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Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy Impact in the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), Volume I - Technical Report, Annual Report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality January 2022 - December 2022
Get PDFThe Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station of the Texas A&M University System is pleased to provide its annual report, ���Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy Impact in the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP),��� as required under Texas Health and Safety Code 386.205, 386.252, 388.006, 389.003 (e), and under Texas Utilities Code Sec. 39.9051 (g) (h), and Sec. 39.9052 (c) (d)
Investigations of the Blow Fly Lucilia eximia for use in Forensic Entomology: Nutrition Impacts Longevity and Temperature Impacts Development
Get PDFLucilia eximia (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a blow fly species native to the Neotropical region and southern North America. Lucilia eximia colonizes deceased or living vertebrates, including humans. Little is known about the biology and ecological impact of L. eximia compared to other blow flies, which inhibits their use in medicine and forensics in the United States (U.S.). The authors have conducted two separate investigations on the adult longevity and development of L. eximia to help close this knowledge gap. Adult L. eximia survived 58.41 d when provided food and water, and 1.61 d when deprived of these resources. Maximum longevity was 118 d when food and water were provided and 2 d when it was not. The longevity of L. eximia was not variable between males and females. Development of L. eximia was also examined. Constant temperatures of 24.9��C, 31.3��C, and 36.5��C were used. Egg, 1st instar, and 2nd instar life stages were completed quickest at 31.3��C. Third instars left the food source an average of 6.3 h faster at 36.5��C than 31.3��C. When held at 36.5��C, only one individual pupated and no adults were observed. Two preliminary studies were conducted to study the effects of thermal stress on L. eximia. Effects of shifting temperature on development were analyzed by decreasing temperature from 36.5��C to 24.9��C in the postfeeding 3rd instar life stage. Decreasing temperature from 36.5��C to 24.9��C in the postfeeding 3rd instar increased pupation and adult eclosion. The voluntary thermal maximum of L. eximia was also examined, and it was found that 3rd instar L. eximia tends to voluntarily vacate food sources when under thermal stress. These works expand the knowledge of L. eximia, a previously understudied species in North America. The immature development and adult longevity of L. eximia reveals their expected interaction period with carrion resources. Understanding the development of L. eximia in medically useful life stages informs their practicality as a therapeutic. These investigations enable forensic entomologists in the southern U.S. to use L. eximia for time of colonization estimates in casework for the first time ever
Revising Environment Maps in Real Time
No full textWhen mapping indoor environments that have frequent changes in the environment, like whenever the state of doors is changed or if furniture has moved, existing robotic systems struggle since they most commonly build a static map of their surroundings that is not able to recognize its location whenever only a few things are changed in the surroundings. As robots continue to be used alongside humans, robots and robotic systems should be able to understand where in their environment they are without nearly as much previous knowledge and update their understanding of their surroundings as they explore. This research attempts to solve these problems and make a robot be able to localize itself in a previously known map and then dynamically update that map without the need for remapping the environment completely, providing itself the most up to date environment map for navigation purposes. This research yields a system that allows for the accurate revision of a previously generated ground truth environment map while being able to localize a robot with no previous knowledge of its location within the environment. This research also yields an implementation of this system on a physical robot with a LIDAR sensor, as well as a simulation of this system and a comparison of this method with other methods of localization and map revision of small, day-to-day changes to human indoor environments
Digital Resource 2. PWAM, 1980-2022, Author Page Count, Identity as a percentage normalized, zoom
No full textReferenced in Chapter 3 of the book "Digital Literary Redlining: African American Anthologies, Digital Humanities, and the Canon.
Interview with Maya Mikdash; Does (All) Police Violence Cause De-Policing?
No full textThe death of George Floyd spurred nationwide protests and the media storm that ensued placed police accountability and reform front-and-center in the American news cycle. In this issue of PERCspectives on Research, PERC's M.J. Grove Scholar Maya Mikdash is interviewed and her paper on the causes behind increases in criminal activity following incidents of police violence is discussed