Winds of Change across the Andes: An Introduction; Strategic Insights, v. 5, issue 2 (February 2006)

This article appeared in Strategic Insights, v.5, issue 2 (February 2006)Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A Metacognitive Approach to Out-of-Distribution Detection for Segmentation

Despite outstanding semantic scene segmentation in closed-worlds, deep neural networks segment novel instances poorly, which is required for autonomous agents acting in an open world. To improve out-of-distribution (OOD) detection for segmentation, we introduce a metacognitive approach in the form of a lightweight module that leverages entropy measures, segmentation predictions, and spatial context to characterize the segmentation model's uncertainty and detect pixel-wise OOD data in real-time. Additionally, our approach incorporates a novel method of generating synthetic OOD data in context with in-distribution data, which we use to fine-tune existing segmentation models with maximum entropy training. This further improves the metacognitive module's performance without requiring access to OOD data while enabling compatibility with established pre-trained models. Our resulting approach can reliably detect OOD instances in a scene, as shown by state-of-the-art performance on OOD detection for semantic segmentation benchmarks

A boxy bulge in the Milky Way. Inversion of the stellar statistics equation with 2MASS data

Inverting the stellar statistics equation from 2MASS star counts, we obtain the 3D density distribution of the Galactic bulge as well as its luminosity function in the K-band. This results in a boxy bulge with axial ratios 1:0.5:0.4 and a major axis angle with respect to the Sun-galactic center of $20^\circ-35^\circ$.Comment: 5 pages, accepted to be published in A&

Robotic Manipulation Datasets for Offline Compositional Reinforcement Learning

Offline reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising direction that allows RL agents to pre-train on large datasets, avoiding the recurrence of expensive data collection. To advance the field, it is crucial to generate large-scale datasets. Compositional RL is particularly appealing for generating such large datasets, since 1) it permits creating many tasks from few components, 2) the task structure may enable trained agents to solve new tasks by combining relevant learned components, and 3) the compositional dimensions provide a notion of task relatedness. This paper provides four offline RL datasets for simulated robotic manipulation created using the 256 tasks from CompoSuite [Mendez et al., 2022a]. Each dataset is collected from an agent with a different degree of performance, and consists of 256 million transitions. We provide training and evaluation settings for assessing an agent's ability to learn compositional task policies. Our benchmarking experiments on each setting show that current offline RL methods can learn the training tasks to some extent and that compositional methods significantly outperform non-compositional methods. However, current methods are still unable to extract the tasks' compositional structure to generalize to unseen tasks, showing a need for further research in offline compositional RL

When to cut corn

The object of the following experiment is to determine the proper time to cut corn, so as to get the most profitable returns from the crop. The ear is the most valuable part of the corn crop for the western farmer, but there is great value in the stover. Hence, it is important to know whether we can obtain both these values in full, or whether obtaining full value of the one necessitates a decrease in the value of the other. We selected twelve rows of Learning corn, of even quality and quantity, and long enough to make four shocks twelve hills square. These shock squares were laid off September 20th, and twenty stalks of even ripeness and size were selected and labeled on each square, that we might have samples that would represent the progress of ripening as nearly as possible

A feeding experiment for milk

This Feeding experiment indicates that corn meal fed with corn fodder, or corn ensilage, results in the more rapid decrease of milk, and its fat, and solids, than the advance in the period of lactation justifies. That corn meal fed with sorghum ensilage results in very rapid decrease in milk, and milk fat and solids, and that the combination is not profitable. That corn meal fed with roots and clover hay is palatable and gives good results, without considering the cost of feeds, that was not normal during the experiment

Experiment in feeding for milk

For the purpose of learning the comparative value of Iowa feeding stuffs for milk, an experiment has been conducted with eight cows during a space of sixty days. Upon taking possession of the Station and Farm the present management found corn fodder, corn ensilage, cane ensilage and roots, at their disposal, and resolved to begin a system of investigation that is intended to embrace everything grown on Iowa soils that can be profitably turned into milk and meats. We desired to study the farm animals with a view to learning their value, make tests of the yield of all the cows as regards quality and quantity of milk, so as to select, and reject, with intelligence, and put the herds upon the highest plane of usefulness. The Station and Farm had about thirty cows giving milk, and from these we selected eight whose milking seasons would not terminate during the time they would be under trial. Of the six distinct breeds on the grounds, we selected two thoroughbred Holsteins, Nos. 114 and 115, a grade Holstein No. 64, a thoroughbred Short horn No. 219, a grade Ayrshire and short horn No. 40, a grade Jersey No. 38, and two grade Short horns Nos. 3 and 37. The numbers are the names of the cows, all grades being numbered between one and one hundred, Holsteins between one hundred and two hundred, Short horns between two hundred and three hun-hundred, and, as we will use some of these cows in other experiments for future reports, we retain the numbers by which all the farm workmen know them

Autonomy in the Pursuit of Peace: Negotiating Territorial Accommodation in Indonesia and the Philippines

Scholarship on the advisability of territorial accommodation in conflict-torn societies prioritises attention to the political and identity-based factors that fuel societal divisions and often complicate the success of such forms of accommodation. Yet these divisions are themselves shaped by the boundaries that delineate who lives within the territory being accommodated. Here we focus on the critical question of whether the borders of the territorial unit to potentially receive autonomy are clearly demarcated when peace is established or, instead, form an essential and continued part of the post-conflict space. Where demarcation remains unsettled, elites will encourage perceptions of societal differences – among identity groups, insurgent factions, and political networks – that subsequently lead to conflict continuation or re-emergence. To evaluate this argument, we leverage two similar cases – Aceh in Indonesia and Mindanao in the Philippines – where much of the conventional wisdom fails to explain divergent outcomes in trajectories of peace and conflict

Pattern of joint damage in persons with knee osteoarthritis and concomitant ACL tears.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological changes of the lateral meniscus in end-stage lateral compartment osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. METHODS: One hundred fifty-eight knee joints from 133 patients that subsequently underwent total knee joint arthroplasty from January 2008 to December 2009 were enrolled. There were 26 men and 107 women. Their ages ranged from 56 to 81 (mean 67.4 + 6.5 years). All study participants had complete obliteration of the lateral joint space identified by weight-bearing radiography. Meniscal position was assessed by measuring meniscal subluxation and meniscal height. The meniscal morphology was assessed using a modification of the whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS). The frequency of different meniscal morphology and their respective positions was calculated. RESULTS: The predominant type (42.4%, 53.8% and 52.5% in the anterior horn, mid-body and posterior horn, respectively) of abnormal meniscal morphology was a complete maceration/destruction or complete resection. The anterior horn of non-macerated lateral meniscus was more subluxed than that of the non-macerated medial meniscus in patients with lateral OA. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the lateral meniscus in persons with end-stage lateral OA are mostly macerated or destroyed. Also, unlike isolated end-staged medial compartment OA, the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus in isolated end-stage lateral OA is commonly affected. Copyright 2011 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Pattern of joint damage in persons with knee osteoarthritis and concomitant ACL tears.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological changes of the lateral meniscus in end-stage lateral compartment osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. METHODS: One hundred fifty-eight knee joints from 133 patients that subsequently underwent total knee joint arthroplasty from January 2008 to December 2009 were enrolled. There were 26 men and 107 women. Their ages ranged from 56 to 81 (mean 67.4 + 6.5 years). All study participants had complete obliteration of the lateral joint space identified by weight-bearing radiography. Meniscal position was assessed by measuring meniscal subluxation and meniscal height. The meniscal morphology was assessed using a modification of the whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS). The frequency of different meniscal morphology and their respective positions was calculated. RESULTS: The predominant type (42.4%, 53.8% and 52.5% in the anterior horn, mid-body and posterior horn, respectively) of abnormal meniscal morphology was a complete maceration/destruction or complete resection. The anterior horn of non-macerated lateral meniscus was more subluxed than that of the non-macerated medial meniscus in patients with lateral OA. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the lateral meniscus in persons with end-stage lateral OA are mostly macerated or destroyed. Also, unlike isolated end-staged medial compartment OA, the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus in isolated end-stage lateral OA is commonly affected. Copyright 2011 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved