Enhancing Extension Program Effectiveness by Examining Regional Differences in High Water Users

Competition for water sources in urban areas of Florida has increased due to increased population and human activities. High water users have been identified as a specific group on which Extension should focus water conservation education due to their low awareness of water issues and active landscape water use. In order to ensure the effectiveness of Extension programs targeting high water users statewide, this study sought to explore regional differences in water conservation behavior engagement within Florida high water users. An online survey was conducted to capture responses of high water users (N = 932) in three distinct regions for this comparative study. Respondents were asked to indicate their current engagement in water use behavior, application of water conservation strategies, and likelihood of engaging in water conservation and related societal behaviors. Regional differences were found in all four examined constructs. The findings imply Extension educators should tailor educational programs to regional audiences’ behavior patterns instead of designing statewide programs to ensure program effectiveness

Improving Data-Driven Infrastructure Degradation Forecast Skill with Stepwise Asset Condition Prediction Models

Organizations with large facility and infrastructure portfolios have used asset management databases for over ten years to collect and standardize asset condition data. Decision makers use these data to predict asset degradation and expected service life, enabling prioritized maintenance, repair, and renovation actions that reduce asset life-cycle costs and achieve organizational objectives. However, these asset condition forecasts are calculated using standardized, self-correcting distribution models that rely on poorly-fit, continuous functions. This research presents four stepwise asset condition forecast models that utilize historical asset inspection data to improve prediction accuracy: (1) Slope, (2) Weighted Slope, (3) Condition-Intelligent Weighted Slope, and (4) Nearest Neighbor. Model performance was evaluated against BUILDER SMS, the industry-standard asset management database, using data for five roof types on 8549 facilities across 61 U.S. military bases within the United States. The stepwise Weighted Slope model more accurately predicted asset degradation 92% of the time, as compared to the industry standard’s continuous self-correcting prediction model. These results suggest that using historical condition data, alongside or in-place of manufacturer expected service life, may increase the accuracy of degradation and failure prediction models. Additionally, as data quantity increases over time, the models presented are expected to improve prediction skills. The resulting improvements in forecasting enable decision makers to manage facility assets more proactively and achieve better returns on facility investments. © 2022 by the authors

Quantization for an elliptic equation of order 2m with critical exponential non-linearity

On a smoothly bounded domain $\Omega\subset\R{2m}$ we consider a sequence of positive solutions $u_k\stackrel{w}{\rightharpoondown} 0$ in $H^m(\Omega)$ to the equation $(-\Delta)^m u_k=\lambda_k u_k e^{mu_k^2}$ subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions, where $0<\lambda_k\to 0$. Assuming that $$\Lambda:=\lim_{k\to\infty}\int_\Omega u_k(-\Delta)^m u_k dx<\infty,$$ we prove that $\Lambda$ is an integer multiple of \Lambda_1:=(2m-1)!\vol(S^{2m}), the total $Q$-curvature of the standard $2m$-dimensional sphere.Comment: 33 page

Simulating Z2\mathbb{Z}_2 lattice gauge theory on a quantum computer

The utility of quantum computers for simulating lattice gauge theories is currently limited by the noisiness of the physical hardware. Various quantum error mitigation strategies exist to reduce the statistical and systematic uncertainties in quantum simulations via improved algorithms and analysis strategies. We perform quantum simulations of $1+1d$ $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory with matter to study the efficacy and interplay of different error mitigation methods: readout error mitigation, randomized compiling, rescaling, and dynamical decoupling. We compute Minkowski correlation functions in this confining gauge theory and extract the mass of the lightest spin-1 state from fits to their time dependence. Quantum error mitigation extends the range of times over which our correlation function calculations are accurate by a factor of six and is therefore essential for obtaining reliable masses.Comment: 20 Pages, 18 Figure

A slowly rotating coil system for AC field measurements of Fermilab booster correctors

A method for measurement of rapidly changing magnetic fields has been developed and applied to the testing of new room temperature corrector packages designed for the Fermilab Booster Synchrotron. The method is based on fast digitization of a slowly rotating tangential coil probe, with analysis combining the measured coil voltages across a set of successive magnet current cycles. This paper presents results on the field quality measured for the normal and skew dipole, quadrupole, and sextupole elements in several of these corrector packages

Expression of Cytosolic Peroxiredoxins in Plasmodium Berghei Ookinetes is Regulated by Environmental Factors in the Mosquito bloodmeal

The Plasmodium ookinete develops over several hours in the bloodmeal of its mosquito vector where it is exposed to exogenous stresses, including cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). How the parasite adapts to these challenging conditions is not well understood. We have systematically investigated the expression of three cytosolic antioxidant proteins, thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1), peroxiredoxin-1 (TPx-1), and 1-Cys peroxiredoxin (1-Cys Prx), in developing ookinetes of the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei under various growth conditions. Transcriptional profiling showed that tpx-1 and 1-cys prx but not trx-1 are more strongly upregulated in ookinetes developing in the mosquito bloodmeal when compared to ookinetes growing under culture conditions. Confocal immunofluorescence imaging revealed comparable expression patterns on the corresponding proteins. 1-Cys Prx in particular exhibited strong expression in mosquito-derived ookinetes but was not detectable in cultured ookinetes. Furthermore, ookinetes growing in culture upregulated tpx-1 and 1-cys prx when challenged with exogenous ROS in a dose-dependent fashion. This suggests that environmental factors in the mosquito bloodmeal induce upregulation of cytosolic antioxidant proteins in Plasmodium ookinetes. We found that in a parasite line lacking TPx-1 (TPx-1KO), expression of 1-Cys Prx occurred significantly earlier in mosquito-derived TPx-1KO ookinetes when compared to wild type (WT) ookinetes. The protein was also readily detectable in cultured TPx-1KO ookinetes, indicating that 1-Cys Prx at least in part compensates for the loss of TPx-1 in vivo. We hypothesize that this dynamic expression of the cytosolic peroxiredoxins reflects the capacity of the developing Plasmodium ookinete to rapidly adapt to the changing conditions in the mosquito bloodmeal. This would significantly increase its chances of survival, maturation and subsequent escape. Our results also emphasize that environmental conditions must be taken into account when investigating Plasmodium-mosquito interactions

Study of high field superconducting solenoids for muon beam cooling

The final beam cooling stages of a possible Muon Collider may require DC solenoid magnets with magnetic fields of 40-50 T in an aperture of 40-50 mm. In this paper we study possible solutions towards creating DC fields of that order using available superconductors. Several magnetic and mechanical designs, optimized for the maximum performance are presented and compared in terms of cost and size

Superconducting helical solenoid systems for muon cooling experiment at Fermilab

Novel configurations of superconducting magnet system for Muon Beam Cooling Experiment is under design at Fermilab. The magnet system has to generate longitudinal and transverse dipole and quadrupole helical magnetic fields providing a muon beam motion along helical orbit. It was found that such complicated field configuration can be formed by a set of circular coils shifted in transverse directions in such a way that their centers lay on the center of the helical beam orbit. Closed beam orbit configurations were also proposed and investigated. This paper describes the magnetic and mechanical designs and parameters of such magnetic system based on a NbTi Rutherford type cable. The helical solenoid fabrication, assembly and quench protection issues are presented

Mutations in C16orf57 and normal-length telomeres unify a subset of patients with dyskeratosis congenita, poikiloderma with neutropenia and Rothmund–Thomson syndrome

Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is an inherited poikiloderma which in addition to the skin abnormalities is typically associated with nail dystrophy, leucoplakia, bone marrow failure, cancer predisposition and other features. Approximately 50% of DC patients remain genetically uncharacterized. All the DC genes identified to date are important in telomere maintenance. To determine the genetic basis of the remaining cases of DC, we undertook linkage analysis in 20 families and identified a common candidate gene region on chromosome 16 in a subset of these. This region included the C16orf57 gene recently identified to be mutated in poikiloderma with neutropenia (PN), an inherited poikiloderma displaying significant clinical overlap with DC. Analysis of the C16orf57 gene in our uncharacterized DC patients revealed homozygous mutations in 6 of 132 families. In addition, three of six families previously classified as Rothmund–Thomson syndrome (RTS—a poikiloderma that is sometimes confused with PN) were also found to have homozygous C16orf57 mutations. Given the role of the previous DC genes in telomere maintenance, telomere length was analysed in these patients and found to be comparable to age-matched controls. These findings suggest that mutations in C16orf57 unify a distinct set of families which clinically can be categorized as DC, PN or RTS. This study also highlights the multi-system nature (wider than just poikiloderma and neutropenia) of the clinical features of affected individuals (and therefore house-keeping function of C16orf57), a possible role for C16orf57 in apoptosis, as well as a distinct difference from previously characterized DC patients because telomere length was normal