Southeast Michigan Local Road Concrete Pavement Durability Study

Counties and cities in Southeast Michigan have used concrete pavements for nearly 100 years to provide long-lasting, durable streets and roads. Issues of concrete durability have arisen with some of the pavements built after 1990. In order to evaluate the causes of spalling and other deterioration methods, the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center) was asked to study the concrete from a number of the pavements, evaluate the causes of the distress, and offer recommendations for improvements. Of particular concern are the roles of coarse aggregate type (limestone or blast furnace slag), alkali-silica reactivity (ASR), and the air entrainment system in the hardened concrete on the joint deterioration distresses that are being observed

Improving Variability and Precision of Air-Void Analyzer (AVA) Test Results and Developing Rational Specification Limits

Since air-void analyzer (AVA) was introduced in the 1990s, various studies have been conducted in the United States to apply this technology. Many concerns are raised on (a) the variation of the AVA tests, (b) the relationship between AVA and other standard measurements, and (c) AVA specification limits. The application of AVA tests in concrete practice is therefore very challenging. The goals of the present research project are to reduce variability and improve precision of AVA test results and to develop rational specification limits for controlling concrete freezing and thawing (F-T) damage using the AVA test parameters. This project consists of three phases: (1) Phase 1—Literature search and analysis of existing AVA data (June 2007–August 2008), (2) Phase 2—AVA testing procedure and specification modification, (3) Phase 3—Field study of AVA and specification refinement. In the present research report, the major activities and findings of the Phase 1 study are presented, and the major tasks for the Phase 2 study are recommended. The major activities of the Phase 1 study included the following: performing a literature search, collecting and reviewing available AVA data, completing a statistical analysis on collected AVA data, and carrying out some AVA trial tests in lab. The results indicate that AVA is a time- and cost-effective tool for concrete quality control. However, robustness of the AVA equipment, test procedures, and resulting interoperations need further improvement for a proper implementation of the AVA technology in concrete practice

Developing a Simple and Rapid Test for Monitoring the Heat Evolution of Concrete Mixtures for Both Laboratory and Field Applications

Recently, activities and interest in monitoring the heat evolution of cement hydration in concrete have increased. This is because the development of early-age concrete properties (such as workability, setting time, strength gain, and thermal cracking resistance) is predominantly influenced by the kinetics of cement hydration. Various test methods are currently available for measuring heat of cement hydration; however, most existing methods require expensive equipment, complex testing procedures, and/or extensive time, thus making them unsuitable for field application. Although ASTM C 186 is used for determining the heat of hydration of cement, there is no standard test method for concrete. The overall object of this three-phase study is to identify, develop, and evaluate a standard test procedure for monitoring pavement concrete using a calorimetry technique. It is envisioned that the newly developed calorimetry test method will be able to verify appropriate concrete proportions, to identify potentially incompatible materials and conditions, and to predict concrete performance. The primary objective of Phase II (presented in this report) is to establish a standard test procedure as well as the methods for interpreting the calorimeter test results. The newly developed calorimeter test is completed more quickly than ASTM C 186, in approximately 24 hours. Among a number of uses, the test can be utilized as a quality control measure for prescreening concrete materials and a prediction tool for early-age cracking. The Phase II results demonstrate that the new calorimetry test method has a high potential for detecting concrete incompatibility problems, predicting fresh concrete properties (such as set time), and assessing hardened concrete performance characteristics (such as strength gain and thermal cracking)

Vision and Change Through the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching using Next-Generation Sequencing (GCAT-SEEK)

Development of the Genome Consortium on Active Teaching using Next Generation Sequencing (GCAT-SEEK) is described. Workshops, educational modules, assessment resources, data analysis software and computer hardware available for faculty are described

Prospectus, April 7, 1975

SPEECH, DEBATE TO NATIONALS; Five Elected To PC\u27s Student Government; 82% Of Parents Surveyed Here Want Parkland Day Care Center; 25% Profit On Bookstore Buy Back Policy ; Marchetti Will Speak Tuesday On CIA Secrecy; Bicentennial Planned; editorials; letters; The Short Circuit; The Kaleidoscope; Skylines; Students Earn Spot On Winter Honors List; Eight Candidates For Parkland Board; Photography 35; Music Students To Make Own Instruments; The Top Hot Rock Hits Of The Week; Cats Were Not Always Vain; Earth Interview; Pendragon Enjoys Unique Music Style; To The Son Of God; Autumn Feeling; Classified Ads; L.T.D.\u27s Corner; Workshop On Instruction; Miss C Amvet Contest Set; PC Republicans To Meet Wednesday; Camera Buffs!; Loans For Vets; Heavy Scene At 404 East Green; Records Becoming Expensive To Buy; Cindy Nolin, David Wiechman Student Achievement Winners; Bland Wins Mayor; New Program; Summer Class To Tour The US Southwest; Knaus And Holaday Win Grain And Feed Assn. Scholarshiphttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1975/1014/thumbnail.jp

A standardised protocol for assessment of relative SARS-CoV-2 variant severity, with application to severity risk for COVID-19 cases infected with Omicron BA.1 compared to Delta variants in six European countries

Several SARS-CoV-2 variants that evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic have appeared to differ in severity, based on analyses of single-country datasets. With decreased SARS-CoV-2 testing and sequencing, international collaborative studies will become increasingly important for timely assessment of the severity of newly emerged variants. The Joint WHO Regional Office for Europe and ECDC Infection Severity Working Group was formed to produce and pilot a standardised study protocol to estimate relative variant case-severity in settings with individual-level SARS-CoV-2 testing and COVID-19 outcome data during periods when two variants were co-circulating. To assess feasibility, the study protocol and its associated statistical analysis code was applied by local investigators in Denmark, England, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and Scotland to assess the case-severity of Omicron BA.1 relative to Delta cases. After pooling estimates using meta-analysis methods (random effects estimates), the risk of hospital admission (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]=0.41, 95% CI 0.31-0.54), ICU admission (aHR=0.12, 95% CI 0.05-0.27), and death (aHR=0.31, 95% CI 0.28-0.35) was lower for Omicron BA.1 compared to Delta cases. The aHRs varied by age group and vaccination status. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated the feasibility of conducting variant severity analyses in a multinational collaborative framework. The results add further evidence for the reduced severity of the Omicron BA.1 variant.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures (excluding supplementary material

Fermi Large Area Telescope Constraints on the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe

The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above ~10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray blazars with redshift up to z~3, and GRBs with redshift up to z~4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the Universe at various energies and redshifts, and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. (2006) can be ruled out with high confidence.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, accepted version (24 Aug.2010) for publication in ApJ; Contact authors: A. Bouvier, A. Chen, S. Raino, S. Razzaque, A. Reimer, L.C. Reye

Gamma-ray and radio properties of six pulsars detected by the fermi large area telescope

We report the detection of pulsed γ-rays for PSRs J0631+1036, J0659+1414, J0742-2822, J1420-6048, J1509-5850, and J1718-3825 using the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly known as GLAST). Although these six pulsars are diverse in terms of their spin parameters, they share an important feature: their γ-ray light curves are (at least given the current count statistics) single peaked. For two pulsars, there are hints for a double-peaked structure in the light curves. The shapes of the observed light curves of this group of pulsars are discussed in the light of models for which the emission originates from high up in the magnetosphere. The observed phases of the γ-ray light curves are, in general, consistent with those predicted by high-altitude models, although we speculate that the γ-ray emission of PSR J0659+1414, possibly featuring the softest spectrum of all Fermi pulsars coupled with a very low efficiency, arises from relatively low down in the magnetosphere. High-quality radio polarization data are available showing that all but one have a high degree of linear polarization. This allows us to place some constraints on the viewing geometry and aids the comparison of the γ-ray light curves with high-energy beam models

All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory: Exploring the Extreme Multimessenger Universe

The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) is a probe class mission concept that will provide essential contributions to multimessenger astrophysics in the late 2020s and beyond. AMEGO combines high sensitivity in the 200 keV to 10 GeV energy range with a wide field of view, good spectral resolution, and polarization sensitivity. Therefore, AMEGO is key in the study of multimessenger astrophysical objects that have unique signatures in the gamma-ray regime, such as neutron star mergers, supernovae, and flaring active galactic nuclei. The order-of-magnitude improvement compared to previous MeV missions also enables discoveries of a wide range of phenomena whose energy output peaks in the relatively unexplored medium-energy gamma-ray band