New Distribution Records for Minnesota Odonata

Several Minnesota state record Odonata, Aeshna subarctica, Ophiogomphus anomalus, Stylogomphus albistylus, Stylurus scudderi, and Coenagrion interrogatum are reported, along with notes on the distribution and habitat of Aeshna sitchensis. New county records for Minnesota Odonata are also reported

Recovering facial shape using a statistical model of surface normal direction

In this paper, we show how a statistical model of facial shape can be embedded within a shape-from-shading algorithm. We describe how facial shape can be captured using a statistical model of variations in surface normal direction. To construct this model, we make use of the azimuthal equidistant projection to map the distribution of surface normals from the polar representation on a unit sphere to Cartesian points on a local tangent plane. The distribution of surface normal directions is captured using the covariance matrix for the projected point positions. The eigenvectors of the covariance matrix define the modes of shape-variation in the fields of transformed surface normals. We show how this model can be trained using surface normal data acquired from range images and how to fit the model to intensity images of faces using constraints on the surface normal direction provided by Lambert's law. We demonstrate that the combination of a global statistical constraint and local irradiance constraint yields an efficient and accurate approach to facial shape recovery and is capable of recovering fine local surface details. We assess the accuracy of the technique on a variety of images with ground truth and real-world images

Turbulence, spatial transport, and heating of the solar wind

A phenomenological theory describes radial evolution of plasma turbulence in the solar wind from 1 to 50 astronomical units. The theory includes a simple closure for local anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, spatial transport, and driving by large-scale shear and pickup ions. Results compare well to plasma and magnetic field data from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, providing a basis for a concise, tractable description of turbulent energy transport in a variety of astrophysical plasmas

Re-Evaluating the Demise of the Average, Ordinary, Reasonable Person: Unintended Consequences in the Law of Nuisance

This Article advocates for a wider pleading use of the tort of nuisance—this, because of the unresolved complexities in the doctrine of causation which continue to plague an effective use of negligence. The confusing awkwardness or, perhaps, the actual demise, of the notion of an average, ordinary, reasonable person so essential to improving negligent wrongdoing has caused aggravation over the years and, indeed, given rise to a state of torbidity. The judiciary can more easily resolve this evidentiary quagmire by shifting its judicial attention and analysis to the tort of nuisance. With alarming social indicators and statistical projections, confirming the fact that strong resuscitation efforts for the ordinary person model is not forthcoming—and its actual morbidity will increase—it remains for the courts to exercise their parens patriae powers to both guide and protect those who are cognitively impaired and who are, consequently, economically disadvantaged. Aided by the Restatement (Second) of Torts position on establishing liability for an action in nuisance, the role of the courts in assessing the reasonableness of conduct or, as the case may be, the unreasonableness of conduct, the judiciary can meet its responsibility to administer and direct efficiently and expeditiously the course of justice. Theories of economic efficiency—solidified by cost/benefit analysis—are imbedded in the framework of analysis required in the Restatement’s test for proving nuisance. Rather than act within the shadows of the normative standard demanded traditionally for testing the conduct of an average, ordinary, reasonable person under the tort of negligence, nuisance provides a relatively simple and objective list of factors (utilities) to be evaluated in making a determination of liability. Accepting this posture will go far toward establishing a lingua franca for interpreting and applying the test of reasonableness