Superpave5: What is It?

INDOT revised the asphalt specification in 2019 based on the concept of Superpave 5—that higher in-place density yields improved performance disability. This session will provide insight into the science of how Superpave 5 works while giving designers an understanding of how it affects design and construction specifications

The Scintillator Upgrade of IceTop: Performance of the prototype array

The IceCube Collaboration foresees to upgrade IceTop, the present surface array, with scintillator detectors augmented by radio antennas. As one of several goals the scintillator detectors will be used to measure and mitigate the effects of snow accumulation on the IceTop tanks: the increasing energy threshold and efficiency loss are nowadays the sources of the largest systematic uncertainties in shower reconstruction and mass composition analysis. In addition, the upgrade will provide useful experience for the development of next generation neutrino detectors proposed for the South Pole. In the Austral summer season, 2017-2018 two full "stations" were installed near the center of the IceTop array. Each station features custom-designed electronics and consists of seven detectors, each having an active area of 1.5m$^{2}$ plastic scintillator and wavelength shifting fibers read out by a Silicon Photomultiplier. In this contribution we review the detector design and performance, and show results from more than one year of operation of the prototype stations. During that year several thousand air shower events have been measured in coincidence with IceTop.Comment: Presented at the 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2019). See arXiv:1907.11699 for all IceCube contribution

Smart Columbus Grid Modernization: AMI Innovation Adoption

Course Code: ENR/AEDE 4567Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is an integrated system of smart meters, communication networks, and data management systems that enables two-way communication between utilities and customers. This technology is intended to improve efficiency, identify and respond to outages more efficiently, and better monitor and control the distribution system. The only way to see direct benefits of this technology is to engage with the new features it provides. This analysis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of AMI from the consumer perspective for marketing purposes for the City of Columbus as an extension of the Smart Columbus initiatives in order to capitalize on positive sustainable behavior change.Smart ColumbusColumbus Division of PowerAEP OhioAcademic Major: Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainabilit

A Nested Genetic Algorithm for Explaining Classification Data Sets with Decision Rules

Our goal in this paper is to automatically extract a set of decision rules (rule set) that best explains a classification data set. First, a large set of decision rules is extracted from a set of decision trees trained on the data set. The rule set should be concise, accurate, have a maximum coverage and minimum number of inconsistencies. This problem can be formalized as a modified version of the weighted budgeted maximum coverage problem, known to be NP-hard. To solve the combinatorial optimization problem efficiently, we introduce a nested genetic algorithm which we then use to derive explanations for ten public data sets

Peer user approval based binary whitelisting

Enterprises face challenges in monitoring execution of software binaries. This disclosure describes social voting for enterprise level binary whitelisting. Per techniques of this disclosure, a peer user driven approval process is utilized for binary whitelisting. At a time of launch of a binary that is not pre-approved, a user is provided with information associated with the binary and directed to the social voting process. The user designates a peer user and requests that the peer user approve execution of the binary. The peer user is provided with information about the requesting user and about the binary. Approval by the peer user can be used to enable local binary execution by the requesting user. If the peer user does not approve execution, the binary is flagged as blockable, and execution is denied

Humanoids for teaching and training coronary artery bypass surgery to the next generation of cardiac surgeons

Objectives: Technical skills are an essential component of cardiac surgery, and the operating room is becoming an even more challenging environment for trainees who want to acquire such skills. Simulation, which partially overcomes this limitation, represents a valid adjunct to surgical education. We describe an original simulator and provide results in terms of trainees' evaluations and ratings. Methods: We used a humanoid that is a silicone replica of the chest of an adult human that provides a complete anatomical platform for hands-on skin-to-skin practice of surgical techniques in arrested heart coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery cases. Learners were residents in cardiac surgery. The teaching sessions included 2 full three-vessel CABG procedures using both mammary arteries and a hydrogel vein. Five board-certified cardiovascular surgeons scored the surgical activity of all trainees. The trainees were asked to complete an exit questionnaire to evaluate their course. Results: Overall, 16 residents participated in the simulation, including 5 women and 11 men, with a mean age of 30 ± 4 years, all of whom had at least 2 years of cardiac surgery training. All participants completed the 2 CABG operations. Three mammary arteries (4.6%) were seriously damaged during harvesting. In 1 case (3.1%), an aortic tear occurred during aortic cannulation. Each trainee performed overall 6 distal and 2 proximal coronary anastomoses. All participants agreed that the 'humanoid reproduces real-life situations, the feeling is realistic, and they are now more confident in performing coronary anastomosis'. Conclusions: Trainees involved in this simulation curriculum acquired and refined technical skills that could be applied directly to human patients. In addition, we were able to foster a higher level of teamwork within the operating room team. Keywords: Coronary artery bypass grafting; Surgical simulator; Trainin

Probing Mechanical and Chemical Instabilities in Neutron-Rich Matter

The isospin-dependence of mechanical and chemical instabilities is investigated within a thermal and nuclear transport model using a Skyrme-type phenomenological equation of state for neutron-rich matter. Respective roles of the nuclear mean field and the 2-body stochastic scattering on the evolution of density and isospin fluctuations in either mechanically or chemically unstable regions of neutron-rich matter are investigated. It is found that the mean field dominates overwhelmingly the fast growth of both fluctuations, while the 2-body scattering influences significantly the later growth of the isospin fluctuation only. The magnitude of both fluctuations decreases with the increasing isospin asymmetry because of the larger reduction of the attractive isoscalar mean field by the stronger repuslive neutron symmetry potential in the more neutron-rich matter. Moreover, it is shown that the isospin fractionation happens later, but grows faster in the more neutron-rich matter. Implications of these results to current experiments exploring properties of neutron-rich matter are discussed.Comment: 18 pages & 15 figures, Nuclear Physics A (2001) in pres

Water availability, root depths and 2017 crop yields

During 2016 and 2017, June-July precipitation was below normal in many parts of Iowa creating midseason concerns about potential yield loss due to water stress. However, these concerns were not realized. In contrast, 2016 and 2017 crop yields over-performed yields obtained in many years with average of above average June-July precipitation. In Iowa, deep root systems, high soil water storage capacity, and shallow water tables are common explanations for high yields in years with below normal precipitation. How deep can roots grow? How much does groundwater contribute to the yields? To answer these questions and more, the Forecast and Assessment of Cropping sysTemS (FACTS) project was established in 201