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Implementation of AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design Software for pavement rehabilitation
Get PDFDoctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Civil EngineeringMustaque A. HossainThe 1993 version of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) design guide has been the primary pavement design tool for state highway agencies in the United States. Recently, a mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) has been developed for new and rehabilitated pavement design. MEPDG approaches have been incorporated into a proprietary design software (commonly known as AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (PMED)) for new and rehabilitated pavement designs. The main objective of this study was to facilitate implementation of this AASHTOWare PMED software for rehabilitated pavement design in Kansas. As part of this implementation, transfer functions for translating mechanistic pavement responses into visible distresses embedded in the AASHTOWare PMED software were locally calibrated to eliminate bias and reduce standard error for rehabilitated pavements in Kansas. Rehabilitated pavement sections included asphalt concrete (AC) over AC and jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) sections. The PMED software requires periodic recalibration of the prediction models to account for improvements in the PMED models, changes in agency design and construction strategies, and updates in performance data. Thus, another objective of this study was to develop an automated technique for calibrating the AASHTOWare PMED software performance models. The automated methodology developed in this study incorporated robust sampling techniques to verify calibrated PMED models. In addition, a statistical equivalence testing approach was incorporated to ensure PMED-predicted performance results tend to agree with the in-situ data
Evaluating alternatives to zinc oxide or carbadox in nursery pig diets
Get PDFAntibiotics are commonly included in nursery pig diets to improve overall health. However, there is increasing regulatory pressure from consumers and limited research on the inclusion/impact of antibiotics. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate alternatives to zinc oxide or carbadox in nursery pig diets. Three hundred and sixty pigs (DNA 200 x 400, 5.4 ± 0.07 kg BW) were fed one of six treatments for 35d. Diets were fed in three phases: phase 1 was fed treatment diets (d0 to 7), phase 2: treatment diets (d8 to 19) and phase 3 were fed a common diet (d20 to 35). Diets included: 1) control (no ZnO or carbadox); 2) 50 g/ton carbadox; 3) 0.4% phase 1: 3,000ppm ZnO and phase 2: 1,500ppm ZnO; 4) 1% blend of C6:C8:C10 (medium chain fatty acids); 5) 1% Feed energy R2 (Feed Energy Corp, Des Moises IA); 6) 1% FORMI GML (ADDCON, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany). Pens and feeders were weighed weekly. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure on SAS (SAS Inst. Cary, NC) with pen as the experimental unit. Differences in overall treatments (d 0 to 19) resulted in an increase in ADG(P0.05). In summary, MCFA-based additives have limited impact on pig feed efficiency when fed any of the six treatment diets. However, pigs fed ZnO had an increase in ADG and ADFI than those fed other dietary treatments
Effects of medium chain fatty acids on weanling pig growth
Get PDFIncreasing consumer demand of the livestock industry requires additional research on the diets fed to animals meant for human consumption. The drugs carbadox and zinc oxide are used in weanling pig diets to prevent E. coli and stimulate growth performance. However, these drugs have recently been linked to human health and environmental hazards. Medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) may be an alternative ingredient that can be used to prevent E. coli. The objective of this study was to test MCFA as a replacement to carbadox and zinc oxide in weanling pig diets to prevent E. coli and stimulate growth performance. Testing included 360 weaned pigs (DNA 200×400, BW 5.4kg ± 0.07kg), 10 pens/treatment, and six pigs/pen. The diets tested: 1) control, 2) 3000ppm zinc oxide phase 1 and 1500ppm phase 2, 3) 50g/ton Mecadox, 4) 1% blend C6:C8:C10, 5) 1% feed energy R2 (Feed Energy Corp, Des Moines, IA), 6) 1% FORMI GML (ADDCON, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany). This experiment had three phases. Treatment diets were fed through phases one and two (days 0 to 19) and common diet was fed through phase three (days 20 to 35). All pigs were weighed once a week and feeders were weighed between each phase to collect ADG, ADFI, and G:F. Data was analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX (SAS version 9.4; Cary, NC). The data showed carbadox and zinc oxide still to be the most effective feed additives in relation to ADG and ADFI (P = 0.05). However, the pigs on the FORMI feed additive showed close resemblance in growth data to those on carbadox and zinc oxide. FORMI shows promise for future investigation as a potential drug replacement in weanling pig diets
Impact of medium chain fatty acid products and the replacement of commonly used antibiotics in swine feed
Get PDFThis study evaluated the effect of ZnO, carbadox, and medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) on weanling pig growth performance. A total of 360 pigs (DNA 400x200; 5.4 ±0.07kg bw) were used for a 35d growth experiment that were randomly assigned in a grouped completely randomized design. A total of 60 pens with approximately 6 pigs per pen were used. There were 10 pens as the experimental unit per treatment. Phase 1(d0 to 7) and Phase 2 (d7 to 21) included treatment diets and a common diet was fed during phase 3 (d21 to 42). Pigs were weighed weekly as well as feed disappearance and fecal scores collected. Individual treatment diets included: 1) control, 2) 3,000 ppm ZnO in phase 1 and 1,500 ppm ZnO in phase 2, 3) 50 g/ton carbadox, 4) 1% blend of C6:C8:C10, 5) 1% Feed Energy R2 (Feed Energy Corp, Des Moines IA), and 6) 1% FORMI GML (ADDCON, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany). The overall treatment (d0 to 19) showed significantly greater (P0.05) Average Daily Feed Intake (ADFI) in overall treatment and likely accounted for increased ADG. Carbadox, C6:C8:C10, and FORMI showed similar ADG in overall treatment (P>0.05). Overall treatment (d0 to 35) showed ZnO diet ADG significantly higher than R2 (P0.05). Finally, pigs on ZnO and Carbadox showed growth improvement to those without treatment. MCFA diets show comparable growth to leading diets, but more research is necessary to conclude its ability to be a leading additive for the swine industry
Effects of replacing antimicrobials with medium chain fatty acids on nursery pig growth
Get PDFAn increase in regulations and consumer pressure limiting the use of feed-grade antimicrobials in swine diets and negative environmental impacts associated with using ZnO for growth purposes has caused pressure to find replacements. There is little data to show the efficacy of medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) in nursery pig diets. This study was conducted to evaluate MCFA as a potential replacement for antimicrobials. 360 weanling pigs were divided into a completely randomized experiment with 6 treatment groups: 1) negative control, 2) 3000 ppm ZnO in phase 1 and 1500 ppm in phase 2, 3) 50 g/ton carbadox, 4) 1% C6:C8:C10 blend, 5) 1% Feed Energy R2 (Feed Energy Corp., Des Moines, IA), 6) 1% FORMI GL (ADDCON, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany). There were 6 pigs/pen, with pen as EU, and 10 replicates/treatment. In a 35 d trial, treatment diets were fed in 2 phases from d 0 to 19 with a common phase 3 diet from d 20 to 35. Pigs and feeders were weighed weekly to calculate ADFI, G:F, and ADG. From d 0 to 19, ADG was greater for (P0.05) to carbadox. Differences in G:F were marginally significant (P=0.078). Day 19 body weight was greater (P<0.05) in pigs fed ZnO versus control. During the common period, there was no significant impact on G:F (P=0.320). These data suggest that ZnO and carbadox continue to improve nursery performance. Products such as FORMI GML show results similar to carbadox, while others display variable performance. Further research is warranted to evaluate the efficacy and inclusion rate of MCFA products to replace feed-grade antimicrobials
The Impact of Raising Phonological Awareness and Phonics to Improve Reading and Spelling Skills
Get PDFThis research identifies the impact of raising phonological awareness and phonics to improve reading and spelling skills among elementary age students in Saudi Arabia during English as a second language instruction. This initiative will occur over three years. It will begin in the AL Baha district and eventually reach all Saudi Arabia school districts. As one of the Khbrat program scholars, at Kansas State University in United States of America, I have had the chance to observe various techniques and approaches using phonemic awareness and phonics in English language arts instruction that can be shared with educators to ensure the success of the students in this project. Moreover, teachers will gain a renewed interest in teaching reading and hopefully there will be an overall increase in positive attitudes regarding reading instruction
The 4 Cs
Get PDFThe research investigated the core problem of the Saudi education system that the system for 1-12 still relies on the 3 Rs, which are arithmetical, writing, and reading skills. As a result, the 3 Rs are not enough to provide students with their needs and life experiences for the 21st century. One of the most crucial drawbacks is not using technology. I believe that the major problem in Saudi system is not using the 21st century skills which are creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. These skills are important to encounter all changes and challenges these days. These skills are needed and must be embedded within the curricula in order to motivate students and let them make the most of their knowledge in a creative way. Also, they let the students use their high skills. I would apply a series of workshops in the Rafha district schools that provide teachers with these skills and how to enact them inside the classroom. Therefore, the solution that surfaced when addressing this issue is to teach these concepts and train teachers and students how to enact them through lessons
Estimation of swine movement network at farm level in the US from the Census of Agriculture data
Get PDFCitation: Moon, S. A., Ferdousi, T., Self, A., & Scoglio, C. M. (2019). Estimation of swine movement network at farm level in the US from the Census of Agriculture data. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 6237. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42616-wSwine movement networks among farms/operations are an important source of information to understand and prevent the spread of diseases, nearly nonexistent in the United States. An understanding of the movement networks can help the policymakers in planning effective disease control measures. The objectives of this work are: (1) estimate swine movement probabilities at the county level from comprehensive anonymous inventory and sales data published by the United States Department of Agriculture - National Agriculture Statistics Service database, (2) develop a network based on those estimated probabilities, and (3) analyze that network using network science metrics. First, we use a probabilistic approach based on the maximum information entropy method to estimate the movement probabilities among different swine populations. Then, we create a swine movement network using the estimated probabilities for the counties of the central agricultural district of Iowa. The analysis of this network has found evidence of the small-world phenomenon. Our study suggests that the US swine industry may be vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks because of the small-world structure of its movement network. Our system is easily adaptable to estimate movement networks for other sets of data, farm animal production systems, and geographic regions
Understanding the survival of Zika virus in a vector interconnected sexual contact network
Get PDFCitation: Ferdousi, T., Cohnstaedt, L. W., McVey, D. S., & Scoglio, C. M. (2019). Understanding the survival of Zika virus in a vector interconnected sexual contact network. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 7253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43651-3The recent outbreaks of the insect-vectored Zika virus have demonstrated its potential to be sexually transmitted, which complicates modeling and our understanding of disease dynamics. Autochthonous outbreaks in the US mainland may be a consequence of both modes of transmission, which affect the outbreak size, duration, and virus persistence. We propose a novel individual-based interconnected network model that incorporates both insect-vectored and sexual transmission of this pathogen. This model interconnects a homogeneous mosquito vector population with a heterogeneous human host contact network. The model incorporates the seasonal variation of mosquito abundance and characterizes host dynamics based on age group and gender in order to produce realistic projections. We use a sexual contact network which is generated on the basis of real world sexual behavior data. Our findings suggest that for a high relative transmissibility of asymptomatic hosts, Zika virus shows a high probability of sustaining in the human population for up to 3 months without the presence of mosquito vectors. Zika outbreaks are strongly affected by the large proportion of asymptomatic individuals and their relative transmissibility. The outbreak size is also affected by the time of the year when the pathogen is introduced. Although sexual transmission has a relatively low contribution in determining the epidemic size, it plays a role in sustaining the epidemic and creating potential endemic scenarios
Patricia Thompson, Mezzo-Soprano, Faculty Artist Recital
No full textFebruary 20, 2019
7:30pm
All Faiths Chapel
Charles Ives - Songs my Mother Taught Me
Charles Ives - Things Our Fathers Loved
Charles Ives - Memories, A,__Very Pleasant, B,__Rather Sad
Charles Ives - Serenity
Charles Ives - The Housatonic At Stockbridge
Charles Ives - He Is There!
Georges Bizet - Adieux de l'hôtesse arabe
Edward Elgar - Sea Pictures, Op. 37:
Sea Slumber-Song
In Haven (Capri)
Sabbath Morning at Sea
Where Corals Lie
The Swimme