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For the first time, a cutin-like, highly chemically resistant macropolymer has been isolated from rachises of Karinopteris sp. (lyginopteridalean pteridosperm, Middle Pennsylvanian). Samples are obtained from a cuticular or "paper" coal-shale, i.e., an organic-rich and highly clastic rock associated with the Upper Block Coal Member of the Brazil Formation, Parke County, west-central Indiana, U.S.A. Karinopteris specimens are preserved as naturally oxidized compressions, termed "fossilized cuticles", and possibly represent vegetation of mineral substrate environments. Employing laboratory oxidation reactions, the fossilized cuticle of Karinopteris rachises is used to obtain the cuticle. After additional and long-term oxidation treatment, the cuticle yields the cutin-like macropolymer, here referred to as "cutin" for simplicity. The fossilized cuticle, cuticle, and cutin samples of Karinopteris sp. are chemically analyzed using semi-quantitative Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Cutin IR spectra of Karinopteris rachises are characterized by (a) a predominantly aliphatic composition as indicated by intense aliphatic (CH al) C H stretching peaks at 3000–2700 cm−1, which are assigned to methylene (CH 2) and methyl (CH 3) groups; (b) carbonyl (C=O) groups at 1730–1640 cm−1, and aromatic carbon (C=C) absorption bands at 1600–1500 cm−1. A comparison with the cuticle, the cutin stands out due to relatively higher values of CH 2 /CH 3 and C=O/C=C, while displaying notably low values of CH al /C=O and C C contribution. Specifically, the relatively low value of CH al /C=O ratio obtained for the cutin of Karinopteris rachises is consistent with those found in the cutin of extant and fossil leaves. This lower CH al /C=O ratio indicates the important role likely played by C O groups in creating a deformable and flexible structure in both the cutin and the cuticle. Such a reduced rigidity suggests a high level of rachis flexibility of the once-living Karinopteris plant, supporting the interpretation of a climbing or liana habit. Cutin isolation and its chemical characterization shed light on the probable biomechanical (flexibility) properties of Karinopteris rachises, thereby enhancing our understanding of the plant growth habit. [Display omitted] • First-time spectroscopic study of Indiana "paper" coal (Pennsylvanian, U.S.A.). • Cutin polymer is obtained from fossilized cuticles of Karinopteris rachises. • Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy supplies chemical data. • Cutin is mainly aliphatic with highly crossed-linked ester carbonyl (C=O) bonds. • High C O contents suggest a liana-like Karinopteris plant with flexible rachises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic examiners must determine whether both latent fingerprint development and DNA profiling can be performed on the same area of an evidence item and, if only one is possible, which examination offers the best chance for identification. Latent fingerprints can be enhanced by targeting different components of fingerprint residues with sequential chemical treatments. This study investigated the effects of single‐reagent and sequential latent fingerprint development processes on downstream DNA analysis to determine the point at which latent fingerprint development should be stopped to allow for DNA recovery. Latent fingerprints deposited on copy paper by one donor were developed using three sequential processes: 1,8‐diazafluoren‐9‐one (DFO) → ninhydrin → physical developer (PD); 1,2‐indanedione‐zinc (IND‐Zn) → ninhydrin → PD; and IND‐Zn → ninhydrin → Oil Red O (ORO) → PD. Samples were examined after the addition of each chemical treatment. DNA was collected with cotton swabs, extracted, quantified, and amplified. DNA yields, peak heights, number of alleles obtained, and percentage of DNA profiles eligible for CODIS upload were examined. DNA profiles were obtained with varying degrees of success, depending on the number and type of treatments used for latent fingerprint development. The treatments that were found to be the least harmful to downstream DNA analysis were IND‐Zn and IND‐Zn/laser, and the most detrimental treatments were DFO, DFO/laser, and PD. In general, as the number of treatments increase, the opportunities for DNA loss or damage also increase, and it is preferable to use fewer treatments when developing latent fingerprints prior to downstream DNA processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic pain is a common feature of hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), yet how patients assess and communicate their pain remains poorly understood. The objective of the present study was to explore the use of numeric pain assessment in individuals with hEDS, from a patient-centered perspective. Our analysis is based on in-depth qualitative interviews. The interviews were conducted over the phone. Our participants were patients living with hEDS (N = 35). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to identify factors related to their use of these pain assessment instruments. Three primary themes emerged from these data, namely, (1) confusion around the quantification of multidimensional pain, (2) the subjectivity of pain experience, and (3) a strategic use of assessments for practical purposes beyond the accurate representation of pain. These results demonstrate the need for caution in relying exclusively on numeric pain assessment instruments. We conclude with a brief proposal for a clinical communication strategy that may help to address the limitations of numeric pain assessment that were identified in our interviews. Chronic pain is a common feature of hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), yet how patients assess and communicate their pain remains poorly understood. Clinicians should be aware that patients have difficulties with the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for at least three reasons: (1) confusion around the quantification of multidimensional pain, (2) the subjectivity of pain experience, and (3) a strategic use of assessments for practical purposes beyond the accurate representation of pain. Clinicians should use caution in relying exclusively on NRS instruments. Clinicians may benefit from using clinical communication strategies outlined in our paper, which may help to address the limitations of the NRS that were identified in our interviews. [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]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense and immeasurable disruption to billions of lives worldwide, and the strain on healthcare workers and facilities will undoubtedly be seen for years to come. Many factors impact the incidence and prevalence of COVID-19 in states, such as policies and legislation, funding, partisanship of the statehouse, vaccination rates, and rurality. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the differences in the daily positive cases between Indiana and Washington State and examine the respective ways each state tried to mitigate the morbidity and mortality of the virus. Indiana and Washington State were chosen as the states have similar populations in different geographical locations in the country and varying responses to the pandemic. Data was obtained from the respective state health departments over a period of two and a half years from March 2020 to December 2022. Independent t-tests were used for the analysis of the data between Indiana and Washington. Overall, Indiana had a higher daily positive case rate when compared to Washington. Indiana had a lower vaccination rate and had more hospitalizations and deaths compared to Washington and the US population as a whole. The difference in the findings of each state could be attributed to the partisanship of the state and the ways in which partisanship influences the enacting of legislation and policies intended to mitigate disease, as well as public health funding allocated by the state. [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]

Global warming caused by excessive emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) has become a hot topic globally in today's society, and optimizing carbon emission performance (CEP) is an effective way to alleviate CO2 emissions. Many studies have explored CEP at the global, national, provincial and sector levels. However, due to the difficulty in obtaining energy consumption data, there is a lack of studies at the urban agglomeration and city levels. Taking the urban agglomeration dimension as the starting point, this paper constructs an improved epsilon-based measure (EBM) model to measure the CEP of the Yellow River Basin. A spatial data analysis model was introduced to explore the regional spatial characteristics of CEP. The newly developed spatial statistical model was used to study the driving factors of CEP. The results showed that: (1) The overall CEP of the Yellow River Basin was relatively high, showing an upward trend of volatility. There were significant differences between the seven urban agglomerations and 69 cities. (2) The CEP of the Yellow River Basin showed a trend of spatial agglomeration. The urban agglomerations of the eastern region showed a low-value agglomeration phenomenon, and the urban agglomerations of the central and western regions showed a trend of high-value agglomeration. (3) Economic development level (PGGDP), technological progress (TP), industrialization level (IND) and human capital (HC) can play a positive role in promoting the improvement in CEP, and population structure (PD) and energy structure (ES) can play a negative role in promoting the improvement in CEP. Industrial agglomeration (IA) and CEP show a "U"-shaped relationship that first inhibits and then promotes. In addition, foreign direct investment (FDI), IND, and HC have significant spatial spillover effects on neighboring cities. [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]

In this paper, we study the interior C^{2} estimates for a type of Hessian quotient equation. If k

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]

Let X be a Banach space with a normalized (Schauder) basis (b k) k and let { T (t) } t ≥ 0 be a C 0 -semigroup on X with generator A : D (A) ⊂ X → X . The main contribution of this paper is a new estimate for the semigroup orbits of initial data in D (A 2) that have with respect to (b k) k "absolutely summable graph norm." This result is noteworthy because (1) there is no requirement that z ↦ R (z , A) x has a bounded analytic extension to C + [e.g. Van Neerven (Semigroup Forum 53(2):155–161, 1996)] and (2) the only structural condition on X is the existence of (b k) k [e.g. Wrobel (Indiana Univ. Math. J. 38(1):101–114, 1989)]. Two directions for additional research are in some detail discussed as well at the end of this paper. [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]

In the previous paper by Alt et al (1984 Indiana Univ. Math. J. 33 367â€"91), the existence of the symmetric plane flows of two fluids with two free boundaries has been established by variational approach. However, the uniqueness of the two-phase fluids with two free boundaries is an unsolved problem. In the present paper, we will deal with the uniqueness of the two-phase fluids. In addition, if we assume that the two nozzles both converge, we shall show the monotonicity of the two free boundaries of the incompressible two-phase fluids issuing from these two nozzles. [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]

Reinforcement learning (RL) has recently been adopted by infrastructure asset management (IAM) researchers for adding flexibility regarding uncertainties in preventive actions decision-making. However, this relatively recent line of research has not incorporated other sources of uncertainties, such as hazards apart from deterioration patterns, nor has such research considered managerial aspects of IAM, such as stakeholders' utilities. This paper aims to provide a holistic framework that draws upon recent developments in IAM systems and microworlds, employs RL model training, and considers deterioration, hazards, and cost fluctuations as the main sources of uncertainties while also adopting managerial aspects into decision-making. Consistent with the existing practice of IAM, this framework brings flexibility in the face of uncertainties to the IAM decision-making process. Multi-agent RL models based on deep Q networks and actor-critic models are constructed and trained for taking intervention actions regarding elements of a real bridge in Indiana through its life cycle. Both models could lead to higher expected utilities and lower costs compared to the optimal maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (MRR) plans obtained by Monte Carlo simulation and heuristic optimization algorithms. The proposed framework can assist decision-making bodies and managers in the IAM domain with making updateable optimal and more realistic decisions based on the updated state of various complex uncertainties in a negligible amount of time. Long-term strategic intervention actions are vital for maintaining the safety of degraded infrastructure assets. Traditionally, these strategic plans are derived through using optimization methods for maximizing stakeholders' utilities, improving the safety of the network, and minimizing costs and risks associated with catastrophic events. The main drawback, and perhaps the biggest reported challenge, of this approach is the lack of flexibility in the face of the updated state of uncertain phenomena, such as the condition of assets and volatile costs. Simply put, the rare outcomes of unprecedented events can render optimal strategies useless. This study promotes the application of artificial intelligence-based agents for taking updateable decisions given the newly-observed state of all uncertain factors. Based on the results of the case study, the proposed framework was found able to reduce costs by up to 7% during the management horizon. This reduction in costs can be translated into saving millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on a community scale. The theoretically well-founded and practically applicable proposed framework could measurably enhance the management of various infrastructure assets. Given that it can be tailored to other decision-making processes under uncertainty, the proposed framework can be similarly applied to other complex managerial problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use GIS and 2D geometric morphometrics to explore landscape use and social interaction among Kirk Cluster populations in the lower Ohio River valley. Using cultural transmission as a theoretical foundation, we develop models for identifying assemblages produced by macroband aggregations. We show that two distinct populations occupied northern Indiana and southwestern Kentucky. Intensively occupied sites in these areas are situated in near-upland settings in close proximity to a variety of resources including chert, higher order rivers, and sinkholes. In contrast, the Butterfield site in central Kentucky lies in the lowlands with the Green River as the only obvious resource. Analyses reveal that Butterfield was a macroband aggregation site visited by populations from Indiana, but groups from southwestern Kentucky only minimally participated in aggregations at Butterfield. Results further show that the Ohio River was not a barrier to social interaction in the Early Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global existence and convergence rates of solutions to the three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations without heat conductivity have been obtained since Duan and Ma [Indiana Univ. Math. J., 5 (2008), pp. 2299-2319]. However, as far as we know, how to construct the global small solutions to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations without heat conductivity in R² is still an open problem. In the present paper, we give a positive answer in Rn (n=2,3) with the initial data restricted in the Besov spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores cosmopsychism's explanatory aspirations from a programmatic perspective. The bulk of the text consists of an argument in favor of the conclusion that cosmopsychism suffers from no insurmountable  individuation  problem (IND). I argue that the widespread tendency to view IND as a mirror-image of micropsychism's combination problem (CP) is mistaken. In particular, what renders CP insolvable, namely, the commitment to the  coupling  of phenomenal constitution with phenomenal inclusion, is, from the standpoint of cosmopsychism, an entirely nonmandatory assumption. I proceed to show that  severing  this unhappy coupling is the key for defending cosmopsychism against the charge of theoretical incoherence. Moreover, I argue that successful defense against such accusation could be mounted regardless of whether or not we assume cosmic consciousness to be perspectival in nature. In addition, the paper touches upon another foundational issue: cautioning against the popular tendency to identify cosmopsychism's  monism  with a mereological unity-in-diversity, and motivating an alternative conception which I call  generative  monism. Finally, as befitting this volume, I pause to reflect upon the question of which schools of Hindu philosophy might tally best, and connect most fruitfully, with cosmopsychism as I understand it. [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]

In this study, three typical limestones, including Tavel limestone, Indiana limestone, and Lixhe chalk, were selected from a large number of porous limestones. These limestones with different porosities have been largely studied in previous experimental investigations because of the complexity of mechanical behavior. According to previous experimental studies, porous limestones present two basic plastic mechanisms: plastic shear as a response at low confining pressures and plastic pore collapse at high confining pressures. In related to the plastic mechanisms, two types of plastic volumetric deformation are revealed: plastic compaction induced by pore collapse, and plastic dilatancy by plastic shearing. In this paper, a micromechanics-based plastic model is extended to describe the elastoplastic behavior of porous limestones. The plastic criterion of porous rock is explicitly dependent on the porosity in addition to being directly based on the relevant mechanical properties of solid matrix at the microscopic scale. An additional plastic hardening law for the solid matrix is proposed, in which two plastic deformation mechanisms are considered in hardening law of the solid matrix, including hardening effect caused by the local equivalent plastic deformation and weakening effect caused by the increase in porosity. Three typical porous limestones with different porosity are selected to validate the proposed model on both hydrostatic and triaxial compression tests. By comparing numerical predictions and experimental data, it is shown that the presented model can correctly describe the mechanical behavior of porous rocks. Highlights: Limestones with different porosities have been largely studied in previous experimental investigations because of the complexity of mechanical behavior. In related to the plastic mechanisms, two types of plastic volumetric deformation are revealed: plastic compaction induced by pore collapse, and plastic dilatancy by plastic shearing. A micromechanics-based plastic model is extended to describe the elastoplastic behavior of porous limestones. The plastic criterion of porous rock is explicitly dependent on the porosity in addition to being directly based on the relevant mechanical properties of solid matrix at the microscopic scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will establish the existence and the Hölder regularity of the local time of the Brownian bridge. Our results are obtained by using a result on Malliavin calculus in [K. Es-Sebaiy, D. Nualart, Y. Ouknine and C. A. Tudor, Occupation densities for certain processes related to fractional Brownian motion, Stochastics 82 2010, 1–3, 133–147] for a Gaussian process with an absolutely continuous random drift, jointly with the classical approach based on the concept of local nondeterminism for Gaussian processes introduced by Berman [S. M. Berman, Local nondeterminism and local times of Gaussian processes, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 23 1973/74, 69–94]. [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]

Rainwater may penetrate through the cladding, enter the wall assembly, and cause damage to the façade components and interior finishes, which are moisture sensitive, most of the time. In the current paper, the performance assessment of a skylight with a full-scale mock-up has been evaluated. The mock-up was erected for an actual project to verify the acceptance criteria for the skylight's technical, functional, and architectural details. The test was conducted at the Aluminum Technology Auxiliary Ind. (ALUTEC) facility in the Industrial Zone, Doha, Qatar. The fabricated full-scale mock-up has a rectangular plane configuration of 6.625 m (length) by 3.315 m (width) that belongs to a skylight measuring 36 m by 18 m. The ASTM E283, ASTM E331, and ASTM E330 standards were followed during the experiment. Air infiltration/exfiltration, static water penetration, structural performance, post-structural static water penetration, and structural proof loading tests were performed in an airtight chamber. After recording the residual displacements, the test findings for all the make-up components, namely steel tubes, glass, and aluminum sandwich panels, were determined and found within acceptable limits. [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]

This paper is concerned with chemotaxis systems with flux limitation u t = Δ u − ∇ ⋅ (u (1 + | ∇ v | 2) (α − 2) / 2 ∇ v) , 0 = Δ v − ⨏ Ω u d x + u for some α < 2 , subjected to homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a bounded domain Ω ⊂ R N (N ⩾ 3). Due to Winkler [M.Winkler, Indiana Univ. Math. J., 71 (2022), 1437–1465], the systems with radial assumptions admit a critical exponent N / (N − 1) for finite-time blowup. We further consider the radial solutions blowing up under supercritical settings α ∈ [ N / (N − 1) , 2) and show that if large initial data is strictly more concentrated than its average mass in an appropriate sense, then the solution blows up in finite time when α ∈ (N / (N − 1) , 2) , and the solution is unbounded when α = N / (N − 1) , whereas small homogeneous steady states are locally asymptotically stable. • Initial conditions are relaxed for blowup of chemotaxis systems with limited flux. • Chemotaxis system with critical flux limitation admits unbound radial solutions. • Large homogeneous steady states are unstable with (super)critical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hedged public-key encryption (HPKE), introduced by Bellare et al. (ASIACRYPT 2009), provides useful security when the per-message randomness fails to be uniform due to faulty implementations or adversarial actions. The HPKE scheme achieves IND-CPA (chosen plaintext attack) security when the randomness they used is of high quality, but, when the randomness is poor quality, rather than breaking completely, it achieves a weaker but a useful notion of security called IND-CDA (chosen distribution attack) as long as the message and randomness together have sufficient min-entropy. However, little research on HPKE in the presence of key leakage was done. In this paper, we study HPKE featuring key leakage-resilience and formulate appropriate security notion for key leakage-resilient HPKE. We work in the continual key leakage model where the secret key is refreshed periodically and an adversary can learn arbitrary but bounded leakage on the secret key between the updates. We present two generic constructions of continual leakage-resilient HPKE in the standard model by using a continual leakage-resilient all-but-one lossy trapdoor function. Finally, we give an instantiation of leakage-resilient HPKE under the linear assumption in bilinear groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this survey was to investigate how flossing and rinsing behaviors impact individual beliefs about oral disease risk, the efficacy of floss and mouthrinse, and the perceived benefits and barriers of floss and mouthrinse. Methods: Participants in this required component of a 12-week plaque and gingivitis randomized clinical trial on flossing and rinsing regimens completed a paper questionnaire prior to randomization and baseline/screening measurements. Results: All of the clinical trial participants (n=213) completed the questionnaire. Respondents were grouped as habitual or non-habitual users of floss or mouthrinse if the product was used at least once daily; 16% (n=34) were habitual users of floss and 17% (n=36) were habitual users of mouthrinse. Perceived barriers included fear of gingival bleeding and pain, forgetting, and not including flossing or rinsing as part of the daily oral care routine. Non-habitual users were less likely to believe in the intangible benefits of flossing or rinsing and much more likely to perceive barriers to using floss or mouthrinse. Risk perception of developing oral disease was not shown to predict product usage. Respondents viewed their risk of developing gingivitis as relatively low despite this diagnosis being confirmed clinically among the participants. Conclusion: While respondents strongly believed that brushing, flossing, and mouthrinse use carry unique benefits and that combining all three methods would be optimal, these respondents still had high perceived barriers to using floss and mouthrinse regularly and consequently these habits were not included in their daily oral hygiene regimen. Understanding the perceptions regarding oral health behaviors may help drive more effective interventions and assist practitioners in improving their patients' oral health outcomes. [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]

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]

Geodesic trapping is an obstruction to dispersive estimates for solutions to the Schrödinger equation. Surprisingly little is known about solutions to the Schrödinger equation on manifolds with degenerate trapping, since the conditions for degenerate trapping are not stable under perturbations. In this paper we extend some of the results of Christianson and Metcalfe [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 63 (2014), pp. 969–992] on inflection-transmission type trapping on warped product manifolds to the case of multi -warped products. The main result is that the trapping on one cross section does not interact with the trapping on other cross sections provided the manifold has only one infinite end and only inflection-transmission type trapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of Things (IoT) has been introduced into smart grids, which has achieved great improvement. The statistics of power consumption is one of the important functions but could lead to the leakage of user daily behaviour. Researchers have put efforts into secure data aggregation protocols to avoid such potential risk. However, only a few schemes have considered the dynamic unit price of electricity, and no schemes have been designed for calculating the power consumption of every appliance in a specific area. This paper proposes a novel appliance-based data aggregation scheme (ABDAS) for bill generation and demand management in smart grids. In the proposed scheme, chameleon hash function (CHF) is utilised to facilitate the extraction of aggregated data due to the characteristic of collision controllability. Furthermore, indistinguishability obfuscation (IO) is utilised to keep the chameleon hash value secret and decrease the overhead of the trusted third party. The fog nodes (FNs) in our scheme are responsible for the calculation of aggregation with its powerful computing and storage capabilities. The security analysis shows that our scheme satisfies IND-CPA and multiple security goals. Additionally, the performance evaluation indicates that the computational overhead of our scheme is lower than that of existing schemes. [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]

In this paper, we establish the endpoint estimate ( 0 < p ≤ 1) for a trilinear pseudo-differential operator, where the symbol involved is given by the product of two standard symbols from the bilinear Hörmander class BS1,00. The study of this operator is motivated from the Lp (1 < p < ∞) estimates for the trilinear Fourier multiplier operator with flag singularities considered in [C. Muscalu, Paraproducts with flag singularities. I. A case study, Rev. Mat. Iberoam. 23 2007, 2, 705–742] and Hardy space estimates in [A. Miyachi and N. Tomita, Estimates for trilinear flag paraproducts on L∞ and Hardy spaces, Math. Z. 282 2016, 1–2, 577–613], and the Lp ( 1 < p < ∞) estimates for the trilinear pseudo-differential operator with flag symbols in [G. Lu and L. Zhang, Lp-estimates for a trilinear pseudo-differential operator with flag symbols, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 66 2017, 3, 877–900]. More precisely, we will show that the trilinear pseudo-differential operator with flag symbols defined in (1.3) maps from the product of local Hardy spaces to the Lebesgue space, i.e., hp1 × hp2 × hp3 → Lp with 1/p1 + 1/p2 + 1/p3 = 1/p with 0 < p < ∞ (see Theorem 1.6 and Theorem 1.7). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unified geometric approach for the stability analysis of traveling pulse solutions for reaction diffusion equations with skew-gradient structure has been established in a previous paper (see Paul Cornwell [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 68 (2019), pp. 1801-1832]), but essentially no results have been found in the case of traveling front solutions. In this work, we will bridge this gap. For such cases, a Maslov index of the traveling wave is well-defined, and we will show how it can be used to provide the spectral information of the waves. As an application, we use the same index providing the exact number of unstable eigenvalues of the traveling front solutions of FitzHugh-Nagumo equations. [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]

As part of the implementation of Family First Preservation Services Act, and to meet legal requirements set by the Indiana State Legislature in 2019, Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) implemented Indiana Family Preservation Services (INFPS) to maintain children in the home when it is deemed safe to do so. This paper explores the effects of INFPS on child removal episodes and repeat maltreatment. This study compares all children and families receiving INFPS between January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021 to a similar cohort of in-home cases that opened between January 1, 2019 and March 31, 2019. Contribution analysis and a quasi-experimental design are employed by using administrative records and survey data collected from service providers. INFPS is associated with reduced repeat maltreatment by about 3–4 % at the case-level and about 2–3 % at the child-level. In contrast to repeat maltreatment, in both case-level and child-level analyses, INFPS was not significantly associated with decreased likelihood of child removal. Overall, these results identify short-term effectiveness of INFPS on reducing repeat maltreatment during the treatment period. Results highlight the potential utility of INFPS to improving such outcomes, through increased use of evidence-based practices (EBP). Current findings demonstrate the need for continued research on the long-term effects of INFPS on child and family outcomes. • Adherence to INFPS EBP fidelity metrics were met by most service providers. • INFPS reduced rates of repeat maltreatment in the treatment population. • Results emphasize the need to support child safety throughout cases. • Disproportionality via service provision remains a barrier under INFPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mineral reactions were observed during water injection into carbonate core samples. • The core samples did not contain any clay minerals. • The mineral reactions dissolved intergranular cement dislodging the rock grains. • The mineral reactions dissolved the grain's surface, releasing silicate fines. • Redistribution of dislodged fines and migration of silicate fines caused clogging. Water injection into an aquifer is generally motivated by one of three objectives: disposal, managed aquifer recharge (MAR), or aquifer storage and recovery (ASR). Any of these would be undermined if an injection well were to become clogged. This paper investigates whether mineral reactions can cause mobilization of fines and rock grains, and if so, how this would affect clogging. Injection experiments are performed on Edwards Brown (dolomite) and Indiana limestone core samples. X-ray Powder Diffraction analysis of the rocks shows that no clays are present. Filtered-deaired deionized water and pure salts are used to prepare the injection fluids. The core samples are subjected to four sequential injections of fluids: at salinities 44,580 mg/L (referred to as "seawater"), 14,860 mg/L, 7,430 mg/L, and 0 mg/L (deionized water). These salinities are selected to represent disposal, and less saline fluids to represent MAR and ASR projects. Pressure difference is recorded across the core sample at each stage and is used to calculate permeability. The effluent samples are collected to characterize produced fines and elements. The increase in the pH of the effluent samples suggest mineral reactions, which is supported by an increase in the concentration of chemical elements in the effluent samples. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images show pore enlargement due to dissolution and depict pore blockage due to fines migration, grains redistribution, and mineral precipitation. Mineral reactions dissolved the grain's surface and intergranular cement, releasing silicate fines and rock grains, which in turn reduce the permeability of the rock by 68 % to 99.9 %. [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]

Initializations of the petrophysical parameters significantly affect the results of reactive transport simulations on unstable dissolution fronts. As the phenomenon arises from the inherent heterogeneity of the rocks, heterogenous initialization of the petrophysical fields is needed to model such a phenomenon. While modeling of unstable dissolution fronts has been extensively studied in the past, the geostatistical information required to initialize the heterogeneous petrophysical fields is usually assumed and still missing. The objective of this paper is to acquire such information for Indiana limestones on a core-scale. This is done by combining high resolution tomography with pore scale calculations to determine: i) the rock minimum representative volume (REV), ii) the frequency distributions of the petrophysical parameters, namely; porosity, permeability, and reactive surface area, iii) the relationships between the petrophysical parameters, and iv) the rock spatial correlation model and lengths. The results obtained should help reduce the uncertainties associated with petrophysical initialization of core-scale reactive transport simulations of carbonate rocks in general, and Indiana limestones in particular. • Petrophysical heterogeneity of 8 limestone cores were characterized using Digital Rock Physics. • Representative Elementary Volume was found to be between [1 mm]3 and [2 mm]3. • Petrophysical parameters relationships and frequency distributions were calculated. • An exponential covariance model was found to best describe the porosity field. • Correlation length was found to be a strong function of the grid cell size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opioid overdoses require a rapid response, but emergency responders are limited in how quickly they can arrive at the scene for administering naloxone. If laypersons are trained to administer naloxone and are notified of overdoses, more lives can be saved. This study aimed to examine the feasibility of the Opioid Rapid Response System (ORRS) that recruits, trains, and links citizen responders to overdose events in their community in real-time to administer naloxone. Aim of this paper is to present the protocols for recruiting participants through multiple communication channels; developing and evaluating the online training which has both interactive and asynchronous modules; randomly assigning laypersons to either online naloxone training or waitlist control group; measuring participants' knowledge, skills, and attitudes before and after the training; and distributing intranasal naloxone kits to participants for use in events of overdose in their community. Sampling: Utilizing a combination of purposive sampling methods, laypersons from across five Indiana counties who did not self-identify as current first responders were invited to participate. Design: In this two-arm randomized waitlist-controlled study (N = 220), individuals were assigned into either online training or waitlist control that received the training two weeks later. Analysis: A linear mixed model will be used for determining the changes in targeted outcomes in the training group and accommodate for fixed and random effects. While ORRS can become a community-engaged, cost-effective model for technology-based emergency response for opioid overdoses, study protocols can be useful for other emergency response programs that involve laypersons. ClinicalTrials.gov Registration Number: NCT04589676 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]