Federal Responses, 1984–2014

The chapter analyzes significant federal attempts to challenge pornography production and distribution in 1984–2014. The empirical, harm-based legal argument of the 1986 Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography and its endorsement of the MacKinnon-Dworkin civil rights ordinance are assessed. The million-dollar P.R. campaign to discredit the Commission’s work is discussed. Congressional civil rights bills introduced in 1984–1992 are examined, including amendments by Senators Heflin, Specter, and Biden that watered down the bills’ potential. Renewed Department of Justice efforts in 2002–2014 to indict high-profile producers/distributors of violent and degrading pornography under obscenity statutes are studied. Their legal concepts of obscenity and contemporary community standards, and the documented desensitization to women’s subordination fueled by pornography, are shown to exclude from legal action all but the most extreme materials. The strategy’s underlying frailty is exposed through an analysis of its constitutional litigation. The chapter concludes by comparing the obscenity approach with the civil rights approach and presenting alternative combinations.

Analysis of Soybean Somatic Embryogenesis Using Chromosome Segment Substitution Lines and Transcriptome Sequencing

Soybean is an important cash crop that is widely used as a source of vegetable protein and edible oil. The regeneration ability of soybean directly affects the application of biotechnology. In this study, we used the exogenous hormone 2,4-D to treat immature embryos. Different levels of somatic incidence were selected from the chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) constructed by SN14 and ZYD00006. Transcriptome sequencing of extreme materials was performed, and 2666 differentially expressed genes were obtained. At the same time, a difference table was generated by combining the data on CSSL rearrangement. In the extreme materials, a total of 93 differentially expressed genes were predicted and were then analyzed by cluster analysis and Gene Ontology (GO) annotation. After screening and annotating the target genes, three differentially expressed genes with hormone pathways were identified. The expression patterns of the target genes were verified by real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). Haplotype polymorphism detection and linkage disequilibrium analysis were performed on the candidate gene Glyma.09g248200. This study provided more information on the regulation network of soybean somatic embryogenesis and regeneration processes, and further identified important genes in the soybean regeneration process and provided a theoretical basis for accelerating the application of biotechnology to soybean for improving its breeding efficiency.

Vibration analysis of functionally graded tapered rotor shaft system

This investigation deals with the vibration analysis of a rotating tapered shaft in Functionally Graded Material (FGM). The dynamic system is modeled using the Timoshenko beam theory (FSDBT) with consideration of gyroscopic effect and rotary inertia. The equations of motion are expressed by the hierarchical finite element method based on bi-articulated boundary conditions. The material properties are continuously varied in the thickness direction of a hollow shaft according to the exponential law function (E-FGM). The presented model is validated by comparing the numerical results found with the available literature. Various analyses are carried out to determine the influence of taper angle and material distribution of the two extreme materials on the dynamic behavior of FGM conical rotors system.

Soft and Stiff Simplex Tensegrity Lattices as Extreme Smart Metamaterials

The present paper is dedicated to an evaluation of novel cellular metamaterials based on a tensegrity pattern. The materials are constructed from supercells, each of which consists of a number of simplex modules with different geometrical proportions. Mechanical properties of the metamaterial can be controlled by adjusting the level of self-equilibrated forces or by changing the properties of structural members. A continuum model based on the equivalence of strain energy of the 3D theory of elasticity with a discrete formulation is used to identify the qualitative properties of the considered metamaterials. The model allows the inclusion of nonlinearities related to the equations of equilibrium in actual configuration of the structure with self-equilibrated set of normal forces typical for tensegrities. The lattices are recognised as extreme metamaterials according to the eigensolution of the equivalent elasticity matrices of the continuum model. The six representative deformation modes are defined and discussed: stiff, soft and medium extensional modes and high (double) as well as low shear modes. The lattices are identified as unimode or nearly bimode according to the classification of extreme materials.