PyroScan: Wildfire Behavior Prediction System

During a wildfire, it is of the utmost importance to be updated about all information of the wildfire. Wind speed, wind direction and dry grass often works as fuel for the fire allowing it to spread in multiple directions. These different factors are often issues for any firefighting organization that is trying to help fight the fire. An uncontrolled wildfire is often a threat to wildlife, property, and worse, human and animal lives. In our paper, we propose an artificial intelligence (AI) powered fire tracking and prediction application utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to inform fire fighters regarding the probability of the direction of a fire. Our work is finally aimed to assist firefighters to know which front would need to be attended first based on wind speed, wind direction, dry grass, etc. The UAV will use the powers of a mounted camera and computer vision to capture and calculate the current trajectory and rate of spread from an overhead live feed of the fire. Currently, we use the powers of classic Computer Vision techniques to identify a fire, and then using Kalman Filters, track the direction of it. Based on our results, we believe that this work can generate meaningful information which will help firefighters protect property damage and even save lives

Coccidioidomycosis Complement Fixation Titer Trends in the Age of Antifungals.

Coccidioidomycosis is associated with a broad spectrum of illness severity, ranging from asymptomatic or self-limited pulmonary infection to life-threatening manifestations of disseminated disease. Serologic studies before the widespread availability of antifungals established current understanding of serologic kinetics and dynamics. Chart histories and complement fixation (CF) titer trends were analyzed for 434 antifungal-treated coccidioidomycosis patients, who were classified by three infectious disease physicians as having either pulmonary uncomplicated coccidioidomycosis (PUC) (n = 248), pulmonary chronic coccidioidomycosis (PCC) (n = 64), disseminated coccidioidomycosis (DC) not including meningitis (n = 86), or coccidioidal meningitis (CM) (n = 36). The median maximal CF titers were 1:4 for PUC patients, 1:24 for PCC patients, 1:128 for DC patients, and 1:32 for CM patients. Approximately 25.4% of PUC patients, 6.2% of PCC patients, 2.3% of DC patients, and 8.3% of CM patients did not develop detectable titers during the study period. Maximal titers developed a mean of 31 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 13 to 50 days) after initial serologic positivity, with no significant differences between groups. Serologic recurrence occurred in 9% of PUC patients, 36% of PCC patients, 50% of DC patients, and 52% of CM patients. Median titer improvement rates were 91 days/dilution for PUC patients, 112 days/dilution for PCC patients, 136 days/dilution for DC patients, and 146 days/dilution for CM patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that CF testing retains moderate classification value for disseminated infections (area under the curve [AUC], 0.82 [95% CI, 0.78 to 0.87]) and complicated infections (AUC, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.77 to 0.86]). A suitable cutoff value for complicated infections is ≥1:32. Findings update serologic parameters that are relevant for clinical assessment of coccidioidomycosis patients in the triazole era

An Unbiased Survey of 500 Nearby Stars for Debris Disks: A JCMT Legacy Program

We present the scientific motivation and observing plan for an upcoming detection survey for debris disks using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) Survey will observe 500 nearby main sequence and sub-giant stars (100 of each of the A, F, G, K and M spectral classes) to the 850 micron extragalactic confusion limit to search for evidence of submillimeter excess, an indication of circumstellar material. The survey distance boundaries are 8.6, 16.5, 22, 25 and 45 pc for M, K, G, F and A stars, respectively, and all targets lie between the declinations of -40 deg to 80 deg. In this survey, no star will be rejected based on its inherent properties: binarity, presence of planetary companions, spectral type or age. This will be the first unbiased survey for debris disks since IRAS. We expect to detect ~125 debris disks, including ~50 cold disks not detectable in current shorter wavelength surveys. A substantial amount of complementary data will be required to constrain the temperatures and masses of discovered disks. High resolution studies will likely be required to resolve many of the disks. Therefore, these systems will be the focus of future observational studies using a variety of observatories to characterize their physical properties. For non-detected systems, this survey will set constraints (upper limits) on the amount of circumstellar dust, of typically 200 times the Kuiper Belt mass, but as low as 10 times the Kuiper Belt mass for the nearest stars in the sample (approximately 2 pc).Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures (3 color), accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacifi

The balloon-borne large-aperture submillimeter telescope for polarimetry: BLAST-Pol

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLAST-Pol) is a suborbital mapping experiment designed to study the role played by magnetic fields in the star formation process. BLAST-Pol is the reconstructed BLAST telescope, with the addition of linear polarization capability. Using a 1.8 m Cassegrain telescope, BLAST-Pol images the sky onto a focal plane that consists of 280 bolometric detectors in three arrays, observing simultaneously at 250, 350, and 500 um. The diffraction-limited optical system provides a resolution of 30'' at 250 um. The polarimeter consists of photolithographic polarizing grids mounted in front of each bolometer/detector array. A rotating 4 K achromatic half-wave plate provides additional polarization modulation. With its unprecedented mapping speed and resolution, BLAST-Pol will produce three-color polarization maps for a large number of molecular clouds. The instrument provides a much needed bridge in spatial coverage between larger-scale, coarse resolution surveys and narrow field of view, and high resolution observations of substructure within molecular cloud cores. The first science flight will be from McMurdo Station, Antarctica in December 2010.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures Submitted to SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Conference 201

Large-scale collaboration reveals landscape-level effects of land-use on turtle demography

Freshwater turtles and tortoises are declining worldwide and currently represent one of the most imperiled major vertebrate groups. Identifying the conditions that promote long-term viable populations is a critical conservation need. However, for most species, there is relatively little or no empirical information about the factors influencing population demographics. Large-scale population monitoring efforts necessary to acquire such information remain rare due to the logistic challenges associated with low and variable detectability, which generally preclude large monitoring initiatives by any single entity. The development of collaborative population monitoring programs represents one potential strategy for overcoming these challenges. Our goal was to leverage partnerships to identify the potential factors and relevant scales affecting wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) population demographics. Through a large-scale collaborative multi-institutional monitoring effort, we conducted 983 spring stream surveys at 293 sites across the northeastern United States. Wood turtle abundance was negatively associated with agriculture (300 m and 5500 m) and road traffic (5500 m) and positively associated with mature forest (5500 m). Juvenile proportion displayed strong negative relationships with stream gradient and imperviousness (300 m). Sex ratios were more male-skewed with higher mature forest cover (90 m) and road density (5500 m) and less undeveloped land (300 m). These findings suggest that effective conservation of demographically robust turtle populations will require consideration of multiple spatial scales. Landscape-level conservation may be particularly important for ensuring long-term viable populations. This study highlights the valuable role that collaboration across institutions and jurisdictions can play in the conservation of cryptic taxa

An ammonia spectral map of the L1495-B218 filaments in the Taurus molecular cloud. I. Physical properties of filaments and dense cores

We present deep NH3 observations of the L1495-B218 filaments in the Taurus molecular cloud covering over a 3° angular range using the K-band focal plane array on the 100 m Green Bank Telescope. The L1495-B218 filaments form an interconnected, nearby, large complex extending over 8 pc. We observed NH3 (1, 1) and (2, 2) with a spectral resolution of 0.038 km s−1 and a spatial resolution of 31''. Most of the ammonia peaks coincide with intensity peaks in dust continuum maps at 350 and 500 μm. We deduced physical properties by fitting a model to the observed spectra. We find gas kinetic temperatures of 8–15 K, velocity dispersions of 0.05–0.25 km s−1, and NH3 column densities of 5 × 1012 to 1 × 1014 cm−2. The CSAR algorithm, which is a hybrid of seeded-watershed and binary dendrogram algorithms, identifies a total of 55 NH3 structures, including 39 leaves and 16 branches. The masses of the NH3 sources range from 0.05 to 9.5 ${{M}_{\odot }}$. The masses of NH3 leaves are mostly smaller than their corresponding virial mass estimated from their internal and gravitational energies, which suggests that these leaves are gravitationally unbound structures. Nine out of 39 NH3 leaves are gravitationally bound, and seven out of nine gravitationally bound NH3 leaves are associated with star formation. We also found that 12 out of 30 gravitationally unbound leaves are pressure confined. Our data suggest that a dense core may form as a pressure-confined structure, evolve to a gravitationally bound core, and undergo collapse to form a protostar

Cross-National Differences in Victimization : Disentangling the Impact of Composition and Context

Varying rates of criminal victimization across countries are assumed to be the outcome of countrylevel structural constraints that determine the supply ofmotivated o¡enders, as well as the differential composition within countries of suitable targets and capable guardianship. However, previous empirical tests of these ‘compositional’ and ‘contextual’ explanations of cross-national di¡erences have been performed upon macro-level crime data due to the unavailability of comparable individual-level data across countries. This limitation has had two important consequences for cross-national crime research. First, micro-/meso-level mechanisms underlying cross-national differences cannot be truly inferred from macro-level data. Secondly, the e¡ects of contextual measures (e.g. income inequality) on crime are uncontrolled for compositional heterogeneity. In this paper, these limitations are overcome by analysing individual-level victimization data across 18 countries from the International CrimeVictims Survey. Results from multi-level analyses on theft and violent victimization indicate that the national level of income inequality is positively related to risk, independent of compositional (i.e. micro- and meso-level) di¡erences. Furthermore, crossnational variation in victimization rates is not only shaped by di¡erences in national context, but also by varying composition. More speci¢cally, countries had higher crime rates the more they consisted of urban residents and regions with lowaverage social cohesion.

Perceived barriers to the regionalization of adult critical care in the United States: a qualitative preliminary study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Regionalization of adult critical care services may improve outcomes for critically ill patients. We sought to develop a framework for understanding clinician attitudes toward regionalization and potential barriers to developing a tiered, regionalized system of care in the United States.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews of critical care stakeholders in the United States, including physicians, nurses and hospital administrators. Stakeholders were identified from a stratified-random sample of United States general medical and surgical hospitals. Key barriers and potential solutions were identified by performing content analysis of the interview transcriptions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We interviewed 30 stakeholders from 24 different hospitals, representing a broad range of hospital locations and sizes. Key barriers to regionalization included personal and economic strain on families, loss of autonomy on the part of referring physicians and hospitals, loss of revenue on the part of referring physicians and hospitals, the potential to worsen outcomes at small hospitals by limiting services, and the potential to overwhelm large hospitals. Improving communication between destination and source hospitals, provider education, instituting voluntary objective criteria to become a designated referral center, and mechanisms to feed back patients and revenue to source hospitals were identified as potential solutions to some of these barriers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Regionalization efforts will be met with significant conceptual and structural barriers. These data provide a foundation for future research and can be used to inform policy decisions regarding the design and implementation of a regionalized system of critical care.</p

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Labeling Strategies Matter for Super-Resolution Microscopy: A Comparison between HaloTags and SNAP-tags.

Super-resolution microscopy requires that subcellular structures are labeled with bright and photostable fluorophores, especially for live-cell imaging. Organic fluorophores may help here as they can yield more photons-by orders of magnitude-than fluorescent proteins. To achieve molecular specificity with organic fluorophores in live cells, self-labeling proteins are often used, with HaloTags and SNAP-tags being the most common. However, how these two different tagging systems compare with each other is unclear, especially for stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, which is limited to a small repertoire of fluorophores in living cells. Herein, we compare the two labeling approaches in confocal and STED imaging using various proteins and two model systems. Strikingly, we find that the fluorescent signal can be up to 9-fold higher with HaloTags than with SNAP-tags when using far-red rhodamine derivatives. This result demonstrates that the labeling strategy matters and can greatly influence the duration of super-resolution imaging.This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Foundation grant (095927/A/11/Z) and NIH grant (R01GM118486). R.S.E. was supported by an Advanced Postdoc Mobility Fellowship from the Swiss National Foundation