Network-Level Scheduling of Road Projects During the Construction Season Considering Network Connectivity

INDOT implements several hundred highway projects annually. One of the unintended (and adverse) consequences of road work is the establishment of work zones or full or partial closure of certain road links and the subsequent impairment of network connectivity during the construction season. The temporary reduction in network connectivity can lead to reduced mobility and decreased accessibility to businesses. The user costs incurred during highway construction can be significant, particularly where the affected links have very high traffic volumes or offer few opportunities to detour. Delay also inflicts costs on the non-traveling public, such as when it is necessary to reroute school buses in communities. Delay-related costs also impact the traveling public and shippers of raw materials and finished products. In some cases, construction-related disruptions cause adverse impacts on adjacent businesses. The main objective of this study was to develop a methodology and software tool that INDOT’s Construction and Contracts Division could use to evaluate the systemic impacts of work zones on a network. The optimal schedules developed using the methodology were checked using data from past projects and was validated by comparing the reduction in user costs compared to actual past construction schedules. The case study results showed that, compared with INDOT’s current plan, the developed framework would greatly reduce the user and business disruption costs associated with network-wide construction plans by providing optimal construction schedules. The developed network-level project scheduling methodology and software tool will help INDOT to plan various construction projects in a given district while considering user and business disruption costs

Selecting maize for rapid kernel drydown: timing of moisture measurement

Previous studies have shown that maize ear moisture measured using a modified Electrophics Moisture Meter model MT808 was highly correlated to kernel moisture and could be used as a selection tool in breeding maize genotypes with faster rates of kernel drydown. Such a tool would need to be standardized for practical and routine use in a breeding program with large numbers of plants. The objective of this study was to determine the opti¬mum time for measuring ear moisture using this meter. In a split-plot design with three replicates in 2007, 2008 and 2009, ear moisture of six inbred lines and eight F1 hybrids were measured weekly from one to eight weeks post-silking using a modified MT808 moisture meter. To determine if multiple ear moisture readings (EMRs) could be made on the same ear, an additional treatment was added so that all eight readings were made on the same ear. There was a positive correlation between weekly EMRs readings done on separate ears and those done on the same ear, indicating that repeated readings, if desired, could be made on the same ear. Significant genotypic differences in EMRs were found five to eight weeks post-silking. The EMRs at week one, five, and eight could be used to calculate a daily drydown rate (DDR). Maize genotypes (hybrids and inbreds) could be divided into four groups based on their DDRs during development as: high-high, high-low, low-high, and low-low DDRs from weeks one to five and five to eight, respectively. Genotypes with higher DDRs from weeks one to five tended to have overall higher DDRs by eight weeks post-silking. Inbred lines with higher DDRs at either stage expressed this trait in their hybrid crosses. This non-destructive method will improve selection for fast kernel drydown in maize breed¬ing programs, especially in short-season areas

Impact of HEA-1481 on Indiana’s Highway Revenue Generation, Asset Degradation, Modal Distribution, and Economic Development and Competitiveness

The Indiana House Enrolled Act 1481 (HEA-1481) requires that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) adopt final rules by December 31, 2014, for the issuance, fee structure and enforcement of permits for overweight divisible loads, fee structure of permits for loads on extra heavy duty highways, and fee structure of permits for overweight loads. On December 26, 2013, INDOT adopted the Emergency Rules regarding these items, as required by HEA-1481, effective January 1, 2014. HEA-1481 requires INDOT to use the results of this impact study to inform the setting of final rules. Three different fee structures were considered: Pre-HEA-1481 fee structures were in place prior to HEA-1481; Interim Policy fee structures were in place between June 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013; these were superseded by Emergency Rules which took effect January 1, 2014. INDOT commissioned this study to evaluate the impacts of overweight divisible load permits on revenue, asset consumption, alternative transportation modes, Indiana’s economic development, and economic competitiveness relative to other Midwestern states. The results of the analysis indicate that overall, the overweight commodities divisible permit structure arising from HEA-1481 is not expected to change dramatically the consumption of pavement and bridge assets, lead to a slight increase in the revenue collected per permit and a slight decrease in the gap between consumption and revenue. However, the gap between revenue and consumption is still significant. From an operations standpoint, it was estimated that HEA-141 will lead to a net decrease in safety but a net increase in mobility of the traffic stream, due to the twin but opposing effects of traffic impairment and trip substitution associated with overweight vehicle operations. Also, HEA-1481 is expected to lead to little or no shift in the modal share across truck and rail, but significant shift in the specific configurations of vehicles used in trucking operations. The Act is expected to increase the economic competitiveness of trucking operations Indiana, compared to the pre-HEA 1481 situation. Finally, the Act is expected to increase economic development at least in the long term by reducing the cost of transportation, an essential expenditure item of most major businesses in Indiana. Overall, HEA-1481 is expected to protect the highway bridge and pavement infrastructure by providing incentives for less-damaging loading behavior, reduce the gap between revenue and consumption, generally have slightly adverse net impacts on safety and slightly beneficial impacts of mobility, increase the economic competitiveness of trucking operations relative to other states, and provide grounds for increased economic development

Using a Robust and Sensitive GFP-Based cGMP Sensor for Real-Time Imaging in Intact Caenorhabditis elegans.

cGMP plays a role in sensory signaling and plasticity by regulating ion channels, phosphodiesterases, and kinases. Studies that primarily used genetic and biochemical tools suggest that cGMP is spatiotemporally regulated in multiple sensory modalities. FRET- and GFP-based cGMP sensors were developed to visualize cGMP in primary cell culture and Caenorhabditis elegans to corroborate these findings. While a FRET-based sensor has been used in an intact animal to visualize cGMP, the requirement of a multiple emission system limits its ability to be used on its own as well as with other fluorophores. Here, we demonstrate that a C. elegans codon-optimized version of the cpEGFP-based cGMP sensor FlincG3 can be used to visualize rapidly changing cGMP levels in living, behaving C. elegans We coexpressed FlincG3 with the blue-light-activated guanylyl cyclases BeCyclOp and bPGC in body wall muscles, and found that the rate of change in FlincG3 fluorescence correlated with the rate of cGMP production by each cyclase. Furthermore, we show that FlincG3 responds to cultivation temperature, NaCl concentration changes, and sodium dodecyl sulfate in the sensory neurons AFD, ASEL/R, and PHB, respectively. Intriguingly, FlincG3 fluorescence in ASEL and ASER decreased in response to a NaCl concentration upstep and downstep, respectively, which is opposite in sign to the coexpressed calcium sensor jRGECO1a and previously published calcium recordings. These results illustrate that FlincG3 can be used to report rapidly changing cGMP levels in an intact animal, and that the reporter can potentially reveal unexpected spatiotemporal landscapes of cGMP in response to stimuli

Clonal Differences between Non-Typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) Recovered from Children and Animals Living in Close Contact in The Gambia

Salmonellosis is a neglected tropical disease causing serious dysentery and septicaemia particularly in young infants, elderly and immunocompromised individuals such as HIV patients and associated with substantial mortality in developing countries. Salmonellosis also constitutes a major public health problem as it is considered the most widespread bacterial zoonosis of food origin throughout the world. Many epidemiological data exist from developed countries concerning transmission of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) but few are available from developing countries. In addition few studies in sub-Saharan Africa have considered the interface between humans and their environment in relation to animals present in the household and food hygiene. This study describes the prevalence of NTS among fourteen Gambian children and 210 domestic animals living in close proximity (household) to the children in a rural setting in The Gambia. We found that the domestic animals living in the same household as patients carried different NTS serovar and genotypes; indicating that zoonotic transmission does not occur in our setting. This study provides baseline data for future studies of transmission of NTS in rural Africa

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by local people in the lowlands of Konta Special Woreda, southern nations, nationalities and peoples regional state, Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Research was carried out in Konta Special Woreda (District); it is a remote area with lack of infrastructure like road to make any research activities in the area. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate medicinal plants of the Konta people and to document the local knowledge before environmental and cultural changes deplete the resources.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The information was collected between October 2006 and February 2007. Interview-based field study constituted the main data collection method in which the gathering, preparation, use, previous and current status and cultivation practices were systematically investigated. The abundance, taxonomic diversity and distribution of medicinal plants were studied using ecological approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 120 species, grouped within 100 genera and 47 families that are used in traditional medical practices were identified and studied. The Fabaceae and Lamiaceae were the most commonly reported medicinal plants with 16 (13.3%) and 14 (12%) species, respectively. 25.4% of the total medicinal plants are collected from homegardens and the rest (74.6%) are collected from wild habitats. Of the total number of medicinal plants, 108 species (90%) were used to treat human ailments, 6 (5%) for livestock diseases and the remaining 6 (5%) were used to treat both human and livestock health problems. The major threats to medicinal plants reported include harvesting medicinal plants for firewood (24.8%) followed by fire (22.3%) and construction (19%). Of the four plant communities identified in the wild, more medicinal plant species (34) were found in community type-4 (<it>Hyparrhenia cymbaria</it>-<it>Erythrina abyssinica </it>community), which accounted for 61.8%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Konta Special Woreda is an important area for medicinal plants and associated local knowledge; the natural vegetation being the most important reservoir for the majority of the medicinal plants. Environmental and cultural changes are in the process of threatening the resources and this signals the need for serious efforts to create public awareness so that measures are taken to conserve the medicinal plants in the natural ecosystems and other suitable environments.</p