The Modernization of Commercial Security Under the Uniform Commercial Code

LQG control of a flexible servo system is considered using a linear two-mass model. The control system is mainly based on the measured position before the flexibility, but the use of acceleration feedback is also studied. Some aspects of regulator stability are considered and some a-PID- based sontrol system are also examined

Foreword

Time and frequency domain convergence properties of causal and Current Iteration Tracking Error (CITE) discrete time Iterative Learning Control (ILC) algorithms are discussed. Considering necessary and sufcient convergence conditions basic matrix properties can be utilized to show that causal as well as CITE ILC algorithms converge to zero error in only very restrictive special cases. The frequency domain convergence conditions, sucient for monotone convergence, are studied using a discrete-time version of Bode's integral theorem. The result is that causal and CITE ILC algorithms will not satisfy the frequency domain conditions except if the system has relative degree zero or it is accepted that the algorithms do not converge to zero error

Improving (Software) Patent Quality Through the Administrative Process

The available evidence indicates that patent quality, particularly in the area of software, needs improvement. This Article argues that even an agency as institutionally constrained as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) could implement a portfolio of pragmatic, cost-effective quality improvement strategies. The argument in favor of these strategies draws upon not only legal theory and doctrine but also new data from a PTO software examination unit with relatively strict practices. Strategies that resolve around Section 112 of the patent statute could usefully be deployed at the initial examination stage. Other strategies could be deployed within the new post-issuance procedures available to the agency under the America Invents Act. Notably, although the strategies the Article discusses have the virtue of being neutral as to technology, they are likely to have a very significant practical impact in the area of software

A Few Questions About the Social-Obligation Norm

Reponse to an article by Gregory S. Alexander, \u27The Social-obligation Norm in American Property Law,\u27 in a Special Issue of the Journal on Property Obligation

Legislative Reapportionment—The Scope of Federal Judicial Relief

The problem to track time-varying properties of a signal is studied. The somewhat contradictory notion of “time-varying spectrum” and how to estimate the “current” spectrum in an on-line fashion is discussed. The traditional concepts and relations between time- and frequency resolution are crucial for this problem. An adaptive estimation algorithm is used to estimate the parameters of a time-varying autoregressive model of the signal. It is shown how this algorithm can be equipped with a feature such that the time-frequency resolution trade-off favors quick detection of changes at higher frequencies and has slower adaptation at lower frequencies. This should be an attractive feature and similar to, for example, what wavelet transform techniques achieve for the same problem

L'esprit des lois ?:L'étude des modes de scrutin un demi-siècle après Les partis politiques de Maurice Duverger

Peu d’oeuvres peuvent aujourd’hui prétendre à une postérité aussi marquante que l’analyse faite par Maurice Duverger de l’effet des modes de scrutin. Cette analyse aura non seulement marqué son temps en structurant les débats, mais peu d’auteurs, et notamment d’auteurs français, voient encore aujourd’hui leur nom aussi souvent cité. Cette postérité est assurément liée à la formulation des conclusions sous forme de loi, les fameuses trois lois suivant lesquelles les systèmes partisans tendent (le déterminisme reproché à M. Duverger doit de ce point de vue être relativisé) à être bipartisan, multipartite ou multipartite, mais avec coalitions électorales stables, suivant que le mode de scrutin est majoritaire à un tour, proportionnel ou bien majoritaire à deux tours. Mais ces lois sont également soutenues par une théorie explicative du rôle structurant des modes de scrutin par la distinction d’effets mécaniques (ceux liés à la transformation des voix en sièges par l’arithmétique de la loi électorale) d’effets psychologiques, résultant de la sophistication des choix d’électeurs anticipant les effets mécaniques du mode de scrutin. [Premier paragraphe

The Attorney as Advocate: “Arguing the Law”

Some implementation aspects of Iterative Learning Control (ILC) are considered. Since the ILC algorithm involves filtering of various signals over finite time intervals, often using non-causal filters, it is important that the boundary effects of the filtering operations are handled in an appropriate way when implementing the ILC algorithm. The paper illustrates in both theoretical analysis using the matrix description and in simulations of a twomass system that the method of implementation for handling the boundary effects can have large influence over stability and convergence properties of the ILC algorithm

Electrical, Optical and Thermal Investigations of Cobalt Oxide-Antimony Doped Tin Oxide (CoO-ATO) Thin Films and Nanofiber Membranes

The main aim of this thesis work is to investigate the electrical, optical and thermal impact characteristics of cobalt oxide doped antimony tin oxide (CoO-ATO) in the form of thin films and nanofiber membranes. CoO-ATO is a novel composite material that has the potential to be used as reinforced aircraft coatings, military garment coatings, or more specifically as an anti-reflective (AR) top coating for photovoltaic (PV) cells. This work will be critical in determining the effectiveness of using a CoO-ATO layer in these applications. Electrospun nanofibers and spin coated thin films consisting of a polymeric solution of CoO-ATO will be used. Thin films are created using spin coating techniques, and nanofiber membranes are created using an electrospinning technique. Polystyrene (PS) will be used as a solute, and chloroform as a solvent, to create the solution. It is hypothesized that coatings of this material will have improved optical characteristics as compared to traditional ATO coatings and minimum impact from thermal cycling making it a favorable candidate for PV cells. This work will do an electrical, optical and thermal cycling impact characterization of CoO-ATO thin films and nanofiber membranes for a doping range of x% CoO where x ranged from 0.