Design and Evaluation of a Single-Span Bridge Using Ultra- High Performance Concrete, September 2009

Research presented herein describes an application of a newly developed material called Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) to a single-span bridge. The two primary objectives of this research were to develop a shear design procedure for possible code adoption and to provide a performance evaluation to ensure the viability of the first UHPC bridge in the United States. Two other secondary objectives included defining of material properties and understanding of flexural behavior of a UHPC bridge girder. In order to obtain information in these areas, several tests were carried out including material testing, large-scale laboratory flexure testing, large-scale laboratory shear testing, large-scale laboratory flexure-shear testing, small-scale laboratory shear testing, and field testing of a UHPC bridge. Experimental and analytical results of the described tests are presented. Analytical models to understand the flexure and shear behavior of UHPC members were developed using iterative computer based procedures. Previous research is referenced explaining a simplified flexural design procedure and a simplified pure shear design procedure. This work describes a shear design procedure based on the Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT) which can be used in the design of UHPC members. Conclusions are provided regarding the viability of the UHPC bridge and recommendations are made for future research.

Field Performance and Evaluation of Slurry Seals, HR-195, 1980

As part of the overall research program of evaluating asphalt emulsion slurry seal as a pavement maintenance material, 31 duplicate 500-ft test sections were constructed on U.S. 6 between Adel and Waukee in Dallas County during September and October of 1978. These test sections included combinations of eight aggregates, two gradings, three asphalt emulsions, two mineral fillers, and a range of emulsion contents determined by laboratory mix designs. The emulsion contents of the test sections varied from 10.3% for Section 7A (Ferguson coarse) to 32.9% for Section 31A (lightweight aggregate). The post-construction performance evaluation of the test sections, consisting primarily of the friction tests and surface appearance observations, was conducted at different time intervals up to 24 months after construction. At the 24-month final evaluation, most of the test sections had carried a total of 1.4 million vehicles.

Applying collective intelligence to idea evaluation at the front end of innovation

The study focuses on the front end of innovation process. Due to changes in innovation policies and paradigms customers, users and shopfloor employees are becoming increasingly important sources of knowledge. New methods are needed for processing information and ideas coming from multiple sources more effectively. The aim of this study is to develop an idea evaluation tool suitable for the front end of innovation process and capable of utilizing collective intelligence. The study is carried out as a case study research using constructive research approach. The chosen approach suits well for the purposes of the study. The constructive approach focuses on designing new constructs and testing them in real life applications. In this study a tool for evaluating ideas emerging from the course of everyday work is developed and tested in a case organization. Development of the tool is based on current scientific literature on knowledge creation, innovation management and collective intelligence and it is tested in LUT Lahti School of Innovation. Results are encouraging. The idea evaluation tool manages to improve performance at the front end of innovation process and it is accepted in use in the case organization. This study provides insights on what kind of a tool is required for facilitating collective intelligence at the front end of innovation process.

Les dimensions négligées de l'évaluation de la performance : les valeurs et la qualité de vie au travail

L’objet de cette thèse est l’élaboration d’un modèle logique de mesure du maintien des valeurs, ainsi que son opérationnalisation afin d’entreprendre l’évaluation de la performance des systèmes de santé. Le maintien des valeurs est l’une des quatre fonctions de la théorie de l’action sociale de T.Parsons permettant d’analyser les systèmes d’action. Les autres fonctions sont l’adaptation, la production et l’atteinte des buts. Cette théorie est la base du modèle EGIPSS (évaluation globale et intégrée de la performance des systèmes de santé), dans lequel cette thèse s’insère. La fonction étudiée correspond, dans l’oeuvre de T.Parsons, au sous-système culturel. Elle renvoie à l’intangible, soit à l’univers symbolique par lequel l’action prend son sens et les fonctions du système s’articulent. Le modèle logique de mesure du maintien des valeurs est structuré autour de deux concepts principaux, les valeurs individuelles et organisationnelles et la qualité de vie au travail. À travers les valeurs individuelles et organisationnelles, nous mesurons la hiérarchie et l’intensité des valeurs, ainsi que le niveau de concordance interindividuelle et le degré de congruence entre les valeurs individuelles et organisationnelles. La qualité de vie au travail est composée de plusieurs concepts permettant d’analyser et d’évaluer l’environnement de travail, le climat organisationnel, la satisfaction au travail, les réactions comportementales et l’état de santé des employés. La mesure de ces différents aspects a donné lieu à la conception de trois questionnaires et de trente indicateurs. Ma thèse présente, donc, chacun des concepts sélectionnés et leurs articulations, ainsi que les outils de mesure qui ont été construits afin d’évaluer la dimension du maintien des valeurs. Enfin, nous exposons un exemple d’opérationnalisation de ce modèle de mesure appliqué à deux hôpitaux dans la province du Mato Grosso du Sud au Brésil. Cette thèse se conclut par une réflexion sur l’utilisation de l’évaluation comme outil de gestion soutenant l’amélioration de la performance et l’imputabilité. Ce projet comportait un double enjeu. Tout d’abord, la conceptualisation de la dimension du maintien des valeurs à partir d’une littérature abondante, mais manquant d’intégration théorique, puis la création d’outils de mesure permettant de saisir autant les aspects objectifs que subjectifs des valeurs et de la qualité de vie au travail. En effet, on trouve dans la littérature de nombreuses disciplines et de multiples courants théoriques tels que la psychologie industrielle et organisationnelle, la sociologie, les sciences infirmières, les théories sur le comportement organisationnel, la théorie des organisations, qui ont conçu des modèles pour analyser et comprendre les perceptions, les attitudes et les comportements humains dans les organisations. Ainsi, l’intérêt scientifique de ce projet découle de la création d’un modèle dynamique et intégrateur offrant une synthèse des différents champs théoriques abordant la question de l’interaction entre les perceptions individuelles et collectives au travail, les conditions objectives de travail et leurs influences sur les attitudes et les comportements au travail. D’autre part, ce projet revêt un intérêt opérationnel puisqu’il vise à fournir aux décideurs du système de santé des connaissances et données concernant un aspect de la performance fortement négligé par la plupart des modèles internationaux d’évaluation de la performance.

Electrical Evaluation of a Low Concentrating PVT Collector Based on Performance Ratio

Photovoltaic Thermal/Hybrid collectors are an emerging technology that combines PV and solar thermal collectors by producing heat and electricity simultaneously. In this paper, the electrical performance evaluation of a low concentrating PVT collector was done through two testing parts: power comparison and performance ratio testing. For the performance ratio testing, it is required to identify and measure the factors affecting the performance ratio on a low concentrating PVT collector. Factors such as PV cell configuration, collector acceptance angle, flow rate, tracking the sun, temperature dependence and diffuse to irradiance ratio. Solarus low concentrating PVT collector V12 was tested at Dalarna University in Sweden using the electrical equipment at the solar laboratory. The PV testing has showed differences between the two receivers. Back2 was producing 1.8 energy output more than Back1 throughout the day. Front1 and Front2 were almost the same output performance. Performance tests showed that the cell configuration for Receiver2 with cells grouping (6- 32-32-6) has proved to have a better performance ratio when to it comes to minimizing the shading effect leading to more output power throughout the day because of lowering the mismatch losses. Different factors were measured and presented in this thesis in chapter 5. With the current design, it has been obtained a peak power at STC of 107W per receiver. The solar cells have an electrical efficiency of approximately 19% while the maximum measured electrical efficiency for the collector was approximately 18 % per active cell area, in addition to a temperature coefficient of -0.53%/ ˚C. Finally a recommendation was done to help Solarus AB to know how much the electrical performance is affected during variable ambient condition and be able to use the results for analyzing and introducing new modification if needed.

Evaluation of yeast cell wall on the performance of broiles fed diets with or without mycotoxins

This experiment aimed at evaluating the effects of the interactions between aflatoxin (500 or 250 ppb) and ochratoxin (500 or 250 ppb), and the possible benefits of adding yeast cell wall to prevent the effects of these mycotoxins in broiler chickens. Relative organ weight gain and live performance were evaluated at 21 and 42 days of age. Results indicated that at the levels of mycotoxins included in the experimental diets, ochratoxin reduced feed intake and body weight gain, and aflatoxin only affect feed intake of 21-day-old birds. No interaction was observed between aflatoxin and ochratoxin at the levels used in experimental study. Yeast cell wall did not significantly reduced the deleterious effects of ochratoxins. No significant differences were observed in relative organ weight gain. Yeast cell wall improved feed conversion ratio when birds were fed either contaminated or non-contaminated feeds.

Neural tool condition estimation in the grinding of advanced ceramics

Ceramic parts are increasingly replacing metal parts due to their excellent physical, chemical and mechanical properties, however they also make them difficult to manufacture by traditional machining methods. The developments carried out in this work are used to estimate tool wear during the grinding of advanced ceramics. The learning process was fed with data collected from a surface grinding machine with tangential diamond wheel and alumina ceramic test specimens, in three cutting configurations: with depths of cut of 120 mu m, 70 mu m and 20 mu m. The grinding wheel speed was 35m/s and the table speed 2.3m/s. Four neural models were evaluated, namely: Multilayer Perceptron, Radial Basis Function, Generalized Regression Neural Networks and the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System. The models'performance evaluation routines were executed automatically, testing all the possible combinations of inputs, number of neurons, number of layers, and spreading. The computational results reveal that the neural models were highly successful in estimating tool wear, since the errors were lower than 4%.

School Principals' Attitudes Towards Performance Based Compensation

The main objective of this study is to determine the attitudes of school principals regarding a performance based compensation system. This study identifies the attitudes towards specific factors that should be considered in the implementation of a system of performance based compensation. The data have been analyzed to determine if a principal's demographic characteristics affect his/her level of agreement with performance based compensation and the factors for implementation. In addition, this study unveils areas of concern that principals have conveyed regarding the implementation of a performance based compensation system. Data was obtained from 444 public school principals representing 444 schools and 178 districts in the state of Colorado. Measures used in the treatment of the data include descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA. The major findings of this study were: 1. 82.4% of respondents believe that teachers, principals and administrators should be included in performance based compensation (PBC). 2. The top two indicators that respondents believed should be included in a PBC system are student achievement (88.5%) and teacher evaluations (77.6%) 3. The 3 largest obstacles to PBC that respondents identified are: a. The capacity to link student achievement to teacher evaluations (82.9%) b. Teacher Union Resistance (67.1%) c. Cost (55.9%) 4. Principals in urban, rural and suburban geographic groups disagree about the effects of performance based compensation. 5. The top 5 overall concerns regarding Performance Based Compensation were: a. Concerns regarding effectively using assessment to measure performance of all teachers/equity between teachers b. Concerns regarding evaluation (time for principals to learn, consistency from school to school, time for principals to evaluate, quality of evaluation tool). c. Not in favor of PBC due to philosophical views or concerns about lack of research. d. Concerns regarding the equity between classrooms and districts across the state due to poverty levels and unequal resources. e. Concerns that performance based compensation will result in a decline in teacher collaboration and an increase in competition between teachers. Based upon these findings, the researcher concluded that there is not a strong general acceptance of performance based compensation systems. However, urban principals in Colorado tend to view PBC somewhat more favorably than do principals in suburban or rural areas. Most importantly, systems to link student achievement to teacher evaluation must be collaboratively created to ensure PBC systems are equitable, consistent and fair.

Evaluation and measurement of multiprocessor systems with shared memory

This study is concerned with several proposals concerning multiprocessor systems and with the various possible methods of evaluating such proposals. After a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of several performance evaluation tools, the author decides that simulation is the only tool powerful enough to develop a model which would be of practical use, in the design, comparison and extension of systems. The main aims of the simulation package developed as part of this study are cost effectiveness, ease of use and generality. The methodology on which the simulation package is based is described in detail. The fundamental principles are that model design should reflect actual systems design, that measuring procedures should be carried out alongside design that models should be well documented and easily adaptable and that models should be dynamic. The simulation package itself is modular, and in this way reflects current design trends. This approach also aids documentation and ensures that the model is easily adaptable. It contains a skeleton structure and a library of segments which can be added to or directly swapped with segments of the skeleton structure, to form a model which fits a user's requirements. The study also contains the results of some experimental work carried out using the model, the first part of which tests• the model's capabilities by simulating a large operating system, the ICL George 3 system; the second part deals with general questions and some of the many proposals concerning multiprocessor systems.

Real-time error compensation of a three-axis machine tool using a laser tracker

The concept of measurement-enabled production is based on integrating metrology systems into production processes and generated significant interest in industry, due to its potential to increase process capability and accuracy, which in turn reduces production times and eliminates defective parts. One of the most promising methods of integrating metrology into production is the usage of external metrology systems to compensate machine tool errors in real time. The development and experimental performance evaluation of a low-cost, prototype three-axis machine tool that is laser tracker assisted are described in this paper. Real-time corrections of the machine tool's absolute volumetric error have been achieved. As a result, significant increases in static repeatability and accuracy have been demonstrated, allowing the low-cost three-axis machine tool to reliably reach static positioning accuracies below 35 μm throughout its working volume without any prior calibration or error mapping. This is a significant technical development that demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed methods and can have wide-scale industrial applications by enabling low-cost and structural integrity machine tools that could be deployed flexibly as end-effectors of robotic automation, to achieve positional accuracies that were the preserve of large, high-precision machine tools.

Types of embedded ties in buyer-supplier relationships and their combined effects on innovation performance

[EN] Purpose of the paper - This research analyzes the impact of three types of embedded ties, namely, specialized complementary resources, idiosyncratic investments, and knowledge sharing, on the innovation capacity of the firms. We also study the particularities of the Machine-Tool industry. Theoretical background – Our evaluation of the embedded buyer-supplier ties is based on the potential sources of relational rents proposed by Dyer and Sing (1998). We also draw on Uzzi and Lancaster (2003), Noordhoff et al. (2011), among others, to discuss the positive and negative aspects of embedded ties. Design/Methodology/Approach ‐ Using data from a survey of 202 European machine-tool firms acting as buyers and sellers, we propose and evaluate a Structural Equation model. Findings ‐ Only knowledge-sharing routines exert a significant positive effect on product innovation performance. Neither an increase in the idiosyncratic investments nor in complementary resources and capabilities enhance innovation performance. Also, knowledge-sharing routines mediate in the effect from idiosyncratic investments on innovation performance. Research Limitations. ‐ The machine tool industry has unique characteristics that make this generalization difficult. Also, there is considerable difficulty associated with testing more deeply the interrelations among these embedded ties in the long run. It is plausible to understand that these interrelations operate within a gradual process. Originality/Value/Contribution of Paper ‐ This research contributes to a better understanding of the role of embedded ties on innovativeness. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous international empirical research analyzing the mediation effects among specialized complementary resources, idiosyncratic investments and knowledge sharing, and their effects on the innovation capacity of firms.

Thermal and exergy analysis for evaluation and optimization of performance of cooling towers for fresh water and seawater

In this study, thermal, exergetic analysis and performance evaluation of seawater and fresh wet cooling tower and the effect of parameters on its performance is investigated. With using of energy and mass balance equations, experimental results, a mathematical model and EES code developed. Due to lack of fresh water, seawater cooling is interesting choice for future of cooling, so the effect of seawater in the range of 1gr/kg to 60gr/kg for salinity on the performance characteristics like air efficiency, water efficiency, output water temperature of cooling tower, flow of the exergy, and the exergy efficiency with comparison with fresh water examined. Decreasing of air efficiency about 3%, increasing of water efficiency about 1.5% are some of these effects. Moreover with formation of fouling the performance of cooling tower decreased about 15% which this phenomena and its effects like increase in output water temperature and tower excess volume has been showed and also accommodate with others work. Also optimization for minimizing cost, maximizing air efficiency, and minimizing exergy destruction has been done, results showed that optimization on minimizing the exergy destruction has been satisfy both minimization of the cost and the maximization of the air efficiency, although it will not necessarily permanent for all inputs and optimizations. Validation of this work is done by comparing computational results and experimental data which showed that the model have a good accuracy.

Avaliação do desempenho ambiental de obras de recuperação de rodovias

This paper features a tool to carry out environmental performance evaluation in highway rehabilitation works, as a component of environmental supervision activities. The procedure involves (i) evidence gathering by conducting technical inspections and reviewing environmental compliance reports, (ii) ranking nonconformities according to a proposed weighting framework, and (iii) calculation of an environmental conformity index. For the sake of testing and calibration, the procedure was applied to five road segments that were submitted to rehabilitation works in Sao Paulo State and the results were treated qualitatively.

Development and evaluation of neural network freeway incident detection models using field data

This paper discusses a multi-layer feedforward (MLF) neural network incident detection model that was developed and evaluated using field data. In contrast to published neural network incident detection models which relied on simulated or limited field data for model development and testing, the model described in this paper was trained and tested on a real-world data set of 100 incidents. The model uses speed, flow and occupancy data measured at dual stations, averaged across all lanes and only from time interval t. The off-line performance of the model is reported under both incident and non-incident conditions. The incident detection performance of the model is reported based on a validation-test data set of 40 incidents that were independent of the 60 incidents used for training. The false alarm rates of the model are evaluated based on non-incident data that were collected from a freeway section which was video-taped for a period of 33 days. A comparative evaluation between the neural network model and the incident detection model in operation on Melbourne's freeways is also presented. The results of the comparative performance evaluation clearly demonstrate the substantial improvement in incident detection performance obtained by the neural network model. The paper also presents additional results that demonstrate how improvements in model performance can be achieved using variable decision thresholds. Finally, the model's fault-tolerance under conditions of corrupt or missing data is investigated and the impact of loop detector failure/malfunction on the performance of the trained model is evaluated and discussed. The results presented in this paper provide a comprehensive evaluation of the developed model and confirm that neural network models can provide fast and reliable incident detection on freeways. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring fund performance using multi-factor models: evidence for the Portuguese market

This paper examines the performance of Portuguese equity funds investing in the domestic and in the European Union market, using several unconditional and conditional multi-factor models. In terms of overall performance, we find that National funds are neutral performers, while European Union funds under-perform the market significantly. These results do not seem to be a consequence of management fees. Overall, our findings are supportive of the robustness of conditional multi-factor models. In fact, Portuguese equity funds seem to be relatively more exposed to smallcaps and more value-oriented. Also, they present strong evidence of time-varying betas and, in the case of the European Union funds, of time-varying alphas too. Finally, in terms of market timing, our tests suggest that mutual fund managers in our sample do not exhibit any market timing abilities. Nevertheless, we find some evidence of timevarying conditional market timing abilities but only at the individual fund level.