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In this paper, we first investigate the regularity of finite energy solutions to the following Wolff type integral system: { u (x) = R 1 (x) W β , γ (v p u r) (x) , u (x) > 0 , x ∈ R N , v (x) = R 2 (x) W β , γ (u q v s) (x) , v (x) > 0 , x ∈ R N , where γ > 1 , β > 0 , β γ < N , W β , γ is the Wolff potential, R 1 , R 2 are double bounded functions in R N and p , q > max ⁡ { 1 , γ − 1 } , r , s ≥ 0 with p − s ≥ q − r > − γ + 1. We exploit the regularity lifting lemma to obtain the optimal integrability, boundedness and decaying property of finite energy solutions to the system. Secondly, we establish sharp pointwise estimates of positive finite energy solutions to the p -Laplacian and k -Hessian systems related to the above integral system, by using the previous regularity results, the interior Hölder estimates of solutions for the corresponding differential systems and a doubling lemma of Poláčik, Quittner and Souplet (Duke Math. J.,2007). These extend Vétois's decay results (Indiana Univ. Math. J.,2019) on the positive solutions of Laplacian systems to the p -Laplacian and k -Hessian cases. We remark that our methods do not need Harnack type inequalities and it can be applied to deal with the solutions without radial structures. As far as we know, this is the first attempt to derive sharp decay estimates for possibly non-radial solutions involving k -Hessian operators. We also obtain some decay estimates of the gradients at infinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corn and soybeans play pivotal roles in the agricultural landscape of the United States, and accurately delineating their cultivation areas is indispensable for ensuring food security and addressing hunger-related challenges. Traditional methods for crop mapping are both labor-intensive and time-consuming. Fortunately, the advent of high-resolution imagery, exemplified by Sentinel-2A (S2A), has opened avenues for precise identification of these crops at a field scale, with the added advantage of cloud computing. This paper presents an innovative algorithm designed for large-scale mapping of corn and soybean planting areas on the Google Cloud Engine, drawing inspiration from symmetrical theory. The proposed methodology encompasses several sequential steps. First, S2A data undergo processing incorporating phenological information and spectral characteristics. Subsequently, texture features derived from the grayscale matrix are synergistically integrated with spectral features in the first step. To enhance algorithmic efficiency, the third step involves a feature importance analysis, facilitating the retention of influential bands while eliminating redundant features. The ensuing phase employs three base classifiers for feature training, and the final result maps are generated through a collective voting mechanism based on the classification results from the three classifiers. Validation of the proposed algorithm was conducted in two distinct research areas: Ford in Illinois and White in Indiana, showcasing its commendable classification capabilities for these crops. The experiments underscore the potential of this method for large-scale mapping of crop areas through the integration of cloud computing and high-resolution imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differencing digital terrain models (DTMs) generated from multitemporal airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) data provide accurate and detailed information about three-dimensional (3D) changes on the Earth. However, noticeable spurious errors along flight paths are often included in the differencing results, hindering the accurate analysis of the topographic changes. This paper proposes a new scalable method to alleviate the problematic systematic errors with a high degree of automation in consideration of the practical limitations raised when processing the rapidly increasing amount of large-scale lidar datasets. The proposed method focused on estimating the displacements caused by vertical positioning errors, which are the most critical error source, and adjusting the DTMs already produced as basic lidar products without access to the point cloud and raw data from the laser scanner. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method were evaluated with experiments with county-level multitemporal airborne lidar datasets in Indiana, USA. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method could estimate the vertical displacement reasonably along the flight paths and improve the county-level lidar differencing results by reducing the problematic errors and increasing consistency across the flight paths. The improved differencing results presented in this paper are expected to provide more consistent information about topographic changes in Indiana. In addition, the proposed method can be a feasible solution to upcoming problems induced by rapidly increasing large-scale multitemporal lidar given recent active government-driven lidar data acquisition programs, such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of Indiana maintains approximately 120 salt storage facilities strategically distributed across the state for winter operations. In April 2023, those facilities contained approximately 217,000 tons of salt with an estimated value of USD 21 million. Accurate inventories at each facility during the winter season are important for scheduling re-supply so the facilities do not run out of salt. Inventories are also important at the end of the season for restocking to provide balanced inventories. This paper describes the implementation of a portable pole-mounted LiDAR system to measure salt stockpile inventory at 120 salt storage facilities in Indiana. Using two INDOT staff members, the end-of-season inventory took 9 working days, with volumetric inventories provided within 24 h of data collection. To provide an independent evaluation of the methodologies, the Hovermap ST backpack was used at selected facilities to provide control volumes. This system has a range of 100 m and an accuracy of ±3 cm, which reduces the occlusion to less than 8%. The pre-season facility capacity ranged from 0% to 100%, with an average of 66% full across all facilities. The post-season facility percentage ranged from 3% to 100%, with an average of 70% full. In addition, permanent roof-mounted LiDAR systems were deployed at two facilities to evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring salt stockpile inventories during winter operation activities. Plans are now underway to install fixed LiDAR systems at 15 additional facilities for the 2023–2024 winter season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an R-based approach to mapping dynamics of the flooded areas in the Inner Niger Delta (IND), Mali, using time series analysis of Landsat 8–9 satellite images. As the largest inland wetland in West Africa, the habitats of IND offers high potential for biodiversity of the flood-dependent eco systems. IND is one of the most productive areas in West Africa. Mapping flooded areas based on satellite images enables to provide strategies for land management and rice planting and modelling vegetation types of IND. Our approach is based on using libraries of R programming language for processing six Landsat images, and each image was taken on November from 2013 to 2022. By capturing spatial and temporal structures of the satellite images on 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the remote sensing data are combined to yield estimates of landscape dynamics that is temporally coherent, while helping to analyse fluctuations of spatial extent in fluvial wetlands caused by the hydrological processes of seasonal flooding. Further, by allowing packages of R to support image processing, an approach to mapping vegetation by NDVI, SAVI and EVI indices and visualising changes in distribution of different land cover classes over time is realised. In this context, processing Earth observation data by advanced scripting tools of R language provides new insights into complex interlace of climate-hydrological processes and vegetation responses. Our study contributes to the sustainable management of natural resources and improving knowledge on the functioning of IND ecosystems in Mali, West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Printed legal materials have been utilized by practitioners since the dawn of the Anglo-European legal system in what is now the United States. When Indiana was opened for settlement, attorneys and judges brought their private libraries to the state. These initial collections were much smaller than the robust and extensive law libraries that existed in thestate prior to the advent of digital legal resources, This paper tracks the development of law libraries in Indiana from the territorial period through the present day, along with the social and economic trends that impacted library development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern vehicles have extensive instrumentation that can be used to actively assess the condition of infrastructure such as pavement markings, signs, and pavement smoothness. Currently, pavement condition evaluations are performed by state and federal officials typically using the industry standard of the International Roughness Index (IRI) or visual inspections. This paper looks at the use of on-board sensors integrated in Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) connected vehicles to obtain crowdsource estimates of ride quality using the International Rough Index (IRI). This paper presents a case study where over 112 km (70 mi) of Interstate-65 in Indiana were assessed, utilizing both an inertial profiler and connected production vehicle data. By comparing the inertial profiler to crowdsourced connected vehicle data, there was a linear correlation with an R2 of 0.79 and a p-value of <0.001. Although there are no published standards for using connected vehicle roughness data to evaluate pavement quality, these results suggest that connected vehicle roughness data is a viable tool for network level monitoring of pavement quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation agencies in northern environments spend a considerable amount of their budget on salt for winter operations. For example, in the state of Indiana, there are approximately 140 salt storage facilities distributed throughout the state and the state expends between USD 30 M and USD 60 M on inventory and delivery each year. Historical techniques of relying on visual estimates of salt stockpiles can be inaccurate and do not scale well for managing the supply chain during the winter or planning for re-supply during summer months. This paper describes the implementation of a portable pole mounted LiDAR system that can be used to inventory a large barn in under 15 min and describes how this system has been deployed over 90 times at 30 facilities. A quick and easy accuracy test, based upon conservation of volume, was used to provide an independent check on the system performance by repositioning portions of the salt pile. Those tests indicated stockpile volumes can be estimated with an accuracy of approximately 0.1%. The paper concludes by discussing how this technology can be permanently installed near the roof for systematic monitoring throughout the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers are increasingly interested in quantifying nonprofit hospitals' tax benefits to assess whether hospitals' nonprofit status is justified. Property taxes that nonprofits would otherwise pay are among the more difficult tax benefit to quantify. This paper aims to educate stakeholders on the issues with estimating nonprofit hospitals' property tax benefits. We focus on Indiana because of relative advantages in its property tax record system. We first use a statewide database that identifies tax-exempt hospital properties to estimate property tax savings for all nonprofit hospitals in the state. We then examine five counties to quantify property tax benefits for specific hospitals. Using statewide data, we estimate a total property tax savings of $75.3 million in 2020 for all nonprofit hospitals in Indiana. However, upon closer examination of the five selected counties, we find that the state's identification code for hospital properties fails to identify over 500 property accounts associated with the nonprofit hospitals. Allowing for these additional properties increases nonprofit hospitals' tax savings in these counties by about 71%. These results suggest that our statewide estimate most likely understates nonprofit hospitals' property tax benefits by a significant amount. If statewide estimates were comparably understated, property tax savings in 2020 for all nonprofit hospitals in Indiana would be closer to $128 million. We conclude with policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is shown in this paper that suitable weak solutions to the 6D steady incompressible Navier-Stokes are Hölder continuous at 0 provided that ∫ B 1 | u (x) | 3 d x + ∫ B 1 | f (x) | q d x or ∫ B 1 | ∇ u (x) | 2 d x + ∫ B 1 | ∇ u (x) | 2 d x (∫ B 1 | u (x) | d x) 2 + ∫ B 1 | f (x) | q d x with q > 3 is sufficiently small, which implies that the 2D Hausdorff measure of the set of singular points is zero. For the boundary case, we also obtain that 0 is regular provided that ∫ B 1 + | u (x) | 3 d x + ∫ B 1 + | f (x) | 3 d x or ∫ B 1 + | ∇ u (x) | 2 d x + ∫ B 1 + | f (x) | 3 d x is sufficiently small. These results improve previous regularity theorems by Dong-Strain ([8] , Indiana Univ. Math. J., 2012), Dong-Gu ([7] , J. Funct. Anal., 2014), and Liu-Wang ([27] , J. Differential Equations, 2018), where either the smallness of the pressure or the smallness of the scaling invariant quantities on all balls is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trapdoor functions contributed since their announcement in the evolvement cryptography as we know it, especially the lossy mode, by helping reduce the residual leakage for an optimal rate, but to make it more resilient cryptographically: generic constructions were made based on graph isomorphism, or other NP-hard problems defended by the zero-knowledge proof, such were used in Indistinguishability under Chosen-Plaintext Attack (IND-CPA), Computationnal Diffie-Hellman (CDH), or Decisional Diffie-Hellman (DDH). Once schemes like Indistinguishability under Chosen- Ciphertext Attack (IND-CCA) were adopted it became clear it cannot simulate a decryption using Lossy Trapdoor Functions (LTF); the problem with existing trapdoor functions in general is partial information leakage, lack of randomness and multiple messages insecurity. In the light of the following issues came the idea to present through this paper a simple but important fix, in the note of randomness a new Variate of the Engel expansion (VEE) is chosen, providing a pseudo-random bit sequence as an output, the reason being to recover the seed of the algorithm for an attacker, it is considered a hard number theory problem, and surely after the new construction in this paper, another NP-complete problem emerging from tensors the scheme is more secure. As for the strenghtening evidence of how it can be trusted, it seems more robust to supply a proof of its ergodicity as being done in this article, instead of semantic security analysis, to prove the efficiency of the new construction resolving the issues surrounding multi-challenge using a lossy trapdoor function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States has over three trillion vehicle miles of travel annually on over four million miles of public roadways, which require regular maintenance. To maintain and improve these facilities, agencies often temporarily close lanes, reconfigure lane geometry, or completely close the road depending on the scope of the construction project. Lane widths of less than 11 feet in construction zones can impact highway capacity and crash rates. Crash data can be used to identify locations where the road geometry could be improved. However, this is a manual process that does not scale well. This paper describes findings for using data from onboard sensors in production vehicles for measuring lane widths. Over 200 miles of roadway on US-52, US-41, and I-65 in Indiana were measured using vehicle sensor data and compared with mobile LiDAR point clouds as ground truth and had a root mean square error of approximately 0.24 feet. The novelty of these results is that vehicle sensors can identify when work zones use lane widths substantially narrower than the 11 foot standard at a network level and can be used to aid in the inspection and verification of construction specification conformity. This information would contribute to the construction inspection performed by agencies in a safer, more efficient way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural and induced fractures in porous media pose significant challenges in subsurface applications such as carbon storage, hydrocarbon production, and aquifer contamination mitigation. These highly permeable fractures disrupt the natural flow in porous formations, leading to issues including reduced pressure buildup and early fluid breakthrough. To address these challenges, foam injection serves as an effective method for fluid diversion, offering enhanced mobility control in fractured media. However, the foam's performance must be carefully optimized considering factors such as reservoir conditions, in-situ fluid compatibility, rock properties like pore structure, permeability, and mineralogy, as well as fracture roughness, homogeneity, and orientation. This study investigates the effects of inclination angles (0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°) of smooth, saw-cut fractures on the performance of supercritical carbon dioxide foam in three distinct carbonate rocks: Indiana limestone, Fond Du Lac dolomite, and Alabama Silver limestone. These rocks exhibit a wide range of permeabilities, from 0.4 mD to 5.4 D. The findings are compared with previous research on Berea sandstone. It is demonstrated that optimal foam performance is more readily achieved in fractured porous media with higher permeability, larger pore throat sizes, and mineralogically compatible formations. Unlike previous work where studies focused on the individual impact of specific parameters, including a previous study conducted by our group to explore the effect of fracture orientation, the novelty of this paper is that it addresses multiple parameters at the same time and the interconnected roles that they play. This interplay of fracture orientation, rock type, and flow properties is what determines the ideal conditions that must be optimized to achieve the required foam performance. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliometric analysis identifies the most influential manuscripts that shape our understanding of various congenital gastrointestinal pathologies. This study sets out to analyse the 100 most cited manuscripts on congenital gastrointestinal surgery. The Thomson Reuters Web of Science database was searched for all manuscripts relevant to paediatric congenital gastrointestinal surgery. The number of citations, authorship, publication date, journal of publication, institution and country were recorded for each paper. Eigenfactor and impact factor rankings were obtained for each journal of publication. 971 eligible manuscripts were returned by the search. Within the top 100 manuscripts, the most cited paper (by Metkus et al.) investigated fetal diaphragmatic hernia and was cited 413 times. University of Indianapolis had the most publications (n=5) and Journal of Pediatric Surgery had the most citations (n=3231). The country with the most publications in top 100 were the USA (n=39). The most commonly published topics were diaphragmatic hernia (n=23), abdominal wall defect (n=20) and atresia (n=6). The most cited manuscripts include various topics with a primary focus on the aetiology, diagnosis, management and outcome of diaphragmatic hernia and abdominal wall defects. Additionally, by collecting the most influential works, this study serves to reference what makes a manuscript 'citable'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increased availability of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) imagery, digitalized forest inventory has gained prominence in recent years. This paper presents a methodology for automated measurement of tree height and crown area in two broadleaf tree plantations of different species and ages using two different UAS platforms. Using structure from motion (SfM), we generated canopy height models (CHMs) for each broadleaf plantation in Indiana, USA. From the CHMs, we calculated individual tree parameters automatically through an open-source web tool developed using the Shiny R package and assessed the accuracy against field measurements. Our analysis shows higher tree measurement accuracy with the datasets derived from multi-rotor platform (M600) than with the fixed wing platform (Bramor). The results show that our automated method could identify individual trees (F-score > 90%) and tree biometrics (root mean square error < 1.2 m for height and <1 m2 for the crown area) with reasonably good accuracy. Moreover, our automated tool can efficiently calculate tree-level biometric estimations for 4600 trees within 30 min based on a CHM from UAS-SfM derived images. This automated UAS imagery approach for tree-level forest measurements will be beneficial to landowners and forest managers by streamlining their broadleaf forest measurement and monitoring effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work zone safety is a high priority for transportation agencies across the United States. Enforcing speed compliance in work zones is an important factor for reducing the frequency and severity of crashes. This paper uses connected vehicle trajectory data to evaluate the impact of automated work zone speed enforcement on three work zones in Pennsylvania and two work zones in Indiana. Analysis was conducted on more than 300 million datapoints from over 71 billion records between April and August 2021. Speed distribution and speed compliance studies with and without automated enforcement were conducted along every tenth of a mile, and the results found that overall speed compliance inside the work zones increased with the presence of enforcement. In the three Pennsylvania work zones analyzed, the proportions of vehicles travelling within the allowable 11 mph tolerance were 63%, 75% and 84%. In contrast, in Indiana, a state with no automated enforcement, the proportions of vehicles travelling within the same 11 mph tolerance were found to be 25% and 50%. Shorter work zones (less than 3 miles) were associated with better compliance than longer work zones. Spatial analysis also found that speeds rebounded within 1–2 miles after leaving the enforcement location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfactant flooding is an enhanced oil recovery method that recovers residual and capillary trapped oil by improving pore-scale displacement efficiency. Low retention of injected chemicals is desired to ensure an economic and cost-effective recovery process. This paper examines the adsorption behavior of a novel gemini cationic surfactant on carbonate cores. The rock cores were characterized using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscope. In addition, the influence of critical parameters on the dynamic adsorption of the cationic gemini surfactant was studied by injecting the surfactant solution through carbonate cores in a core flooding apparatus until an equilibrium state was achieved. The concentration of surfactant was observed using high performance liquid chromatography. Experimental results showed that an increasing surfactant concentration causes higher retention of the surfactant. Moreover, increasing the flow rate to 0.2 mL/min results in lowering the surfactant retention percentage to 17%. At typical high salinity and high temperature conditions, the cationic gemini surfactant demonstrated low retention (0.42 mg/g-rock) on an Indiana limestone core. This study extends the frontier of knowledge in gemini surfactant applications for enhanced oil recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a provably secure post-quantum authentication and key establishment protocol for mobile environments, which is the first one from supersingular isogeny to our best knowledge that achieves the client user authentication by using the convenient password and the server authentication by using the password-transformed secret value and its certificate, together with the final session key establishment between them. This makes it be quite suitable for providing quantum-resilient security assurance in mobile environments in the near future post-quantum era. The presented protocol actually is constructed by integrating the password-based authentication way with the key encapsulation mechanism and thereby is named as PBKEM for short. The presented post-quantum PBKEM protocol from supersingular isogeny is formally proved secure in the random oracle model under the well-known Bellare–Pointcheval–Rogaway (BPR) security model, whose security is finally reduced to the SI-CDH security assumption and the IND-CCA security of the SIKE scheme. Moreover, it is implemented on a personal computer by using the SIDH Library provided by Microsoft, and the experimental results have shown that the protocol is efficient enough to be applied in practice to provide quantum-resilient security assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atterberg limits of soils including the liquid limit are one of the oldest and most traditional tests conducted in geotechnical site investigations. The relationship between the liquid limits determined from the Casagrande percussion cup apparatus and the fall-cone device has been extensively studied. Despite the known convenience of the fall-cone method, it is scarcely employed for geotechnical site investigations in the USA. This paper presents the findings of investigations conducted on 65 soil samples from different parts of the Indiana State in the USA including their liquid limit tests. The results obtained by the Casagrande percussion cup method and the fall-cone method were compared. The comparison explains how the variations in the liquid limit effect the results of the two methods, and a correlation is also offered. Based on the results, a model is also presented for single-point determination of the liquid limit from the two methods. Finally, a modified plasticity chart for soil classification is proposed based on the fall-cone liquid limit and plasticity index results of these soil samples. The paper also includes the statistical analysis of the proposed relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explore the difficult conversations and places of tension in the lived experience of chronic pain for urban American Indians from a larger study discerning relationships between chronic pain and colonization. A concurrent transformative mixed methods design with in-depth interviews and a survey was used for the larger study. This paper concerns only the qualitative data. Forty self-identified American Indian adults living in Indiana, Chicago, and Tulsa who reported pain for greater than three months provided their chronic pain illness experiences for this paper. The paper uses three data-derived themes to encompass the broad reaching social, psychological, and cultural suffering inherent in coping with chronic pain: invisibility, psychological peace, and warrior strength. American Indian chronic pain sufferers in this study struggle with the multiplicative invisibility of both their chronic pain and their native identity. The invisibility leads to passing as white in environments hostile to people of color. It also results in family disconnection, loneliness, and isolation. In order to survive socially-mediated assaults, American Indian chronic pain sufferers keep their psyche at peace through stress management, cultural engagement, and non-negativity. They also call upon warrior strength-- their understanding that American Indians as peoples have always survived bolsters their individual strength to push through the pain. They seek to function without further debility and to maintain their economic, spiritual, social, and physical wellness. Ultimately the participants in this research tell a profound, critical, and world-changing story that requires attention in overcoming barriers to full thriving with chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient electric heat pumps that replace fossil-fueled heating systems could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, electric heat pumps can sharply increase electricity demand, causing high utility bills and stressing the power grid. Residential neighborhoods could see particularly high electricity demand during cold weather, when heat demand rises and heat pump efficiencies fall. This paper presents the development and field demonstration of a predictive control system for an air-to-air heat pump with backup electric resistance heat. The control system adjusts indoor temperature set-points based on weather forecasts, occupancy conditions, and data-driven models of the building and heating equipment. Field tests from January to March of 2023 in an occupied, all-electric, 208 m 2 detached single-family house in Indiana, USA, included outdoor temperatures as low as − 15 ° C. On average over these tests, the control system reduced daily heating energy use by 19% (95% confidence interval: 13%–24%), energy used for backup heat by 38%, and the frequency of using the highest stage (19 kW) of backup heat by 83%. Concurrent surveys of residents showed that the control system maintained satisfactory thermal comfort. The control system could reduce the house's total annual heating costs by about $300 (95% confidence interval: 23%–34%). These real-world results could strengthen the case for deploying predictive home heating control, bringing the technology one step closer to reducing emissions, utility bills, and power grid impacts at scale. • First field deployment of predictive control for an air-to-air heat pump in a cold climate. • Review of all known field studies of supervisory control for residential HVAC. • Reduced heating energy use by 13%–24% and use of highest-stage backup heat by 83%. • Occupants reported similar thermal comfort to benchmark control system. • Discussion of deployment labor, costs, challenges, and scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic and nonlinear models have been used to accurately model various phenomena in asset management systems (AMS). With a commonly adopted framework using Monte Carlo simulation and heuristic algorithms, AMS proposed in the literature aim to maintain the functionality of assets in their life-cycle by optimally allocating limited resources to different intervention actions. However, due to their high computational costs, upscaling complex project-level AMS to a multitude of assets currently is far from practical. To address this gap between the literature and the practice of project-level AMS, this paper presents a new machine learning–based methodology to estimate (near-)optimal intervention timings which usually are derived by optimization algorithms. To illustrate, an ensemble of random forests models was trained on optimal maintenance timings of more than 1.6 million semisynthesized bridges. The trained model yielded optimized maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (MRR) plans with greater than 95% accuracy on the test set and greater than 89% accuracy on more than 4,600 highway bridges in Indiana, and did so 6 orders of magnitude faster than the conventional framework of complex MRR optimization. Practitioners can adopt the proposed methodology to enhance their decision-making systems, obtain optimal maintenance plans without sacrificing complex and accurate models, and take another step toward sustainability objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The summer of 2020 recorded a record-breaking flood due to excessive mei-yu rain falling over the Yangtze River Valley (YRV). Using the Lagrangian model FLEXPART, this paper investigates moisture sources and transport processes behind this extreme event. Based on climate data from 1979 to 2019, the air-particle (an infinitesimally small air parcel) trajectories reaching the YRV show sectors that correspond to five main moisture sources: the Indian monsoon region (IND, 27.5% of the total rainfall), the local evaporation (27.4%), the Western Pacific Ocean (WPO, 21.3%), the Eurasian continent (8.5%) and Northeast Asia (4.4%). In the 2020 mei-yu season, moisture from all source regions was above normal except that from Northeast Asia. A record-breaking moisture source from the IND and WPO dominated this extreme mei-yu flood in 2020, which was 1.5 and 1.6 times greater than the climate mean, respectively. This study reveals a significant relationship between the moisture source with three moisture transport processes, i.e., trajectory density, moisture content, and moisture uptake of air-particles. A broad anomalous anticyclonic circulation over the Indo-Northwestern Pacific (Indo-NWP) provides a favorable environment to enhance the moisture transport from the IND and WPO into the YRV. In the 2020 mei-yu season, a record-breaking Indo-NWP anomalous anticyclonic circulation contributed to a higher trajectory density as well as higher moisture content and moisture uptake of air-particles from the IND and WPO regions. This collectively resulted in unprecedented moisture transport from source origins, thus contributing to the mei-yu flood over the YRV in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brachial plexopathy is a potentially serious complication from stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) that has not been widely studied. Therefore, we compared datasets from two different institutions and generated a brachial plexus dose-response model, to quantify what dose constraints would be needed to minimize the effect on normal tissue while still enabling potent therapy for the tumor.Methods: Two published SBRT datasets were pooled and modeled from patients at Indiana University and the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Administration Medical Center from 1998 to 2007, as well as the Karolinska Institute from 2008 to 2013. All patients in both studies were treated with SBRT for apically located lung tumors localized superior to the aortic arch. Toxicities were graded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, and a probit dose response model was created with maximum likelihood parameter fitting.Results: This analysis includes a total of 89 brachial plexus maximum point dose (Dmax) values from both institutions. Among the 14 patients who developed brachial plexopathy, the most common complications were grade 2, comprising 7 patients. The median follow-up was 30 months (range 6.1-72.2) in the Karolinska dataset, and the Indiana dataset had a median of 13 months (range 1-71). Both studies had a median range of 3 fractions, but in the Indiana dataset, 9 patients were treated in 4 fractions, and the paper did not differentiate between the two, so our analysis is considered to be in 3-4 fractions, one of the main limitations. The probit model showed that the risk of brachial plexopathy with Dmax of 26 Gy in 3-4 fractions is 10%, and 50% with Dmax of 70 Gy in 3-4 fractions.Conclusions: This analysis is only a preliminary result because more details are needed as well as additional comprehensive datasets from a much broader cross-section of clinical practices. When more institutions join the QUANTEC and HyTEC methodology of reporting sufficient details to enable data pooling, our field will finally reach an improved understanding of human dose tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While usability tests have been helpful in evaluating the success or failure of implementing discovery layers in the library context, the focus of usability tests has remained on the search interface rather than the discovery process for users. The informal site-‐ and context specific usability tests have offered little to test the rigor of the discovery layers against the user goals, motivations and workflow they have been designed to support. This study proposes hierarchical task analysis (HTA) as an important complementary evaluation method to usability testing of discovery layers. Relevant literature is reviewed for the discovery layers and the HTA method. As no previous application of HTA to the evaluation of discovery layers was found, this paper presents the application of HTA as an expert based and workflow centered (e.g., retrieving a relevant book or a journal article) method to evaluating discovery layers. Purdue University's Primo by Ex Libris was used to map eleven use cases as HTA charts. Nielsen's Goal Composition theory was used as an analytical framework to evaluate the goal charts from two perspectives: a) users' physical interactions (i.e., clicks), and b) user's cognitive steps (i.e., decision points for what to do next). A brief comparison of HTA and usability test findings is offered as a way of conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 25 to 29 April 2020, the state of Indiana undertook testing of 3,658 randomly chosen state residents for the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, the agent causing COVID-19 disease. This was the first statewide randomized study of COVID-19 testing in the United States. Both PCR and serological tests were administered to all study participants. This paper describes statistical methods used to address nonresponse among various demographic groups and to adjust for testing errors to reduce bias in the estimates of the overall disease prevalence in Indiana. These adjustments were implemented through Bayesian methods, which incorporated all available information on disease prevalence and test performance, along with external data obtained from census of the Indiana statewide population. Both adjustments appeared to have significant impact on the unadjusted estimates, mainly due to upweighting data in study participants of non-White races and Hispanic ethnicity and anticipated false-positive and false-negative test results among both the PCR and antibody tests utilized in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensional convolutional neural network (3D-CNN) is proposed and applied to the identification of land types from hyperspectral images. Due to the advantages of the combined use of the spectral - spatial features of hyperspectral imagery, high accuracy identification of most objects can be realized. However, too many wavelengths increase information redundancy between adjacent bands and interfere with classification accuracy to some extent, complicating achievement of better results for the identification of ground objects with relatively small differences in spectral and spatial domains. To solve such problems, in this paper, the Jeffries-Matusita (J-M) distance is introduced to select effective bands to reduce the redundancy of spectral information for identifying objects with similar features. This method is based on a 3D-CNN considering pixel spectral and spatial information. The optimal band combination algorithm based on the J-M distance is first used to extract spectral features of hyperspectral data while reducing feature dimensions. Then, the 3D-CNN is applied to mine spectral and spatial features from the hyperspectral images. Finally, a Softmax classifier is used to classify land types based on the high-level features learned by the 3D-CNN. Experiments were carried out on data from an area of north-western Indiana and a Pavia university scene. In such images, some objects have very similar spectral and spatial features. The results were compared with the current 3D-CNN land type classification and show that both methods can achieve high-precision identification of most land types, but for objects with similar features, the method proposed in this article has obvious advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the case of a voluntary watershed project that addressed the need for improving water quality by reducing agricultural nutrient loss. The Beargrass Creek Watershed Approach Project in Wabash County, Indiana aimed to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve ambitious water quality goals and maximize the effectiveness of conservation funding through locally‐led efforts that bring together multiple stakeholders throughout the process. The project focused on implementing the "right practices" in the "right places" through a goal‐oriented, science‐based, and locally‐adapted approach to voluntary conservation. We examine and evaluate all three phases of the project and discuss successes and lessons learned from the point of view of both agricultural producers and agency staff from the local Soil and Water Conservation District and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two derecho-producing quasi-linear convective systems moved across northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana on the evening of 30 June 2014. Both produced damage across a large area, including a concentrated cluster in the Kankakee River Valley associated with two long-lived and adjacent mesovortices in the second derecho. Post-event surveys of this region revealed a widespread, complex damage pattern and initially documented 14 tornadoes of EF1 rating on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale, along with a swath of damaging nontornadic winds. Later, a number of uncertainties from the original surveys were examined in conjunction with high-resolution satellite imagery not available immediately after the event. Inconsistencies noted during this process led to an intensive reanalysis of the entire cluster using radar data, the original ground and aerial surveys, and the newly available satellite imagery. This new analysis concluded that at least 18 tornadoes impacted the Kankakee Valley, most with a path orientation different from the initial results. This paper details the reassessment process from initial motivation to final results, addresses potential sources of error, and discusses operational considerations stemming from such a prolifically tornadic event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specially in an agricultural design of experiment, the nature of the treatments may be such that the treatment received by a plot may influence the responses on the neighboring plots or the following plot in the same block. As an example of the second condition, the tall varieties may affect the other crops grown on the neighbor plots by their shades. Bailey ((2003). Designs for one-sided neighbor effect, Jour. Ind. Soc. Ag. Statistics, 56(3), 302–314) has developed such design concerned with the study of one sided neighbor effect, under the above mentioned second condition. This paper gives a new series of Universally Optimal One-Sided Circular Neighbor Balanced Designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G be a finite group and A ≤ Aut(G). The index |G:CG(A)| is called the index of A in G and is denoted by IndG(A). In this paper, we study the influence of IndG(A) on the structure of G and prove that [G, A] is solvable in case where A is cyclic, IndG(A) is squarefree and the orders of G and A are coprime. Moreover, for arbitrary A ≤ Aut(G) whose order is coprime to the order of G, we show that when [G;A] is solvable, the Fitting height of [G,A] is bounded above by the number of primes (counted with multiplicities) dividing IndG(A) and this bound is best possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work a new self-synchronized encryption method for 10 Gigabit optical links is proposed and developed. Necessary modifications to introduce this kind of encryption in physical layers based on 64b/66b encoding, such as 10 GBase-R, have been considered. The proposed scheme encrypts directly the 64b/66b blocks by using a symmetric stream cipher based on an FPE (Format Preserving Encryption) block cipher operating in PSCFB (Pipelined Statistical Cipher Feedback) mode. One of the main novelties in this paper is the security analysis done for this mode. For the first time, an expression for the IND-CPA (Indistinguishability under Chosen-Plaintext Attack) advantage of any adversary over this scheme has been derived. Moreover, it has been concluded that this mode can be considered secure in the same way of traditional modes are. In addition, the overall system has been simulated and implemented in an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). An encrypted optical link has been tested with Ethernet data frames, concluding that it is possible to cipher traffic at this level, getting maximum throughput and hiding traffic pattern from passive eavesdroppers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production technologies and carbon intensity of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is significantly different from those of domestic enterprises (DEs). However, there are few studies have paid attention to the enterprise ownerships in tracing the carbon emissions embodied in export (CEEE). This paper constructs a new decomposition framework of total export that considering the MNEs. Based on the OECD AMNE input-output table that distinguishing DEs and MNEs from 2005 to 2016 and the related carbon emissions data, it traces the carbon emissions embodied in Chinese mainland's exports based on the value-added trade. It separates Chinese mainland's domestic carbon emissions export (DCEE) that distinguishing enterprise ownerships, analyzes its changes, and further analyzes the differences of the DCEE between DEs and MNEs from the perspective of industrial distribution and export destinations. The results show that: (1) In addition to 2016, every year more than 10.0% of Chinese mainland's carbon emissions are used to meet the demand of foreign countries or regions, and the MNEs located in Chinese mainland has produced about 6.8%–11.1% of the DCEE. (2) About two-thirds of Chinese mainland's DCEE is produced by Chinese mainland's DEs through intermediate products export, and it is mainly concentrated in the basic metals industry, other non-metallic mineral products industry and chemicals and pharmaceutical products industry. (3) In terms of the DCEE through intermediate products export, the industrial distributions of the DEs and the MNEs are similar, and they both mainly concentrate in the three industries mentioned earlier; While for the final products export, it has much difference that labor-intensive processing trade is mainly produced by the DEs. (4) In terms of the main export destination regions of the DCEE, the DEs and MNEs are very similar both for the intermediate products export and the final products export. And ROW and USA are the biggest export destinations, followed by JPN, KOR, IND, GBR, DEU, etc. The research results of this article have important research significance for promoting the achievement of China's dual carbon goals. • Constructing a new decomposition framework of total export that considering the MNEs. • Tracing the carbon emissions embodied in Chinese mainland's exports based on the value-added trade. • The structure of the carbon emissions embodied in Chinese mainland's export is analyzed. • Analyzing the differences of the DCEE between DEs and MNEs from the perspective of industrial distribution. • Analyzing the differences of the DCEE between DEs and MNEs from the perspective of export destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of triaxial stress states with confining stresses between 5 and 30 MPa, including post-failure, on the alteration of intrinsic permeability of Indiana Limestone. The permeating fluid used in the experiments was distilled/de-aired water. Experimental results are used to develop an empirical state space model of permeability evolution due to the action of maximum and minimum principal stresses imposed on the sample. The developed empirical model is implemented in a computational code to examine the influence of stress-induced permeability alterations on the flow into an unlined cylindrical cavity located in a rock mass subjected to geostatic stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction cost overrun and time overrun (delay) are a significant problem in highway-construction project delivery. Previous research studies have provided insight into the factors that affect overruns; however the findings may have been limited because they do not explicitly consider the simultaneous relationship between cost and time overruns. In this paper, we use data from Indiana highway projects to provide empirical evidence that a simultaneous relationship exists between cost and time overruns and that analysis of these two contractual outputs need to take due cognizance of such simultaneity. Using the three-stage least-squares technique, we identify a number of factors that significantly affect cost overrun and time overrun and we show how the effect of these variables vary by attributes such as project type and results of the bidding process. The models developed in this paper can help agencies enhance the estimation of the expected overruns of final cost and the delay in completion time for their planned projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the objections of scientists towards the experimental design and conclusions of the insecticidal toxins from the Bacillus thringiensis study conducted by Emma Rosi-Marshall and colleagues in 12 streams in Indiana. It mentions that after the study has released, complaints about the paper had rippled through the research community. It states that behind the attacks on Rosi-Marshall's paper are scientists who are determined to prevent papers they view to have scientific flaws from influencing policy makers.

Warranty contracts are expected to enhance product quality and service life at lower life-cycle cost. Recognizing that such benefits could be offset by the generally higher costs of warranties, an assessment of the relative cost-effectiveness of warranty contracts compared to their traditional counterparts is currently of great interest. Using pavement data from Indiana, this paper evaluates the costs, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of warranty and traditional contracts. Effectiveness was measured in terms of pavement condition and treatment service life. The paper determined that the warranty contracts generally had higher agency costs but produced pavements with superior condition and service life, and lower construction periods and work-zone user costs, compared to their traditional counterparts. Over a 5-year period, the warranty contracts were found to be 27–30% less cost-effective than their traditional counterparts. Over the long term, the warranty contracts were found to be 70–90% more cost-effective on the basis of service life and 58–65% more cost-effective on the basis of both service life and pavement condition. The study results suggest that the higher long-term cost-effectiveness of warranty contracts is more perceptible when both cost and effectiveness are viewed over the entire life of the pavement treatment and when both agency and user cost are used in the cost analysis. The paper discusses certain aspects of such comparative evaluation studies that could lead to biased inferences and calls for careful screening of warranty and traditional contracts for such studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper by Chen et al. (IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 2837–2846, Apr. 2019), the authors proposed two fault-tolerant control strategies for T-type three-level inverters considering neutral-point (NP) voltage oscillations. However, some basic problems are worth being discussed about the proposed fault-tolerant control methods. This letter presents some comments and results concerning the paper by Chen et al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model curriculum, such as that developed by the ACM/SIGITE Curriculum Committee (2005), has two important functions. First, it provides a base structure for newly developing programs that can use it as a platform for articulating a curriculum. Second, it offers an existing curriculum framework that can be used for validation by existing programs. The model does not, however, reflect many of the characteristics and considerations necessary to build a fully-functional, effective and dynamic curriculum. Necessary components for a comprehensive curriculum that are discussed in this paper include adaptation to the institution's mission and other program goals, responsiveness to local and regional needs, sensitivity to the availability of expertise and other technical resources, and a mechanism for response to a continuously changing environment. This paper proposes a continuous improvement process framework for developing a comprehensive curriculum. The model consists of four phases: 1) Collect; 2) Evaluate; 3) Design; and 4) Implement. The Collect phase involves investigating current curricular standards, such as the SIGITE model curriculum, gathering data about the needs and desires of a program's stakeholders, and understanding the professional, technical and educational environment in which the curriculum will operate. The Evaluate phase integrates this data to develop a mission and set goals for the curriculum, define the outcomes expected of students, identify current and needed competencies, and specify other parameters that establish the foundation for an effective curriculum. The Design phase articulates the curriculum and assures that it is aligned with the goals, needs and resources identified. The Implement phase involves the establishment of the curriculum and a structure for governance and continuous evaluation and improvement. The cyclic nature of this model supports continuous improvement of the curriculum. Any established curriculum must be dynamic enough to adapt to the constantly changing information technology environment. Educators and curriculum administrators who are charged with effective curriculum design and delivery must be aware of new technologies and develop strategies for incorporating them as needed. Collecting data about the curriculum's effectiveness, especially the satisfaction with stakeholders, begins another iteration of the cyclic process, with the objective of continuous improvement. The model curriculum provides a valuable starting point, but program developers need to use the process model to define and build an effective, dynamic curriculum that is responsive to their stakeholders' needs initially and throughout the life of the program. Throughout this document, Purdue University's Computer and Information Technology department is used to describe specific components and techniques for implementing the proposed model. Other implementation techniques may appropriately be used to accomplish suggested goals of each model component. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Faculty internships, in which a faculty member works temporarily for a government organization or a private business, are a concept that is becoming popular at universities. This paper discusses how a faculty internship can be developed and implemented, and it reports on the advantages of the internship for academia, the sponsoring institution, and the professor. In addition, suggestions on structuring and implementing the internship are offered. The major objective of the paper is to encourage environmental health educators to seriously consider faculty internships as a means of bridging the gaps between academia and the business world. Faculty internships should be beneficial primarily for two groups of professors. First are those professors who, after earning doctorates, enter the teaching profession without any environmental health practicum experience. Second are those who once worked full time as environmental health practitioners but have been out of the field for a significant number of years with little or no contact with the "real world" of environmental health practice. The information presented is based on the experience of the author, who served as a faculty intern for the environmental health division of a county health department in rural west-central Indiana. Some of the benefits of faculty internships are improved teaching methods, practical experience, community contacts, and increased internship opportunities for students. The experience can enhance classroom theory for students, and the implementation of practice can be clarified for the educator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how a community-based archaeological project in Indianapolis, Indiana uses field excavation, documentary research, and oral knowledge to examine life across the color line. Local memory typically reduces Indianapolis' near-Westside to an overwhelmingly Black slum between 1860 and 1960, when most of the neighborhood was razed. Archaeological and historical research reveals that the area was actually a historically dynamic multicultural community with considerable neighborhood diversity. Archaeological research attempts to illuminate how and why urban renewal interests championed seeing this neighborhood landscape as Black and impoverished. The paper examines how this archaeological research is conducted between the University that now claims most of the near-Westside and African-American elders and a neighborhood association from the lone surviving residential neighborhood in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the major innovative financing techniques associated with federal funds, and their applicability for highway projects in Indiana. Before any innovative financing techniques could be applied, the impact analysis on project's economic parameters has to be performed. The evaluation of the use of a specific financing technique involves the computation and analysis of financial performance measures such as Net Present Value (NPV) and annual debt service of the agency, as many financing tools incur debt. In addition, the impact on user benefits and total project cost are studied. Possible revenue sources for debt service payment also are identified, and from a legal perspective, factors such as eligibility, authorization parties, and administration of financing assistance are addressed. The paper primarily focuses on major innovative financing techniques associated with federal funding: the Test and Evaluation Project 045 (TE-045 Program), Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle Bonds (GARVEE), the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), and the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB). Data from two proposed projects are used as case studies in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of maintaining infrastructure assets, asset management at both project- and network-levels has been the focus of hundreds of studies. Although these studies and previously developed asset management systems have pushed the boundaries of this field, these advances have been made separately without the ability to build upon one another. This paper puts forward the first open-source, extensible, freely accessible, and modular platform developed in Python, GIAMS, paving the way for researchers and practitioners to easily collaborate and contribute to future related research. Drawing upon related literature, this paper describes modules of GIAMS and illustrates their use with bridge components and models. One project-level lifecycle optimization and one network-level project-selection based on the Indiana, US, bridge network with more than 4600 bridges are provided to demonstrate the applicability of GIAMS. The modular and open-source nature of GIAMS makes it readily capable of further extension in a variety of asset management topics. • The first open-source and extensible platform is developed for asset management. • More than 4600 bridges are used to show the applicability of the developed platform. • The extensibility of GIAMS is demonstrated through three different examples. • GIAMS can accelerate and facilitate research in infrastructure asset management. • Practitioners can use an up-to-date and freely accessible asset management platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper intends to debate on several media representations of some current social and cultural identities in the USA starting from the controversy that the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act has recently generated. It is to establish the grounding of public opinion regarding the way in which American legislation understands to solve competing constitutional rights while attracting several important actors in the network of disputes over values like equality, freedom, pluralism, justice, democracy. It also comments on individual and community identity construction seen as an ongoing process of negotiation and mobilization of dichotomist beliefs and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]