Mechanistic-Empirical Evaluation of Pavement Damage and Cost Attributed to Overweight Single-Trip and Multi-Trip Scenarios in Nevada

The movement of overweight (OW) vehicles has become more common over the years dueto its vital necessity for many important industries such as chemical, oil, defense, etc. UsingOW vehicles reduces the number of vehicles on highways, potentially decreasing trafficcongestion and emissions. However, the operation of large and heavy vehicles can lead toa speedy deterioration of the roadway system; hence necessitating additional resources tomaintain the conditions of roadway pavements at an acceptable level.This dissertation presents an approach that allows the estimation of pavementdamage associated costs (PDAC) attributable to OW vehicle moves. The PDAC can beestimated for different OW axle loadings and configurations with due considerations givento locally-calibrated pavement distress models, existing pavement condition, differentpavement repair options, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The approach uses the sameinformation currently requested by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT)during the OW permit application process and provides a realistic methodology to assesspavement damage from single-trip and multi-trip OW scenarios. In the methodology, thedamage from OW vehicles is compared to that caused by a standard vehicle. It should benoted that the costs associated to the pavement damage caused by lighter vehicles grossvehicle weight (GVW) up to 80,000 lb. is assumed to be already covered by fuel taxes andwill be reflected in a PDAC of zero dollars.In the calculation of PDAC, the remaining service life (RSL) of the pavement wasconsidered, a RSL of one representing a new pavement section. The RSL is a directmultiplier of PDAC and it is used to consider the current condition of the pavement at thetime of the move. Consequently, lower PDACs will be estimated for an OW pass occurring iiion a pavement section with lower remaining life (i.e., a pavement section that has alreadybeen subjected to a percentage of its original design traffic).As part of this study a ten-year NDOT over-dimensional permit database containing367,595 entries was analyzed. Along with the ten-year permit database, thousands of actualover-dimensional permit forms which described GVW and the entire axle and loadconfigurations of the permitted vehicles were analyzed. The purpose of the analysis wasthe identification and classification of trends, GVW, axle loads/tire loads and otherimportant characteristics of the OW movements in Nevada. This analysis enabled thedesign of a comprehensive experimental plan of pavement analyses required to model OWvehicles under the different loading, pavement temperature, and speed conditions found inNevada.In the development of the PDAC methodology, relationships between the ACdynamic modulus master curve parameters and the respective pavement responses atvarious locations within the structure were taken into consideration. In fact, master curvesof pavement responses were constructed using the same non-linear models used in theconstruction of the sigmoidal dynamic modulus master curve. The effect of pavementtemperature, vehicle speed, and axle load level were considered in the development of 3Dsurfacecontaining entire maps of pavement responses shifted at selected temperatures.The presented methodology provides useful ways to assess pavement damage fromOW vehicles, eliminating the need for conducting individual deterministic pavementanalysis assessments. Through comparative analysis, it was found that the proposedmethodology produces PDAC values that are comparable to those levied by other statehighway agencies (SHAs) that implement distance and weight-distance fee structures. It ivwas also estimated that the PDAC methodology could produce significant increase inrevenue when assuming average input values. However, such increase in revenue is mostlyassociated with OW vehicles in the heaviest categories

Signs for Ethical AI: A Route Towards Transparency

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently raised to the point where it has a direct impact on the daily life of billions of people. This is the result of its application to sectors like finance, health, digital entertainment, transportation, security and advertisement. Today, AI fuels some of the most significant economic and research institutions in the world, and the impact of AI in the near future seems difficult to predict or even bound. In contrast to all this power, society remains mostly ignorant of the capabilities, requirements and standard practices of AI today. Society is becoming aware of the dangers that come with that ignorance, and is rightfully asking for solutions. To address this need, improving on current practices of interaction between people and AI systems, we propose a transparency scheme to be implemented on any AI system open to the public. The scheme is based on two main pillars: Data Privacy and AI Transparency. The first recognizes the relevance of data for AI and is supported by GDPR, the most important legislation on the topic. The second considers aspects of AI transparency yet to be regulated: AI capacity, purpose and source. Lacking legislation to build upon, we design this pillar based on fundamental ethical principles. For each of the two pillars, we define a three-level display. The first level is based on visual signs, inspired by traffic signs managing the interaction between people and cars, and designed for quick and universal interpretability. The second level uses a factsheet system, providing further detail while still abstracting the subject. The last level provides access to all available details. After detailing and exemplifying the proposed transparency scheme, we define a set of principles for creating transparent by design software, to be used during the integration of AI components on user-oriented services.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Influencia de la combinación de agregado de cerro y de río en la capacidad de soporte de un afirmado

RESUMEN La presente investigación tuvo por objetivo principal determinar la influencia de la combinación de agregado de río y de cerro en la capacidad de soporte de un afirmado, utilizándose para ello 3 combinaciones de agregado de río y agregado de cerro correspondientes a los siguientes porcentajes del 75%/25%, 50%/50%, 25%/75% respectivamente. La investigación se realizó usando agregados de río extraído de la cantera Chonta y agregados de cerro extraído de la cantera Bazán, de los cuales se analizaron sus propiedades físicas y mecánicas dentro de ellas el contenido de humedad, abrasión, granulometría, límites de Atterberg, compactación y CBR; posteriormente se realizaron las combinaciones propuestas de agregado de río y de cerro de las canteras seleccionadas analizándose también sus propiedades físicas y mecánicas dentro de ellas límites de Atterberg, compactación, y CBR. Al procesar los datos de los diferentes ensayos realizados se obtiene que: el agregado de la cantera de río (Chonta) tuvo un CBR de 15% y el agregado de la cantera de cerro (Bazán) tuvo un CBR de 22%, la combinación de: agregado de río / agregado de cerro, para una proporción 75%/25% se obtuvo un CBR 110%, para la proporción 50%/50% se obtuvo un CBR de 55% y para la proporción 25%/75% se obtuvo un CBR de 75%. De los datos obtenidos se puede concluir que ninguna de las canteras cumple con los requisitos mínimos de diseño de afirmado según el Manual de carreteras 2013, mientras que las 3 combinaciones cumplen con lo requerido, indicándose que la proporción 75%/25% tuvo la mejor capacidad de soporte (CBR).ABSTRACT The main objective of the present investigation is to determine the influence of the combination of river and hill aggregate on the support capacity of a firm, using 3 combinations of river aggregate and hill aggregate corresponding to the following percentages of 75% / 25%, 50% / 50%, 25% / 75% respectively. The research was carried out using river aggregates extracted from the Chonta quarry and the aggregates of hills extracted from the Bazán quarry, from which their physical and mechanical properties were analyzed within them the moisture content, abrasion, granulometry, Atterberg limits, compaction And CBR; Later the proposed combinations of river and hill aggregates of the selected quarries were realized, also analyzing their physical and mechanical properties within them limits of Atterberg, compaction, and CBR. When the data of the different tests were processed, it was obtained that: the aggregate of the riverbed (Chonta) had a CBR of 15% and the aggregate of the hill of Bazán had a CBR of 22%, the combination of : River aggregate / hill aggregate, for a ratio of 75% / 25% a CBR 110% was obtained, for the 50% / 50% ratio a CBR of 55% was obtained and for the proportion 25% / 75% was obtained A CBR of 75%. From the data obtained it is possible to conclude that none of the quarries meet the minimum requirements of design of affirmed according to the Road Manual 2013, while the 3 combinations comply with what is required, indicating that the ratio 75% / 25% has the best Carrying capacity (CBR)

Estabilidad de un modelo matemático de la obesidad con factor genético-ambiental

Las investigaciones estudian la obesidad desde un punto de vista genetico-ambiental, de esta forma el modelo propuesto consiste en observar cuales son los efectos que produce tanto el factor genetico y el factor ambiente. Se esta considerando tres grupos en cierta poblacion. Personas que comen saludable, personas que no comen saludable y personas obesas a estos se subdividen por sus genotipos. En cuanto al factor ambiente se refiere cuando las personas con malos hábitos de alimentación influyen en otras (buenos hábitos) y viceversa. El modelo fue propuesto por Hong F, Kelley V, Molina-Serrano K, Rhodes D, Burkow D, Paredes M; el cual fue elaborado en el Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI). Sin embargo en el analisis matemático de este modelo se encontró con casos en donde no se pudo decir nada acerca del comportamiento de ciertos puntos de equilibrio. Se pretende dar respuesta a uno de los casos aplicando la teoría de la variedad central. Adicionalmente se propone una implementacion computacional en un ambiente web. La cual permitirá una interacción con el usuario de manera muy amigable y remota.Tesi

When & How to Transfer with Transfer Learning

In deep learning, transfer learning (TL) has become the de facto approach when dealing with image related tasks. Visual features learnt for one task have been shown to be reusable for other tasks, improving performance significantly. By reusing deep representations, TL enables the use of deep models in domains with limited data availability, limited computational resources and/or limited access to human experts. Domains which include the vast majority of real-life applications. This paper conducts an experimental evaluation of TL, exploring its trade-offs with respect to performance, environmental footprint, human hours and computational requirements. Results highlight the cases were a cheap feature extraction approach is preferable, and the situations where an expensive fine-tuning effort may be worth the added cost. Finally, a set of guidelines on the use of TL are proposed

Quality Control and Quality Assurance of Asphalt Mixtures Using Laboratory Rutting and Cracking Tests

The main objectives of this project were to review the available balanced-mix design (BMD) methodologies, understand the I-FIT and Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test (HWTT) test methods using INDOT asphalt mixtures, and to explore the application of these tests to both a BMD approach and as performance-related Quality Control (QC) and Quality Acceptance (QA) methods. Two QA mixture specimen types, plant-mixed laboratory-compacted (PMLC) and plant-mixed field-compacted (PMFC) were used in the determination of cracking and rutting parameters. Distribution functions for the flexibility index (FI) values and rutting parameters were determined for various mixture types. The effects of specimen geometry and air voids contents on the calculated Flexibility Index (FI) and rutting parameters were investigated. The fatigue characteristics of selected asphalt mixtures were determined using the S-VECD test according to different FI levels for different conditions. A typical full-depth pavement section was implemented in FlexPAVE to explore the cracking characteristics of INDOT asphalt mixtures by investigating the relationship between the FI values of QA samples with the FlexPAVE pavement performance predictions. The FI values obtained from PMFC specimens were consistently higher than their corresponding PMLC specimens. This study also found that FI values were affected significantly by variations in specimen thickness and air voids contents, having higher FI values with higher air voids contents and thinner specimens. These observations do not agree with the general material-performance expectations that better cracking resistance is achieved with lower air voids content and thicker layers. Additionally, PG 70-22 mixtures show the lowest mean FI values followed by the PG 76-22 and 64-22 mixtures. The same order was observed from the ΔTc (asphalt binder cracking index) of INDOT’s 2017 and 2018 projects. Finally, it was found that the HWTT showed reasonable sensitivity to the different characteristics (e.g., aggregate sizes, binder types, and air voids contents) of asphalt mixtures. Mixtures containing modified asphalt binders showed better rut resistance and higher Rutting Resistance Index (RRI) than those containing unmodified binders