Digital Commons Network^™

Document Processing For Automatic Color Form Dropout, Andreas E. Savakis, Christopher R. Brown

Articles

Color dropout refers to the process of converting color form documents to black and white by removing the colors that are part of the blank form and maintaining only the information entered in the form. In this paper, no prior knowledge of the form type is assumed. Color dropout is performed by associating darker non-dropout colors with information that is entered in the form and needs to be preserved. The color dropout filter parameters include the color values of the non-dropout colors, e.g. black and blue, the distance metric, e.g. Euclidian, and the tolerances allowed around these colors. Color dropout …

The Economic Analysis Of Evidence Law: Common Sense On Stilts, Richard O. Lempert

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There was a time when the empire of Law was not overrun by economists. The economists had their own fiefdoms to be sure-there was the Duchy of Antitrust and the Kingdom of Regulatory Law-but the economists lived in peace within these borders, welcoming many unlike themselves into their midst, only gently proselytizing their students in the first few classes of a term, and swearing fealty to the law. It is true that a few marauders from beyond the borders saw the wealth of the empire and sought to colonize it, but even the most daring, Archbishop Coase and Duke Gary …

Introduction To "Books", Margaret A. Leary

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It's well known that graduate William B. Cook's generosity provided the Law School with its trademark Gothic Law Quadrangle. It is less universally known that Cook endowed the Law School with a trust to support faculty research, and had a strong interest in the nature of that research. He chose to call the library building "Legal Research" and to inscribe above the main entrance "Learned and cultured lawyers are safeguards of the republic." Cook often said that the lack of "intellectual leadership 1s the greatest problem which faces America," and he wanted this Law School to provide that missing leadership. …

Evaluating The Sex Discrimination Argument For Lesbian And Gay Rights, Edward Stein

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The sex discrimination argument for lesbian and gay rights analyzes laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in terms of sex discrimination. For example, sodomy laws that prohibit only same-sex sexual activities are analyzed as discriminating on the basis of sex because they prohibit women from doing something men are permitted to do, that is, have sex with women. This argument has been championed by some scholars and litigators, and it has persuaded some judges. Edward Stein shows that there are sociological, theoretical, moral, and practical problems facing the sex discrimination argument. He suggests that there are better …

Spectral Asymptotics Of The Dirichlet-To-Neumann Map On Multiply Connected Domains In R^D, Peter D. Hislop, Carl V. Lutzer

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We study the spectral asymptotics of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator Λγ on a multiply-connected, bounded, domain in R^d, d≥3, associated with the uniformly elliptic operator Lγ = − ∑di,j=1 ∂i γij∂j, where γ is a smooth, positive-definite, symmetric matrix-valued function on Ω. We prove that the operator is approximately diagonal in the sense that Λγ = Dγ + Rγ, where Dγ is a direct sum of operators, each of which acts on one boundary component only, and Rγ is a smoothing operator. This representation follows from the fact that the γ-harmonic extensions of eigenfunctions of Λγ vanish rapidly away from the …

Why The Corporate Amt Should Be Retained, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

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The corporate AMT is under attack. Repeal has been proposed by the White House, endorsed by the ABA/AICPA/TEI tax simplification project, and included in the stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives. Repeal is supported on two principal grounds: That the corporate AMT increases complexity, and that it is pro-cyclical.

Pnp Si Resonant Interband Tunnel Diode With Symmetrical Ndr, Niu Jin, Phillip Berger, Sean Rommel

Articles

A Si-based resonant interband tunnel diode (RITD) is presented with a pnp configuration so that an integrated RITD can be easily used to form a latch. The IN characteristics of this pnp RITD show symmetrical negative differential resistance (NDR) regions in both forward and reverse bias. The top diode shows a peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) of 1.63 with peak current density (Jp) of 1.5 kA/cm2, while the bottom diode shows a PVCR of 1.51 with J p of 2.0 kA/cm2

Beyond Exit And Voice: User Participation In The Production Of Local Public Goods, Lee Anne Fennell

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No abstract provided.

On The Choice Between The Stocking Rate And Time In Range Management, Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Basudeb Biswas, E. Bruce Godfrey

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A long standing question in range management concerns the relative importance of the stocking rate versus the length of time during which animals graze a particular rangeland. We address this question by analyzing the problem faced by a private rancher who wishes to minimize the long run expected net unit cost (LRENC) from range operations by choosing either the stock rate or the length of time during which his animals graze his rangeland. We construct a renewal-theoretic model and show that, in general, this rancher's LRENC with an optimally chosen stocking rate is lower than his LRENC with an optimally …

Spectroscopic Target Selection For The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: The Luminous Red Galaxy Sample, Daniel J. Eisenstein, James Annis, James E. Gunn, Alexander S. Szalay, Andrew J. Connolly, R. C. Nichol, Neta A. Bahcall, Mariangela Barnardi, Scott Burles, Francisco J. Castander, Masataka Fukugita, David W. Hogg, Zeljko Ivezic, G. R. Knapp, Robert H. Lupton, Vijay Narayanan, Marc Postman, Daniel E. Reichart, Michael Richmond, Donald P. Schneider, David J. Schlegel, Michael A. Strauss, Mark Subbarao, Douglas L. Tucker, Daniel Vanden Berk, Michael S. Vogeley, Brian Yanny

Articles

We describe the target selection and resulting properties of a spectroscopic sample of luminous, red galaxies (LRG) from the imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). These galaxies are selected on the basis of color and magnitude to yield a sample of luminous, intrinsically red galaxies that extends fainter and further than the main flux-limited portion of the SDSS galaxy spectroscopic sample. The sample is designed to impose a passively-evolving luminosity and rest- frame color cut to a redshift of 0.38. Additional, yet more luminous, red galaxies are included to a redshift of 0.5. Approximately 12 of these …

A C~Diffeomorphism Of R^2 That Has A Cantor Set That Is A Minimal Set, William Basener, Carl Lutzer

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We present a C~ diffeomorphism of R^2 that has a Cantor Set that is a minimal Set. The Cantor Set is contained inside an annulus (Refer to PDF file for exact formulas).

Indoor Vs Outdoor Classification Of Consumer Photographs Using Low-Level And Semantic Features, Jiebo Luo, Andreas Savakis

Articles

Scene categorization to indoor vs outdoor may be approached by using low-level features for inferring high-level information about the image. Low-level features such as color and texture have been used extensively in image understanding research, however, they cannot solve the problem completely. We propose the use of a Bayesian network for integrating knowledge from low-level and semantic features for indoor vs outdoor classification of images. Using ground truth data for sky and grass detection, we demonstrate that the classification performance can be significantly improved when semantic features are employed in the classification process.

College Students’ Perceptions Of The C-Print Speech-To-Text Transcription System, Lisa B. Elliot, Michael Stinson, Barbara G. Mckee, Victoria S. Everhart, Pamela J. Francis

Articles

C-Print is a real-time speech-to-text transcription system used as a support service with deaf students in mainstreamed classes. Questionnaires were administered to 36 college students in 32 courses in which the C-Print system was used in addition to interpreting and notetaking. Twenty-two of these students were also interviewed. Questionnaire items included student ratings of lecture comprehension. Student ratings indicated good comprehension with C-Print, and the mean rating was significantly higher than that for understanding of the interpreter. Students also rated the hard-copy printout provided by C-Print as helpful, and they reported that they used these notes more frequently than the …

Coping With Death Alongside Jean Sulivan, Eamon Maher

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Material reproduced by kind permission of Reality

Reverse Mortgage Information Online, Robin Schard

Articles

Reverse mortgages are a valuable tool that allow seniors to tap their home's equity. However, there are traps for the unwary

Valuation, Allocation, And Distribution Of Retirement Plans At Divorce: Where Are We?, Elizabeth Brandt

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No abstract provided.

Which Means To An End Under The Uniform Mediation Act, Andrea Kupfer Schneider

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No abstract provided.

The Discovery Of Cepheids And A New Distance To Ngc 2841 Using The Hubble Space Telescope, L. M. Macri, P. B. Stetson, G. D. Bothun, W. L. Freedman, P. M. Garnavich, S. Jha, B. F. Madore, Michael W. Richmond

Articles

We report on the discovery of Cepheids in the spiral galaxy NGC2841, based on observations made with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. NGC2841 was observed over 12 epochs using the F555W filter, and over 5 epochs using the F814W filter. Photometry was performed using the DAOPHOT/ALLFRAME package. We discovered a total of 29 variables, including 18 high-quality Cepheids with periods ranging from 15 to 40 days. Period-luminosity relations in the V and I bands, based on the high-quality Cepheids, yield a reddening-corrected distance modulus of 30.74 ± 0.23 mag, which corresponds to …

Tax Competition And E-Commerce, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

In the last four years, there has been increasing concern by developed countries about the potential erosion of the corporate income tax base by "harmful tax competition" (in the European Union since 1997, in the OECD since 1998). However, the data on tax competition available to date present a mixed and somewhat puzzling picture. On the one hand, there is considerable evidence that effective corporate income tax rates in many countries have been declining, and that the worldwide effective tax rates on multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been going down as well. On the other hand, macroeconomic data from developed countries …

Evaluation Of Texture Features For Image Segmentation, Navid Serrano, Jiebo Luo, Andreas Savakis

Articles

Texture features are among the most commonly used image attributes in image understanding applications, such as image retrieval from databases. A number of methods and their variants have been developed over the years for texture feature extraction. Whereas they all have their merits and flaws, it is worthwhile to evaluate their performance in a specific application domain. The goal here is to establish which texture features are better suited for segmentation of natural scenes that contain multiple natural and synthetic textures. The performance of unsupervised texture segmentation based on multiresolution simultaneous autoregressive (MRSAR) models, wavelet coefficients, fractal dimension, edge direction …

A Measure Of Freedom, James W. Nickel

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No abstract provided.

Citizen Participation In Judicial Decision Making: Juries, Lay Judges And Japan, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

In the late 1920s and 1930s Japan had a jury system. It was suspended in 1943 as a wartime measure, but it had fallen into desuetude long before that. Arguably it was like the Spanish jury, which has several times risen during periods of relative political liberalism or populism and been suppressed during periods of militarism and autocracy. That is, it may be more than a coincidence that use of the Japanese jury fell precipitously during the 1930s as militarism took hold of the Japanese nation. Now the reinstatement of the Japanese jury is again being seriously considered. Similarly it …

Evaluation Of Marker-Assisted Introgression Of Yield Qtl Alleles Into Adapted Soybean, Nathan S. Reyna, C.H. Sneller

Articles

Genetic diversity is limited in southern elite soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]. Introgression of diverse alleles for yield may increase the rate of yield improvement. Beneficial yield alleles at three quantitative trait loci (QTL) from the northern cultivar Archer have been tagged with molecular markers. The objective of this research was to assess the value of the three Archer alleles for increased yield in southern environments and genetic backgrounds. Four sets of near isogenic lines (NIL) for each quantitative trait locus (QTL) were derived from heterozygous F₆ plants identified from the crosses of Archer X Asgrow A5403 and …

Brownian Motion Of A Massive Binary, David Merritt

Articles

Also archived in: arXiv:astro-ph/0012264 v2 21 Mar 2001 AND Rutgers Astrophysics Preprint Series No. 296 The dynamical friction and diffusion coefficients are derived for a massive binary that moves against a uniform background of stars. The random impulses exerted on the binary’s center of mass by the field stars are greater than those exerted on a point particle due to inelastic scattering. The frictional force acting on the binary is less than that acting on a point particle due to randomization of the trajectories of field stars that pass near the binary. Both effects tend to increase the random motion …

The Proposed Domestic Reverse Hybrid Entity Regulations: Can The Treasury Department Override Treaties?, Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

This article first describes the proposed regulations issued under section 894 addressing the ability of domestic reverse hybrid entities to claim treaty benefits with respect to payments made to their interest holders (the proposed DRH regulations). After describing the proposed DRH regulations, the article next explores the potential that these regulations have to override existing U.S. treaty obligations. After concluding that the proposed DRH regulations are inconsistent with at least one existing treaty, the article concludes by questioning the power of the Treasury Department to promulgate regulations (such as the proposed DRH regulations) that override treaties.

Note: This is a …

A Glimpse Of Irish Catholicism In John Mcgahern's ''Amongst Women'', Eamon Maher

Articles

Material reproduced by kind permission of Doctrine and Life

Experts, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

George Bernard Shaw famously said that all professions are conspiracies against the laity. Less famously, less elegantly, but at least as accurately, Andrew Abbott argued that professions are conspiracies against each other. Professions compete for authority to do work and for authority over work. The umpire in these skirmishes and sieges is the government, for the state holds the gift of monopoly and the power to regulate it. In Abbott's terms, "bioethics" is contesting medicine's power to influence the way doctors treat patients. If it follows the classic pattern, bioethics will solicit work and authority by recruiting government's power. A …

Are Tax "Benefits" For Religious Institutions Constitutionally Dependent On Benefits For Secular Entities?, Edward A. Zelinsky

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The Supreme Court generally conditions tax exemptions, deductions, and exclusions for religious organizations and activities upon the simultaneous extension of such benefits to secular institutions and undertakings. The Court's position flows logically from its acceptance of the premise that tax exemptions, deductions, and exclusions constitute subsidies. However, the "subsidy" label is usually deployed in a conclusory and unconvincing fashion. The First Amendment is best understood as permitting governments to refrain from taxation to accommodate the autonomy of religious actors and activities; hence, tax benefits extended solely to religious institutions should pass constitutional muster as recognition of that autonomy.

In The United States Court Of Appeals For The Fourteenth Circuit, Richard A. Posner

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No abstract provided.

Infrastructure For Distributed Applications In Ad Hoc Networks Of Small Mobile Wireless Devices, Alan Kaminsky

Articles

Mobile wireless computing devices such as cellphones, pagers, personal digital assistants, pocket PCs, and tablet computers are all potential platforms for participating in small group, wireless, many-to-many distributed applications. The networking technology needed to support such applications is readily available. However, almost all existing middleware infrastructure for distributed applications was designed for central servers and wired connections. The Anhinga Infrastructure described here runs entirely on the wireless mobile devices and so does not require any central server support. The Anhinga Infrastructure provides a message broadcast ad hoc networking protocol and a distributed computing platform based on lightweight versions of Java, …