Superfilling technology: transferring knowledge to industry from the National Institute of Standards and Technology

In the mid-1990s, the semiconductor industry manufactured devices with critical circuit dimensions of between 0.35 and 0.25 μ, and it used aluminum or an aluminum copper alloy to interconnect device components. However, the critical dimension needed to be reduced so that devices could become faster and more efficient. At circuits dimensions of 0.18 μ or less, aluminum no longer conducts electricity well enough to maintain the circuit’s efficiency; thus, the industry determined that copper—a superior conducting material—would be needed to help the industry produce smaller and faster semiconductor devices. Still, technical barriers existed, preventing a seamless transition from aluminum to copper. Thus, in the 1990s, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began focused research on superfilling aimed at assisting the semiconductor industry during this period. In this paper, we document the net economic benefits (private and social) accruing from NIST’s core research investments in superfilling during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Using traditional evaluation methodology and metrics, we calculated economic impact estimates, and the results suggest that NIST’s public resources were, from a social perspective, used efficiently.     

Don’t stop believing: the relative impact of internal alibi details on judgments of veracity

The relative impact of five alibi components on the assessment of alibi veracity was investigated using a policy-capturing methodology. Participants (N?=?115) were instructed to assume the role of a homicide investigator and evaluate 32 alibis that varied on five dichotomous variables: Salaciousness; Legality; Change in Details; Superfluous Details; and Specific Details. Participants evaluated the believability of each alibi, and the likelihood of the alibi provider’s guilt. Results indicated that participants tended to disbelieve suspects when illegal or salacious behaviours were mentioned within the alibi. Few decision policies contained Change in Details, Superfluous Details, or Specific Details. The potential implications for alibi assessments during police investigations are discussed.     

Measuring Perceptions of Economic Inequality and Justice: An Empirical Assessment

Social Justice Research - How should we measure people’s perceptions of—and attitudes about—economic inequality? A recent literature seeks to quantify the level of...     

Of ‘witch's brews’ and scholarly communities: the dangers and promise of academic parrhesia

In a series of lectures in the early 1980s, Michel Foucault resurrected the Greek word for frankness or truth-telling—‘parrhesia’—to investigate the inter-relationships and tensions that existed between freedom, truth-telling and political power. He concluded that in order for one to ‘tell the truth’ against a powerful superior, one needs the courage to oppose a community of which the parrhesiastes (‘truth teller’) is a member. This paper uses parrhesia to investigate the practice of the international relations (IR) scholar in speaking out against his or her scholarly community. Tony Smith's 2007 book Pact with the devil is used as an example of academic-intellectual parrhesia not only to illustrate the content of a potential form of parrhesia, but to demonstrate the challenges IR scholars who wish to practise academic parrhesia face in criticizing members of their academic community. Smith's critique of democratic peace theory specifically, and liberal IR theory more generally, is particularly noteworthy considering Smith's former position as a leading liberal proponent. The paper reviews, and then supplements and extends, Smith's critique of democratic peace theory.     

Patterns of precursor behaviors in the life span of a U.S. environmental terrorist group

Research Summary
This article discusses the paucity of data available for assessing the "life span" of a terrorist group. It introduces a new methodology that allows researchers to examine when terrorist groups perform their preincident activities. The findings suggest that differences exist in the temporal patterns of terrorist groups: environmental terrorist groups engage in a relatively short planning cycle compared with right-wing and international terrorists. The article concludes by examining a case study on "the Family," which is a unique environmental terrorist group that conducted activities over a relatively long period of time. This group provides an interesting contrast to other environmental terrorists. Despite significant organizational differences, their patterns of preparatory conduct were highly similar.
Policy Implications
The findings suggest that (1) temporal and spatial data about preincident terrorist activity can be collected from unclassified and open sources and (2) law-enforcement agencies that are investigating environmental groups have relatively little time to observe and infiltrate their individual cells (compared with right-wing and international terrorists). Finally, the data suggest that environmental terrorists—at least so far—have engaged in attacks that are less deadly than the comparison groups.     

Computer‐aided Dental Identification: An Objective Method for Assessment of Radiographic Image Similarity*

Abstract: A pilot study evaluated a computer‐based method for comparing digital dental images, utilizing a registration algorithm to correct for variations in projection geometry between images prior to a subtraction analysis. A numerical assessment of similarity was generated for pairs of images. Using well‐controlled laboratory settings, the method was evaluated as to its ability to identify the correct specimen with positive results. A subsequent clinical study examined longitudinal radiographic examinations of selected anatomical areas on 47 patients, analyzing the computer‐based method in making the correct identification based upon a threshold level of similarity. The results showed that at a threshold of 0.855, there were two false negative and two false positive identifications out of 957 analyses. Based on these initial findings, 25 dental records having two sets of full mouth series of radiographs were selected. The radiographs were digitized and grouped into six anatomical regions. The more recent set of films served as postmortem images. Each postmortem image was analyzed against all other images within the region. Images were registered to correct for differences in projection geometry prior to analysis. An area of interest was selected to assess image similarity. Analysis of variance was used to determine that there was a significant difference between images from the same individual and those from different individuals. Results showed that the threshold level of concordance will vary with the anatomical region of the mouth examined. This method may provide the most objective and reliable method for postmortem dental identification using intra‐oral images.