The Feasibility of Using an Instrumented Vehicle Equipped with Inertial Navigation Guidence System to Collect Roadway Grade and Cross-Slope Data for Safety Analysis

In 2005, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requested the development for the initial version of the Model Minimum Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE). MIRE is a roadway inventory and traffic data collection data program that has a strong focus on improving the decision process in safety programs. MIRE is not a mandatory state program, but is strongly recommended based on its potential advantages. Some of the data required for MIRE was previously collected as a result of the requirements set from the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). This thesis concentrates on the feasibility of determining as-built grade and cross-slope data using an instrumented vehicle equipped with GPS-aided MEM Inertial System by Crossbow, eliminating the need to manually extract data from design plans or use other methods. Instrumented vehicles should provide time savings in the data collection process and sufficient results, within the acceptable limits, for safety analysis. A calibration was performed on the Inertial Navigation Unit (INU) to test for any bias that may be present. Roadway data was collected by traveling multiple runs in each travel lane in both directions on the SCDOT Test Road and several road sections in Atlanta, GA. The included analysis tests the calibration of the Inertial Unit by having a test road with high accurate as-built plans to test the grade, and survey data to test the cross-slope. The inertial unit data was processed and compared to the obtained data to see what the absolute error was to determine if the results were acceptable for safety analysis

Transparent Phased Patch Antenna Array for Beamsteering Applications

The ever expanding demand for wireless communications faces many challenges. As the necessity for wireless communications increases, inevitably, the impact wireless communications systems have on their environment will also increase. This is important because the environmental impact a communications system has may limit the locations in which that system can be deployed. For this reason, there is a demand for unobtrusive hardware in order to grow the wireless communications infrastructure. Furthermore, performance limiting factors associated with wireless communications can be mitigated by implementing steerable antennas, making a less obtrusive steerable antenna desired. The contribution of this work is the demonstration of a vertically-polarized transparent patch antenna array and a horizontally-polarized transparent patch antenna array for beamsteering applications. Details regarding element array spacing, materials used, parameters, simulated and measured performance values, and analysis of each array will be covered in this thesis

Non/Disclosure: Documentation and Participant Observation as Hybrid, Nonfiction, Artistic Research Methodology for Ethnographic Media Production, Contemplative Discovery, Social Practice and Catharsis

As if presaged by the physical, fine and philosophical arts that preceded it, the amelioration to the process of documenting the wonted human existence, political strife, and sundry cultural phenomena through the neo-normative medium of film (and eventually digital video) inaugurated the true scope and importance of anthropological research among a vastly wider audience who would use it, and its intrinsic capacity for the augmentation of artistic expression, to proliferate an expansive accompaniment to the field which would all become recognized platforms for demonstrative presentation of individual oeuvres. Intermedia has worked in this way to amalgamate concepts like Futurism, Dadaism, and other expressionist movements within (and yet intentionally excluding) fine art. Film and video, while maintained as the mediums of choice for this author’s preference for creative and professional praxis, are discussed herein, as well as the other, more intermedial, forms of creative articulation which have been used explicitly throughout the latter half of graduate study in the program if its namesake. As a lifelong visual media enthusiast, this author has witnessed the paradigm shift of mediums like photography, videography and multimedia design evolving from analog instrumentation to the digital spectrum of non-mechanized vehicles of expression. Having not only maintained a long held fascination with these media, but also a vested interest in the avenues which they forge, this author considers himself fortunate to be counted as an observational proponent of the exhaustive, global, artifactual transposition consistent with no other industry over the same period of recent years. The purpose of the discussion directly related to that digital medium within the context of this paper is to more definitively characterize this author’s contributions to the substance and content of that pool of collective change - and the effect that change has imposed on his individual work as it relates to programmatic and academic scholarship. This is, herein, referenced as the prior half of those programmatic studies. On the whole, the components of the ensuing discussion will also draw in the latter half of progression through the Intermedia program, wherein this author was faced with two extreme challenges: a life-changing, personal attack in the midst of an accelerated terminal graduate curriculum; and the apposite realization that Intermedia, and not necessarily the creative medium with which this author has spent the bulk of his professional and creative life becoming familiar, was the consummate medium necessary to address and overcome that traumatic event - which momentously presented the opportunity to gerrymander the circumstances to the benefit of the thesis work found below (as well as a wide swathe of lagniappes inadvertently proffered as a result in other spheres of personal and professional life). As such, this paper will be framed by two constituent methodological discussions: Section One: Visual Multimedia, and Section Two: Intermedial Adaptations. Each will work to bring specific conclusivity to the implications admitted of their appellation and demonstrate how the major contributing factors to each such subset of praxis have informed the evolution of this author’s most contemporary practice. Additionally, each will employ a notion of exposition incongruent with the other segment, detailing individualistic development specific to that work. The third and concluding section, which will lend itself to particularizing the composite commonality of individual works, the discussion of their historiographic endowments, and the unifying factors of their generally misapprehended miscellany, will draw on the collective evolution and distill the subsequent objectives upon which the same contemporaneous successes have garnered educational momentum

A national training program for simulation educators and technicians: evaluation strategy and outcomes

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.BACKGROUND: Simulation-based education (SBE) has seen a dramatic uptake in health professions education over the last decade. SBE offers learning opportunities that are difficult to access by other methods. Competent faculty is seen as key to high quality SBE. In 2011, in response to a significant national healthcare issue--the need to enhance the quality and scale of SBE--a group of Australian universities was commissioned to develop a national training program--Australian Simulation Educator and Technician Training (AusSETT) Program. This paper reports the evaluation of this large-scale initiative. METHODS: The AusSETT Program adopted a train-the-trainer model, which offered up to three days of workshops and between four and eight hours of e-learning. The Program was offered across all professions in all states and territories. Three hundred and three participants attended workshops with 230 also completing e-learning modules. Topics included: foundational learning theory; orientation to diverse simulation modalities; briefing; and debriefing. A layered objectives-oriented evaluation strategy was adopted with multiple stakeholders (participants, external experts), methods of data collection (end of module evaluations, workshop observer reports and individual interviews) and at multiple data points (immediate and two months later). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse numerical data while textual data (written comments and transcripts of interviews) underwent content or thematic analysis. RESULTS: For each module, between 45 and 254 participants completed evaluations. The content and educational methods were rated highly with items exceeding the pre-established standard. In written evaluations, participants identified strengths (e.g. high quality facilitation, breadth and depth of content) and areas for development (e.g. electronic portfolio, learning management system) of the Program. Interviews with participants suggested the Program had positively impacted their educational practices. Observers reported a high quality educational experience for participants with alignment of content and methods with perceived participant needs. CONCLUSIONS: The AusSETT Program is a significant and enduring learning resource. The development of a national training program to support a competent simulation workforce is feasible. The Program objectives were largely met. Although there are limitations with the study design (e.g. self-report), there are strengths such as exploring the impact two months later. The evaluation of the Program informs the next phase of the national strategy for simulation educators and technicians with respect to content and processes, strengths and areas for development

Noble gas solubility in silicate melts:a review of experimentation and theory, and implications regarding magma degassing processes

Noble gas solubility in silicate melts and glasses has gained a crucial role in Earth Sciences investigations and in the studies of non-crystalline materials on a micro to a macro-scale. Due to their special geochemical features, noble gases are in fact ideal tracers of magma degassing. Their inert nature also allows them to be used to probe the structure of silicate melts. Owing to the development of modern high pressure and temperature technologies, a large number of experimental investigations have been performed on this subject in recent times. This paper reviews the related literature, and tries to define our present state of knowledge, the problems encountered in the experimental procedures and the theoretical questions which remain unresolved. Throughout the manuscript I will also try to show how the thermodynamic and structural interpretations of the growing experimental dataset are greatly improving our understanding of the dissolution mechanisms, although there are still several points under discussion. Our improved capability of predicting noble gas solubilities in conditions closer to those found in magma has allowed scientists to develop quantitative models of magma degassing, which provide constraints on a number of questions of geological impact. Despite these recent improvements, noble gas solubility in more complex systems involving the main volatiles in magmas, is poorly known and a lot of work must be done. Expertise from other fields would be extremely valuable to upcoming research, thus focus should be placed on the structural aspects and the practical and commercial interests of the study of noble gas solubility

Application of the Kano-Hamilton Multiangle Inversion Method in Clear Atmospheres

An improved measurement methodology and a data-processing technique for multiangle data obtained with an elastic scanning lidar in clear atmospheres are introduced. Azimuthal and slope scans are combined to reduce the atmospheric heterogeneity. Vertical profiles of optical depth and intercept (proportional to the logarithm of the backscatter coefficient) are determined. The purpose of this approach is to identify and remove data points that distort the regression analysis results in order to improve the accuracy of the retrieved optical depth and of the intercept. In addition, the influence of systematic distortions has been investigated. Furthermore, profiles of the optical depth, intercept, and the range-squared-corrected signals have been used to determine the lidar overlap function as a function of range. Simulation and experimental results of this data-processing technique are presented

Biophysical Studies of Axonal Transport

Intracellular transport provides a mechanism by which cellular material, such as organelles, vesicles, and protein, can be actively transported throughout the cell. This process relies on the activity of the cytoskeletal filament, microtubules, and their associated motor proteins. These motors are able to walk along microtubule tracks while carrying cellular cargos to enable the fast, regulated transport of these cargos. In cells, these microtubule filaments act as a binding platform for numerous different motor species as well as microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). In addition, these filaments often form higher order structures, such as microtubule bundles. How motors navigate such complex, crowded tracks to ensure the efficient transport of cargos is unclear. While motor transport can be studied in vivo, such studies are complicated to interpret as there are many unknowns, such as which motor species are driving transport, which MAPs are bound to specific regions of microtubule tracks, and what types of microtubule architectures are present. In the studies presented here, motor transport was reconstituted in vitro, allowing for the precise control over motor types, motor densities, the relative number of motors per cargo, and the types of microtubule tracks present. To this simplified system, specific complexities were added to microtubule tracks to systematically study the effect of certain track complexities on motor transport. Specifically, the effect of motor traffic and different microtubule bundle architectures on the transport properties of kinesin-1 motors was studied. In addition, the effect of motor domain mutations on the transport properties of kinesin-1 motors was also probed. These studies provide new insights into how motor transport is altered on microtubule tracks reminiscent of those present in the cell, as well as mechanisms utilized by kinesin motors to efficiently navigate these complex tracks

Hiroo Onoda: The Last Holdout

A short documentary film on Hiroo Onoda by Cyle Hale for Professor Steve Middleton\u27s, Instructor of Mass Communication at Morehead State University, Feature in Documentary class

Zooplankton phytoplankton interactions in the San Joaquin River, Ca

The dynamics of zooplankton and phytoplankton growth and interactions play a significant role in water quality (e.g., pH and dissolved oxygen [DO]) and the available food supply for higher order organisms in the San Joaquin River Delta. Algae have been shown to significantly impact DO concentrations in the Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC) of the San Joaquin River (SJR) estuary. Zooplankton grazing is one of the important mechanisms that influence the fate and spatial distribution of algae, and therefore, may contribute to DO deficits that adversely impact aquatic habitat and salmonid migration in the SJR estuary. Numerical water quality models developed to simulate and predict dissolved oxygen in the SJR rely on mathematical algorithms that link chemical and biological mechanisms. Due to the complexity of natural systems, calibrating these models is challenging and often requires independent investigations to estimate input parameters, such as zooplankton grazing and algal growth rates. This investigation explored the applicability of three methods to quantify the rates that zooplankton graze on algae populations in the SJR. Zooplankton grazing studies were performed in the DWSC of the SJR from June 2012 through July 2013. Light and dark bottle microcosm studies using the dilution method, the food-removal method, and the grazer concentration method were tested. A modified microcosm approach similar to the grazer concentration method was developed that yielded changes in chlorophyll a concentrations that were sufficient to separate zooplankton grazing from algal growth and respiration. Microcosms contained zooplankton concentrations that were up to 30 times higher than natural, background levels. Zooplankton grazing rates were consistent in both magnitude and variability with literature values reported for other waters, ranging from 0.295-3.404-m 3 gC -1 d -1 and 0.006-1.413-m 3 gC -1 d -1 for light and dark bottle microcosms, respectively

THE ROLE OF MICROBIAL METABOLISM IN THE FORMATION OF MINERAL-ASSOCIATED ORGANIC MATTER IN SOIL

183 pagesThe majority of soil carbon (C) is associated with clay-size organo-mineral particles and is often observed to have longer turnover times than bulk soil C. There is mounting evidence that mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is of microbial origin, elevating the importance of metabolic transformations of soil C inputs during this stabilization process. My doctoral research employed a model systems approach to test linkages between substrate identity and microbial uptake preference, carbon use efficiency (CUE), and subsequent transformation of C into MAOM. In Chapter 1, I collected soils form Arnot Forest near Ithaca, NY and used exometabolomics to characterize an extracted model soil solution and culturing methods to create a microbial isolate library of fungi and bacteria (n = 20) using this solution. I then used time-resolved metabolic footprinting to phenotype the growth of a novel bacterium, P. solitsugae, in this soil extract, capturing the concentration changes of over 150 low molecular weight compounds, their temporal patterns, and determining the CUE of growth. For Chapter 2, I grew three isolates ranging in growth rate in a defined media modeled after soil extract, tracked the temporal uptake of 34 compounds and observed clustered, co-utilization of C substrates. No clear relationships between growth rate and CUE or substrate energy content and substrate use efficiency were observed, indicating a limited role of substrate energy content as a predictor of metabolic use. In Chapter 3, I conducted a batch sorption study to assess the impact of microbial and substrate source on the affinity of necromass C and N using labeled microbial necromass from Chapter 2 and goethite as a model mineral phase. I coupled this with in situ infrared spectroscopy to probe the mechanisms and kinetics of MAOM formation and destabilization. Broad differences were observed between fungal and bacterial necromass composition and resulting goethite MAOM, with bacterial MAOM containing more stable, phosphate-related groups indicative of nucleic acid contributions. Microbial source and substrate source both impacted the mineral surface affinity of necromass C and N, highlighting the importance of metabolism in driving the formation of MAOM