Mapping the global free expression landscape using machine learning

Freedom of expression is a core human right, yet the forces that seek to suppress it have intensified, increasing the need to develop tools that can measure the rates of freedom globally. In this study, we propose a novel freedom of expression index to gain a nuanced and data-led understanding of the level of censorship across the globe. For this, we used an unsupervised, probabilistic machine learning method, to model the status of the free expression landscape. This index seeks to provide legislators and other policymakers, activists and governments, and non-governmental and intergovernmental organisations, with tools to better inform policy or action decisions. The global nature of the proposed index also means it can become a vital resource/tool for engagement with international and supranational bodies

Measurements of 1/f noise in A-Si:H pin diodes and thin-film-transistors

We measured the equivalent noise charge of a-Si:H pin diodes (5 {approximately} 45{mu}m i-layer) with a pulse shaping time of 2.5 {mu}sec under reverse biases up to 30 V/{mu}m and analyzed it as a four component noise source. The frequency spectra of 1/f noise on the soft-breakdown region and of the Nyquist noise from contact resistance of diodes were measured. Using the conversion equations for a CR-RC shaper, we identified the contact resistance noise and the 1/f noise as the main noise sources in the low bias and high bias regions respectively. The 1/f noise of a-Si:H TFTs with channel length of 15 {mu}m was measured to be the dominant component up to {approximately}100kHz for both saturation and linear regions. 15 refs., 7 figs

School Surveillance, Control, and Resistance in the United Kingdom

This chapter outlines the development of the current socio-political context within which U.K. schools experience surveillance and implement their security and disciplinary procedures. Schools are suggested to have developed their approaches to social control against a background of neoliberalism and audit culture. This involves the marketisation of much of the school system through an ‘academisation’ process; linked to this is an increased surveillance of teachers and students through datafication, CCTV and other digital means. Another form of surveillance- biopolitical control in schools- shows itself through the traditionalisation of gendered school uniform and the increasing pathologisation of the behaviour of ethnic minorities

Restoration Of Archived Television Programmes For Digital Broadcasting

The increasing number of television channels and the demands for access to `national heritage of old films' has caused demands for restoration which can be applied so as to enable a wider range of archived material to be used. This paper begins by explaining the drawbacks of the current methods of archive restoration and concludes that successful exploitation of the vast archive possessed by broadcasters will be achieved only by an automated system able to work in real time but being capable of manual intervention. This is the starting point of the European AURORA consortium whose work is then described. The nature of common defects is discussed, together with the specification of user requirements of the system. Prototype hardware is then described, composed of two units which deal with large-area and localised effects, respectively. Finallly, mention is made of assessment techniques, but it is too early to quote results as the project has not yet reached completion. INTRODUCTION Th..

Modelling activity novelty and adolescent females’ subjective well-being during a winter holiday

Leisure research on adolescent females’ holiday experiences, and how these experiences may contribute to their happiness is scarce. Recent work in the area of positive psychology has suggested that novelty within an experience may enhance positive emotions and life satisfaction which together comprise subjective well-being (SWB), a common conceptualization of happiness. The purpose of this paper was to test the direct influence of activity novelty and the mediating influence of emotion balance (the balance between positive and negative emotions) on life satisfaction for a group of adolescent females on a winter holiday. As part of a larger study, participants (n = 74) were German girls aged 12–17 years who completed a diary-based questionnaire for 21 consecutive days (before, during, and after their holiday). A conditional process analysis indicated that activity novelty may have a positive or negative influence on emotion balance depending on pre-vacation activity novelty patterns. Furthermore, while novelty does not have a direct influence on life satisfaction, it has a positive indirect influence through emotion balance. This study provides evidence that holiday experiences can contribute to young women’s SWB and highlights the important role of emotions during such experiences. In addition, results support the use of a positive psychology framework to understand adolescent vacationers’ experiences