Deep Attributes Driven Multi-Camera Person Re-identification

The visual appearance of a person is easily affected by many factors like pose variations, viewpoint changes and camera parameter differences. This makes person Re-Identification (ReID) among multiple cameras a very challenging task. This work is motivated to learn mid-level human attributes which are robust to such visual appearance variations. And we propose a semi-supervised attribute learning framework which progressively boosts the accuracy of attributes only using a limited number of labeled data. Specifically, this framework involves a three-stage training. A deep Convolutional Neural Network (dCNN) is first trained on an independent dataset labeled with attributes. Then it is fine-tuned on another dataset only labeled with person IDs using our defined triplet loss. Finally, the updated dCNN predicts attribute labels for the target dataset, which is combined with the independent dataset for the final round of fine-tuning. The predicted attributes, namely \emph{deep attributes} exhibit superior generalization ability across different datasets. By directly using the deep attributes with simple Cosine distance, we have obtained surprisingly good accuracy on four person ReID datasets. Experiments also show that a simple metric learning modular further boosts our method, making it significantly outperform many recent works.Comment: Person Re-identification; 17 pages; 5 figures; In IEEE ECCV 201

A study for using CO2 to enhance natural gas recovery from tight reservoirs

A comprehensive study is presented on the interfacial behavior of all participating phases in a scenario of using carbon dioxide (CO2) to enhance the recovery of natural gas in tight sandstone reservoirs. Natural gas condensate is contacted with carbon dioxide at increasing pressure in order to determine the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) by the vanishing interfacial tension method. Close to the MMP at higher temperature, some compounds of the mixture are extracted leaving a heavy oil fraction that remains immiscible. As the second reservoir liquid, formation water is extracted by CO2 from a tight sandstone sample and subsequently applied as a sessile drop for assessment of the wetting behavior inside the reservoir in the presence of injected CO2. The contact angle has been observed to increase with increasing CO2 pressure. It has been further observed that water contact angle on a gas shale increased with increasing CO2 pressure more rapidly. The results suggest that CO2 could clear gas flow path blocked by water and gas condensate. As a consequence, the recovery of natural gas would increase. This could also create a greater potential for CO2 storage in gas-depleted reservoirs

Striped Magnetic Ground State of the Kagome Lattice in Fe4Si2Sn7O16

We have experimentally identified a new magnetic ground state for the kagome lattice, in the perfectly hexagonal Fe2+ (3d6, S = 2) compound Fe4Si2Sn7O16. Representational symmetry analysis of neutron diffraction data shows that below T_N = 3.5 K, the spins on 2/3 of the magnetic ions order into canted antiferromagnetic chains, separated by the remaining 1/3 which are geometrically frustrated and show no long-range order down to at least T = 0.1 K. Moessbauer spectroscopy confirms that there is no static order on the latter 1/3 of the magnetic ions - i.e., they are in a liquid-like rather than a frozen state - down to at least 1.65 K. A heavily Mn-doped sample Fe1.45Mn2.55Si2Sn7O16 has the same magnetic structure. Although the propagation vector q = (0, 1/2 , 1/2 ) breaks hexagonal symmetry, we see no evidence for magnetostriction in the form of a lattice distortion within the resolution of our data. We discuss the relationship to partially frustrated magnetic order on the pyrochlore lattice of Gd2Ti2O7, and to theoretical models that predict symmetry breaking ground states for perfect kagome lattices.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Evidence for Sigma Factor Competition in the Regulation of Alginate Production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Alginate overproduction, or mucoidy, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa lung infection in cystic fibrosis (CF). Mucoid strains with mucA mutations predominantly populate in chronically-infected patients. However, the mucoid strains can revert to nonmucoidy in vitro through suppressor mutations. We screened a mariner transposon library using CF149, a non-mucoid clinical isolate with a misssense mutation in algU(AlgUA61V). The wild type AlgU is a stress-related sigma factor that activates transcription of alginate biosynthesis. Three mucoid mutants were identified with transposon insertions that caused 1) an overexpression of AlgUA61V, 2) an overexpression of the stringent starvation protein A (SspA), and 3) a reduced expression of the major sigma factor RpoD (σ70). Induction of AlgUA61V in trans caused conversion to mucoidy in CF149 and PAO1DalgU, suggesting that AlgUA61V is functional in activating alginate production. Furthermore, the level of AlgUA61V was increased in all three mutants relative to CF149. However, compared to the wild type AlgU, AlgUA61V had a reduced activity in promoting alginate production in PAO1ΔalgU. SspA and three other anti-σ70 orthologues, P. aeruginosa AlgQ, E. coli Rsd, and T4 phage AsiA, all induced mucoidy, suggesting that reducing activity of RpoD is linked to mucoid conversion in CF149. Conversely, RpoD overexpression resulted in suppression of mucoidy in all mucoid strains tested, indicating that sigma factor competition can regulate mucoidy. Additionally, an RpoD-dependent promoter (PssrA) was more active in non-mucoid strains than in isogenic mucoid variants. Altogether, our results indicate that the anti-σ70 factors can induce conversion to mucoidy in P. aeruginosa CF149 with algU-suppressor mutation via modulation of RpoD

Impact of Vermont\u27s Food Waste Ban on Residents and Food Businesses

In the United States, an estimated 30-40% of food produced each year is wasted, with most of this waste coming from households, food retailers, and food service businesses. To reduce the burden on Vermont’s only municipal landfill, the Vermont Legislature unanimously passed Act 148, a universal recycling and composting law, in 2012. Among other features, the law included a phased-in food waste ban that went into full effect on July 1, 2020. This ban requires everyone in Vermont – from residents to businesses and institutions – to keep their food waste out of the trash. To study the impact of the food waste ban, we conducted two statewide online surveys in 2021 and 2022: a general population survey and a food business survey. This policy report summarizes the findings of the surveys relevant to the food waste ban. Key findings include: 1. Following implementation of the ban, residents reported increasing the amount of food waste that they separate from their trash by 48% (from 48% to 71%). The leading disposal method for food waste is composting (46% of all food waste disposal). 2.Over a year after full implementation of the ban, about one quarter of respondents to the resident survey (26%)report feeling confused about its requirements. Oft hose who engaged in composting, one out of five (20%) find it to be hard or very hard. 3. Support for and knowledge of the food waste ban is high among Vermont’s food retail and food service professionals, and few continue to dump food waste in the trash. 4.However, over one-third of food retailers (37%), half of food service operators (53%) and two-fifths of those who run both types of businesses (40%) felt that compliance had been difficult. 5. The impacts of the ban differ for different types of food businesses, with food service businesses reporting more negative impacts on operating costs and revenue than food retailers

Impact of Vermont\u27s Single-Use Plastics Ban on Consumers and Food Businesses

To mitigate the harmful effects of single-use plastic products and lessen the burden of plastics on Vermont\u27s landfill, in 2019, Vermont’s State Government passed a single-use products law (Act 69 of 2019). The law, which went into effect on July 1, 2020, prohibits stores and food service establishments from providing single-use plastic carryout bags at the point of sale, expanded polystyrene (commonly called Styrofoam) food and beverage containers, plastic straws (except upon customer request), and plastic stirrers. Additionally, the law permits stores to provide single-use paper bags at the point of sale if the customer is charged at least 10 cents per bag. To study the impact of the single-use products law, we conducted two statewide online surveys in 2021 and 2022: a general population survey and a food business survey. This report summarizes the findings of both surveys relevant to Vermont\u27s single-use products law. Key findings include: 1. Following implementation of the law, Vermonters reported using, on average, 91% fewer plastic bags (6 per week). This does not appear to have been offset by substantially greater use of single-use paper bags. 2. Most respondents to the consumer survey (66%) agreed that the environmental benefits of the plastic bag ban outweigh the economics costs. 3. Few consumers (18%) or food business professionals (18%) reported feeling confused about the requirements of the law. 4. Charging for paper bags was identified by food business owners and managers as the most challenging requirement to comply with. 5. Across food businesses, the law has a mostly neutral or positive effect on revenue and cleanliness. 6. Food service owners and managers report more negative impacts on operating costs, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction than food retailers