Domestic violence (DV), also termed intimate partner violence (IPV), constitutes a range of abusive acts—including physical assaults, sexual coercion, psychological manipulation, stalking, and economic deprivation—perpetrated by one individual against a current or former romantic partner or family member to exert power and control.[1] These behaviors often form patterns rather than isolated incidents, with severity varying from minor aggression to life-threatening harm, and empirical surveys indicate lifetime victimization rates of approximately 25% for women and 14% for men experiencing severe physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the United States.[2][3]Prevalence data reveal gender disparities in injury outcomes and reporting, with women facing higher risks of severe physical harm and hospitalization, while men report comparable or higher rates of certain psychological aggression and minor physical acts; meta-analyses of conflict tactics scales consistently document bidirectional violence in 40-70% of cases, challenging unidirectional narratives that predominate in policy and advocacy.[3][4][5] Risk factors include prior trauma exposure, substance abuse, and socioeconomic stressors, though causal pathways emphasize individual agency over deterministic societal excuses, with peer-reviewed longitudinal studies underscoring that mutual aggression often escalates conflicts rather than stemming solely from patriarchal structures.[6][7]Notable controversies surround intervention models like the Duluth approach, which presumes male dominance motives and has been critiqued for inefficacy and gender bias in empirical evaluations, alongside systemic issues in legal systems where unsubstantiated allegations disproportionately affect men in custody disputes, as evidenced by family court data and victim surveys underreporting female-perpetrated harm.[8][9] Prevention efforts, informed by randomized trials, highlight the limitations of awareness campaigns alone, advocating instead for targeted behavioral interventions addressing mutual accountability and de-escalation in high-conflict dynamics.[10][11]
In law, government, and society
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, commonly abbreviated as DV in legal and criminal justice contexts, encompasses a pattern of coercive behaviors within intimate or familial relationships aimed at establishing dominance, including physical assaults, psychological intimidation, sexual coercion, and economic control. In criminal codes across jurisdictions such as U.S. states, DV serves as a designation for offenses like battery or assault perpetrated against spouses, cohabitants, or dating partners, often triggering enhanced penalties, mandatory arrests, and specialized court processes.[12][13] The U.S. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), enacted in 1994, formalized federal responses by allocating funding for victim services, hotlines, and prosecutions, primarily targeting female victims of male-perpetrated violence, though subsequent reauthorizations have broadened scope to include same-sex relationships.Empirical research from population-based surveys challenges unidirectional narratives framing domestic violence predominantly as male aggression against women. The National Family Violence Surveys (NFVS), conducted in 1975 and 1985 using the Conflict Tactics Scale, documented annual prevalence rates of severe physical assaults at approximately 3-4% for women and 2-3% for men as victims, with mutual violence occurring in about 50% of affected couples, indicating bidirectional patterns rather than isolated perpetrator-victim dynamics.[14] A 2000 meta-analysis by John Archer, reviewing 82 studies on heterosexual partner aggression, confirmed overall gender symmetry in the frequency of physical acts (with women slightly more likely to engage in minor aggression), though men caused more injuries due to average physical strength differences.[15] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS, 2016-2017 data) reports lifetime psychological aggression by intimate partners at 48.4% for women and 48.8% for men, alongside severe physical violence rates of 24.3% for women versus 13.8% for men, underscoring substantial male victimization often underrepresented in policy and media.[2]Causal analyses prioritize individual and behavioral risk factors over purely structural explanations like patriarchy. Meta-analyses link heavy alcohol and drug use to elevated IPV perpetration odds (effect size r=0.20-0.30), with substances impairing impulse control and escalating conflicts independently of gender.[16] Personality disorders, including borderline, antisocial, and narcissistic types, predict both perpetration and victimization, with odds ratios up to 2-3 times higher in affected individuals, as shown in reviews of clinical and community samples.[17] These findings contrast with ideologically driven accounts prevalent in academia and mainstream media, which systemic left-leaning biases in those institutions amplify by downplaying symmetry and male victims—evident in VAWA's gendered funding allocations that direct over 90% of resources to women despite comparable self-reported experiences—potentially distorting interventions toward one-sided models.[18]While VAWA and analogous laws have demonstrably reduced reported incidents through shelter expansions and restraining orders (e.g., 64% drop in U.S. domestic violence reports since 1994), controversies persist over unintended consequences. Critics argue that no-fault divorce regimes and low evidentiary thresholds for protective orders incentivize exaggerated or false claims, disproportionately affecting men in custody disputes, though verified false allegation rates range from 2-10% in prosecutorial data.[19] Empirical rigor demands acknowledging bidirectional realities and multifaceted causes to avoid epistemic errors from narrative-driven oversight of male victims or mutual dynamics, as perpetuated by sources favoring victimology paradigms over family violence research traditions.[14]
Diversity Visa
The Diversity Visa (DV) program, enacted through the Immigration Act of 1990, authorizes up to 55,000 immigrant visas each fiscal year to promote immigration from countries with historically low admission rates to the United States, defined as those sending fewer than 50,000 immigrants over the prior five years.[20] After statutory deductions—typically 5,000 visas reserved for Nicaraguans and Central Americans under prior adjustments—the effective annual allocation stands at approximately 50,000 visas.[21] The program's lottery system selects entrants randomly via computer-generated draws, without regard to skills, family ties, or employment sponsorship, distinguishing it from other U.S. immigration categories.[22]Eligibility requires principal applicants to be natives of qualifying low-immigration countries and to possess either a high school education or its equivalent, or at least two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring a minimum of two years of training, as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET system.[23] Spouses and unmarried children under 21 may be included in entries, but entrants must demonstrate these qualifications during visa processing.[24] Ineligible nationalities include those from high-immigration countries like China (mainland-born), India, and Mexico, though exceptions apply if a spouse or parent was born in a qualifying country.[25]The application process begins with free electronic submissions during a designated annual registration period, conducted solely through the official State Department website at dvprogram.state.gov.[26] For the DV-2026 program, entries were accepted from October 2 to November 7, 2024, followed by random selection announcements in May 2025; selected entrants then submit DS-260 forms, undergo interviews, and must obtain visas by September 30, 2026, or the opportunity expires.[24] No fees apply for entry or selection notification, though subsequent visa processing incurs standard immigrant visa costs.[27] The system receives approximately 22 million entries annually, yielding odds of selection below 1%, with about 100,000-130,000 initial selectees notified before attrition from ineligibility or processing failures reduces the final visa issuances to the cap.[28]DV recipients contribute to the U.S. economy through labor market participation, with research indicating that diversity in immigrant sources correlates with productivity gains and wage increases for native workers in certain sectors.[29] However, data from household surveys show that legal immigrant households, including DV beneficiaries, exhibit welfare usage rates around 52%, higher than native-born households, attributable in part to lower initial skill levels and family-based chain migration among recipients.[30] Crime statistics for immigrants overall, encompassing DV entrants, demonstrate lower offending rates compared to U.S.-born individuals, as evidenced by arrest data analyses from states like Texas.[31] Integration outcomes vary by cohort origin, with government fiscal projections noting net revenue contributions over time from legal immigrants despite upfront public costs.[32]
In science, technology, and engineering
Digital video
Digital Video (DV) is a family of digital video recording formats standardized in 1995 by a consortium led by Sony and Panasonic, designed as a successor to analog consumer formats such as Hi8 and VHS.[33][34] The format records standard-definition video at a nominal bitrate of 25 Mbps using intra-frame compression, where each video frame is compressed independently without reliance on adjacent frames, facilitating straightforward editing without generational loss.[35][36] This compression scheme employs discrete cosine transform (DCT) and quantization at a 5:1 ratio for 4:1:1 chroma subsampling in NTSC or 4:2:0 in PAL, storing data on 1/4-inch metal evaporated tape cassettes.[37] DV's FireWire (IEEE 1394) interface enabled direct transfer to computers, supporting non-linear editing workflows that bypassed analog dubbing artifacts.[38]The consumer variant, MiniDV, utilized small cassettes (typically 60-120 minutes recording time) in compact camcorders, with global sales peaking in the late 1990s to early 2000s at approximately 15 million units annually before prices dropped below $1,000 and adoption surged.[39][40] Professional extensions included Sony's DVCAM (introduced 1996), which increased track pitch for better durability and supported locked audio to prevent synchronization drift, and Panasonic's DVCPRO (also known as D-9), offering higher bitrates like 50 Mbps in DVCPRO50 for enhanced color sampling (4:2:2).[41][42] These variants maintained backward compatibility with standard DV cassettes but prioritized robustness for broadcast and post-production use.[43]By the mid-2000s, DV faced displacement from high-definition tape formats like HDV (launched 2003, using MPEG-2 compression on MiniDV cassettes at 19 Mbps) and tapeless systems such as Panasonic's P2 cards (introduced circa 2004 with the AG-HVX200 camcorder, employing DVCPRO-HD codec at 100 Mbps).[44] File-based recording on solid-state drives (SSD) and hard disk drives (HDD) further accelerated the shift, offering instant random access, reduced mechanical failure risks, and scalable storage without tape threading delays.[45]DV's engineering legacy lies in democratizing digital video acquisition and enabling efficient non-linear post-production, as intra-frame encoding preserved frame integrity during cuts.[35] However, magnetic tape susceptibility to dropouts from oxide shedding, bit rot, or environmental factors (e.g., humidity-induced degradation at 10-20% quality loss per 10-25 years) necessitated digitization for long-term archiving, contrasting with the inherent stability of file-based media.[46][47] By the 2010s, DV production ceased as solid-state and cloud storage rendered tape obsolete for new workflows.[39]
Doppler velocity
Doppler velocity measures the radial component of an object's motion relative to a sensor by detecting the frequency shift in waves reflected or scattered from the target, a direct consequence of the Doppler effect. This shift, Δf, arises from the relative motion altering the wavelength observed in the return signal; for non-relativistic speeds, the radial velocity v is approximated as v = (Δf × c) / (2 f₀), where c is the propagation speed of the wave (speed of light for radar, sound in air or tissue for ultrasound) and f₀ is the transmitted frequency.[48] The factor of 2 accounts for the round-trip path in backscattered signals, limiting measurement to the line-of-sight component only, independent of tangential motion. This principle applies across electromagnetic (radar) and acoustic (ultrasound) systems, enabling precise velocimetry without physical contact.[49]In meteorology, Doppler radar employs this technique to estimate wind velocities within precipitation, revealing storm dynamics such as rotation in supercells or tornadoes through velocity azimuth display patterns. Systems like those operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration process phase changes in returned pulses to derive speeds, aiding severe weather forecasting.[50] Medical applications utilize pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound to quantify blood flow velocities in arteries and veins, typically ranging from 0.5 to 5 m/s, by analyzing frequency shifts in echoes from moving red blood cells; studies confirm high absolute accuracy under controlled conditions with proper beam alignment.[51] In automotive radar for adaptive cruise control, frequency-modulated continuous-wave systems extract relative velocities via Doppler processing of phase differences across chirps, enabling vehicles to maintain safe distances by adjusting speed to match preceding traffic.[52]Unlike broader velocimetry methods such as optical flow or GPS, Doppler velocity inherently isolates radial motion, requiring multiple sensors or assumptions for full vector reconstruction, which introduces potential errors in aliased high-speed scenarios if the pulse repetition frequency is insufficient. Empirical validations, including inter-scanner comparisons, demonstrate reproducibilities within 10-20% for ultrasound blood flow under angles below 60 degrees, though wall filters and angle corrections are critical to mitigate overestimation.[53] This specificity underpins its utility in targeted diagnostics and monitoring, distinct from non-Doppler security or clearance contexts.[54]
Developed vetting
Developed Vetting (DV) is the highest level of national security clearance in the United Kingdom, required for roles involving substantial unsupervised access to TOP SECRET assets or sensitive information that could cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if compromised.[55] It applies to positions in organizations such as MI5 and MI6, where individuals handle intelligence operations or classified materials posing risks of insider threats like espionage.[56] The process exceeds lower clearances like Security Check (SC) by incorporating deeper scrutiny to assess loyalty, vulnerability to coercion, and personal stability.[57]The DV procedure mandates a baseline check plus extensive inquiries spanning at least 10 years of the applicant's history, including detailed financial audits to detect unexplained wealth or debts that might indicate blackmail risks, formal interviews with the applicant, and referee consultations covering employment, education, and relationships.[58] It also examines family members, partners, and close associates for foreign influences or criminal ties, with a security questionnaire requiring disclosure of travel, foreign contacts, and health issues potentially affecting judgment.[59]Cabinet Office policy stipulates a formal DV review every 7 years to maintain ongoing suitability, balancing thoroughness against procedural efficiency.[55] In the United States, the closest equivalent is Top Secret clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access, which similarly involves polygraphs, financial reviews, and background investigations but emphasizes periodic reinvestigations every 5 years.[60]DV's core objective is to mitigate human-sourced risks in high-stakes environments, as evidenced by its role in Five Eyes nations' counter-espionage frameworks, where vetting identifies vulnerabilities before access is granted.[61] Historical analyses of espionage cases, such as Cold War-era infiltrations, underscore the causal link between inadequate prior vetting and breaches, prompting refinements like enhanced focus on behavioral indicators.[62]Post-9/11 reforms in allied systems, including the U.S. Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative, have integrated continuous evaluation—automated monitoring of records like criminal, financial, and travel data—to address static vetting's limitations, with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency expanding this to over a million personnel by 2024 for real-time threat detection.[63]UK processes have adopted similar elements, such as periodic aftercare, though critics note potential overreach into private life without proportionate evidence of universal efficacy in preventing all insider actions.[64] Empirical outcomes remain classified, but procedural rigor correlates with reduced known compromises in vetted cohorts compared to pre-vetting eras.
In arts, entertainment, and media
Described video
Described video, also known as audio description or video description, is a post-productionaccessibility feature that adds narrated verbal depictions of key visual elements—such as actions, expressions, settings, and on-screen text—inserted into natural pauses in the dialogue of television programs, films, and videos.[65][66] This narration enables blind and low-vision audiences to follow visual content that would otherwise be inaccessible through audio alone, with descriptions typically lasting 3-7 seconds and timed precisely to avoid overlapping spoken lines.[67]In production, describers—often trained professionals—review footage frame-by-frame to script concise, objective descriptions focused on essential visuals, which are then recorded by voice actors and synchronized with the original audio track using specialized software.[68] These scripts prioritize clarity and brevity, omitting subjective interpretations, and are integrated as a secondary audio channel selectable by users via remote control or app settings. Empirical studies indicate that described video enhances comprehension and engagement for visually impaired viewers; for instance, a survey by the American Council of the Blind found that 91% of respondents with visual impairments had used audio description, reporting improved access to media content.[69]Regulatory standards have standardized described video in broadcasting. In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) first required audio description for certain programming in 2001, with expanded policies in 2009 mandating it for prime-time and children's content on major networks, and further requirements phased in by 2019 for vertically integrated broadcasters.[70] In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted audio description rules under 47 CFR § 79.3 in 2000, requiring affiliates of the top four networks in the 25 largest markets to provide 50 hours per quarter of described programming, with expansions in 2023 adding 10 designated market areas annually until coverage reaches all markets by 2032.[71][72]Adoption has extended to streaming platforms, including Netflix, which integrates described audio tracks for original and licensed content, allowing users to enable it via audio settings for narration of visuals like costumes and scenery.[73] Historically, described video emerged in the late 20th century with services like the U.S. Descriptive Video Service providing tapes for VHS distribution in the 1980s and 1990s; by the 2020s, advancements include AI-assisted tools for automated script generation and insertion, improving efficiency while maintaining human oversight for accuracy.[74]
In religion, history, and language
Deo volente
Deo volente is a Latin phrase translating to "God willing" or "with God's will," expressing submission to divine providence in human plans.[75] It derives from the theological imperative in James 4:15 of the New Testament, which states: "Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that,'" emphasizing humility before God's sovereignty over future outcomes.[76] The phrase encapsulates a first-principles recognition of human contingency, where intentions are provisional absent certainty of divine permission.[77]Historically, deo volente entered English usage among Protestant reformers and Puritans in the 17th century, often abbreviated as "D.V." in correspondence, diaries, and legal documents to qualify future-oriented statements.[78] For instance, Puritan settlers in America invoked it routinely, reflecting a worldview prioritizing God's will over autonomous planning, as seen in letters ending with the phrase to signify reliance on providence.[78] In literature and contracts, it appeared as a caveat, such as in 18th-century business agreements or travel narratives, underscoring empirical caution against overconfidence in predictions.[79] The first documented popular English adoption dates to around 1763, though ecclesiastical Latin precedents trace earlier.[80]In contemporary contexts, deo volente has declined in secular discourse amid broader cultural secularization, with corpus analyses showing reduced frequency in non-religious texts since the 20th century, supplanted by neutral qualifiers like "if possible."[81] It persists, however, in conservative Christian writings, sermons, and personal notations, where it reinforces doctrinal submission to God's foreknowledge, as in Reformed theology's emphasis on divine decree.[82] Unlike the militant Deus vult ("God wills it"), a Crusades-era battle cry implying divine mandate for action, deo volente remains strictly providential, invoking passive deference rather than assertive interpretation of God's intent.[83] This distinction highlights its role in fostering causal realism: human agency operates within, not against, unalterable divine causality.[78]
Deus vult
"Deus vult," Latin for "God wills it," originated as a battle cry during the First Crusade, first proclaimed in response to Pope Urban II's sermon at the Council of Clermont on November 27, 1095. Urban II urged Western European Christians to aid Eastern Christians against Seljuk Turk incursions and to reclaim Jerusalem, framing the campaign as a holy war with promises of spiritual rewards, which elicited the unified shout "Deus vult!" from the assembled crowd, including knights and clergy. This acclamation, recorded in contemporary accounts like Robert the Monk's chronicle, symbolized divine sanction for the expedition and served to unify disparate feudal lords under a religious imperative rather than mere territorial ambition.[84]The slogan played a pivotal empirical role in mobilizing armies for the First Crusade (1096–1099), transforming rhetorical fervor into coordinated military action that overcame logistical challenges, such as the 3,000-mile march and sieges of Antioch and Jerusalem. Crusader forces, numbering around 12,000–15,000 combatants upon reaching the Levant, captured Jerusalem on July 15, 1099, after a five-week siege involving siege towers and ladders, resulting in the establishment of Crusader states like the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which endured until 1187. While successful in territorial expansion and temporarily securing pilgrimage routes, the campaign involved documented massacres of Muslim and Jewish inhabitants in Jerusalem—estimated at 10,000–70,000 deaths—reflecting the era's total warfare norms driven by religious zeal and reciprocal conquest dynamics, as Muslim rulers had previously desecrated holy sites and persecuted Christians. Revisionist narratives often downplay these faith-driven motivations, attributing the Crusades primarily to economic or power factors, yet primary sources emphasize theological imperatives as the causal engine for mass participation.[85]In the 2010s, "Deus vult" resurged as an internet meme, initially in gaming communities around titles like Crusader Kings II, where players adopted it ironically to denote aggressive expansionism, before spreading to platforms like 4chan's /pol/ board and Reddit as a symbol of cultural preservation amid debates over immigration and Islamic extremism. Alt-right and identitarian groups appropriated it to evoke Western Christian heritage and resistance to perceived civilizational threats, viewing it as a reclamation of historical agency against sanitized academic portrayals that minimize religious warfare's role in medieval Europe's survival and expansion. Critics, including extremism monitors, associate its modern use with white nationalism and Crusader romanticism, citing instances like its appearance in 2016 election memes and tattoos on figures such as Pete Hegseth, arguing it glorifies conquest and exclusion.[86] Defenders counter that such linkages stem from biased overreach by left-leaning institutions, which conflate historical symbolism with contemporary bigotry while ignoring the slogan's original context of defensive holy war against expansionist Islam, and emphasize its non-racial, faith-based roots in preserving Christendom. This polarization underscores ongoing debates over causal realism in history: the Crusades' religious motivations enabled improbable victories but also entrenched cycles of violence, with modern revivals highlighting tensions between empirical heritage and progressive reinterpretations.[87]
Other uses
Daily value
The Daily Value (DV) is a standardized reference amount of nutrients, expressed in grams, milligrams, or micrograms, established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to represent the recommended daily intake or upper limit for a nutrient based on a 2,000-calorie diet for the general population.[88] The percent Daily Value (%DV) on Nutrition Facts labels indicates the proportion of a nutrient provided by a single serving of a food or dietary supplement relative to this reference, enabling consumers to compare products and evaluate contributions to overall dietary needs.[88] For instance, the DV for vitamin C is set at 90 mg for adults and children aged 4 years and older.[89]In 2016, the FDA updated the Nutrition Facts label, revising DVs for several nutrients—including increasing the values for vitamin D to 20 mcg, potassium to 4,700 mg, and dietary fiber to 28 g—to align with evidence from sources like the Institute of Medicine and recent dietary intake data reflecting mean population requirements.[90] These changes aimed to better inform consumers about nutrients linked to chronic disease risks, such as added sugars (now with a 50 g DV) and sodium (2,300 mg DV), without altering the core 2,000-calorie basis.[91]The primary purpose of DV is to serve as a consumer tool for assessing potential nutrient deficiencies or excesses in a diet, facilitating informed choices without prescribing individualized intake levels.[92] However, as a population-averaged metric derived from Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), it does not account for individual variations in requirements influenced by factors such as age, sex, activity level, genetics, or health status; for example, pregnant women may need 85–120 mg of vitamin C daily, exceeding the general 90 mg DV.[89] Empirical studies on personalized nutrition underscore that responses to nutrientintake differ markedly among individuals, even among identical twins, highlighting limitations of uniform benchmarks like DV for optimizing health outcomes.[93]
Designated verifier
A designated verifier signature (DVS) is a variant of digital signature in which verification is restricted to a specific recipient designated by the signer, who uses a secret verification key to confirm the signature's authenticity, while the signature remains indistinguishable from a simulation generatable by the verifier itself, preventing transfer of conviction to third parties.[94] This property ensures that only the intended verifier gains assurance of the message's origin, providing deniability for the signer and protecting against public disclosure of the verification process.[95] DVS schemes achieve this through mechanisms like trapdoor commitments, where the verifier's secret enables distinguishing real from simulated signatures, but public observation yields no such capability.[94]The concept extends to designated verifier proofs, introduced by Jakobsson and Sako in 1996, which allow a prover to convince a designated verifier of a statement's truth (e.g., knowledge of a discrete logarithm) via an interactive or non-interactive protocol, without enabling third-party verification or simulation detection.[94] Security relies on computational assumptions such as the hardness of the discrete logarithm problem, with proofs reducible to the inability of adversaries to distinguish real proofs from verifier-generated simulations under chosen-message attacks.[95] Early constructions, including those for undeniable signatures, leverage these proofs to bind signers without universal verifiability, formalized in models capturing one-time verifiability and resistance to forgery by non-designated parties.[94]Applications include privacy-preserving authentication in scenarios like electronic voting, where designated verifier proofs enable receipt-freeness by allowing voters to prove ballot validity to auditors without transferable evidence that could coerce revotes.[94] In zero-knowledge variants, such as designated-verifier zk-SNARKs, proofs convince only holders of secret verification states, supporting efficient privacy in blockchain protocols or confidential transactions as of 2024 constructions.[96] Formal security proofs for these primitives typically reduce unforgeability and simulation indistinguishability to standard assumptions like decisional Diffie-Hellman, distinguishing DVS from public-key signatures by prioritizing controlled verifiability over broad dissemination.[95] Recent post-quantum adaptations, such as those based on lattice hardness as of 2024, maintain these reductions while addressing quantum threats.[97]