Florida DOT Project-Level Bridge Management Models

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is in the process of implementing Pontis, a Bridge Management System, to provide decision support to engineers in the headquarters and district offices as they make routine policy, programming, and budgeting decisions regarding the preservation and improvement of the state’s bridges. As part of this effort, an ongoing research program is underway to adapt the system to FDOT needs as well as to advance the state of the art in several areas important to the Department. Most of the research results are organized around a new project-level decision support framework that complements and builds on Pontis’ existing network-level analysis. Specific new models include accident risk and user cost due to roadway width and alignment deficiencies; user cost of load capacity and vertical clearance restrictions, and moveable bridge openings; project-level prediction models for bridge element condition and costs; and prediction of economics of scale and scoping possibilities. The new models are built into a highly graphical spreadsheet model for decision support use.     

The Effects of H2O, CO and CO2 on the H2 Permeance and Surface Characteristics of 1 mm Thick Pd80wt%Cu Membranes

The hydrogen permeance of 1 mm-thick Pd_80wt%Cu foils was measured in the presence of equimolar mixtures of H₂ with CO, CO₂ or H₂O over the temperature and total pressure ranges of 623–1,173 K and 0.62–2.86 MPa, respectively. In all cases, permeance losses at 623 and 738 K were very modest. At higher temperatures, more significant decreases in membrane permeance were observed with the highest reduction of about 50% occurring when macroscopic carbon deposition occurred on the membrane surface during H₂–CO exposure at 908 K. The more worrisome effects of exposure to these gases, however, were the micron-scale surface defects observed at 908 and 1,038 K. Although the 1 mm thick disk membranes retained their mechanical integrity, such defects could cause catastrophic failure of ultra-thin, Pd–Cu membranes (1–5 μm thick) deposited on porous substrates.     

Frequency weighting for the evaluation of steering wheel rotational vibration

The human perception of rotational hand–arm vibration has been investigated by means of a test rig consisting of a rigid frame, an electrodynamic shaker unit, a rigid steering wheel, a shaft assembly, bearings and an automobile seat. Fifteen subjects were tested while seated in a driving posture. Four equal sensation tests and one annoyance threshold test were performed using sinusoidal excitation at 18 frequencies in the range from 3 to 315 Hz. In order to guarantee the generality of the equal sensation data, the four tests were defined to permit checks of the possible influence of three factors: reference signal amplitude, psychophysical test procedure and temporary threshold shift caused by the test exposure. All equal sensation tests used a reference sinusoid of 63 Hz at either 1.0 or 1.5 m/s² r.m.s. in amplitude. The four equal sensation curves were similar in shape and suggested a decrease in human sensitivity to hand–arm rotational vibration with increasing frequency. The slopes of the equal sensation curves changed at transition points of approximately 6.3 and 63 Hz. A frequency weighting, called W_s, was developed for the purpose of evaluating steering wheel rotational vibration. The proposed W_s has a slope of 0 dB per octave over the frequency range from 3 to 6.3 Hz, a slope of −6 dB per octave from 6.3 to 50 Hz, a slope of 0 dB per octave from 50 to 160 Hz and a slope of −10 dB per octave from 160 to 315 Hz. W_s provides a possible alternative to the existing W_h frequency weighting defined in International Standards Organisation 5349-1 (2001) and British Standards Institution BS 6842 (1987).

Relevance to industry

For the manufacturers of tyres, steering systems and other vehicular components the proposed W_s frequency weighting provides a more accurate representation of human perception of steering wheel rotational vibration than the W_h weighting of ISO 5349-1 and BS6842.     

Evaluation of passive microwave snow water equivalent algorithms in the depth hoar-dominated snowpack of the Kuparuk River Watershed, Alaska, USA

This research investigates the utility of passive microwave remote sensing instruments to accurately determine snow water equivalent (SWE) over large spatial extents. Three existing Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) snow water equivalent algorithms produced by Chang, Tait and Goodison were evaluated for their ability to determine snow water equivalent in a snowpack containing substantial depth hoar, large faceted snow crystals. The Kuparuk River Watershed (8140 km²) test site on the North Slope of Alaska was chosen for its snowpack containing a think depth hoar layer and long history of ground truth data. A new regional snow water equivalent algorithm was developed to determine if it could produce better results than the existing algorithms in an area known to contain significant depth hoar. The four algorithms were tested to see how well they could determine snow water equivalent: (1) on a per pixel basis, (2) across swath-averaged spatial bands of approximately 850 km², and (3) on a watershed scale. The algorithms were evaluated to see if they captured the annual spatial distribution in snow water equivalent over the watershed. Results show that the algorithms developed by Chang and from this research are generally within 3 cm of the spatially averaged snow water equivalents over the entire watershed. The algorithms produced by Chang, Tait, and in this research were able to predict the basin-wide ground measured snow water equivalent value within a percent error range from −32.4% to 24.4% in the years with a typical snowpack. None of the algorithms produce accurate results on a pixel-by-pixel scale, with errors ranging from −26% to 308%.     

A distributed adverse drug reaction detection system using intelligent agents with a fuzzy recognition‐primed decision model

Discovering unknown adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in postmarketing surveillance as early as possible is highly desirable. Nevertheless, current postmarketing surveillance methods largely rely on spontaneous reports that suffer from serious underreporting, latency, and inconsistent reporting. Thus these methods are not ideal for rapidly identifying rare ADRs. The multiagent systems paradigm is an emerging and effective approach to tackling distributed problems, especially when data sources and knowledge are geographically located in different places and coordination and collaboration are necessary for decision making. In this article, we propose an active, multiagent framework for early detection of ADRs by utilizing electronic patient data distributed across many different sources and locations. In this framework, intelligent agents assist a team of experts based on the well‐known human decision‐making model called Recognition‐Primed Decision (RPD). We generalize the RPD model to a fuzzy RPD model and utilize fuzzy logic technology to not only represent, interpret, and compute imprecise and subjective cues that are commonly encountered in the ADR problem but also to retrieve prior experiences by evaluating the extent of matching between the current situation and a past experience. We describe our preliminary multiagent system design and illustrate its potential benefits for assisting expert teams in early detection of previously unknown ADRs. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 22: 827–845, 2007.     

Metal—Metal Triple Bonds Possessing the Electron-Rich σ2π4δ2δ*2 Electronic Configuration

The structural and reaction chemistry of dimetal complexes containing metal—metal triple bonds of the electron-rich type (σ²π⁴δ²δ^*2 configuration) is reviewed. Metal cores possessing this unit are Mo²⁺₂, Re⁴⁺₂, Ru⁶⁺₂, and Os⁶⁺₂, of which only Re⁴⁺₂ has yet been subject to a detailed study. Emphasis is placed upon the more recent developments in this field.     

Ionization of Acetylacetone in Me2SO—Water Mixtures. Reactivity—Selectivity Principle or Principle of Imperfect Synchronization?

Rate constants for the reversible deprotonation of acetylacetone were measured in carboxylate and amine buffers in water and in 50%, 90% and 95% Me₂SO at 20°C. The Brønsted plot for the carboxylate ions is curved in the Me₂SO—water mixtures, but straight in water. The curvature is in the direction predicted by the Reactivity—Selectivity Principle (RSP). However, the Brønsted plot for the reaction with primary amines is straight in all solvents. This suggests that the curvature observerd with the carboxylate ions is caused by loss of solvation of the base; this loss of solvation is ahead of bond formation in the transition state rather than being a manifestation of the RSP. (Note that all Brønsted plots are based on pK_a values measured in the respective solvents.) The intrinsic rate constant (k₀) for proton transfer increases with the addition of Me₂SO, and more so with the carboxylate buffers than with the amines. This increase in k₀ is attributed to delayed solvation of the developing enolate ion in the transition state; with the carboxylate buffers, an additional factor is the early loss of solvation of the base. The various solvation effects observed in this study can all be understood in the context of the Principle of Imperfect Synchronization (PIS).     

Mixed anaclitic-introjective psychopathology in treatment-resistant inpatients undergoing psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

Utilizing data from the Riggs-Yale Project, 45 male and 45 female 18-29-year-old treatment-resistant inpatients undergoing intensive psychoanalytically oriented treatment were studied. Twenty-seven mixed-type anaclitic-introjective inpatients were compared with 29 "pure" anaclitic and 34 "pure" introjective inpatients. At intake, mixed-type inpatients were more clinically impaired (i.e., were more symptomatic, cognitively impaired, and thought disordered) and more vulnerable (i.e., less accurate object representations and more frequently used maladaptive defense mechanisms) in comparison with clearly defined anaclitic and introjective patients. Mixed-type patients, however, improved significantly more in the course of psychoanalytically oriented treatment, in terms of clinical functioning (i.e., symptoms, cognitive functioning) and psychological vulnerability (i.e., utilization of more adaptive defense mechanisms). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Midplane-symmetry breaking in the flow between two counter-rotating disks

This paper considers the axisymmetric steady flow driven by exact counter rotation of two co-axial disks of finite radius. At the edges of the rotating disks one of three conditions is (typically) imposed: (i) zero velocity, corresponding to a stationary, impermeable, cylindrical shroud (ii) zero normal velocity and zero tangential fluid traction, corresponding to a (confined) free surface and (iii) an edge constraint that is consistent with a similarity solution of von Kármán form. The similarity solution is valid in an infinite geometry and possesses a pitchfork bifurcation that breaks the midplane symmetry at a critical Reynolds number. In this paper, similar bifurcations of the global (finite-domain) flow are sought and comparisons are made between the resulting bifurcation structure and that found for the similarity solution. The aim is to assess the validity of the nonlinear similarity solutions in finite domains and to explore the sensitivity of the solution structure to edge conditions that are implicitly neglected when assuming a self-similar flow. It is found that, whilst the symmetric similarity solution can be quantitatively useful for a range of boundary conditions, the bifurcated structure of the finite-domain flow is rather different for each boundary condition and bears little resemblance to the self-similar flow.