University of South Carolina

Autonomous berthing is the last crucial step in achieving full autonomy for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). It can be transformed into a trajectory-tracking problem. A novel autonomous berthing controller based on fixed-time generalized super-twisting is proposed and the unknown disturbance and model nonlinearity are also considered. First, the fixed-time integral sliding mode surface is designed to solve the inherent singularity problem of long-time convergence. The convergence time is bounded by a constant, independent of the initial conditions. Furthermore, a new generalized super-twisting sliding mode controller is developed and a nonsmooth term is adopted to substitute the generally used discontinuous term to eliminate the chattering. In addition, the stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed and verified by a new Lyapunov function designed. Moreover, the simulations and field tests are conducted to verify its performance. The results show that the control scheme proposed outperforms the comparative control schemes.

The canal waterways of China still play an important role in the logistics and transportation industry. Unmanned technology helps to reduce costs and improve the safety of navigation. Real-time environmental awareness is vital to making unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) come true. This paper proposes a new lightweight environmental awareness method based on deep convolutional neural networks ( DCNN ) and a mixed attention mechanism for USVs in canals, which can simultaneously perform ship detection, segmentation, and surface and background segmentation tasks. The features of the ships, surface, and background are extracted by a shared feature extraction backbone network and hybrid attention mechanism, which improves the efficiency of visual environmental awareness. In addition, a dataset named USV-Canal is constructed to enrich the features of canal waterways for environmental awareness, which contains typical canal scenes and 3443 ship objects. To improve the generalization, multiple public datasets are mixed with the USV-Canal dataset to build an integrated dataset to train our model, which boasts diversity in scene types and ship classes. The comparative and field experiments’ results show that 40.9% of mAP , 95.8% of mIoU, and 5 frames per second ( FPS ) inference speed can be achieved, and have good generalization, which can meet the requirements of environmental awareness of low-speed ships in canal waterways Note to Practitioners —The trained and validated model can ultimately be deployed on unmanned surface vehicles, and the required hardware platform is NVIDIA’s Jetson Nano, which is used for real-time perception of surrounding ships and navigable surfaces during navigation. The information can be integrated into the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system of USVs, achieving obstacle avoidance and ensuring safe navigation. It is vital to make autonomous navigation come true.

Importance Understanding whether there are racial and ethnic and residential disparities in prenatal telehealth uptake is necessary for ensuring equitable access and guiding implementation of future hybrid (ie, both telehealth and in-person) prenatal care. Objective To assess temporal changes in individuals using hybrid prenatal care before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) by race and ethnicity and residence location in the US. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study analyzed electronic health record data of prenatal care visits from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative Data Enclave, comprising data from 75 health systems and freestanding institutes in all 50 US states. Data were analyzed on 349 682 nationwide pregnancies among 349 524 people who gave birth from June 1, 2018, through May 31, 2022. Multivariable generalized estimating equations were used to examine variations in receiving hybrid vs only in-person prenatal care. Data phenotyping and analysis occurred from June 13, 2023, to September 27, 2024. Exposures Prenatal period overlap (never, partially, or fully overlapping) with the COVID-19 PHE, maternal race and ethnicity, and urban or rural residence. Main Outcomes and Measures Hybrid vs in-person–only prenatal care. Results Of 349 682 pregnancies (mean [SD] age, 29.4 [5.9] years), 59 837 (17.1%) were in Hispanic or Latino individuals, 14 803 (4.2%) in non-Hispanic Asian individuals, 65 571 (18.8%) in non-Hispanic Black individuals, 162 677 (46.5%) in non-Hispanic White individuals, and 46 794 (13.4%) in non-Hispanic individuals from other racial and ethnic groups. A total of 31 011 participants (8.9%) resided in rural communities. Hybrid prenatal care increased from nearly none before March 2020 to a peak of 8.1% telehealth visits in November 2020, decreasing slightly to 6.2% by March 2022. Among the fully overlapping group, urban residents had nearly 2-fold odds of hybrid prenatal care compared with rural people (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.98; 95% CI, 1.84-2.12). Hispanic or Latino people (AOR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.41-1.56), non-Hispanic Asian people (AOR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.35-1.59), and non-Hispanic Black people (AOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.12-1.24) were more likely to receive hybrid prenatal care than non-Hispanic White people. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, hybrid prenatal care increased substantially during the COVID-19 PHE, but pregnant people living in rural areas had lower levels of hybrid care than urban people, and individuals who belonged to racial and ethnic minority groups were more likely to have hybrid care than White individuals. These findings suggest that strategies that improve equitable access to telehealth for people who live in rural areas and people in some minority racial and ethnic groups may be useful.

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is a rare genetic condition characterized by features of accelerated aging, and individuals with HGPS seldom live beyond their mid-teens. The syndrome is commonly caused by a point mutation in the LMNA gene which codes for lamin A and its splice variant lamin C, components of the nuclear lamina. The mutation causing HGPS leads to production of a truncated, farnesylated form of lamin A referred to as "progerin." Progerin is also expressed at low levels in healthy individuals and appears to play a role in normal aging. HGPS is associated with an accumulation of genomic DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and alterations in the nature of DSB repair. The source of DSBs in HGPS is often attributed to stalling and subsequent collapse of replication forks in conjunction with faulty recruitment of repair factors to damage sites. In this work, we used a model system involving immortalized human cell lines to investigate progerin-induced genomic damage. Using an immunofluorescence approach to visualize phosphorylated histone H2AX foci which mark sites of genomic damage, we report that cells engineered to express progerin displayed a significant elevation of endogenous damage in the absence of any change in the cell cycle profile or doubling time of cells. Genomic damage was enhanced and persistent in progerin-expressing cells treated with hydroxyurea. Overexpression of wild-type lamin A did not elicit the outcomes associated with progerin expression. Our results show that DNA damage caused by progerin can occur independently from global changes in replication or cell proliferation.

Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant public health threat, prompting the need to pinpoint high-risk areas for targeted interventions and environmental control measures. Culex quinquefasciatus is the primary vector for several mosquito-borne pathogens, including West Nile virus. Using spatial analysis and modeling techniques, we investigated the geospatial distribution of Culex quinquefasciatus abundance in the large metropolis of Harris County, Texas, from 2020 to 2022. Our geospatial analysis revealed clusters of high mosquito abundance, predominantly located in central Houston and the north-northwestern regions of Harris County, with lower mosquito abundance observed in the western and southeastern areas. We identified persistent high mosquito abundance in some of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods, highlighting the importance of considering socioeconomic factors, the built environment, and historical urban development patterns in understanding vector ecology. Additionally, we observed a positive correlation between mosquito abundance and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status with the area deprivation index explaining between 22 and 38% of the variation in mosquito abundance (p-value < 0.001). This further underscores the influence of the built environment on vector populations. Our study emphasizes the utility of spatial analysis, including hotspot analysis and geostatistical interpolation, for understanding mosquito abundance patterns to guide resource allocation and surveillance efforts. Using geostatistical analysis, we discerned fine-scale geospatial patterns of Culex quinquefasciatus abundance in Harris County, Texas, to inform targeted interventions in vulnerable communities, ultimately reducing the risk of mosquito exposure and mosquito-borne disease transmission. By integrating spatial analysis with epidemiologic risk assessment, we can enhance public health preparedness and response efforts to prevent and control mosquito-borne disease. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12942-024-00385-4.

One of the primary goals of universities is to foster students' professional development and boost their employability. Social media platforms have become integral in today's digital age, causing disruptions in health, education and sport. University educators have integrated these platforms into classrooms to create online and hybrid teaching environments. However, research indicates that graduate students often lack proficiency in leveraging social media for professional use. This study examined the impact of an educational intervention conducted through LinkedIn, focusing on 61 undergraduate sport management students (80.30% male, 19.70% female) from a Spanish university during the 2020–2021 academic year. Pre‐test and post‐test questionnaires evaluated social media's potential as a teaching tool. Descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon test and Cohen's d effect‐size calculations were used. The results highlight LinkedIn's value as a teaching‐learning tool and its potential for enhancing students' professional development and engagement in the sport industry.

Development of low-cost aqueous P removal methods is imperative for water resource protection. This study assessed the contribution of an iron oxide (FeOx) filter for P sorption paired with a denitrifying pine bark bioreactor, quantifying the effect of treatment order on P removal. FeOx filters were placed upstream (order 1) or downstream (order 2) of pine bark bioreactors receiving a continuous flow of simulated irrigation return flow after constructed floating wetland treatment. The FeOx filters removed 0.095 ± 0.01 g P·m⁻³·d⁻¹ and 0.21 ± 0.01 g P·m⁻³·d⁻¹ in the spring and fall, respectively. P concentration was reduced from 5.08 to 3.8 mg·L⁻¹ and from 6.72 to 4.5 mg·L⁻¹ in the spring and fall experiments, respectively. The FeOx substrate sorbed 1.49 ± 0.08 mg P·g FeOx⁻¹ in spring and 3.18 ± 0.2 mg P·g FeOx⁻¹ fall experiments. P sorption varied by season due to differences in the load presented to the FeOx filters. Reclaimed FeOx substrates were viable P removal filters, especially during cooler months when the nutrient uptake capacity of constructed floating wetland plants was limited. Overall, findings indicate that FeOx filters can be used as a substrate for P sorption in conjunction with constructed floating wetlands or other plant-based treatment technologies that can be limited by seasonality.

This article is a survey of results on the construction of bases and frames for Besov and Triebel-Lizorkin spaces (B- and F-spaces) in various classical and nonclassical settings.We first review our small-perturbation method for construction of bases for B- and F-spaces on $\mathbb{R}^{\textit{d}}$ based on wavelets and show some of its applications to nonlinear approximation. Then we describe the construction of frames for B- and F-spaces in the classical setting on $\mathbb{R}^{\textit{d}}$, on the sphere in $\mathbb{R}^{\textit{d}}$, and in a general setting that covers a number of classical and nonclassical setups such as on $\mathbb{R}^{\textit{d}}$, the interval, sphere, ball, simplex as well as Riemannian manifolds and Lee groups. Finally, we present a small perturbation method for construction of frames for Band F-spaces in a general setting. Several applications of this scheme are presented.

Gravel bed rivers often display pool‐riffle morphology. Downstream changes in channel width are often correlated with pool‐riffle topography. Considering self‐formed, alluvial, straight and single‐thread gravel‐bed rivers, here we provide an analytical solution for their equilibrium pool‐riffle morphology in the presence of spatially varying widths. Our analytical model, based on mass and energy conservation for water flow, shows how bed level perturbations are closely linked to downstream width variations under the influence of water discharge. The analytical model is validated against experimental data and applied to reconstruct the natural pool‐riffle bed profile. The validated model shows how increasing water discharge (i.e., water depth and flow velocity) enhances the amplitude of pool‐riffle sequences. The proposed model can provide valuable guidance for river restoration projects.

Background Approaches to improve physical activity (PA), diet, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) during postpartum in diverse women with elevated weight are needed. Methods Health In Pregnancy and Postpartum (HIPP) was a randomized controlled trial that followed African American and white women with overweight or obesity from pregnancy through 12 months postpartum. Participants were randomized to a behavioral intervention grounded in social cognitive theory (n = 112) or standard care (n = 107). From enrollment (≤ 18 weeks gestation) through 6 months postpartum, the intervention group received two in-depth counseling sessions (one each during pregnancy and postpartum), counseling calls, behavioral podcasts, and access to a private Facebook group, while the standard care group received monthly mailings and podcasts focused on healthy pregnancy and infant development. PA (SenseWear armband), diet (ASA24), and HRQOL (SF-12) measurements were obtained from blinded assessors at baseline and 6- and 12-months postpartum. Linear or quantile regression models, depending on conformity to normality assumptions, were used to test differences between behavioral intervention and standard groups in PA outcomes (minutes/day of total PA, light PA, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA), and total steps/day), dietary outcomes (diet quality and six measures of dietary intake), and HRQOL at 6- and 12-months postpartum, controlling for baseline values, race, parity, weight status, education, maternal age, gestational age, and caloric intake (for most diet models). Results There were no statistically significant differences by group for any PA, diet, or HRQOL outcomes at 6 or 12 months postpartum. Irrespective of group assignment, all PA outcomes improved from pregnancy to postpartum, as did kcals and the mental component of HRQOL. Furthermore, while not statistically significant, virtually all PA outcomes, except MVPA at 12 months, and several dietary outcomes, including diet quality, had patterns favoring the intervention group but with small effect sizes. Conclusions Postpartum PA, diet, and HRQOL did not differ significantly between women in the behavioral intervention group and those in the standard care group. Given the increased responsibilities and stress that women face during the postpartum period, this appears to be a challenging time to make lifestyle changes. Trial registration This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on 10/09/2014. Identifier: NCT02260518.

Ventricular catheterization with a pressure-volume (PV) catheter is the gold-standard method for assessing in vivo cardiac function in animal studies, providing valuable ‘load-independent’ indices of systolic and diastolic heart performance. PV studies are commonly performed to elucidate mechanistic insights into cardiovascular disease using surgical and genetically engineered rat and mouse models, but there is considerable heterogeneity in how these studies are performed. Wide variation in protocol design, volume calibration, anesthesia, manipulation of cardiac loading conditions and how load-independent indices of cardiac function are derived, as well as in data analysis and reporting, is constraining reliability and reproducibility in the field. The purpose of this manuscript is to combine our collective expertise in performing open- and closed-chest left and right ventricle PV studies in rodents to provide consensus guidelines on how to perform, analyze and interpret these studies using either conductance or admittance PV catheters. We first review recent methodological reporting in rodent PV studies in this journal, and discuss important details required to improve reproducibility within and across PV studies. We then recommend steps to obtain high-quality PV data, from volume calibration to choice of anesthetic agent and acquiring load-independent indices of both systolic and diastolic function. We also consider between- and within-animal variation and recommend how to perform data analysis and visualization. We hope that this consensus paper guides those performing PV studies in rodents and helps align the field with best practices in surgical/analytical methodologies and reporting, facilitating better reliability and reproducibility in the PV field.

This chapter delineates the counterintuitive cultural and symbolic alignment between Black girlhood and Asian manhood in Justin Chon’s film, Gook (2017). In its representation of Asian maleness and Black femaleness as common sites of racial-sexual vulnerability, I argue that the film constructs the AfroAsian intimacy expressed by its three central characters—Kamilla, Eli, and Daniel—as rooted in the shared experience of racist violence that aligns Korean American manhood to African American girlhood. As the film depicts the first day of the Los Angeles riots of 1992—and thus the historical site of a now-naturalized antagonism between Black and Asian Americans—the film’s focus on AfroAsian intimacy, I argue, gives lie to this propagandistic yet ubiquitous notion.

This scholarly introduction contextualizes the recent boom in AfroAsian visual representation against the cognate backdrops of contemporary popular culture and academic theory. It outlines how the worlds of comparative racial representations are generally anchored by cisgender-heterosexual-masculinist gazes, turning then to the possibility of a reorientation of the visual archive of AfroAsian televisual representation based on queer and femme visions. Prior to describing the collected chapters and outlining their scholarly interventions, the chapter engages antecedent scholarship in AfroAsian cultural studies (Vanita Reddy, Anantha Sudhakar), Black critical theory (Frank Wilderson, Jared Sexton, Cornel West), and Black visual theory (bell hooks).

During the 2022 season, a documentary crew followed the teams and players in the Korean Baseball Organization, resulting in a 10-episode series Full Count that debuted the following year. The series was broadcast initially in South Korea; however, a later international release through a streaming platform allowed for increased worldwide exposure for the league, teams, players, and, perhaps somewhat uniquely, the culture and traditions in the home country. Therefore, even though the focus was baseball, this program provided a unique opportunity for the world to learn about the people and values of South Korea. Using constant comparative methodology, the following themes emerged: (a) emphasizing team over individual, (b) respecting elders, (c) overcoming adversity, and (d) playing with honor.

We present a groundbreaking advancement in ultraviolet (UV) radiation detection technology through the fabrication of a novel (p ⁺ )BDD/(n)4H-SiC heterojunction Schottky barrier diode (HSBD). This innovative device incorporates a thin, transparent nanocrystalline p ⁺ boron-doped diamond (BDD) layer deposited on highly crystalline, low-defect n-type 4H-SiC epitaxial layers. The HSBDs demonstrated a responsivity of 0.01 A/W at zero applied bias (self-biased mode) which is one order of magnitude higher than that reported in metal/4H-SiC SBDs. Furthermore, the highly conductive BDD contacts facilitate the extraction of radiation-induced electron-hole charge pairs generated within the 150 μm thick 4H-SiC epitaxial layers, which serve as the active detector volume. This disruptive detector technology offers immense potential for applications in nuclear reactor core dose monitoring and space radiation detection, surpassing the capabilities of current detector technologies. Additionally, this advancement has significant implications for the manipulation of the charge state of optically active defects in 4H-SiC, laying the foundation for future developments in quantum computation qubits.

The collision avoidance in real-time is crucial for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) in a complex environment. Traditional methods make it hard to ensure the balance of control decisions. To balance safety and practicality, a collision avoidance algorithm based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) and a two-level incentive reward based on the principle of complementarity is proposed. To address the vital sparse reward problem of Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), the trajectory evaluation function of the dynamic window algorithm (DWA) is referred to construct the primary reward strategy, and a secondary incentive reward is constructed based on velocity obstacle (VO) to eliminate potential collision risks. To improve the efficiency of training, the electronic chart (EC) and Unity3D are used to build an immersive simulation platform. Based on it, simulations are made to verify the performance. In addition, field experiments are first conducted in various encounter scenarios to verify the effectiveness. The results show that it can take safe collision avoidance actions and get practical paths in various situations.