Frozen Soil Lateral Resistance for the Seismic Design of Highway Bridge Foundations

INE/AUTC 12.3

The amorphous nature of agile: no one size fits all

Purpose: This paper investigates the extent to which newly agile organizations followed 2001’s Agile Manifesto, especially in terms of the 12 principles of the agile approach, as included in the Manifesto. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted in-depth case studies of groups in three large business organizations that had recently adopted agile. Two researchers spent one day at each site, attending daily standups and conducting interviews with managers, developers and customers. Findings: Across the three organizations, developers were faithful to two agile principles: the primacy of delivering valuable software continually, and regular reflections on the process with an eye toward improvement. The developers were uniformly unfaithful to the principle that requires face-to-face communication. Each organization varied in their adherence to the remaining nine principles. Obstacles to faithful adoption included the experience of the organization with agile, the extent to which the industry was regulated, and the extent to which developers and customers were physically dispersed. Originality/value: While past research on agile development is extensive, this paper examined perspectives on the method and its adoption through the lens of the original Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles. The principles were grouped into three broader categories – software delivery, people and process – to provide additional insights and to sharpen the analysis

Open Design Communities: An Exploration of Key Factors Influencing Intention to Contribute 3D Printable Designs

Consumer 3D printing can enrich our lives in many ways if it spreads beyond its current user base and emerges as a mainstream consumer technology that allows us to create (customized) products right in our homes. In this paper, we highlight the importance of open design communities (ODCs) such as Thingiverse and explore factors that may influence individuals’ intentions to contribute their 3D printable designs to such communities. Drawing mostly from the existing knowledge management (KM) literature in the information systems (IS) field and focusing on Thingiverse as an exemplar, we present a conceptual model and testable hypotheses. Data for this study will be collected via an online survey of Thingiverse members. Our findings would not only extend the KM literature in IS into an important non-work related setting and pave the way for future theorizing in this context, but also provide important insights to ODC managers

Developing a Program for Every Member to be a Missionary in the Local Church

The program was created by researching the methods of training used by the International Mission Board and the North America Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention as well as Wycliffe Bible Translators. Books and articles relating to missions and missionaries were researched. The Scriptures were applied to the theoretical basis for the program. The program, Every Member a Missionary;\u27 was created to train the local church member to begin to think and act like a missionary. The program equips the church member to learn how to meet the lost people where they are and point them to Jesus

\u3ci\u3eNeofusicoccum luteum\u3c/i\u3e as a Pathogen on Tejocote (\u3ci\u3eCrataegus mexicana\u3c/i\u3e)

Tejocote (Crataegus mexicana), a small pome crab-apple-like fruit, is becoming economically important in California with increasing production, so consideration of diseases that hinder the yield is important. Diseased trees of tejocote were observed in four orchards of Riverside and San Diego Counties of California. Ten symptomatic/asymptomatic samples were studied from each of the orchards. Five most frequently isolated fungi were identified on the basis of morphological characters and sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8SITS2 and partial β-tubulin gene. Three isolates were identified as Neofusicoccum luteum and two as Phomopsis sp. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by inoculating detached shoots of healthy tejocote trees. Significant lesions were observed on all shoots inoculated with the three N. luteum isolates (designated UCR1190, UCR1191, and UCR1192), but not on the shoots inoculated with other isolates or the non-inoculated controls. Results indicated that all three N. luteum isolates are aggressive pathogens on tejocote. This pathosystem should be further studied with a goal of designing appropriate disease management strategies

Systems and methods for converting biomass to biocrude via hydrothermal liquefaction

Systems and processes of providing novel thermal energy sources for hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactors are described herein. According to various implementations, the systems and processes use concentrated solar thermal energy from a focused high-energy beam to provide sufficient energy for driving the HTL biomass-to-biocrude process. In addition, other implementations convert biowaste, such as municipal biosolids and grease and food waste, to biocrude using anaerobic digesters, and a portion of the biogas generated by the digesters is used to produce the thermal and/or electrical energy used in the HTL reactor for the biomass-to-biocrude process. Furthermore, alternative implementations may include a hybrid system that uses biogas and solar radiation to provide sufficient thermal energy for the HTL reactor.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Influence of heavy metals on nematode community structure in deteriorated soil by gold mining activities in Sibutad, southern Philippines

Ore mining is among the most environmentally destructive anthropogenic practices, particularly in developing countries. Correct assessment of its impacts on soil ecosystems requires an understanding of the response of soil food webs. Nematodes, often the most abundant invertebrates in soils, occupy various positions in food webs, and their assemblages are commonly used to reflect soil health. In October 2014, we collected soil samples from five sites of a small-scale mining area in Sibutad, southern Philippines, to assess the influence of mining activities on nematode assemblages. Two sites were considered undisturbed as there were no visible signs of mining, while the other three sites were disturbed. Nematodes were extracted live and identified to genus level using morphology -based identification. We analysed genus composition, genus and trophic diversity, and the life-history based maturity index. We measured soil environmental variables (pH, organic matter, granulometry and several heavy metals), and correlated variation in nematode genus composition to variation in these environmental factors. Small-scale mining activities had variable but generally non-significant impacts on soil properties, altered vegetation and caused increases in concentrations of Hg and Pb, but not consistently so in all impacted sites. The high patchiness in vegetation and heavy metal content were reflected in a high within-site variability of nematode assemblages. Total nematode abundance was significantly lowest in the most physically disturbed site, but not so in the most metal-polluted one, suggesting that abundance is not a good indicator of pollution status. Nematode genus composition significantly differed between disturbed and undisturbed sites. By contrast, only few differences between sites were found for diversity or maturity indices, demonstrating that genus composition was a better indicator of mining-related effects than many common indicator indices and highlighting that detailed assemblage analysis is required for a correct interpretation of moderate pollution effects on soil nematodes. Measured environmental variables together explained 60% of the variation in nematode assemblages in the area; the three 'single best' explanatory variables were the concentrations of Pb, Hg and N, but none of these by itself explained more than 8% of the variation in nematode data, while their combination explained 24%. Some genera of predacious and omnivorous nematodes, which are generally expected to be sensitive to both chemical pollution and physical disturbance (e.g., Ironus and Eudorylaimus), were most abundant in sites with elevated heavy metal concentrations, which can have repercussions for the interpretation of nematode-based indices such as the MI

Girdling: effects of carbon-13 concentrations and biomass in mycorrhizal fungi.

General EcologyOur study examined the effects of girdling trees on both the total biomass and the stable carbon -13 isotope concentrations of mycorrhizal fungi. In order to conduct this research we used two test sites, the FASET (Forest Accelerated Succession ExperimenT) and the reference plot. During the spring of 2008, in the FASET forest plot all Bigtooth Aspen and Birch trees were girdled, which in turn kills the trees. We used mesh bags to monitor the growth of fungi one year after the girdling process. After the bags were collected we separated the fungi and analyzed them. We found no significant correlation between biomass of the two plots, as well as no variation in carbon-13 levels. In hopes of explaining this inconclusive evidence we looked at tree specific biomass to see if species had any effect on total biomass. The results showed that only Red Maple demonstrated higher levels of biomass between reference and FASET plots. One explanation for these results could be the intermingling of tree roots below ground, which would allow for the mutualistic mycorrhizal fungi to transfer to other tree roots without loss of biomass. Future studies that could be done include monitoring hyphal growth closer to the date of girdling to ensure that population size of fungi are representative of the new growth after girdling. In addition we would like to measure carbon-13 concentrations in the flowering bodies of the fungi precisely after the trees are girdled.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/85764/1/Baldrica_Fortier_Halick_2011.pd

Neofusicoccum luteum as a pathogen on Tejocote (Crataegus mexicana)

Tejocote (Crataegus mexicana), a small pome crab-apple-like fruit, is becoming economically important in California with increasing production, so consideration of diseases that hinder the yield is important. Diseased trees of tejocote were observed in four orchards of Riverside and San Diego Counties of California. Ten symptomatic/asymptomatic samples were studied from each of the orchards. Five most frequently isolated fungi were identified on the basis of morphological characters and sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and partial β-tubulin gene. Three isolates were identified as Neofusicoccum luteum and two as Phomopsis sp. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by inoculating detached shoots of healthy tejocote trees. Significant lesions were observed on all shoots inoculated with the three N. luteum isolates (designated UCR1190, UCR1191, and UCR1192), but not on the shoots inoculated with other isolates or the non-inoculated controls. Results indicated that all three N. luteum isolates are aggressive pathogens on tejocote. This pathosystem should be further studied with a goal of designing appropriate disease management strategies