Making the grade: infrastructural semiotics and derivative market outcomes on the Chicago Board of Trade and New Orleans Cotton Exchange, 1856–1909

This paper contributes to a socio-technical analysis of derivatives by offering an infrastructural explanation of divergent outcomes on two early American futures markets. It takes as the starting-point of analysis the classification systems by which these futures markets were constitutively linked to underlying markets in agricultural commodities. Despite the formal similarity of these systems, their contrasting implementation – i.e. how grading was accomplished and integrated into practice – produced classifications with dissimilar semiotic qualities. This semiotic distinction is shown to have promoted divergent economic behaviours and outcomes on the two markets: high-risk speculation and volatility on the Chicago Board of Trade, low-risk hedging and stability on the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. The paper thus argues that treating classifications in their semiotic capacity yields an analysis that can connect foundational infrastructures and market-level outcomes in meaningful, non-deterministic ways.     

Classification of Opium by UPLC‐Q‐TOF Analysis of Principal and Minor Alkaloids

Opium is the raw material for the production of heroin, and the characterization of opium seizures through laboratory analysis is a valuable tool for law enforcement agencies to trace clandestine opium production and trafficking. In this work, a method for opium profiling based on the relative content of five principal and 14 minor opium alkaloids was developed and validated. UPLC‐Q‐TOF was adopted in alkaloid analysis for its high selectivity and sensitivity, which facilitated the sample preparation and testing. The authentic sample set consisted of 100 “Myanmar” and 45 “Afghanistan” opium seizures; based on the data set of the 19 alkaloid variables in them, a partial least squares discriminant analysis classification model was successfully achieved. Minor alkaloids were found to be vitally important for opium profiling, although combined use of both principal and minor alkaloids resulted in the best geographical classification result. The developed method realized a simple and accurate way to differentiate opium from Myanmar and Afghanistan, which may find wide application in forensic laboratories.     

Automated Classification of Epiphyses in the Distal Radius and Ulna using a Support Vector Machine

The aim of this study was to automatically classify epiphyses in the distal radius and ulna using a support vector machine (SVM) and to examine the accuracy of the epiphyseal growth grades generated by the support vector machine. X‐ray images of distal radii and ulnae were collected from 140 Chinese teenagers aged between 11.0 and 19.0 years. Epiphyseal growth of the two elements was classified into five grades. Features of each element were extracted using a histogram of oriented gradient (HOG), and models were established using support vector classification (SVC). The prediction results and the validity of the models were evaluated with a cross‐validation test and independent test for accuracy (P_A). Our findings suggest that this new technique for epiphyseal classification was successful and that an automated technique using an SVM is reliable and feasible, with a relative high accuracy for the models.     

虹膜人工特征选择和标注方法的初步研究

目的本文主要研究基于虹膜图像的人工特征选择和标注方法,探寻虹膜人工鉴定研究方向,探讨虹膜技术作为一种新的刑事技术在诉讼中应用的可行性。方法首先,作者结合眼解剖学与虹膜基础理论,对虹膜特征进行了粗分类,分为五大类型:放射状沟线、向心沟、卷缩轮、隐窝和色素点;其次,作者结合已有的虹膜算法和图像处理方法对虹膜图像特征的提取和分析方法进行研究;最后,通过专用软件辅助,对虹膜图像进行区域切割、归一化、特征定位和标记、特征信息提取等系列处理。结果初步实现了两张虹膜图像在同一尺度下的人工特征选取和标注。结论本文研究的虹膜人工特征选择和标注方法,是虹膜识别技术在检验鉴定领域应用的初步探索,为后续虹膜人工比对鉴定的深入研究奠定基础。     

Classification of firing pin impressions using HOG-SVM

Crimes, such as robbery and murder, often involve firearms. In order to assist with the investigation into the crime, firearm examiners are asked to determine whether cartridge cases found at a crime scene had been fired from a suspect's firearm. This examination is based on a comparison of the marks left on the surfaces of cartridge cases. Firing pin impressions can be one of the most commonly used of these marks. In this study, a total of nine Ruger model 10/22 semiautomatic rifles were used. Fifty cartridges were fired from each rifle. The cartridge cases were collected, and each firing pin impression was then cast and photographed using a comparison microscope. In this paper, we will describe how one may use a computer vision algorithm, the Histogram of Orientated Gradient (HOG), and a machine learning method, Support Vector Machines (SVMs), to classify images of firing pin impressions. Our method achieved a reasonably high accuracy at 93%. This can be used to associate a firearm with a cartridge case recovered from a scene. We also compared our method with other feature extraction algorithms. The comparison results showed that the HOG-SVM method had the highest performance in this classification task.     

大都市生态用地分类管控体系的构建——以上海为例

划分生态用地,实施分类管控是维护城市生态安全,建设生态城市的重要途径。该文探讨了学术界对生态用地的概念和分类体系的研究进展,总结了国内外大城市生态空间的管控经验,探讨了适合上海这样的沿海大都市的生态用地范畴,将上海生态用地分为“生态保育型、农林生产型、空间引导型和生活休憩型”四类,并提出了相应的管控要求和建议措施。     

公司法律规范分类研究

公司法律规范的种类应当包括强制适用规范、授权适用规范和推定适用规范。强制适用规范是强行界定当事人权利义务关系的一种公法和私法相融合的法律规范,授权适用规范和推定适用规范有助于私法自治原则的推行。解析公司法律规范的研究目的在于,重构公司法律规范体系,即内在的规范体系和外在的规范体系。内在的规范体系由公司法、民法、合同法等私法规范构成,外在的规范体系由宪法、刑法、行政法等公法规范和内在规范体系共同形成一个统一的整体。     

事业单位改革的五点思考

事业单位改革是中国改革的重要环节,其影响力和难度不亚于国有企业改革。本文着重围绕推进事业单位改革应考虑的五个方面进行深入探讨,提出了改革的前提是科学分类、支撑是理论构建、重点是体制机制、方法是积极稳妥、保障是法制建设的观点。     

Classification Systems for Stalking Behavior

Stalking is a complex behavioral phenomenon that is unique in that it necessarily involves a prolonged dyadic relationship between both a perpetrator and a victim. Since criminalization of stalking behavior in the 1990s, different conceptual typologies have attempted to classify this behavior to assess risk and aid in management decisions. The authors reviewed the current literature regarding the most recent and accepted stalking classification systems. The three predominant stalker typologies currently in use include Zona's stalker–victim types, Mullen's stalker typology, and the RECON stalker typology. Of these, the RECON classification system alone was developed in an attempt to separate stalkers into groups based on previously known risk factors for behaviorally based phenomenon such as propensity for violence. Understanding and simplifying these classification systems may enhance the potential that new research will lead to evidence‐based management and treatment strategies in the stalking situation.     

A Spatial Analysis of the Italian Second Republic

The Optimal Classification method is applied to a newly created data set to provide a spatial map of the Italian Second Republic (1996–2008). A bi-dimensional political space was found in the XIII Legislature and virtually a one-dimensional political space in the XIV and XV Legislatures. In addition, the main dimension is explained along the government–opposition dimension rather than on the traditional left–right dimension. During the Second Republic, Italy experienced changes in the electoral system and in the format of parties. The data are used to discuss the implications of either change on the dimensionality space. It was found that the format of the party system was a more important determinant of the dimensionality of the political space than changes in the electoral system.