196,221 research outputs found
SO-18-0090.R2_b-Appendix – Supplemental material for Method in the madness? A meta-analysis on the strategic implications of decision comprehensiveness
No full textSupplemental material, SO-18-0090.R2_b-Appendix for Method in the madness? A meta-analysis on the strategic implications of decision comprehensiveness by Codou Samba, Pooya Tabesh, Ioannis C Thanos and Vassilis M Papadakis in Strategic Organization</p
Improving Designing Models and Developing New M&R Decision Process for Flexible Pavements
No full textPavements play a vital role in the transportation infrastructure in the United States. Pavement performance modeling is an essential step in pavement design and management. Recently, several software and tools have been developed to help to design a pavement at the project level. Pavement mechanistic-empirical (ME) design is one of the AAHSHTOWare Design software built to design new and rehabilitated pavements with flexible, rigid, and composite structures. The nationally calibrated performance models in Pavement ME do not well represent the construction and materials specifications, traffic, and climate conditions specific to each state and cannot precisely reflect the pavement performance. On the other hand, at the network level, the pavement performance should be monitored regularly, and maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) treatments should be planned to keep the pavement in good condition. An acceptable treatment policy maximizes the service life and returns the benefits of the constructed pavement. The goal of this research is to enhance designing models for the flexible pavement of Oklahoma and develop a new M&R decision process using the surface roughness and structural capacity of the pavement section.
The nationally calibrated models show an improper prediction performance and a significant bias, which asserts the necessity of local calibration. Local calibration of Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) software improved the pavement performance prediction models and optimized the performance models for the pavement network of Oklahoma. The locally calibrated coefficients for distress and IRI models were determined for the Oklahoma pavement system. As a result, the error in performance prediction models was reduced through the calibration process. The distress and IRI models show that the calibrated coefficients improve Pavement ME predictions and the design of flexible pavements in Oklahoma.
The second objective of this research was developing a new maintenance and rehabilitation decision process which considers the stochasticity of the pavement performance prediction and suggests the optimized maintenance activities for the given section by implementing a newly developed predictive model. The developed M&R decision method is a Markov Decision Process that employs IRI from a newly developed IRI prediction model and structural number from historical data. The IRI prediction model predicts the IRI with high accuracy by having the structural number, road class, climate condition, traffic load, and subgrade and structural information. Several advanced machine learning techniques were investigated, and the best model was implemented in the MDP M&R method. This model considers the M&R activities from pavement history, which affects the pavement deterioration rate, and suggests an M&R Policy for the given pavement system. By improving predictions and developing effective maintenance decision policies, machine learning algorithms can optimize maintenance and rehabilitation interventions and reduce maintenance costs
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
The Antibacterial Activity of Nasturtium Officinale Extract on Common Oral Pathogenic Bacteria
No full text[[abstract]]Background:
The oral cavity is colonized by a myriad of microorganisms, some of which are proven to be detrimental to human health. There have been numerous efforts to control the population of pathogenic agents in the oral cavity, including the usage of natural phytochemicals obtained from medicinal plants. Nasturtium officinale has long been used in traditional medicine for the management of hypertension, respiratory infections, and hyperglycemia, and its effectiveness against some microbes has been reported.
Aims:
To evaluate antimicrobial properties of a hydro-alcoholic extract of N. officinale against common oral pathogens namely Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Experimental laboratory study. Different dilutions of N. officinale hydro-alcoholic extract were the test solutions, the positive control was a bacterial suspension in sterile phosphate-buffered saline, whereas the negative control was the herbal extract only, without any bacterial inoculation. Hydro-alcoholic extract of N. officinale prepared in five different concentrations (105, 52.5, 26.25, 13.12, 6.56 mg.mL-1) was tested separately against Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus in a test of microdilution assay. Spectrophotometry was used to assess bacterial growth after 24 and 48 h.
Materials and Methods:
The data of optical absorbance reads from spectrophotometry were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis followed by Least Significant Differences (LSD) post hoc.
Results:
The highest growth inhibitory effect against S. mutans, E. faecalis, and S. aureus was observed at a concentration of 13.12 mg.mL-1; for L. acidophilus and P. aeruginosa, the most significant inhibition was observed at a concentration of 105 mg.mL-1.
Conclusion:
N. officinale extract effectively inhibited the growth of the tested oral bacteria at different concentrations but was more effective against S. mutans, E. faecalis, and S. aureus and so may be effective in managing some oral microbial infections
Non-Gaussian diffusion MRI of gray matter is associated with cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis
No full textIntern experience at CH���M Hill, Inc.: an internship report
No full textIncludes author's vita"Submitted to the College of Engineering of Texas A&M University in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Engineering."Includes bibliographical referencesA review of the author's internship experience with CH���M HILL, Inc.
during the period September 1975 through May 1976 is presented. During this nine month
internship the author worked as an Engineer II in the Industrial Processes discipline of this
large consulting engineering firm... The author's prime responsibility was as one of three
lead design engineers on the design of a large wastewater treatment facility for a pulp mill
in Hoquiam, Washington owned by ITT Rayonier Inc. The work generally consisted of the design
of individual treatment units and associated piping and pumping. The purpose of the project
was to provide wastewater treatment capabilities that would satisfy the effluent limitations
(standards) imposed upon the mill by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author's assignment also entailed necessary
interaction with the project manager and other CH���M HILL design engineers and support staff
members, the client's representatives, and representatives of two other consulting engineering
firms working on the project. Thus, the internship position at CH���M HILL provided considerable
experience coordinating the author's work with the work of other engineers, guiding the design
and administrative efforts of a support staff, and interacting regularly with the client and
other consulting firms. This broad exposure to a variety of engineering and organizational
problems provided a valuable educational experience
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