Infrared Imagery Scanning Systems For Censusing Big Game

The primary objective of this study was to explore the potential of an airborne infrared scanner for the census of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Intermountain West. Flight altitude was varied in hopes of achieving species separation, and ground studies were conducted, using a hand-held radiometer and captive deer, to find the optimum time of morning to census. The problems and potentialities of infrared imagery scanning systems for censusing big game are discussed and compared to visual aerial census methods

Improved sampling of the pareto-front in multiobjective genetic optimizations by steady-state evolution: a Pareto converging genetic algorithm

Previous work on multiobjective genetic algorithms has been focused on preventing genetic drift and the issue of convergence has been given little attention. In this paper, we present a simple steady-state strategy, Pareto Converging Genetic Algorithm (PCGA), which naturally samples the solution space and ensures population advancement towards the Pareto-front. PCGA eliminates the need for sharing/niching and thus minimizes heuristically chosen parameters and procedures. A systematic approach based on histograms of rank is introduced for assessing convergence to the Pareto-front, which, by definition, is unknown in most real search problems. We argue that there is always a certain inheritance of genetic material belonging to a population, and there is unlikely to be any significant gain beyond some point; a stopping criterion where terminating the computation is suggested. For further encouraging diversity and competition, a nonmigrating island model may optionally be used; this approach is particularly suited to many difficult (real-world) problems, which have a tendency to get stuck at (unknown) local minima. Results on three benchmark problems are presented and compared with those of earlier approaches. PCGA is found to produce diverse sampling of the Pareto-front without niching and with significantly less computational effort

Differential medial temporal lobe morphometric predictors of item- and relational-encoded memories in healthy individuals and in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

INTRODUCTION:Episodic memory processes are supported by different subregions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). In contrast to a unitary model of memory recognition supported solely by the hippocampus, a current model suggests that item encoding engages perirhinal cortex, whereas relational encoding engages parahippocampal cortex and the hippocampus. However, this model has not been examined in the context of aging, neurodegeneration, and MTL morphometrics. METHODS:Forty-four healthy subjects (HSs) and 18 cognitively impaired subjects (nine mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and nine Alzheimer's disease [AD] patients) were assessed with the relational and item-specific encoding task (RISE) and underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging. The RISE assessed the differential contribution of relational and item-specific memory. FreeSurfer was used to obtain measures of cortical thickness of MTL regions and hippocampus volume. RESULTS:Memory accuracies for both item and relational memory were significantly better in the HS group than in the MCI/AD group. In MCI/AD group, relational memory was disproportionately impaired. In HSs, hierarchical regressions demonstrated that memory was predicted by perirhinal thickness after item encoding, and by hippocampus volume after relational encoding (both at trend level) and significantly by parahippocampal thickness at associative recognition. The same brain morphometry profiles predicted memory accuracy in MCI/AD, although more robustly perirhinal thickness for item encoding (R2 = 0.31) and hippocampal volume and parahippocampal thickness for relational encoding (R2 = 0.31). DISCUSSION:Our results supported a model of episodic memory in which item-specific encoding was associated with greater perirhinal cortical thickness, while relational encoding was associated with parahippocampal thickness and hippocampus volume. We identified these relationships not only in HSs but also in individuals with MCI and AD. In the subjects with cognitive impairment, reductions in hippocampal volume and impairments in relational memory were especially prominent

Raman Line Shapes in Liquid CH3ICH_3I and CD3ICD_3I

The six fundamental bands of $CH_3I$ and $CD_3I$, both as pure liquids and in solution with $CS_2$, have been studied in order to obtain information about the molecular rotational and vibrational dynamics. Emphasis was placed on the features of the spectra that can be interpreted independent of a particular model. An examination for Boltzmann asymmetry in the $A_1$ and E bands indicates that the former, being symmetric, are amenable to classical description, while the latter, being asymmetric, definitely require quantum mechanical interpretations. With respect to the validity of the assumption that rotation‐vibration coupling can be ignored, we give evidence of substantial coupling effects in a nondegenerate $A_1$ mode $(\nu1)$ as well as in the doubly degenerate E modes. We emphasize that, in attempting to obtain dynamical information, several bands of any given liquid must be studied and compared in order to decide which can be used with confidence in a detailed analysis. The consistency of the rotational diffusion model for describing the tumbling motion of the methyl iodide molecules has been confirmed.Engineering and Applied Science

Route Planning in Transportation Networks

We survey recent advances in algorithms for route planning in transportation networks. For road networks, we show that one can compute driving directions in milliseconds or less even at continental scale. A variety of techniques provide different trade-offs between preprocessing effort, space requirements, and query time. Some algorithms can answer queries in a fraction of a microsecond, while others can deal efficiently with real-time traffic. Journey planning on public transportation systems, although conceptually similar, is a significantly harder problem due to its inherent time-dependent and multicriteria nature. Although exact algorithms are fast enough for interactive queries on metropolitan transit systems, dealing with continent-sized instances requires simplifications or heavy preprocessing. The multimodal route planning problem, which seeks journeys combining schedule-based transportation (buses, trains) with unrestricted modes (walking, driving), is even harder, relying on approximate solutions even for metropolitan inputs.Comment: This is an updated version of the technical report MSR-TR-2014-4, previously published by Microsoft Research. This work was mostly done while the authors Daniel Delling, Andrew Goldberg, and Renato F. Werneck were at Microsoft Research Silicon Valle