Private Insurers Suspending Workers\u27 Compensation Benefits Are Not State Actors and Employee\u27s Medical Treatment Must Be Reasonable and Necessary before Due Process Attaches: \u3cem\u3eAmerican Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sullivan\u3c/em\u3e

The United States Supreme Court held that private workers\u27 compensation insurers are not converted to state actors merely because the business is subject to extensive state regulation, and due process procedures are not implicated until the employee\u27s property interest attaches by proving the medical treatment was reasonable and necessary. American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sullivan, 119 S. Ct. 977 (1999)

A Satisfiability Modulo Theory Approach to Secure State Reconstruction in Differentially Flat Systems Under Sensor Attacks

We address the problem of estimating the state of a differentially flat system from measurements that may be corrupted by an adversarial attack. In cyber-physical systems, malicious attacks can directly compromise the system's sensors or manipulate the communication between sensors and controllers. We consider attacks that only corrupt a subset of sensor measurements. We show that the possibility of reconstructing the state under such attacks is characterized by a suitable generalization of the notion of s-sparse observability, previously introduced by some of the authors in the linear case. We also extend our previous work on the use of Satisfiability Modulo Theory solvers to estimate the state under sensor attacks to the context of differentially flat systems. The effectiveness of our approach is illustrated on the problem of controlling a quadrotor under sensor attacks.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1412.432

Morphological Characterization of Some Local Varieties of Fig (Ficus carica L.) Cultivated in Southern Italy

Figs (Ficus carica L.) are ancient fruits of the Mediterranean basin. In Southern Italy, they are particularly important in the traditional course of local cuisine. In Southern Italy, fig trees are rarely cultivated in specialized orchards but are present in association with other fruit trees (for example, olive, almond, pear, pomegranate, and grapevine). These mixed orchards are particularly important in the traditional agroecosystems of the south of Italy. This study reports preliminary results on the local fig variety’s leaf morphological characterization, aiming to elucidate the presence of synonymousness or homonymy for in situ and ex situ conservation and further exploitation. A field survey was carried out during the summer of 2018 in some areas of the Basilicata district. Thirty local putative varieties were collected, and each of them was identified by GPS coordinates and recorded photographically. Moreover, they were cataloged with the name of the Municipality of origin, year, details of growing location (main crop, mixed orchard, gardens, and single plants), approximate age, and the local name supplied by the donor. All relevant information was included in the accession code. Leaf samples were collected from each accession from medium-length shoots. A digital image of each leaf sample was captured using a digital camera. Leaf morphometric traits were recorded using ImageJ and statistically analyzed using the software PAST 4.11 to discriminate among fig accessions. The multivariate morphometric approach applied correctly classified more than 90% of the leaves and helped to discriminate among accession. Moreover, linear discriminant analysis helped to recognize the presence of different synonymousness and homonymy of different accessions. The results revealed that measured leaf morphometric aided by image analysis could be a simple and inexpensive accessions classification tool

Structural variability of 4f and 5f thiocyanate complexes and dissociation of uranium(III)–thiocyanate bonds with increased ionicity

A series of complexes [Et4N][Ln(NCS)4(H2O)4] (Ln = Pr, Tb, Dy, Ho, Yb) have been structurally characterized, all showing the same structure, namely a distorted square antiprismatic coordination geometry, and the Ln–O and Ln–N bond lengths following the expected lanthanide contraction. When the counterion is Cs+, a different structural motif is observed and the eight-coordinate complex Cs5[Nd(NCS)8] isolated. The thorium compounds [Me4N]4[Th(NCS)7(NO3)] and [Me4N]4[Th(NCS)6(NO3)2] have been characterized, and high coordination numbers are also observed. Finally, attempts to synthesize a U(III) thiocyanate compound has been unsuccessful; from the reaction mixture, a heterocycle formed by condensation of five MeCN solvent molecules, possibly promoted by U(III), was isolated and structurally characterized. To rationalize the inability to isolate U(III) thiocyanate compounds, thin-layer cyclic voltammetry and IR spectroelectrochemistry have been utilized to explore the cathodic behavior of [Et4N]4[U(NCS)8] and [Et4N][U(NCS)5(bipy)2] along with a related uranyl compound [Et4N]3[UO2(NCS)5]. In all examples, the reduction triggers a rapid dissociation of [NCS]− ions and decomposition. Interestingly, the oxidation chemistry of [Et4N]3[UO2(NCS)5] in the presence of bipy gives the U(IV) compound [Et4N]4[U(NCS)8], an unusual example of a ligand-based oxidation triggering a metal-based reduction. The experimental results have been augmented by a computational investigation, concluding that the U(III)–NCS bond is more ionic than the U(IV)–NCS bond

Computer-aided decision making for regional seismic risk mitigation accounting for limited economic resources

Seismic risk mitigation levels for an existing building are a balance between the reduction of risk and the cost of rehabilitation. Evidently, the more that is paid the more risk is reduced; however, due to limited public budgets a practical approach is needed to manage the risk reduction program when a portfolio of buildings is concerned. Basically, decision makers face a challenge when there are a large number of vulnerable buildings and there is no plan for how to allocate the appointed budget. This study develops a technological platform that implements a decision-making procedure to establish how to optimally distribute the budget in order to achieve the maximum possible portfolio risk reduction. Decisions are made based on various presumed intervention strategies dependent on building’s level of risk. The technological platform provides an interactive, user-friendly tool, available online, that supports stakeholders and decision makers in understanding what the best economic resource allocation will be after selecting the available budget for a specific portfolio of buildings. In addition, the ease of use enables the user to analyze the extent of risk reduction achievable for different budget levels. Therefore, the web platform represents a powerful tool to accomplish two challenging tasks, namely optimal budget selection and optimal budget allocation to gain territorial seismic risk mitigation

Diagnosis and Repair for Synthesis from Signal Temporal Logic Specifications

We address the problem of diagnosing and repairing specifications for hybrid systems formalized in signal temporal logic (STL). Our focus is on the setting of automatic synthesis of controllers in a model predictive control (MPC) framework. We build on recent approaches that reduce the controller synthesis problem to solving one or more mixed integer linear programs (MILPs), where infeasibility of a MILP usually indicates unrealizability of the controller synthesis problem. Given an infeasible STL synthesis problem, we present algorithms that provide feedback on the reasons for unrealizability, and suggestions for making it realizable. Our algorithms are sound and complete, i.e., they provide a correct diagnosis, and always terminate with a non-trivial specification that is feasible using the chosen synthesis method, when such a solution exists. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on the synthesis of controllers for various cyber-physical systems, including an autonomous driving application and an aircraft electric power system

In situ polymerization of soil organic matter by oxidative biomimetic catalysis.

Background: Agricultural practices that enhance organic matter content in soil can play a central role in sequestering soil organic carbon (SOC) and reducing greenhouse gases emissions. Methods: We used a water-soluble iron-porphyrin to catalyze directly in situ oxidative polymerization of soil organic matter in the presence of H2O2 oxidant, with the aim to enhance OC stabilization, and, consequently, reduce CO2 emissions from soil. The occurred SOC stabilization was assessed by monitoring soil aggregate stability, OC distribution in water-soluble aggregates, soil respiration, and extraction yields of humic and fulvic acids. Results: Soil treatment with H2O2 and iron-porphyrin increased the physical stability of water-stable soil aggregates and the total OC content in small aggregates, thereby suggesting that the catalyzed oxidative polymerization increased OC in soil and induced a soil physical improvement. The significant reduction of CO2 respired by the catalyst- and H2O2-treated soil indicated an enhanced resistance of polymerized SOC to microbial mineralization. The catalyzed oxidative polymerization of SOC also significantly decreased the extraction yields of humic and fulvic acids from soil. Conclusions: The oxidative catalytic technology described here may become an efficient agricultural practice for OC sequestration in soils and contribute to mitigate global changes

Preliminary investigations on sunburn in Chardonnay grapevine variety

The aim of this investigation was to determine if a temperature response curve can be used to describe sunburn in grape berries. Trials were carried out at the Viticulture and Enology Department (University of California, Davis) on cv Chardonnay (clone 29) grown under both field and greenhouse conditions. Greenhouse plants were two years old, grown in 5 L pots, and watered daily with a modified Hoagland’s nutrient solution. The vines were pruned to two shoots with one or two clusters per shoot, and the shoots were vertically trained to approximately 1.5 m. Field-grown vines were clone 29 grafted onto 101-14 rootstock, planted at 2.5 x 3.7 m spacing, cane pruned, and VSP trained. Rows were north-south oriented. In order to increase the temperature of the berry surface, solar radiation was concentrated using a normal reading lens with different magnifications degrees. Temperature was measured with a copper-constantan thermocouples attached to the berry surface. Experiments were performed just before harvest. Sunburn was caused by using different ranges of temperatures held constant for 2 or 5 minutes in the case of greenhouse plants and 5, 10, and 15 minutes in the case of field-grown plants. The effects of treatments were rated on visual basis by a panel of 3 people at one day intervals for three or four consecutive days after the treatments. On the last day, treated berries were harvested and analyzed for cell viability and membrane integrity using the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) technique. In greenhouse grown vines, a temperature of 38-40 °C for 5 minutes was sufficient to cause visual symptoms of sunburn two days after the treatments, even if no cells were permanently damaged. In field-grown vines, 5 minutes at 40-43 °C caused 12.4% cell mortality and permanent surface deformation. In conclusion, exposure of berries to a surface temperature of 40-43 °C appears to be effective in causing sunburn in greenhouse and field-grown plants. The radiation regime experienced by the cluster during the growing season may be important to determine the critical level of temperature causing sunburn