GUARDRAIL SYSTEM

To reduce the tendency for high center of mass vehicles to roll or vault over a guardrail barrier or dive under it, the guardrail barrier has outer curved portions selected to adjust the moment of inertia of the guardrail barrier by providing a sufficiently high moment of inertia to slow the vehicle but sufficiently low to avoid excessive force against the occupant compartment. A central portion connecting the outer curves sized to provide an effective depth of 12.25 inches to capture high bumper vehicles and small vehicles and an area of 1.99 inches to provide rigidity enough to the curved portions to avoid flattening and penetration. The outer curves of asymmetrical

Senior Recital: Levi Vernon Cull, percussion

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Mr. Cull studies percussion with John Lawless.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1446/thumbnail.jp

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE PERMANENT NEW JERSEY SAFETY SHAPE BARRIER – UPDATE TO NCHRP 350 TEST NO. 4-12 (2214NJ-2)

Based on the proposed changes to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report No. 350 guidelines, NCHRP Project 22-14(2) researchers deemed it appropriate to evaluate permanent safety shape barrier systems prior to finalizing the new crash testing procedures and guidelines. For this effort, the permanent New Jersey Safety Shape barrier was selected for evaluation. One full-scale vehicle crash test was performed on the longitudinal barrier system in accordance with the Test Level 4 (TL-4) requirements presented in the Update to NCHRP Report No. 350. For the permanent barrier testing program, a 10000S single unit truck was used. The permanent safety shape barrier provided an unacceptable safety performance when impacted by the single unit truck, thus failing to meet the proposed TL-4 requirements presented in the Update to NCHRP Report No. 350

DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS FOR PLACEMENT OF STEEL GUARDRAIL POSTS IN ROCK

A steel post W-beam guardrail system was developed for installation in rock-soil foundations. The guardrail system was constructed with a 2.66-mm (12-gauge) thick W-beam rail, 53.34 m in length. The W-beam guardrail was supported by twenty-seven W152x13.4 by 1,346-mm long steel posts, spaced at 1,905 mm on center. The posts were installed in drilled holes in concrete, constructed by drilling three 203-mm diameter holes on 165- mm centers to a depth of 610 mm. The drilled holes were backfilled with compacted ASTM C33 coarse aggregate, size no. 57. One full-scale vehicle crash test, using a 3⁄4-ton pickup truck, was performed on the W-beam guardrail system. The test was conducted and reported in accordance with the requirements specified in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report No. 350, Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features. The safety performance of the W-beam guardrail system with post placed in rock was determined to be acceptable according to the Test Level 3 (TL-3) evaluation criteria specified in NCHRP Report No. 350. Further, guardrail post placement recommendations were also developed for situations where rock is located below the surface. These recommendations were developed through an analysis of bogie testing of posts

Organic carbon amendments affect the chemodiversity of soil dissolved organic matter and its associations with soil microbial communities

The “4 per mil” initiative recognizes the pivotal role of soil in carbon re-sequestration. The need for evidence to substantiate the influence of agricultural practices on chemical nature of soil carbon and microbial biodiversity has become a priority. However, owing to the molecular complexity of soil dissolved organic matter (DOM), specific linkages to microbial biodiversity have eluded researchers. Here, we characterized the chemodiversity of soil DOM, assessed the variation of soil bacterial community composition (BCC) and identified specific linkages between DOM traits and BCC. Sustained organic carbon amendment significantly (P < 0.05) increased total organic matter reservoirs, resulted in higher chemodiversity of DOM and emergence of recalcitrant moieties (H/C < 1.5). In the meantime, sustained organic carbon amendment shaped the BCC to a more eutrophic state while long-term chemical fertilization directed the BCC towards an oligotrophic state. Meanwhile, higher connectivity and complexity were observed in organic carbon amendment by DOM-BCC network analysis, indicating that soil microbes tended to have more interaction with DOM molecules after organic matter inputs. These results highlight the potential for organic carbon amendments to not only build soil carbon stocks and increase their resilience but also mediate the functional state of soil bacterial communities

Emergent Trophic Interactions Following the Chinook Salmon Invasion of Patagonia

In their native range, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) have strong interactions with a multitude of species due to the annual pulse of marine-derived nutrients that they deliver to streams and forests when they spawn and die. Over the past few decades, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) has established non-native populations throughout the Patagonia region of southern South America. Here, we provide the first assessment of the pathways through which salmon-derived nutrients enter stream and forest food webs in Patagonia by surveying multiple streams in southern Chile to identify invertebrate and vertebrate consumers of salmon carcasses and summarizing all documented trophic interactions of Chinook salmon in Patagonia. Blowflies (Calliphoridae) were the dominant colonizer of carcasses in the riparian zone, and midge flies (Chironomidae) were the most common invertebrate on submerged carcasses. Camera trap monitoring in the riparian zone revealed consumption of carcasses or carcass-associated invertebrates by the insectivorous passerine bird “chucao” (Scelorchilis rubecula), small rodents (black rat Rattus rattus, house mouse Mus musculus, and/or colilargo Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), the South American fox “culpeo” (Lycalopex culpaeus), and the invasive American mink (Neovison vison). A mink was filmed transferring a carcass from stream to streambank, indicating that vertebrate scavenging likely increases the degree to which marine-derived nutrients enter terrestrial food webs. The native taxa that consume salmon are closely related to species that benefit from salmon consumption in North America, suggesting that the pathways of salmon nutrient incorporation in North American food webs have functionally re-emerged in South America. Similarly, non-native trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta) and mink consume salmon in Patagonia, and their eco-evolutionary history of coexistence with salmon could mean that they are preadapted for salmon consumption and could thus be key beneficiaries of this invasion. Expanded monitoring of the abundance and impacts of salmon will be vital for understanding how these novel inputs of marine-derived nutrients alter Patagonian food webs

ASPHER statement: planning for winter 2022-23

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The evolutionary dynamics of variant antigen genes in Babesia reveal a history of genomic innovation underlying host-parasite interaction

Babesia spp. are tick-borne, intraerythrocytic hemoparasites that use antigenic variation to resist host immunity, through sequential modification of the parasite-derived variant erythrocyte surface antigen (VESA) expressed on the infected red blood cell surface. We identified the genomic processes driving antigenic diversity in genes encoding VESA (ves1) through comparative analysis within and between three Babesia species, (B. bigemina, B. divergens and B. bovis). Ves1 structure diverges rapidly after speciation, notably through the evolution of shortened forms (ves2) from 5′ ends of canonical ves1 genes. Phylogenetic analyses show that ves1 genes are transposed between loci routinely, whereas ves2 genes are not. Similarly, analysis of sequence mosaicism shows that recombination drives variation in ves1 sequences, but less so for ves2, indicating the adoption of different mechanisms for variation of the two families. Proteomic analysis of the B. bigemina PR isolate shows that two dominant VESA1 proteins are expressed in the population, whereas numerous VESA2 proteins are co-expressed, consistent with differential transcriptional regulation of each family. Hence, VESA2 proteins are abundant and previously unrecognized elements of Babesia biology, with evolutionary dynamics consistently different to those of VESA1, suggesting that their functions are distinct

Collage 2018

The KSU School of Music is proud to present the 12th Annual Collage Concert. An exciting highlight each season, Collage is the signature production of the School of Music and a major fundraising event for supporting scholarships for music students. This special performance features over 200 student and faculty performers and includes jazz, orchestra, choir, band, percussion, and opera selections for soloists, chamber groups, and ensembles. Special lighting effects and stage design combine with the diverse and exciting program presented as rapid-fire, flowing vignettes to create a truly unique performance.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2021/thumbnail.jp

ASPHER Statement: Facing the Fourth Winter of the COVID-19 Pandemic

From Frontiers via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: collection 2022, received 2022-09-14, accepted 2022-09-20, epub 2022-10-03Peer reviewed: TruePublication status: Publishe