Must judges be trained as lawyers in order to be effective in office, or can nonlawyers serve equally well? This question has long provoked controversy among lawyers, judges, legislators, and the public. In her empirical study of the place of the nonlawyer judge in the American legal system, Doris Marie Provine concludes that, despite the opposition of the legal profession to nonlawyer judges, they are as competent as lawyers in carrying out judicial duties in courts of limited jurisdiction. Provine presents a persuasive argument that the case against nonlawyer judges has been weighted in favor of the professional interests of lawyers, not public concerns. Her examination reveals as much about the presuppositions of legal professionals as it does about the competency of nonlawyer judges to old judicial office. To substantiate her claims, Provine has conducted the most comprehensive survey of nonlawyer and lawyer judges yet undertaken, augmenting this material with court observations and extensive interviews of judges. She integrates the results of this survey into the historical context of the lay versus lawyer judge debate, showing how the legally trained judge came to predominate in the American judicial system and analyzing in detail the campaign both in and out of the courts to make legal training a prerequisite for being a judge. Ultimately, Provine suggests, Americans are too committed to the significance of credentials and to the legal profession's vision of the judicial process to respond very favorably to nonlawyer judges, however well they might perform. Judging Credentials will force lawyers, judges, scholars, and the public to reconsider the role nonlawyer judges play in the American judicial system. Provine's provocative views and exhaustive research adds new dimensions to our understanding of the ethics of professionalism and its consequences.

This comprehensive Research Handbook explores the wide variety of work conducted in legal semiotics to provide a broad understanding of how the law works through signs and symbols. Demonstrating that law is a strategical system of fluctuating signs, contributors critically analyse the ever-evolving conceptualisations of law and legal discourse.

The pervasive creation and consumption of content, especially visual content, is ingrained into our modern world. We’re constantly consuming visual media content, in printed form and in digital form, in work and in leisure pursuits. Like our cave– man forefathers, we use pictures to record things which are of importance to us as memory cues for the future, but nowadays we also use pictures and images to document processes; we use them in engineering, in art, in science, in medicine, in entertainment and we also use images in advertising. Moreover, when images are in digital format, either scanned from an analogue format or more often than not born digital, we can use the power of our computing and networking to exploit images to great effect. Most of the technical problems associated with creating, compressing, storing, transmitting, rendering and protecting image data are already solved. We use - cepted standards and have tremendous infrastructure and the only outstanding ch- lenges, apart from managing the scale issues associated with growth, are to do with locating images. That involves analysing them to determine their content, clas- fying them into related groupings, and searching for images. To overcome these challenges we currently rely on image metadata, the description of the images, - ther captured automatically at creation time or manually added afterwards.

The essential guide to the entire process behind performing a complete characterization and benchmarking of cameras through image quality analysis Camera Image Quality Benchmarking contains the basic information and approaches for the use of subjectively correlated image quality metrics and outlines a framework for camera benchmarking. The authors show how to quantitatively compare image quality of cameras used for consumer photography. This book helps to fill a void in the literature by detailing the types of objective and subjective metrics that are fundamental to benchmarking still and video imaging devices. Specifically, the book provides an explanation of individual image quality attributes and how they manifest themselves to camera components and explores the key photographic still and video image quality metrics. The text also includes illustrative examples of benchmarking methods so that the practitioner can design a methodology appropriate to the photographic usage in consideration. The authors outline the various techniques used to correlate the measurement results from the objective methods with subjective results. The text also contains a detailed description on how to set up an image quality characterization lab, with examples where the methodological benchmarking approach described has been implemented successfully. This vital resource: Explains in detail the entire process behind performing a complete characterization and benchmarking of cameras through image quality analysis Provides best practice measurement protocols and methodologies, so readers can develop and define their own camera benchmarking system to industry standards Includes many photographic images and diagrammatical illustrations to clearly convey image quality concepts Champions benchmarking approaches that value the importance of perceptually correlated image quality metrics Written for image scientists, engineers, or managers involved in image quality and evaluating camera performance, Camera Image Quality Benchmarking combines knowledge from many different engineering fields, correlating objective (perception-independent) image quality with subjective (perception-dependent) image quality metrics.

For skeptics and true believers alike. This groundbreaking book explores the various manifestations of psychic and paranormal activity and argue-largely on a rational and scientific basis - that these phenomena are real and need to be taken seriously by science. At long last, a scientist proves that paranormal phenomenon is real. Caudill, a career computer scientist specializing in artificial intelligence and neural networks, presents a wealth of anecdotal and empirical evidence to prove the existence (and power) of: Psychokinesis (most famously spoon bending), Remote viewing Energy healing Telepathy, animal telepathy Precognition Survival after death Reincarnation

Written exclusively for limited radiography students, Radiography Essentials for Limited Practice, 5th Edition makes it easy to learn and perform basic procedures. This edition has been revised to improve information clarity and reflect changes in practice. It incorporates all the subjects mandated by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) curriculum, so you will be thoroughly prepared for the ARRT Limited Scope Exam. Coverage includes the latest information on x-ray science and techniques, processing, radiation safety, radiographic anatomy, patient care, and pathology, along with updated step-by-step instructions for positioning and procedures. - Concise coverage thoroughly prepares you for the ARRT Limited Scope Exam and clinical practice with the latest on x-ray science and techniques, radiation safety, radiographic anatomy, pathology, patient care, ancillary clinical skills, and positioning of upper and lower extremities, spine, chest and head. - Step-by-step instructions provide guidance on how to position patients for radiographic procedures performed by limited operators. - The latest information on state licensure and limited radiography terminology ensures that you understand the role of the limited practitioner. - Math and radiologic physics concepts are presented at an easy-to-understand level. - Chapter on Bone Densitometry provides all the information you need to know to for the ARRT exam and clinical practice. - NEW! Expanded digital imaging concepts reflect current practice and meet the requirements of the ASRT Limited Scope Content Specifications. - NEW! Updated drawings, photos, and medical radiographs enhance your understanding of key concepts and illustrate current technology. - NEW! Two-color design helps make complex material easier to comprehend.

La Celestina, a Spanish literary masterpiece second only in importance to Don Quixote in Spanish literature, has been shaped by the inclusion of images from its very first edition in 1499. The subsequent five centuries were punctuated by many illustrated editions; imaginary portraits of the eponymous procuress Celestina by painters such as Murillo, Goya, and Picasso; and, more recently, screen and stage adaptations. Celestina became the prototype from which later representations of procuresses and bawds derived. The Image of Celestina sheds light on the visual culture that developed around La Celestina, including paintings, illustrations, and advertisements. Enrique Fernández examines La Celestina as a mixed-media text, incorporating methods from disciplines such as art history and women’s and cinema studies, and considers a variety of images including promotional posters, lobby pictures, and playbills of theatrical and cinematic adaptations of the book. Using a visual studies approach, The Image of Celestina ultimately illuminates the culture of Celestina, a mythical figure, who surpasses the literary text in which she originated.

Originally published in 1989, in this remarkable conjunction of constitutional theory, jurisprudence, literary theory, constitutional law, and political theory, William Conklin first tells us what a constitution is not: it is not a text, nor a compendium of judicial and legislative decisions interpreting a text, nor a set of doctrines, nor moral/political values, nor customs, nor a priori conceptions. A constitution, he argues, is an image which exists through the legal consciousness of a community. Using a wide range of Canadian judicial decisions as examples, Conklin shows that the classic cases have been those where the boundaries of two conflicting images clashed. In each instance, the subject-matter itself collapses into a search for a coherent image of what a constitution is all about. The dominant image of a constitution in Canadian judicial discourse has been a rationalist one emanating from the Enlightenment understanding of knowledge. Turning to academic writings on Canadian federalism law, Conklin goes on to identify clearly the boundaries of three versions of rationalism, and to show that Canadian scholars have shared with judges the dominant image of rationalism. In the third part of his essay, the author makes a prescriptive claim, namely that a text such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms arguably raises issues which the rationalist image of a constitution precludes as legitimate inquiries. He identifies a further general image of a constitution in Canadian legal discourse, a teleological one which is rooted in the writings and judgments of Ivan Rand. Finally, he uses the contours of the Rand image to work out a further image of constitution, an image that allows lawyers to entertain issues of both theory and social/cultural practice, thereby placing them in a position to alleviate the pain and suffering of those in need.

System Innovation for an Artificial Intelligence Era: Applied System Innovation X contains the papers presented at the IEEE 10th International Conference on Applied System Innovation (ICASI 2024, Kyoto, Japan, 17-21 April 2024. Of the more than 600 submitted papers from 12 different countries, after review approximately a quarter was accepted for publication. The book aims to provide an integrated communication platform for researchers from a wide range of topics including information technology, communication science, applied mathematics, computer science, advanced material science, and engineering. System Innovation for an Artificial Intelligence Era: Applied System Innovation X enhances interdisciplinary collaborations between science and engineering and is aimed at academics and technologists interested in the above mentioned areas.