A test of the effects of reinforcement and cognitive conflict on moral judgment

This is a thesis dealing with moral judgment in adolescents. Specifically, the study tests the efficacy of cognitive conflict and reinforcement as agents of moral growth in adolescents. The purpose of the investigation is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for development in moral reasoning. Kohlberg (1958) has presented a systematic theory of moral growth in children, adolescents, and adults. He defined moral judgment as the child\u27s use and interpretation of rules in conflict situations and his reasons for moral actionsf (Kohlberg, 1964, p. 394). Moral judgment is not correct knowledge of rules or conventional belief in them. This general definition gives rise to the developmental sequence of moral judgment offered by Kohlberg (1958). Specifically, his typology consists of three distinct levels, each containing two interrelated stages

Monitoring the structural condition of fracture-critical bridges using fiber optic technology

Structural health monitoring (SHM) enables bridge engineers to monitor the structural behavior of entire bridges or individual bridge components. At the request of the Iowa Department of Transportation, a fiber optic SHM system was developed and deployed by the Iowa State University (ISU) Bridge Engineering Center (BEC) to detect gradual or sudden damage in fracture-critical bridges (FCBs). With the equipment that was selected and the software that was developed in this research, the SHM system is deployable to any girder bridge that supports one-way traffic;Significant laboratory and field testing was conducted as part of this research to select hardware components for the SHM system. In the laboratory testing, several fiber bragg grating (FBG) fiber optic sensors (FOSs) were bonded to steel coupons with multiple adhesives, and the coupons were subjected to cyclic and sustained tensile loads. The FOS/adhesive combinations with the best performance were selected for use in the FCB SHM system. After FOSs were installed at critical locations in the US Highway 30 (US30) demonstration bridge, conventional strain sensors were installed next to the FOSs, and measurements between the technologies for bridge responses to ambient traffic loads were compared. Results revealed good agreement between the sensing technologies;Using the software developed in this research, the FCB SHM system was trained with measured US30 bridge performance data that were collected by the FOSs. During the training process, the SHM system filtered data and extracted event extrema from quasi-static strain records. The SHM system used the extrema to develop relationships among the FOSs, which are similar to those that are used with bivariate control charts in statistical process control (SPC). Since the relationships were developed from measured data, the SHM system was essentially trained to identify the typical bridge behavior for the structural condition that existed when the training data was collected. Relationships that were established during training are used to evaluate future strain data that are collected. Daily evaluation reports, which utilize histograms to summarize evaluations, are autonomously generated by the SHM system and delivered to the bridge engineer for interpretation and decision making. Changes in histogram distributions are predicted to be indicative of damage formation;Significant effort was given to address the areas of SHM that are considered to hinder its general acceptance for practical applications. Specifically, data mining and storage procedures, as well as methods of presenting SHM results to bridge engineers, were addressed. Improved data mining procedures were developed and the amount of saved data from the monitoring has been significantly reduced. In addition, evaluation reports are presented to bridge owners in a familiar format that allows for rapid visual assessment. With the SHM system developed in this research, FCBs are able to be continuously monitored for damage formation, and thus, bridge owners are able to better manage their bridge inventory

Demonstration project using railroad flatcars for low-volume road bridges

The use of Railroad Flatcars (RRFCs) as the superstructure on low-volume county bridges has been investigated in a research project conducted by the Bridge Engineering Center at Iowa State University. These bridges enable county engineers to replace old, inadequate county bridge superstructures for less than half the cost and in a shorter construction time than required for a conventional bridge. To illustrate their constructability, adequacy, and economy, two RRFC demonstration bridges were designed, constructed, and tested: one in Buchanan County and the other in Winnebago County. The Buchanan County Bridge (BCB) was constructed as a single span with 56-ft-long flatcars supported at their ends by new, concrete abutments. The use of concrete in the substructure allowed for an integral abutment at one end of the bridge with an expansion joint at the other end. Reinforced concrete beams (serving as longitudinal connections between the three adjacent flatcars) were installed to distribute live loads among the RRFCs. Guardrails and an asphalt milling driving surface completed the bridge. The Winnebago County Bridge (WCB) was constructed using 89-ft-long flatcars. The flatcars were supported by new, steel-capped piers and abutments at the RRFCs\u27 bolsters and ends, resulting in a 66-ft main span and two 10-ft end spans. Due to the RRFC geometry, the longitudinal connections between adjacent RRFCs were inadequate to support significant loads; therefore, transverse, recycled timber planks were utilized to effectively distribute live loads to all three RRFCs. A gravel driving surface was placed on top of the timber planks, and a guardrail system was installed to complete the bridge. Bridge behavior predicted by grillage models for each bridge was validated by strain and deflection data from field tests; it was found that the engineered RRFC bridges have live load stresses significantly below the yield strength of the steel and deflections well below the AASHTO Bridge Design Specification limits. In addition, design recommendations have been developed to simplify live load distribution calculations for the design of the bridges. Based on the results of this research, it has been determined that through proper RRFC selection, construction, and engineering, RRFC bridges are a viable, economic replacement system for low-volume road bridges

Evaluation of Steel Bridges, Volumes I & II

This report is divided into two volumes. Volume I summarizes a structural health monitoring (SHM) system that was developed for the Iowa DOT to remotely and continuously monitor fatigue critical bridges (FCB) to aid in the detection of crack formation. The developed FCB SHM system enables bridge owners to remotely monitor FCB for gradual or sudden damage formation. The SHM system utilizes fiber bragg grating (FBG) fiber optic sensors (FOSs) to measure strains at critical locations. The strain-based SHM system is trained with measured performance data to identify typical bridge response when subjected to ambient traffic loads, and that knowledge is used to evaluate newly collected data. At specified intervals, the SHM system autonomously generates evaluation reports that summarize the current behavior of the bridge. The evaluation reports are collected and distributed to the bridge owner for interpretation and decision making. This volume (Volume II) summarizes the development and demonstration of an autonomous, continuous SHM system that can be used to monitor typical girder bridges. The developed SHM system can be grouped into two main categories: an office component and a field component. The office component is a structural analysis software program that can be used to generate thresholds which are used for identifying isolated events. The field component includes hardware and field monitoring software which performs data processing and evaluation. The hardware system consists of sensors, data acquisition equipment, and a communication system backbone. The field monitoring software has been developed such that, once started, it will operate autonomously with minimal user interaction. In general, the SHM system features two key uses. First, the system can be integrated into an active bridge management system that tracks usage and structural changes. Second, the system helps owners to identify damage and deterioration

Further Developments on a Vibration-Free Helium-Hydrogen Sorption Cooler

In our continuous effort on the development of a passively precooled two-stage 4.5 K / 14.5 K helium-hydrogen sorption cooler, a number of important development steps were made. Firstly, an improved high-density activated carbon was used for the fabrication of four new sorption cells. Tests with these new cells showed that because of increased efficiency, the required passive radiator area for this cooler reduced by a factor of 1.3. Secondly, it was shown that this cooler architecture can easily be used to reach lower (or higher) temperatures. Without hardware changes, the cold temperature was reduced from 4.5 K to 3.1 K. Thirdly, long-term experiments were carried out on the cooler. In two separate periods of two and four months of continuous operation, no change at all was observed in the cooler performance. Fourthly, clogging effects were analyzed that occurred after a 15 months storage period of the cooler at 300 K. We concluded that hydrogen diffusion out of the stainless steel components should be prevented. Finally, a design of an integrated compact cooler chain was presented, which consists of a 50 K Stirling cooler and the helium-hydrogen sorption cooler. This package may be used in the future to test the sorption cooler technology in a zero-gravity environment

Effect of sitagliptin on energy metabolism and brown adipose tissue in overweight individuals with prediabetes:a randomised placebo-controlled trial

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sitagliptin on glucose tolerance, plasma lipids, energy expenditure and metabolism of brown adipose tissue (BAT), white adipose tissue (WAT) and skeletal muscle in overweight individuals with prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance and/or impaired fasting glucose). Methods: We performed a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial in 30 overweight, Europid men (age 45.9 \xc2\xb1 6.2\xc2\xa0years; BMI 28.8 \xc2\xb1 2.3\xc2\xa0kg/m2) with prediabetes in the Leiden University Medical Center and the Alrijne Hospital between March 2015 and September 2016. Participants were initially randomly allocated to receive sitagliptin (100\xc2\xa0mg/day) (n = 15) or placebo (n = 15) for 12\xc2\xa0weeks, using a randomisation list that was set up by an unblinded pharmacist. All people involved in the study as well as participants were blinded to group assignment. Two participants withdrew from the study prior to completion (both in the sitagliptin group) and were subsequently replaced with two new participants that were allocated to the same treatment. Before and after treatment, fasting venous blood samples and skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained, OGTT was performed and body composition, resting energy expenditure and [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) uptake by metabolic tissues were assessed. The primary study endpoint was the effect of sitagliptin on BAT volume and activity. Results: One participant from the sitagliptin group was excluded from analysis, due to a distribution error, leaving 29 participants for further analysis. Sitagliptin, but not placebo, lowered glucose excursion (\xe2\x88\x9240%; p < 0.003) during OGTT, accompanied by an improved insulinogenic index (+38%; p < 0.003) and oral disposition index (+44%; p < 0.003). In addition, sitagliptin lowered serum concentrations of triacylglycerol (\xe2\x88\x9229%) and very large (\xe2\x88\x9246%), large (\xe2\x88\x9235%) and medium-sized (\xe2\x88\x9224%) VLDL particles (all p < 0.05). Body weight, body composition and energy expenditure did not change. In skeletal muscle, sitagliptin increased mRNA expression of PGC1\xce\xb2 (also known as PPARGC1B) (+117%; p < 0.05), a main controller of mitochondrial oxidative energy metabolism. Although the primary endpoint of change in BAT volume and activity was not met, sitagliptin increased [18F] FDG uptake in subcutaneous WAT (sWAT; +53%; p < 0.05). Reported side effects were mild and transient and not necessarily related to the treatment. Conclusions/interpretation: Twelve weeks of sitagliptin in overweight, Europid men with prediabetes improves glucose tolerance and lipid metabolism, as related to increased [18F] FDG uptake by sWAT, rather than BAT, and upregulation of the mitochondrial gene PGC1\xce\xb2 in skeletal muscle. Studies on the effect of sitagliptin on preventing or delaying the progression of prediabetes into type 2 diabetes are warranted. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02294084. Funding: This study was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, Dutch Heart Foundation, Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation, Ministry of Economic Affairs and the University of Granada

Monitoring the structural condition of fracture-critical bridges using fiber optic technology

Structural health monitoring (SHM) enables bridge engineers to monitor the structural behavior of entire bridges or individual bridge components. At the request of the Iowa Department of Transportation, a fiber optic SHM system was developed and deployed by the Iowa State University (ISU) Bridge Engineering Center (BEC) to detect gradual or sudden damage in fracture-critical bridges (FCBs). With the equipment that was selected and the software that was developed in this research, the SHM system is deployable to any girder bridge that supports one-way traffic;Significant laboratory and field testing was conducted as part of this research to select hardware components for the SHM system. In the laboratory testing, several fiber bragg grating (FBG) fiber optic sensors (FOSs) were bonded to steel coupons with multiple adhesives, and the coupons were subjected to cyclic and sustained tensile loads. The FOS/adhesive combinations with the best performance were selected for use in the FCB SHM system. After FOSs were installed at critical locations in the US Highway 30 (US30) demonstration bridge, conventional strain sensors were installed next to the FOSs, and measurements between the technologies for bridge responses to ambient traffic loads were compared. Results revealed good agreement between the sensing technologies;Using the software developed in this research, the FCB SHM system was trained with measured US30 bridge performance data that were collected by the FOSs. During the training process, the SHM system filtered data and extracted event extrema from quasi-static strain records. The SHM system used the extrema to develop relationships among the FOSs, which are similar to those that are used with bivariate control charts in statistical process control (SPC). Since the relationships were developed from measured data, the SHM system was essentially trained to identify the typical bridge behavior for the structural condition that existed when the training data was collected. Relationships that were established during training are used to evaluate future strain data that are collected. Daily evaluation reports, which utilize histograms to summarize evaluations, are autonomously generated by the SHM system and delivered to the bridge engineer for interpretation and decision making. Changes in histogram distributions are predicted to be indicative of damage formation;Significant effort was given to address the areas of SHM that are considered to hinder its general acceptance for practical applications. Specifically, data mining and storage procedures, as well as methods of presenting SHM results to bridge engineers, were addressed. Improved data mining procedures were developed and the amount of saved data from the monitoring has been significantly reduced. In addition, evaluation reports are presented to bridge owners in a familiar format that allows for rapid visual assessment. With the SHM system developed in this research, FCBs are able to be continuously monitored for damage formation, and thus, bridge owners are able to better manage their bridge inventory.</p

Demonstration project using railroad flatcars for low-volume road bridges

The use of Railroad Flatcars (RRFCs) as the superstructure on low-volume county bridges has been investigated in a research project conducted by the Bridge Engineering Center at Iowa State University. These bridges enable county engineers to replace old, inadequate county bridge superstructures for less than half the cost and in a shorter construction time than required for a conventional bridge. To illustrate their constructability, adequacy, and economy, two RRFC demonstration bridges were designed, constructed, and tested: one in Buchanan County and the other in Winnebago County. The Buchanan County Bridge (BCB) was constructed as a single span with 56-ft-long flatcars supported at their ends by new, concrete abutments. The use of concrete in the substructure allowed for an integral abutment at one end of the bridge with an expansion joint at the other end. Reinforced concrete beams (serving as longitudinal connections between the three adjacent flatcars) were installed to distribute live loads among the RRFCs. Guardrails and an asphalt milling driving surface completed the bridge. The Winnebago County Bridge (WCB) was constructed using 89-ft-long flatcars. The flatcars were supported by new, steel-capped piers and abutments at the RRFCs' bolsters and ends, resulting in a 66-ft main span and two 10-ft end spans. Due to the RRFC geometry, the longitudinal connections between adjacent RRFCs were inadequate to support significant loads; therefore, transverse, recycled timber planks were utilized to effectively distribute live loads to all three RRFCs. A gravel driving surface was placed on top of the timber planks, and a guardrail system was installed to complete the bridge. Bridge behavior predicted by grillage models for each bridge was validated by strain and deflection data from field tests; it was found that the engineered RRFC bridges have live load stresses significantly below the yield strength of the steel and deflections well below the AASHTO Bridge Design Specification limits. In addition, design recommendations have been developed to simplify live load distribution calculations for the design of the bridges. Based on the results of this research, it has been determined that through proper RRFC selection, construction, and engineering, RRFC bridges are a viable, economic replacement system for low-volume road bridges.</p

Unsteady Radiative and Conductive Heat Transfer in Non-Gray Materials

111 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1970.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD