Probabilistic Analysis of Indeterminate Highway Bridges Considering Material Nonlinearity

With ever-reducing maintenance budgets and ever-deteriorating bridge infrastructure, th assessment of existing bridges is vital. Reliability analysis techniques are becomin increasingly popular in the structural safety assessment of existing bridge structures Commonly, a component based approach is used in reliability analysis techniques Traditional reliability procedures often employ a conservative definition of failure, in that th component is deemed to have failed when the strength capacity has been exceeded at a singl cross section. As a result, the component\u27s degree of redundancy and ductility is ignored giving an often conservative estimate of the load carrying capacity of the bridge component Therefore, this dissertation is focused on the development of a reliability analysis procedur which accounts for material behaviour for indeterminate beams. The structural safety of a representative group of steel composite bridge beams is examined The material response of each beam subjected to a combination of both dead load and liv load is assessed using a one-dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis (NFEA) model The Response Surface Method (RSM) is then used to replace the NFEA model with a approximated explicitly-known polynomial function. This allows a First Order Reliabilit Method (FORM) analysis to be performed. The developed procedure is compared to th traditional approach with regard to three limit states. These limit states are defined as elasti member failure, first formation of a plastic hinge and ultimate failure. Ultimate failure occur when a collapse mechanism has formed. The live load on each structure consists of annua maximum traffic loading events determined from Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) of Weigh in Motion (WIM) data. The modelling of realistic live loads highlights the practicality of th procedure developed. This procedure may act as a foundation for the development of a evaluation method accounting for material nonlinearity for existing bridge structures

Students’ perceptions of the learner attributes required for (and resulting from) heutagogical learning

Heutagogy, a form of self-determined learning, is a learner-centred approach to learning and teaching, grounded in constructivist principles. This case study explores final year undergraduate students’ perceptions of the learner attributes required for (and resulting from) heutagogical learning. As part of a larger research study, data were collected at two UK universities using an online survey that was intended to elicit their perceptions and experiences of a module designed using heutagogical principles. Results indicate that foundational knowledge, skills and attitude are a requirement for, and an outcome of,heutagogical learning. Potential implications for the use of heutagogical approaches tolearning and teaching are discussed. Keywords: heutagogy; self-determined learning; autonomy; sports coaching

Students’ perceptions of the learner attributes required for (and resulting from) heutagogical learning

Heutagogy, a form of self-determined learning, is a learner-centred approach to learning and teaching, grounded in constructivist principles. This case study explores final year undergraduate students’ perceptions of the learner attributes required for (and resulting from) heutagogical learning. As part of a larger research study, data were collected at two UK universities using an online survey that was intended to elicit their perceptions and experiences of a module designed using heutagogical principles. Results indicate that foundational knowledge, skills and attitude are a requirement for, and an outcome of, heutagogical learning. Potential implications for the use of heutagogical approaches to learning and teaching are discussed

Occupational health and safety standards and the potential outcomes of privatized regulation.

This Masters thesis in political science examines the recent introduction of voluntary compliance mechanisms (e.g. third party verification, experience rating, etc.) into the field of occupational health and safety. It analyses these policies from a historic and economic perspective and examines the Canadian experience to predict likely outcomes of these mechanisms. The thesis concludes that these mechanisms have the potential to be complementary mechanisms to government regulation but are unlikely to act as appropriate substitutes for government action. This is due to the inherent failings of the market\u27s ability to regulate occupational health and safety even with its modern permutations.Dept. of History, Philosophy, and Political Science. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2003 .M323. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, page: 0821. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2003

Online peer mentoring and collaborative reflection: A cross-institutional project in sports coaching

In recent years, calls have grown for the use of digital technologies to transform coach education and enhance student learning; however, empirical research evidence for their efficacy is lacking. This paper describes our initial experiences of a Higher Education Funding Council for England funded project, designed to facilitate online peer mentoring and collaborative reflection between bachelor degree students at two separate UK universities. So far, the pedagogical approach has been differentially effective, with three categories describing our current perceptions of successful and/or unsuccessful student engagement in it. Namely, students require an adequate knowledge base, an appropriate technological and personal skillset, and the attitudinal dispositions to deploy them effectively

The operationalisation of political and societal securitization theory, and its application to post-colonial Indonesia.

This thesis is both a conceptual analysis of securitization and an analysis of the political and societal security threats that plagued the Sukarno and Suharto regimes in hidonesia. It charts securitization's place within the current security hterature and examines the critiques of these sectors. It addresses the criticism that political security is too broad and lacking a distinct identity of its own. Using the work of Alagappa and Ayoob allows us to expand our understanding of political securitization, the nature of the threats to the sector, define a clear referent object, and apply securitization logic to the study of authoritarian regimes. Secondly, with respect to societal securitisation, this dissertation will develop the current literature to incorporate social psychology theory, which provides us with a clearer understanding of not only how and why social groups, and thus social identities, form but also why it is people need these groups in the first place, and also why inter group conflict can occur. This in turn provides a more robust conception of societal security. The thesis then uses these operationalised security concepts and uses them to analyse postcolonial Indonesia. It argues that the central principles of both the Sukarno and Suharto political regimes had within their guiding principles the antecedents that would lead to their ultimate failure. It also argues that the oppressive policies of the New Order towards ethnic minorities, rather than destroying the targeted groups actually defined and strengthened notions of what it was to be Indonesian

‘What Have We Learned from Market Design?’ Blockchain and The Conditions for a Well-Functioning Market

Blockchain technologies, specifically those related to cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), have recently garnered significant public interest. Blockchain has been lauded as potentially transformative across various industries, including decentralized finance, supply chain management, healthcare, file storage, and more. However, it has also been the source of much investor angst, evidenced by numerous media headlines reporting instances of fraud and catastrophic asset losses. In this paper, we examine whether the current incarnations of blockchain technologies provide a well-functioning market to its participants. We apply Roth’s market design framework to evaluate whether blockchain marketplaces provide safety, thickness, low congestion, and low repugnance. We find that blockchain applications in their current state do not represent a well-functioning market. We conclude by suggesting additional research avenues and explore whether they can still provide value to organizations even in their suboptimal market state

Application of wireless technologies to forward predict crop yields in the poultry production chain

Average bird weight is the primary measure of crop yield and is the basis for calculating payment for the grower by the wholesaler. Furthermore the profit per bird is very small. Thus very tight control of growing process is essential to ensure average bird weight is maximised. The important factors (air temperature, air humidity, Carbon Dioxide concentration and Ammonia concentration) that affect the intake of feed and water must be kept at their optimum during the progress of the growing cycle. These factors can be influenced by activating burners and opening the vents on walls of the growing house. It then follows that the burning and venting strategy will be influential on the average bird weight of the crop. Currently the burning and venting strategy is based on notional ideal levels and data from wall mounted sensors. This suffers from two fundamental problems; firstly the strategy is determined by ideals that may not be suitable for all growing houses and secondly the data is not measured from the chickens own airspace. Thus the management strategy is based on a model that may not reflect reality and on data that may not reflect reality  The “BOSCA” project addresses these problems by placing wireless environmental sensors into the chickens own airspace. This provides for direct measurement of the air experienced by the chickens and reports the recorded data in near real-time to a cloud based data management system. The sensor data is merged with the data from the growing house weighing scales in the cloud repository so a predictive model of average bird weight from the measured environmental data can be calibrated and validated. Furthermore, a timeshift can be applied to the environmental data during model calibration and validation so the average bird weight can be forward predicted by 72 hours (r2 up to 0.89 with neural networks). This gives the grower advance notice of a deviation from ideal feeding and watering conditions and the likely consequences of failing to take remedial action such as turning on the burners or venting the house

A heutagogical approach to coach education: what worked for one particular learner, how and why

No longer the exclusive domain of national governing bodies (NGBs), an increasing number of coaches now engage in professional development through higher education (HE) routes. One educational approach that has gained a recent foothold in the HE sector is heutagogy, or the focus on self-determined learning by the learner. The aim of the present study, which was underpinned by a realistinspired research philosophy, was to explore one particular student-coach’s success (Ellie) on a sports coaching Bachelor degree module that was underpinned by a heutagogical approach to learning. Asynchronous email interviews provided insight into the development and understanding of Ellie’s personal circumstances, resources and goals. This insight was then used to shape and conduct a realist interview. Data were analysed using an adaptive theory approach, resulting in three causal arguments that attempt to explain what worked for Ellie, how and why: (a) self-regulation (b), self-driven and (c) characteristics of the module tutor. The findings offer both philosophical and practical implications for coach education programme designers, deliverers and researchers