FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS—“SEE YA IN BOSTON, BRUH”: MAKING THE LINK BETWEEN THE RIGHT TO PETITION, ACTIVISM, AND THE MASSACHUSETTS ANTI-SLAPP STATUTE

Conceptual understandings of political engagement in the digital age continue to evolve as social media and the real-time web reconfigure the ways in which we exchange information. Despite the increasing application of e-campaigns, online petitions, and large-scale digital protests, reciprocity between the governed and the government continues to endure as the hallmark of representative democracy. The right to petition, contained within the final clause of the First Amendment, embodies this central tenet and constitutes the core of the Massachusetts Anti-SLAPP Statute—legislation that provides a special motion to dismiss lawsuits designed to chill public participation in government. Massachusetts anti-SLAPP jurisprudence is at a critical juncture. As each special motion to dismiss comes to pass, the courts must grapple with the statute’s expansive scope and the shifting contours of political engagement in the twenty-first century. Increasingly, citizens are engaging in activities that were not originally contemplated by the statute and seeking protection under the anti-SLAPP paradigm. As ever more complex scenarios arise, how are courts to determine which activities meet the statutory definition of petitioning? This Note argues that courts must objectively assess a statement’s content, manner of issuance, and proximity to government action when determining the scope of petitioning activity. In the absence of an interpretive framework that is both consistent with the language and the policies underlying the statute—namely promoting and protecting an involved citizenry—the judiciary is bound to frustrate, rather than effectuate, the statute’s legislative intent

Experiments in the automatic marking of ER-Diagrams

In this paper we present an approach to the computer understanding of diagrams and show how it can be successfully applied to the automatic marking (grading) of student attempts at drawing entity-relationship (ER) diagrams. The automatic marker has been incorporated into a revision tool to enable students to practice diagramming and obtain feedback on their attempts

Using patterns in the automatic marking of ER-Diagrams

This paper illustrates how the notion of pattern can be used in the automatic analysis and synthesis of diagrams, applied particularly to the automatic marking of ER-diagrams. The paper describes how diagram patterns fit into a general framework for diagram interpretation and provides examples of how patterns can be exploited in other fields. Diagram patterns are defined and specified within the area of ER-diagrams. The paper also shows how patterns are being exploited in a revision tool for understanding ER-diagrams

Matrix-free continuation of limit cycles and their bifurcations for a ducted premixed flame

AbstractMany experimental studies have demonstrated that ducted premixed flames exhibit stable limit cycles in some regions of parameter space. Recent experiments have also shown that these (period-1) limit cycles subsequently bifurcate to period-$2^{n}$, quasiperiodic, multiperiodic or chaotic behaviour. These secondary bifurcations cannot be found computationally using most existing frequency domain methods, because these methods assume that the velocity and pressure signals are harmonic. In an earlier study we have shown that matrix-free continuation methods can efficiently calculate the limit cycles of large thermoacoustic systems. This paper demonstrates that these continuation methods can also efficiently calculate the bifurcations from the limit cycles. Furthermore, once these bifurcations are found, it is then possible to isolate the coupled flame–acoustic motion that causes the qualitative change in behaviour. This information is vital for techniques that use selective damping to move bifurcations to more favourable locations in the parameter space. The matrix-free methods are demonstrated on a model of a ducted axisymmetric premixed flame, using a kinematic$G$-equation solver. The methods find limit cycles and period-2 limit cycles, and fold, period-doubling and Neimark–Sacker bifurcations as a function of the location of the flame in the duct, and the aspect ratio of the steady flame.Iain Waugh acknowledges the support of EPSRC through a Doctoral Training Grant and the IMechE through the postgraduate scholarship award. Karthik Kashinath acknowledges the support of EPSRC and Rolls-Royce through a Dorothy Hodgkin studentship. Matthew Juniper acknowledges the support of the ERC through project ALORS 2590620.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from CUP at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9384264&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S002211201400549

Nonlinear self-excited thermoacoustic oscillations of a ducted premixed flame: Bifurcations and routes to chaos

AbstractThermoacoustic systems can oscillate self-excitedly, and often non-periodically, owing to coupling between unsteady heat release and acoustic waves. We study a slot-stabilized two-dimensional premixed flame in a duct via numerical simulations of a $G$-equation flame coupled with duct acoustics. We examine the bifurcations and routes to chaos for three control parameters: (i) the flame position in the duct, (ii) the length of the duct and (iii) the mean flow velocity. We observe period-1, period-2, quasi-periodic and chaotic oscillations. For certain parameter ranges, more than one stable state exists, so mode switching is possible. At intermediate times, the system is attracted to and repelled from unstable states, which are also identified. Two routes to chaos are established for this system: the period-doubling route and the Ruelle–Takens–Newhouse route. These are corroborated by analyses of the power spectra of the acoustic velocity. Instantaneous flame images reveal that the wrinkles on the flame surface and pinch-off of flame pockets are regular for periodic oscillations, while they are irregular and have multiple time and length scales for quasi-periodic and aperiodic oscillations. This study complements recent experiments by providing a reduced-order model of a system with approximately 5000 degrees of freedom that captures much of the elaborate nonlinear behaviour of ducted premixed flames observed in the laboratory.This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final version is available from CUP in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9441088&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S002211201400601

Expressed sequence tags from the oomycete fish pathogen Saprolegnia parasitica reveal putative virulence factors

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Reducing Constraints on Quantum Computer Design by Encoded Selective Recoupling

The requirement of performing both single-qubit and two-qubit operations in the implementation of universal quantum logic often leads to very demanding constraints on quantum computer design. We show here how to eliminate the need for single-qubit operations in a large subset of quantum computer proposals: those governed by isotropic and XXZ,XY-type anisotropic exchange interactions. Our method employs an encoding of one logical qubit into two physical qubits, while logic operations are performed using an analogue of the NMR selective recoupling method.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, no figures. Published versio

Internal Variability of the Winter Stratosphere. Part II: Time-Dependent Forcing

This paper considers the effect of time-dependent lower boundary wave forcing on the internal variability found to appear spontaneously in a stratosphere-only model when the forcing is perfectly steady. While the time-dependent forcing is found to modulate the internal variability, leading in some cases to frequency locking of the upper-stratospheric response to the forcing, the temporal and spatial structure of the variability remains similar to the case when the forcing is time independent. Experiments with a time-periodic modulation of the forcing amplitude indicate that the wave flux through the lower boundary is only partially related to the instantaneous forcing, but is more significantly influenced by the condition of the polar vortex itself. In cases of purely random wave forcing with zero time mean, the stratospheric response is similar to that obtained with steady forcing of magnitude equal to the root-mean-square of the time-varying forcing

Consistent thermodynamics for spin echoes

Spin-echo experiments are often said to constitute an instant of anti-thermodynamic behavior in a concrete physical system that violates the second law of thermodynamics. We argue that a proper thermodynamic treatment of the effect should take into account the correlations between the spin and translational degrees of freedom of the molecules. To this end, we construct an entropy functional using Boltzmann macrostates that incorporates both spin and translational degrees of freedom. With this definition there is nothing special in the thermodynamics of spin echoes: dephasing corresponds to Hamiltonian evolution and leaves the entropy unchanged; dissipation increases the entropy. In particular, there is no phase of entropy decrease in the echo. We also discuss the definition of macrostates from the underlying quantum theory and we show that the decay of net magnetization provides a faithful measure of entropy change.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figs. Changed figures, version to appear in PR