Measurement and Analysis of Wave Loading on a Full Scale Coastal Structure

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/837 on 07.20.2017 by CS (TIS)The aim of this investigation was to measure and analyse wave loading on a full scale coastal structure in order to validate current breakwater design methods and to improve understanding of the physical processes involved. A range of new, robust field measurement instrumentation was developed and deployed at the chosen field site, the Alderney Breakwater in the Channel Islands. The instrumentation deployed in this particularly harsh wave loading environment included an array of wave loading pressure sensors together with co-located void fraction gauges, which were used to measure the percentage air entrained within the seawater. Wave data was measured by means of a sea bed array of six pressure sensors which were logged using an underwater data logger. Data from the instrumentation mounted on the breakwater wall was logged with a high specification remote data logger. Both the instrumentation and the data acquisition equipment were developed and adapted specifically for this investigation and as a result over 150 high quality data sets were recorded at very high logging rates, which allowed field data analysis at an unprecedented level. New calibration and data processing methods were developed for the analysis of this novel set of data records. Due to the meticulous planning, instrument development, data acquisition development, and deployment the data collected is, to the best of the Author's knowledge, the highest quality wave loading field data collected to date. The wave conditions measured at the site were used as inputs to three commonly used design methods for vertical coastal structures, which were used to estimate the maximum wave loading pressures over the height of the structure. The pressures and forces predicted by the models were contrasted with measured values and it was found that the Goda method (1985) predicted the events with a high degree of accuracy provided that the waves were not breaking directly onto the structure. When waves did break onto the structure high magnitude, short duration pressures were frequently measured which sometimes also acted over a very small spatial area. There was a large degree of temporal and spatial variability in the high magnitude breaking wave pressures and they were not accurately predicted by any of the models. The relationship between wave momentum flux and wave loading impulse was investigated both on a record by record basis and using a wave by wave analysis. For the Alderney field site a consistent relationship was found between the wave momentum flux and wave loading impulse, which could be used to estimate the wave loading impulse and duration for known wave input conditions. Features of interest were also identified from temporal comparisons of individual co-located pressure and aeration traces, including negative pressures and a negative correlation between air content and pressure over short time scales

Open Educational Resources (OER) for Control Systems Engineering: Development Case with LabVIEW, Simulink, and Camtasia

The aim of this paper is to report on the development of control systems open educational resources. The paper reports on two control systems education software: 1- A LabVIEW based Control Systems Analysis Toolkit (CSAT) which was developed to assist lecturers in teaching control engineering and students to understand theoretical concepts, and 2- A Process Control Virtual Laboratory (PCVL), developed using LabVIEW. Both software have been created as a stand-alone educational application together with a detailed manual and learning activities. Existing Simulink exercises have been enhanced and specific video tutorials for the Simulink exercises have been developed. Evaluations have been conducted indicating positive impact on students

One Regions Response: The Emergence Of Hispanic Workers In Appalachia

Surveys were conducted assessing level of preparedness of businesses in Eastern Kentucky for the coming wave of Hispanic immigration.   Information was summarized for businesses that have not employed Hispanic workers in the past, including a general overview of the cultural and language barriers providing guidelines to ease the transition.   Specific guidelines were accumulated regarding general cultural differences and language problems. The information has been organized into four areas containing both general and specific concepts

Membrane localization of the ToxR winged-helix domain is required for TcpP-mediated virulence gene activation in Vibrio cholerae

ToxR is a bitopic membrane protein that controls virulence gene expression in Vibrio cholerae . Its cytoplasmic domain is homologous to the winged helix–turn–helix (‘winged helix’) DNA-binding/transcription activation domain found in a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic regulators, whereas its periplasmic domain is of ill-defined function. Several genes in V. cholerae are regulated by ToxR, but by apparently different mechanisms. Whereas ToxR directly controls the transcription of genes encoding two outer membrane proteins, OmpU and OmpT, it co-operates with a second membrane-localized transcription factor called TcpP to activate transcription of the gene encoding ToxT, which regulates transcription of cholera toxin ( ctxAB ) and the toxin-co-regulated pilus ( tcp ). To determine the requirements for gene activation by ToxR, different domains of the protein were analysed for their ability to control expression of toxT , ompU and ompT . Soluble forms of the cytoplasmic winged-helix domain regulated ompU and ompT gene expression properly but did not activate toxT transcription. Membrane localization of the winged helix was sufficient for both omp gene regulation and TcpP-dependent toxT transcription, irrespective of the type of periplasmic domain or even the presence of a periplasmic domain. These results suggest that (i) the major function for membrane localization of ToxR is for its winged-helix domain to co-operate with TcpP to activate transcription; (ii) the periplasmic domain of ToxR is not required for TcpP-dependent activation of toxT transcription; and (iii) membrane localization is not a strict requirement for DNA binding and transcription activation by ToxR.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73850/1/j.1365-2958.2003.03398.x.pd

Innovative approaches to teaching mathematics in higher education: a review and critique

This paper provides a snapshot of emerging trends in mathematics teaching in higher education for STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Overwhelmingly, papers identify a focus on conceptual understandings of mathematics in comparison to understanding that is instrumental or procedural. Calls for reform of mathematics teaching have been the basis for a range of studies; responses to these calls have embraced innovative methods for implementing changes in learning and teaching of mathematics, sometimes rooted in constructivist ideology. Observed trends have been categorised in six groups. In many studies, technology is being used as an enabler of reforms. Constraints to implementing new approaches in mathematics teaching are indicated. Discussion of contemporary research questions that could be asked as a result of the shift towards teaching mathematics in innovative ways is provided and is followed by a critique of the underlying theoretical positions, essentially that of constructivism

Implementing, monitoring and measuring a programme of relationship marketing

This single, embedded case study examined the marketing activities of Flensted Catering A/S, a Danish food company. The case is the first one in a series of case studies constituting a larger research project with the overall objective of understanding how to implement relationship marketing, how to monitor the outputs and how to measure the returns. In 1996, the company embarked on a three-phase programme directed at building relations with customers. As a prelude to the implementation, Flensted Catering A/S conducted focus groups and issued questionnaires to determine customer perceptions of how the company could meliorate its performance. Subsequently, the Danish firm established project teams, instituted customer-focused staff training and sought to improve communications with customers. Following the implementation, the monitoring revealed that Flensted Catering A/S was rated as a better supplier by 43 per cent of its customers and that customer retention had risen to 94 per cen

Latent Space Planning for Multi-Object Manipulation with Environment-Aware Relational Classifiers

Objects rarely sit in isolation in everyday human environments. If we want robots to operate and perform tasks in our human environments, they must understand how the objects they manipulate will interact with structural elements of the environment for all but the simplest of tasks. As such, we'd like our robots to reason about how multiple objects and environmental elements relate to one another and how those relations may change as the robot interacts with the world. We examine the problem of predicting inter-object and object-environment relations between previously unseen objects and novel environments purely from partial-view point clouds. Our approach enables robots to plan and execute sequences to complete multi-object manipulation tasks defined from logical relations. This removes the burden of providing explicit, continuous object states as goals to the robot. We explore several different neural network architectures for this task. We find the best performing model to be a novel transformer-based neural network that both predicts object-environment relations and learns a latent-space dynamics function. We achieve reliable sim-to-real transfer without any fine-tuning. Our experiments show that our model understands how changes in observed environmental geometry relate to semantic relations between objects. We show more videos on our website: https://sites.google.com/view/erelationaldynamics.Comment: Under review. Update contact information and equations in the manuscript. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2209.1194

Credit bearing work-based learning: learning from other's practice

Work-based learning (WBL) in Higher Education (HE) encompasses a range of activities associated with employability and the workplace. This paper focuses on work-based learning in the context of learning for work, with campus-based learners gaining experience in the workplace, linked to formally accredited Higher Education programmes. In Engineering work-based learning typically involves industrial sandwich placements which may result in an additional award, such as a ‘diploma of industrial studies’, but rarely result in credit. In other disciplines such as Health and Medicine, however, there is a long tradition of awarding credit for work-based learning. This paper outlines the context and drivers for awarding credit for work based learning in Engineering and draws on literature, cross-discipline case studies and stakeholder perceptions to describe models of work-based learning and assessment practices appropriate to Engineering. It concludes by reflecting on the practical implications for academic institutions, staff, students and industrial supervisors involved