse genauer zu beschreiben und dadurch möglicherweise Rückschlüsse auf deren Auslöser zu ziehen. Im weiteren Verlauf ist es zudem vorstellbar Wechselwirkungen zwischen den beobachteten Gas- und Energieflüssen und weiteren Eigenschaften verschiedener Komponenten des Klimasystems wie zum Beispiel Wolkeneigenschaften zu untersuchen

Credit bureaus between risk-management, creditworthiness assessment and prudential supervision

"This text may be downloaded for personal research purposes only. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copy or electronically, requires the consent of the author. If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author, the title, the working paper or other series, the year, and the publisher."This paper discusses the role and operations of consumer Credit Bureaus in the European Union in the context of the economic theories, policies and law within which they work. Across Europe there is no common practice of sharing the credit data of consumers which can be used for several purposes. Mostly, they are used by the lending industry as a practice of creditworthiness assessment or as a risk-management tool to underwrite borrowing decisions or price risk. However, the type, breath, and depth of information differ greatly from country to country. In some Member States, consumer data are part of a broader information centralisation system for the prudential supervision of banks and the financial system as a whole. Despite EU rules on credit to consumers for the creation of the internal market, the underlying consumer data infrastructure remains fragmented at national level, failing to achieve univocal, common, or defined policy objectives under a harmonised legal framework. Likewise, the establishment of the Banking Union and the prudential supervision of the Euro area demand standardisation and convergence of the data used to measure debt levels, arrears, and delinquencies. The many functions and usages of credit data suggest that the policy goals to be achieved should inform the legal and institutional framework of Credit Bureaus, as well as the design and use of the databases. This is also because fundamental rights and consumer protection concerns arise from the sharing of credit data and their expanding use

Measuring Gravito-magnetic Effects by Multi Ring-Laser Gyroscope

We propose an under-ground experiment to detect the general relativistic effects due to the curvature of space-time around the Earth (de Sitter effect) and to rotation of the planet (dragging of the inertial frames or Lense-Thirring effect). It is based on the comparison between the IERS value of the Earth rotation vector and corresponding measurements obtained by a tri-axial laser detector of rotation. The proposed detector consists of six large ring-lasers arranged along three orthogonal axes. In about two years of data taking, the 1% sensitivity required for the measurement of the Lense-Thirring drag can be reached with square rings of 6 $m$ side, assuming a shot noise limited sensitivity ($20 prad/s/\sqrt{Hz}$). The multi-gyros system, composed of rings whose planes are perpendicular to one or the other of three orthogonal axes, can be built in several ways. Here, we consider cubic and octahedron structures. The symmetries of the proposed configurations provide mathematical relations that can be used to study the stability of the scale factors, the relative orientations or the ring-laser planes, very important to get rid of systematics in long-term measurements, which are required in order to determine the relativistic effects.Comment: 24 pages, 26 Postscript figure

Next-generation ice-nucleating particle sampling on board aircraft: characterization of the High-volume flow aERosol particle filter sAmpler (HERA)

Atmospheric ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentration data from the free troposphere are sparse but urgently needed to understand vertical transport processes of INPs and their influence on cloud formation and properties. Here, we introduce the new High-volume flow aERosol particle filter sAmpler (HERA) which was specially developed for installation on research aircraft and subsequent offline INP analysis. HERA is a modular system consisting of a sampling unit and a powerful pump unit, and it has several features which were integrated specifically for INP sampling. Firstly, the pump unit enables sampling at flow rates exceeding 100 L min−1, which is well above typical flow rates of aircraft INP sampling systems described in the literature (∼ 10 L min−1). Consequently, required sampling times to capture rare, high-temperature INPs (≥ −15 ∘C) are reduced in comparison to other systems, and potential source regions of INPs can be confined more precisely. Secondly, the sampling unit is designed as a seven-way valve, enabling switching between six filter holders and a bypass with one filter being sampled at a time. In contrast to other aircraft INP sampling systems, the valve position is remote-controlled via software so that manual filter changes during flight are eliminated and the potential for sample contamination is decreased. This design is compatible with a high degree of automation, i.e., triggering filter changes depending on parameters like flight altitude, geographical location, temperature, or time. In addition to presenting the design and principle of operation of HERA, this paper describes laboratory characterization experiments with size-selected test substances, i.e., SNOMAX® and Arizona Test Dust. The particles were sampled on filters with HERA, varying either particle diameter (300 to 800 nm) or flow rate (10 to 100 L min−1) between experiments. The subsequent offline INP analysis showed good agreement with literature data and comparable sampling efficiencies for all investigated particle sizes and flow rates. Furthermore, the collection efficiency of atmospheric INPs in HERA was compared to a straightforward filter sampler and good agreement was found. Finally, results from the first campaign of HERA on the High Altitude and LOng range research aircraft (HALO) demonstrate the functionality of the new system in the context of aircraft application.</p