Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Multiple Aneurysms Anatomy Challenge 2018 (Match): Phase I: Segmentation, Philipp Berg, Samuel Voß, Sylvia Saalfeld, Gábor Janiga, Aslak W. Bergersen, Kristian Valen-Sendstad, Jan Bruening, Leonid Goubergrits, Andreas Spuler, Nicole M. Cancelliere, David A. Steinman, Vitor M. Pereira, Tin Lok Chiu, Anderson Chun On Tsang, Bong Jae Chung, Juan R. Cebral, Salvatore Cito, Jordi Pallarès, Gabriele Copelli, Benjamin Csippa, György Paál, Soichiro Fujimura, Hiroyuki Takao, Simona Hodis, Georg Hille, Christof Karmonik, Saba Elias, Kerstin Kellermann, Muhammad Owais Khan, Alison L. Marsden

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose: Advanced morphology analysis and image-based hemodynamic simulations are increasingly used to assess the rupture risk of intracranial aneurysms (IAs). However, the accuracy of those results strongly depends on the quality of the vessel wall segmentation. Methods: To evaluate state-of-the-art segmentation approaches, the Multiple Aneurysms AnaTomy CHallenge (MATCH) was announced. Participants carried out segmentation in three anonymized 3D DSA datasets (left and right anterior, posterior circulation) of a patient harboring five IAs. Qualitative and quantitative inter-group comparisons were carried out with respect to aneurysm volumes and ostia. Further, over- and undersegmentation were evaluated based on highly resolved 2D images. Finally, …

Search For Sub-Solar Mass Ultracompact Binaries In Advanced Ligo's First Observing Run, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present the first Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo search for ultracompact binary systems with component masses between 0.2 M-1.0 M using data taken between September 12, 2015 and January 19, 2016. We find no viable gravitational wave candidates. Our null result constrains the coalescence rate of monochromatic (delta function) distributions of nonspinning (0.2 M, 0.2 M) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.0×106 Gpc-3 yr-1 and the coalescence rate of a similar distribution of (1.0 M, 1.0 M) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.9×104 Gpc-3 yr-1 (at 90% confidence). Neither black holes nor neutron stars are expected to …

Prospects For Observing And Localizing Gravitational-Wave Transients With Advanced Ligo, Advanced Virgo And Kagra, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, M. R. Abernathy, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present possible observing scenarios for the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA gravitational-wave detectors over the next decade, with the intention of providing information to the astronomy community to facilitate planning for multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves. We estimate the sensitivity of the network to transient gravitational-wave signals, and study the capability of the network to determine the sky location of the source. We report our findings for gravitational-wave transients, with particular focus on gravitational-wave signals from the inspiral of binary neutron star systems, which are the most promising targets for multi-messenger astronomy. The ability to localize the sources …

The Contribution Of Atmospheric Particulate Matter To The Formation Of Cx3r-Type Disinfection By-Products In Rainwater During Chlorination, Mengtian Hou, Wenhai Chu, Feifei Wang, Yang Deng, Naiyun Gao, Di Zhang

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) can be scavenged by rainfall and contribute dissolved organic matter (DOM) to rainwater. Rainwater may serve as a part or the whole of drinking water sources, leading to the introduction of PM-derived DOM into drinking water. However, little information is available on the role of PM-derived DOM as a remarkable precursor of CX3R-type disinfection by-products (DBPs) in rainwater. In this study, samples were collected from ten occurrences of rainfall in Shanghai and batch experiments were executed to explore the contribution of PM-derived DOM to CX3R-type DBP formation in rainwater and to further understand some of unknowns …

Towards Determination Of The Source And Magnitude Of Atmospheric Pco2 Change Across The Early Paleogene Hyperthermals, Ying Cui, Brian A. Schubert

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The early Paleogene greenhouse climate is punctuated by a series of extreme global warming events known as hyperthermals that are associated with massive additions of carbon to the ocean-atmosphere system. However, no existing proxies have suitable resolution to capture the change in atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2) across these events. Here, we reconstruct a nearly continuous record of pCO2 during the early Paleogene based on changes in terrestrial carbon isotope discrimination calculated from published high-resolution marine and terrestrial carbon isotope records. We calculate relatively stable baseline pCO2 = 569 + 250/−146 ppmv with significant increases in pCO2 at each of four …

Development And Internal Validation Of An Aneurysm Rupture Probability Model Based On Patient Characteristics And Aneurysm Location, Morphology, And Hemodynamics, Felicitas J. Detmer, Bong Jae Chung, Fernando Mut, Martin Slawski, Farid Hamzei-Sichani, Christopher Putman, Carlos Jiménez, Juan R. Cebral

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose: Unruptured cerebral aneurysms pose a dilemma for physicians who need to weigh the risk of a devastating subarachnoid hemorrhage against the risk of surgery or endovascular treatment and their complications when deciding on a treatment strategy. A prediction model could potentially support such treatment decisions. The aim of this study was to develop and internally validate a model for aneurysm rupture based on hemodynamic and geometric parameters, aneurysm location, and patient gender and age. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 1061 patients were used for image-based computational fluid dynamics and shape characterization of 1631 aneurysms for training an aneurysm rupture probability …

Hemodynamic Characteristics Of Stable And Unstable Vertebrobasilar Dolichoectatic And Fusiform Aneurysms, Waleed Brinjikji, Bong Jae Chung, Ding Yong-Hong, John T. Wald, Fernando Mut, Ramanathan Kadirvel, David F. Kallmes, Aymeric Rouchaud, Giuseppe Lanzino, Juan R. Cebral

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background and purpose Vertebrobasilar dolichoectatic and fusiform aneurysms (VBDAs) are known to have a poor natural history, with high rates of growth, rupture, and stroke. The purpose of this study was to identify hemodynamic characteristics that differ between VBDAs associated with growth, rupture, and stroke. Materials and methods VBDAs with CT angiography or MR angiography followed longitudinally without treatment were studied. Unstable aneurysms were defined as those that grew or ruptured during follow-up. Aneurysms associated with stroke were defined as those associated with posterior circulation infarct at follow-up. Baseline data, including demographics, comorbidities, and aneurysm morphology and size were collected. …

Lake Surface Water Temperature Change Over The Tibetan Plateau From 2001 To 2015a Sensitive Indicator Of The Warming Climate, W. Wan, L. Zhao, H. Xie, B. Liu, H. Li, Ying Cui, Yan Ma

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a significant role in the Earth's climate system. This letter examines the nighttime lake surface water temperature (LSWT) of 374 lakes (≥10 km 2 each) over the TP for the past 15 years (2001–2015). An overall warming trend (0.037 °C/year) is found and it is consistent with the warming air temperature (0.036 °C/year) over the TP, with the vast majority of the lakes (70%, with 28% of which are significant) showing warming (0.076 °C/year) and the rest (30%, with 37% of which are significant) showing cooling (−0.053 °C/year). This astonishing contrast was controlled by different …

Impacts Of Climate Change And Bioenergy Markets On The Profitability Of Slash Pine Pulpwood Production In The Southeastern United States, Andres Susaeta, Pankaj Lal

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this study, we assessed the impacts of climate change on the production of pulpwood and biomass for bioenergy, and the profitability of slash pine stands in the Southeastern United States. We employed the 3-PG (Physiological Processes Predicting Growth) model to determine the effects of future climates on forest growth and integrated it with a stand-level economic model to determine their impacts on optimal forestmanagement. We found that the average production of pulpwood increased for all sites by 7.5 m 3 ha -1 for all climatic scenarios and productivity conditions. In the case of forest biomass for bioenergy, the average …

Impacts Of Climate Change And Bioenergy Markets On The Profitability Of Slash Pine Pulpwood Production In The Southeastern United States, Andrea Susaeta, Pankaj Lal

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this study, we assessed the impacts of climate change on the production of pulpwood and biomass for bioenergy, and the profitability of slash pine stands in the Southeastern United States. We employed the 3-PG (Physiological Processes Predicting Growth) model to determine the effects of future climates on forest growth and integrated it with a stand-level economic model to determine their impacts on optimal forest management. We found that the average production of pulpwood increased for all sites by 7.5 m³ ha⁻¹ for all climatic scenarios and productivity conditions. In the case of forest biomass for bioenergy, the …

Gw170817: Measurements Of Neutron Star Radii And Equation Of State, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

On 17 August 2017, the LIGO and Virgo observatories made the first direct detection of gravitational waves from the coalescence of a neutron star binary system. The detection of this gravitational-wave signal, GW170817, offers a novel opportunity to directly probe the properties of matter at the extreme conditions found in the interior of these stars. The initial, minimal-assumption analysis of the LIGO and Virgo data placed constraints on the tidal effects of the coalescing bodies, which were then translated to constraints on neutron star radii. Here, we expand upon previous analyses by working under the hypothesis that both bodies were …

Adsorption Of Uv-Quenching Substances (Uvqs) From Landfill Leachate With Activated Carbon, Yang Deng, Chanil Jung, Renzun Zhao, Kevin Torrens, Laying Wu

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Co-treatment of landfill leachate with sewage at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) is a common leachate management practice. However, the UV absorbing property of UV-quenching substances (UVQS) present in municipal landfill leachate may significantly reduce the efficiency of disinfection at POTWs that adopt ultraviolet irradiation for disinfection. The UVQS represents an emerging concern in the solid waste and wastewater treatment industries. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of activated carbon (AC) for removal of UVQS from landfill leachate in order to address the leachate UV-quenching issue. Results showed that the abatement of leachate UV254 absorbance with AC followed a …

A Sub-Millennial Sediment Record Of Ice-Stream Retreat And Meltwater Storage In The Baltic Ice Lake During The Bølling-Allerød Interstadial, April Lynn Kelly, Sandra Passchier

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The rapid retreat of the Baltic Ice Stream and the development of the Baltic Ice Lake is assessed using data from sediment cores retrieved from three sub-basins in the southern Baltic Sea. Hydraulic piston coring by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) recovered for the first time intact glacial lake sequences overlying diamictons and other ice-contact deposits at Sites M0063, M0064 and M0065. Based on the particle size and bulk sediment chemical composition the glacial lake sediments were subdivided into a proximal and a distal varve sequence. The origin of a dark, lithologically distinct horizon between the proximal and distal …

Valuing Visitor Access To Forested Areas And Exploring Willingness To Pay For Forest Conservation And Restoration Financethe Case Of Small Island Developing State Of Mauritius, Pricila Iranah, Pankaj Lal, Bernabas T. Wolde, Pralhad Burli

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Small island developing states share as common constraints their small size, geographical dispersion, greater vulnerability to rapid and drastic environmental change, and limited administrative and technical resources. Within these, they have to cater for urban and agricultural areas, as well as enough natural landscape for ecosystem services. Funding for conservation of forest ecosystems on these islands has received relatively less attention and national park systems are chronically underfunded. We used Mauritius as a case study to investigate the willingness to pay for conservation of state and privately owned forests. It is part of a biodiversity hotspot with highly threatened forest …

Identification Of Hostile Hemodynamics And Geometries Of Cerebral Aneurysms: A Case-Control Study, Bong Jae Chung, F. Mut, C. M. Putman, F. Hamzei-Sichani, W. Brinjikji, D. Kallmes, C. M. Jimenez, Juan R. Cebral

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hostile hemodynamic conditions and geometries are thought to predispose aneurysms for instability and rupture. This study compares stable, unstable, and ruptured aneurysms while controlling for location and patient characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hemodynamics and geometries of 165 stable, 65 unstable, and 554 ruptured aneurysms were compared. Hemodynamics was modeled using image-based computational fluid dynamics. Case-control pairs were selected matching aneurysm location, patient age, and sex. Paired Wilcoxon tests were used to compare hemodynamic and geometric variables among different aneurysm groups. The pairing was repeated 100 times, and the combined P values were calculated and adjusted for …

Cause And Consequence Of Aβ – Lipid Interactions In Alzheimer Disease Pathogenesis, Vijayaraghavan Rangachari, Dexter N. Dean, Pratip Rana, Ashuwin Vaidya, Preetam Ghosh

Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works

Self-templating propagation of protein aggregate conformations is increasingly becoming a significant factor in many neurological diseases. In Alzheimer disease (AD), intrinsically disordered amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides undergo aggregation that is sensitive to environmental conditions. High-molecular weight aggregates of Aβ that form insoluble fibrils are deposited as senile plaques in AD brains. However, low-molecular weight aggregates called soluble oligomers are known to be the primary toxic agents responsible for neuronal dysfunction. The aggregation process is highly stochastic involving both homotypic (Aβ-Aβ) and heterotypic (Aβ with interacting partners) interactions. Two of the important members of interacting partners are membrane lipids and surfactants, to …

Masked Instability: Within-Sector Financial Risk In The Presence Of Wealth Inequality, Youngna Choi

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We investigate masked financial instability caused by wealth inequality. When an economic sector is decomposed into two subsectors that possess a severe wealth inequality, the sector in entirety can look financially stable while the two subsectors possess extreme financially instabilities of opposite nature, one from excessive equity, the other from lack thereof. The unstable subsector can result in further financial distress and even trigger a financial crisis. The market instability indicator, an early warning system derived from dynamical systems applied to agent-based models, is used to analyze the subsectoral financial instabilities. Detailed mathematical analysis is provided to explain what financial …

Insights Into Barrier-Island Stability Derived From Transgressive/Regressive State Changes Of Parramore Island, Virginia, Jessica L. Raff, Justin L. Shawler, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Emily A. Hein, Jorge Lorenzo Trueba, Christopher J. Hein

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Barrier islands and their associated backbarrier ecosystems front much of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, yet threshold conditions associated with their relative stability (i.e., state changes between progradation, erosion, and landward migration) in the face of sea-level rise remain poorly understood. The barrier islands along Virginia's Eastern Shore are among the largest undeveloped barrier systems in the U.S., providing an ideal natural laboratory to explore the sensitivity of barrier islands to environmental change. Details about the developmental history of Parramore Island, one of the longest (12 km) and widest (1.0–1.9 km) of these islands, provide insight into the timescales …

Invasive-Plant-Removal Frequency—Its Impact On Species Spread And Implications For Further Integration Of Forest-Management Practices, Bernabas Wolde, Pankaj Lal

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

For a given invasive plant species and control method, effective invasive plant eradication requires regular monitoring and management. While most previous studies characterize invasive plant species, develop appropriate control methods, or prioritize species for management using aggressiveness and other considerations, few study why some forestland owners are less likely than others to regularly remove invasive plant species. Such information is useful in prioritizing and targeting forestland owners who are at greater risk for invasion, with the stands threatening adjacent forestlands. Towards this end, we surveyed 1800 forestland owners in Virginia and Texas. We use data on forestland owners’ socioeconomics and …

Financing The Sustainable Management Of Rwanda's Protected Areas, Onil Banerjee, Martin Cicowiez, Thomas Ochuodho, Michel Masozera, Bernabas Wolde, Pankaj Lal, Sebastian Dudek, Janaki R.R. Alavalapati

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Rwanda's Nyungwe National Park is a biodiversity hotspot with the most endemic species in the ecoregion and the highest number of threatened species internationally. Nyungwe supplies critical ecosystem services to the Rwandan population including water provisioning and tourism services. Tourism in the Park has strong potential for financing enhanced visitor experiences and the sustainable management of the Park. This paper explores quantitatively the economic impacts of adjustment in Park visitation fees and tourism demand as a source of revenues to improve Park tourism opportunities and ongoing operations and maintenance. The methods developed in this paper are novel in integrating the …

Development Of A Statistical Model For Discrimination Of Rupture Status In Posterior Communicating Artery Aneurysms, Felicitas J. Detmer, Bong Jae Chung, Fernando Mut, Michael Pritz, Martin Slawski, Farid Hamzei-Sichani, David Kallmes, Christopher Putman, Carlos Jimenez, Juan R. Cebral

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Intracranial aneurysms at the posterior communicating artery (PCOM) are known to have high rupture rates compared to other locations. We developed and internally validated a statistical model discriminating between ruptured and unruptured PCOM aneurysms based on hemodynamic and geometric parameters, angio-architectures, and patient age with the objective of its future use for aneurysm risk assessment. Methods: A total of 289 PCOM aneurysms in 272 patients modeled with image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were used to construct statistical models using logistic group lasso regression. These models were evaluated with respect to discrimination power and goodness of fit using tenfold nested …

Seasonal Differences In Trace Element Concentrations And Distribution In Spartina Alterniflora Root Tissue, Huan Feng, Yu Qian, J. Kirk Cochran, Qingzhi Zhu, Christina Heilbrun, Li Li, Wen Hu, Hanfei Yan, Xiaojing Huang, Mingyuan Ge, Evgeny Nazareski, Yong S. Chu, Shinjae Yoo, Xuebin Zhang, Chang Jun Liu

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The present study uses nanometer-scale synchrotron X-ray nanofluorescence to investigate season differences in concentrations and distributions of major (Ca, K, S and P) and trace elements (As, Cr, Cu, Fe and Zn) in the root system of Spartina alterniflora collected from Jamaica Bay, New York, in April and September 2015. The root samples were cross-sectioned at a thickness of 10 μm. Selected areas in the root epidermis and endodermis were mapped with a sampling resolution of 100 and 200 nm, varying with the mapping areas. The results indicate that trace element concentrations in the epidermis and endodermis vary among the …

A Greedy Algorithm For Finding A Large 2-Matching On A Random Cubic Graph, Deepak Bal, Patrick Bennett, Tom Bohman, Alan Frieze

Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works

A 2-matching of a graph G is a spanning subgraph with maximum degree two. The size of a 2-matching U is the number of edges in U and this is at least n-k(U) where n is the number of vertices of G and κ denotes the number of components. In this article, we analyze the performance of a greedy algorithm 2greedy for finding a large 2-matching on a random 3-regular graph. We prove that with high probability, the algorithm outputs a 2-matching U with k(U)=Θ(n1/5).

Fiducial Generalized P-Values For Testing Zero-Variance Components In Linear Mixed-Effects Models, Xinmin Li, Haiyan Su, Hua Liang

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Linear mixed-effects models are widely used in analysis of longitudinal data. However, testing for zero-variance components of random effects has not been well resolved in statistical literature, although some likelihood-based procedures have been proposed and studied. In this article, we propose a generalized p-value based method in coupling with fiducial inference to tackle this problem. The proposed method is also applied to test linearity of the nonparametric functions in additive models. We provide theoretical justifications and develop an implementation algorithm for the proposed method. We evaluate its finite-sample performance and compare it with that of the restricted likelihood ratio test …

Enhancing Received Signal Strength-Based Localization Through Coverage Hole Detection And Recovery, Shuangjiao Zhai, Zhanyong Tang, Dajin Wang, Qingpei Li, Zhanglei Li, Xiaojiang Chen, Dingyi Fang, Feng Chen, Zheng Wang

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), Radio Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)-based localization techniques have been widely used in various applications, such as intrusion detection, battlefield surveillance, and animal monitoring. One fundamental performance measure in those applications is the sensing coverage of WSNs. Insufficient coverage will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the applications. However, most existing studies on coverage assume that the sensing range of a sensor node is a disk, and the disk coverage model is too simplistic for many localization techniques. Moreover, there are some localization techniques of WSNs whose coverage model is non-disk, such as RSSI-based localization techniques. In …

Masked Instability: Within-Sector Financial Risk In The Presence Of Wealth Inequality, Youngna Choi

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We investigate masked financial instability caused by wealth inequality. When an economic sector is decomposed into two subsectors that possess a severe wealth inequality, the sector in entirety can look financially stable while the two subsectors possess extreme financially instabilities of opposite nature, one from excessive equity, the other from lack thereof. The unstable subsector can result in further financial distress and even trigger a financial crisis. The market instability indicator, an early warning system derived from dynamical systems applied to agent-based models, is used to analyze the subsectoral financial instabilities. Detailed mathematical analysis is provided to explain what financial …

Design, Development And Testing An Academic Repository, Kevin M. Handeli, Stefan Robila

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Technological advances, established best web development practices, and modern design of the 21st century have provided students, professors, researchers, etc., quasi-effortless access to academic documents encompassed within cleaner user interface and a higher level of usability. Access to and rigorous management of research publication and products is also mandated by funding agencies. Given these characteristics, we have developed an academic repository to maintain the student projects in a typical academic department. A repository of this nature is comprised of two major components: the database and the user interface. The key focus is to provide secure access to research materials (e.g. …

A Sedimentological Record Of Early Miocene Ice Advance And Retreat, And-2a Drill Hole, Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica, B. D. Field, G. H. Browne, Christopher R. Fielding, Fabio Florindo, David M. Harwood, Shelley Judge, Lawrence Krissek, Kurt S. Panter, Sandra Passchier, Stephen Pekar, Sonia Sandroni, Franco M. Talarico

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The lowest 501 m (∼1139–638 m) of the AND-2A core from southern McMurdo Sound is the most detailed and complete record of early Miocene sediments in Antarctica and indicates substantial variability in Antarctic ice sheet activity during early Miocene time. There are two main pulses of diamictite accumulation recorded in the core, and three significant intervals with almost no coarse clasts. Each diamictite package comprises several sequences consistent with ice advance-retreat episodes.

The oldest phase of diamictite deposition, Composite Sequence 1 (CS1), has evidence for grounded ice at the drill site and has been dated around 20.2–20.1 Ma. It likely …

Enhancing Autonomous Vehicles With Commonsense: Smart Mobility In Smart Cities, Priya Persaud, Aparna Varde, Stefan Robila

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Recent advances in AI include a Law firm hiring a robot lawyer and companies developing autonomous vehicles with robot drivers. Findings from our study have gauged the current cognitive capacity of such systems, indicating areas for improvement. We focus on autonomous vehicles, i.e., those that conduct automated driving and need to make autonomous, i.e., independent decisions. We propose an approach enabled with commonsense knowledge (CSK) from worldwide repositories to simulate intuitive humanlike decision-making in autonomous vehicles. We consider the repository WebChild with a multitude of CSK concepts, properties and relations. We investigate this and related domain-specific knowledge bases (domain KBs) …

Search For Tensor, Vector, And Scalar Polarizations In The Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find …