ProScan Automated Profilogram Reduction System, MLR-94-7, 1994

Kansas State University, with funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), has developed a computerized reduction system for profilograms produced by mechanical profilographs. The commercial version of the system (ProScan (trademark)) is marketed by Devore Systems, Inc. The system consists of an IBM Compatible PC 486SX33 computer or better, Epson LQ-570 printer, a Logitech Scanman 32 hand scanner system, a paper transport unit, and the ProScan software. The Scanner is not adaptable to IBM computers with the micro channel architecture. The Iowa DOT Transportation Centers could realize the following advantages by using ProScan: (1) Save about 5 to 8 staff hours of reduction and reporting time per Transportation Center per week for a Materials Technician 3 or 4 (the time savings would come during the busiest part of the season); (2) Reduce errors in reduction, transfer, and typing of profile values; (3) Increase the accuracy of the monitor results; and (4) Allow rapid evaluation of contractor traces when tolerance limits between monitor and certified results are exceeded.

Recycled Asphalt Pavements - Kossuth County Iowa, HR-176, 1975

Kossuth County is located in North Central Iowa bordering on the State of Minnesota. It is the largest county in Iowa consisting of 28 congressional townships. The population of the county is 23,000 of which 11,000 people live in the rural area. There are 13 towns located in the county with the county seat, Algona, being the largest with a population of 6,100. Major industry of the area is grain farming with some beef and hog production. Naturally, where there is good grain farm land it follows that there is poor soil available for road construction and pavements. However, below the 3 to 4 feet of good farm land of Kossuth there is present a good grade of clay soil which does make an adequate base for surfacing when placed and compacted on top of the roadbed. As early as 1950, the then Kossuth County Engineer, H.M. Smith, embarked on a program of stage construction in building new grades and pavements. The goal of his program was primarily to conserve the county's rapidly dwindling supply of surfacing materials, and also, to realize the side effects of providing smooth and dustless roads for the public. Engineer Smith was fully aware of the poor soils that existed for road construction, but he also knew about the good clay that lay below the farm soil. Consequently, in his grading program he insisted that road ditches be dug deep enough to allow the good clay soil to be compacted on top of the roadbed. The presence of the compacted clay on top of the road resulted in a briding affect over the farm soil. The stage construction program satisfied the objectives of aggregate construction and dust control but did generate other problems which we are now trying to solve as economically as possible.

User experience strategy

L'objectiu d'aquest projecte era desenvolupar una metodologia de user experience strategy per aconseguir que el client d'una pàgina web tingui una mateixa experiència tant si fa servir una plataforma com una altra, aplicant diferents tècniques de disseny centrades en l'usuari.

Diagnosis and management of blunt great vessel trauma.

Traditionally, thoracic aortic rupture, suspected after blunt thoracic trauma, is characterized by a chest radiograph showing a widened mediastinum. The diagnostic machinery consecutively activated still depends heavily on the pressure as additional traumatic lesions. A patient with additional cranio-cerebral trauma would typically undergo contrast-enhanced computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of head, chest, and other regions. In a number of patients these analyses would confirm the presence of blood in the mediastinum without formal proof of an aortic disruption. This is because mediastinal hematomas may be caused not only by an aortic rupture, but also by numerous other blood sources including fractures of the spine and other macro- and microvascular lesions providing similar images. Therefore, aortic angiography became our preferred diagnostic tool to identify or rule out acute traumatic lesions of not only the aorta but with great vessels. However recently, a number of traumatic aortic transsections have been identified by transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE). TEE has the additional advantage of being a bed-side procedure providing additional information about cardiac function. The latter analysis allows for identification and quantification of cardiac contusions, post-traumatic myocardial infarctions, and valvar lesions which are of prime importance to develop an adequate surgical strategy and to assess the risk of the numerous emergency procedures required in patients with polytrauma. The standard approach for repair of isthmic aortic rupture is through a lateral thoracotomy. Distal and proximal control of the aorta can be achieved in a substantial number of cases before complete aortic rupture occurs and a higher proportion of direct suture repair can be achieved under such circumstances. Most proximal descending aortic procedures are performed without cardiopulmonary bypass (clamp and go) but paraplegia may occur before, during, or after the procedure. Ascending aortic lesions and disruption of the aortic arch, the supra-aortic vessels, the main pulmonary arteries, the great veins as well as cardiac lesions are best approached through a sternotomy, which may have to be extended. Cardiopulmonary bypass allowing for deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest is often required and carries its own complications. It is not clear whether the increasing proportion of ascending aortic and cardiac lesions which are observed nowadays are due to a change in trauma mechanics (i.e., speed limits, seat belts, air-bags), an improvement of the diagnostic tools or both.

Cracking and Seating to Retard Reflective Cracking - Hamilton County, HR-277, 1993

The crack and seat (C & S) method of rehabilitating concrete pavements has been proposed to reduce the incidence of reflective cracking in asphalt overlays. These cracked pieces help reduce the thermal effects on lateral joint movement while the seating of slab pieces reduces vertical movement. This 1986 project demonstrated that a 0.6 m x 0.9 m (2 ft x 3 ft) cracking pattern was optimal to retard reflective cracking in an asphalt overlay. The best performance among three C & S test sections was section 4 with a 0.6 m x 0.9 m (2 ft x 3 ft) cracking pattern and 7.6 cm (3 in) overlay. Structural ratings determined from the Road Rater™ indicated little difference between each C & S section with varying AC thicknesses and crack spacings. Although reflection cracking is reduced in the early years after construction, the effectiveness of the C & S method diminishes over time.

Iowa System of Bridge Deck Rehabilitation with Cathodic Protection, HR-1044, 1986

Bridge deck and substructure deterioration due to the corrosive effects of deicing chemicals on reinforcing steel is a problem facing many transportation agencies. The main concern is protection of older bridges with uncoated reinforcing steel. Many different methods have been tried over the past years to repair bridge decks. The Iowa system of bridge deck rehabilitation has proven to be very effective. It consists of scarifying the deck surface, removing any deteriorated concrete, and overlaying with low slump dense concrete. Another rehabilitation method that has emerged is cathodic protection. It has been used for many years in the protection of underground pipelines and in 1973 was first installed on a bridge deck. Cathodic protection works by applying an external source of direct current to the embedded reinforcing steel, thereby changing the electrochemical process of corrosion. The corroding steel, which is anodic, is protected by changing it to a cathodic state. The technology involved in cathodic protection as applied to bridge decks has improved over the last 12 years. One company marketing new technology in cathodic protection systems is Raychem Corporation of Menlo Park, California. Their system utilizes a Ferex anode mesh that distributes the impressed direct current over the deck surface. Ferex mesh was selected because it seemed readily adaptable to the Iowa system of bridge deck rehabilitation. The bridge deck would be scarified, deteriorated concrete removed, Ferex anode mesh installed, and overlaid with low slump dense concrete. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) promotes cathodic protection under Demonstration Project No. 34, "Cathodic Protection for Reinforced Concrete Bridge Decks."

Report on Rest Area Water Systems for Interstate Highways, 1967

Introduction: As part of the roadside development along the Interstate Highway System, the Iowa State Highway Commission has constructed eight pair of rest area facilities. Furthermore, two pair are presently under construction with an additional two pair proposed for letting in 1967. An additional nine and one-half pairs of rest areas are in the planning phase, a grand total of 45 rest Brea buildings. The facilities existing were planned and designed in a relatively short period of time. The rest area facilities are unusual in terms of water use, water demand rates, and the fact that there are no applicable guidelines from previous installations. Such facilities are a pioneering effort to furnish a service -which the travelling public desires and will use. The acceptance and current use of the existing facilities shows that the rest areas do provide a service the public will use and appreciate. The Iowa State Highway Commission is to be congratulated for this· pioneering effort. However there are problems, as should be expected when design of a new type of facility has no past operating experience to use as a guide. Another factor which enters is that a rest area facility is quite different and rather unrelated to engineering in the highway field of practice. Basically, the problems encountered can be resolved into several areas, namely 1) maintenance problems in equipment due to 2) insufficient capacity of several other elements of the water systems, and 3) no provisions for water quality control. This study and report is supposed to essentially cover the review of the rest areas, either existing and under construction or letting. However, the approach used has been somewhat different. Several basic economically feasible water system schemes have been developed which are· adaptable to the different well capacities and different water qualities encountered. These basic designs are used as a guide in recommending modifications to the existing rest area water systems, anticipating that the basic designs will be used for future facilities. The magnitude of the problems involved is shown by the fact that the projected water use and demand variations of each rest area building is equivalent to the water supply for a community of about 100 people. The problems of proper operation and maintenance of an eventual thirty to forty-five such facilities are gigantic. For successful operation the rest area water systems must have a high degree of standardization and interchangeability of all elements of the water systems, even if it means a limited degree of over-design in some rest area facilities.

Reflective Crack Mitigation Guide for Flexible Pavements, TR-641, 2015

Reflective cracks form in pavements when hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlays are placed over jointed and/or severely cracked rigid and flexible pavements. In the first part of the research, survival analysis was conducted to identify the most appropriate rehabilitation method for composite pavements and to evaluate the influence of different factors on reflective crack development. Four rehabilitation methods, including mill and fill, overlay, heater scarification (SCR), and rubblization, were analyzed using three performance indicators: reflective cracking, international roughness index (IRI), and pavement condition index (PCI). It was found that rubblization can significantly retard reflective cracking development compared to the other three methods. No significant difference for PCI was seen among the four rehabilitation methods. Heater scarification showed the lowest survival probability for both reflective cracking and IRI, while an overlay resulted in the poorest overall pavement condition based on PCI. In addition, traffic level was found not to be a significant factor for reflective cracking development. An increase in overlay thickness can significantly delay the propagation of reflective cracking for all four treatments. Soil types in rubblization pavement sites were assessed, and no close relationship was found between rubblized pavement performance and subgrade soil condition. In the second part of the research, the study objective was to evaluate the modulus and performance of four reflective cracking treatments: full rubblization, modified rubblization, crack and seat, and rock interlayer. A total of 16 pavement sites were tested by the surface wave method (SWM), and in the first four sites both falling weight deflectometer (FWD) and SWM were conducted for a preliminary analysis. The SWM gave close concrete layer moduli compared to the FWD moduli on a conventional composite pavement. However, the SWM provided higher moduli for the rubblized concrete layer. After the preliminary analysis, another 12 pavement sites were tested by the SWM. The results showed that the crack and seat method provided the highest moduli, followed by the modified rubblization method. The full rubblization and the rock interlayer methods gave similar, but lower, moduli. Pavement performance surveys were also conducted during the field study. In general, none of the pavement sites had rutting problems. The conventional composite pavement site had the largest amount of reflective cracking. A moderate amount of reflective cracking was observed for the two pavement sites with full rubblization. Pavements with the rock interlayer and modified rubblization treatments had much less reflective cracking. It is recommended that use of the modified rubblization and rock interlayer treatments for reflective cracking mitigation are best.

Final Report (SPR Project 90-00-RB10-012) on the Maintenance Asset Management Project Phase I, 2012

This project resulted in the development of a proof of concept for a features inventory process to be used by field staff. The resulting concept is adaptable for different asset classes (e.g. culverts, guardrail) and able to leverage existing DOT resources such as the videolog and LRS and our current technology platforms including Oracle and our GIS web infrastructure. The concept examined the feasibility of newly available technologies, such as mobile devices, while balancing ease of use in the field. Implementation and deployment costs were also important considerations in evaluating the success of the project. These project funds allowed the pilot to address the needs of two DOT districts. A report of findings was prepared, including recommendations for or against full deployment of the pilot solution.

Final Report (SPR Project 90-00-RB10-012) on the Maintenance Asset Management Project Phase II, 2013

This project resulted in the development of a proof of concept for a features inventory process to be used by field staff. The resulting concept is adaptable for different asset classes (e.g. culverts, guardrail) and able to leverage existing DOT resources such as the videolog and LRS and our current technology platforms including Oracle and our GIS web infrastructure. The concept examined the feasibility of newly available technologies, such as mobile devices, while balancing ease of use in the field. Implementation and deployment costs were also important considerations in evaluating the success of the project. These project funds allowed the pilot to address the needs of two DOT districts. A report of findings was prepared, including recommendations for a full deployment of a field data collection.

Diseño de mobiliario infantil

El Trabajo contempla el coquizado, el modelado, la representación gráfica y la generación de documentación técnica mediante la herramienta SolidWorks, utilizando geometrías complejas a partir del estudio de diferentes aulas docentes reales y proponiendo una gama de mobiliario infantil modular, adaptable, estético, divertido, y funcional, el cual responde a las necesidades de los usuarios de las aulas y permiten el desarrollo de todo tipos de actividades docentes.

Instruments for investigating fitness to drive - needs and expectations in primary care: a qualitative study

Background: Primary care physicians are often requested to assess their patients' fitness to drive. Little is however known on their needs to help them in this task. Aims: The aim of this study is to develop theories on needs, expectations, and barriers for clinical instruments helping physicians assess fitness to drive in primary care. Methods: This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to investigate needs and expectations for instruments used to assess fitness to drive. From August 2011 to April 2013, we recorded opinions from five experts in traffic medicine, five primary care physicians, and five senior drivers. All interviews were integrally transcribed. Two independent researchers extracted, coded, and stratified categories relying on multi-grounded theory. All participants validated the final scheme. Results: Our theory suggests that for an instruments assessing fitness to drive to be implemented in primary care, it need to contribute to the decisional process. This requires at least five conditions: 1) it needs to reduce the range of uncertainty, 2) it needs to be adapted to local resources and possibilities, 3) it needs to be accepted by patients, 4) choices of tasks need to adaptable to clinical conditions, 5) and interpretation of results need to remain dependant of each patient's context. Discussion and conclusions: Most existing instruments assessing fitness to drive are not designed for primary care settings. Future instruments should also aim to support patient-centred dialogue, help anticipate driving cessation, and offer patients the opportunity to freely take their own decision on driving cessation as often as possible.

Tapping the innovation potential of corporate engagement with stakeholders

Summary This dissertation explores how stakeholder dialogue influences corporate processes, and speculates about the potential of this phenomenon - particularly with actors, like non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other representatives of civil society, which have received growing attention against a backdrop of increasing globalisation and which have often been cast in an adversarial light by firms - as a source of teaming and a spark for innovation in the firm. The study is set within the context of the introduction of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in Europe. Its significance lies in the fact that scientific developments and new technologies are being generated at an unprecedented rate in an era where civil society is becoming more informed, more reflexive, and more active in facilitating or blocking such new developments, which could have the potential to trigger widespread changes in economies, attitudes, and lifestyles, and address global problems like poverty, hunger, climate change, and environmental degradation. In the 1990s, companies using biotechnology to develop and offer novel products began to experience increasing pressure from civil society to disclose information about the risks associated with the use of biotechnology and GMOs, in particular. Although no harmful effects for humans or the environment have been factually demonstrated even to date (2008), this technology remains highly-contested and its introduction in Europe catalysed major companies to invest significant financial and human resources in stakeholder dialogue. A relatively new phenomenon at the time, with little theoretical backing, dialogue was seen to reflect a move towards greater engagement with stakeholders, commonly defined as those "individuals or groups with which. business interacts who have a 'stake', or vested interest in the firm" (Carroll, 1993:22) with whom firms are seen to be inextricably embedded (Andriof & Waddock, 2002). Regarding the organisation of this dissertation, Chapter 1 (Introduction) describes the context of the study, elaborates its significance for academics and business practitioners as an empirical work embedded in a sector at the heart of the debate on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Chapter 2 (Literature Review) traces the roots and evolution of CSR, drawing on Stakeholder Theory, Institutional Theory, Resource Dependence Theory, and Organisational Learning to establish what has already been developed in the literature regarding the stakeholder concept, motivations for engagement with stakeholders, the corporate response to external constituencies, and outcomes for the firm in terms of organisational learning and change. I used this review of the literature to guide my inquiry and to develop the key constructs through which I viewed the empirical data that was gathered. In this respect, concepts related to how the firm views itself (as a victim, follower, leader), how stakeholders are viewed (as a source of pressure and/or threat; as an asset: current and future), corporate responses (in the form of buffering, bridging, boundary redefinition), and types of organisational teaming (single-loop, double-loop, triple-loop) and change (first order, second order, third order) were particularly important in building the key constructs of the conceptual model that emerged from the analysis of the data. Chapter 3 (Methodology) describes the methodology that was used to conduct the study, affirms the appropriateness of the case study method in addressing the research question, and describes the procedures for collecting and analysing the data. Data collection took place in two phases -extending from August 1999 to October 2000, and from May to December 2001, which functioned as `snapshots' in time of the three companies under study. The data was systematically analysed and coded using ATLAS/ti, a qualitative data analysis tool, which enabled me to sort, organise, and reduce the data into a manageable form. Chapter 4 (Data Analysis) contains the three cases that were developed (anonymised as Pioneer, Helvetica, and Viking). Each case is presented in its entirety (constituting a `within case' analysis), followed by a 'cross-case' analysis, backed up by extensive verbatim evidence. Chapter 5 presents the research findings, outlines the study's limitations, describes managerial implications, and offers suggestions for where more research could elaborate the conceptual model developed through this study, as well as suggestions for additional research in areas where managerial implications were outlined. References and Appendices are included at the end. This dissertation results in the construction and description of a conceptual model, grounded in the empirical data and tied to existing literature, which portrays a set of elements and relationships deemed important for understanding the impact of stakeholder engagement for firms in terms of organisational learning and change. This model suggests that corporate perceptions about the nature of stakeholder influence the perceived value of stakeholder contributions. When stakeholders are primarily viewed as a source of pressure or threat, firms tend to adopt a reactive/defensive posture in an effort to manage stakeholders and protect the firm from sources of outside pressure -behaviour consistent with Resource Dependence Theory, which suggests that firms try to get control over extemal threats by focussing on the relevant stakeholders on whom they depend for critical resources, and try to reverse the control potentially exerted by extemal constituencies by trying to influence and manipulate these valuable stakeholders. In situations where stakeholders are viewed as a current strategic asset, firms tend to adopt a proactive/offensive posture in an effort to tap stakeholder contributions and connect the organisation to its environment - behaviour consistent with Institutional Theory, which suggests that firms try to ensure the continuing license to operate by internalising external expectations. In instances where stakeholders are viewed as a source of future value, firms tend to adopt an interactive/innovative posture in an effort to reduce or widen the embedded system and bring stakeholders into systems of innovation and feedback -behaviour consistent with the literature on Organisational Learning, which suggests that firms can learn how to optimize their performance as they develop systems and structures that are more adaptable and responsive to change The conceptual model moreover suggests that the perceived value of stakeholder contribution drives corporate aims for engagement, which can be usefully categorised as dialogue intentions spanning a continuum running from low-level to high-level to very-high level. This study suggests that activities aimed at disarming critical stakeholders (`manipulation') providing guidance and correcting misinformation (`education'), being transparent about corporate activities and policies (`information'), alleviating stakeholder concerns (`placation'), and accessing stakeholder opinion ('consultation') represent low-level dialogue intentions and are experienced by stakeholders as asymmetrical, persuasive, compliance-gaining activities that are not in line with `true' dialogue. This study also finds evidence that activities aimed at redistributing power ('partnership'), involving stakeholders in internal corporate processes (`participation'), and demonstrating corporate responsibility (`stewardship') reflect high-level dialogue intentions. This study additionally finds evidence that building and sustaining high-quality, trusted relationships which can meaningfully influence organisational policies incline a firm towards the type of interactive, proactive processes that underpin the development of sustainable corporate strategies. Dialogue intentions are related to type of corporate response: low-level intentions can lead to buffering strategies; high-level intentions can underpin bridging strategies; very high-level intentions can incline a firm towards boundary redefinition. The nature of corporate response (which encapsulates a firm's posture towards stakeholders, demonstrated by the level of dialogue intention and the firm's strategy for dealing with stakeholders) favours the type of learning and change experienced by the organisation. This study indicates that buffering strategies, where the firm attempts to protect itself against external influences and cant' out its existing strategy, typically lead to single-loop learning, whereby the firm teams how to perform better within its existing paradigm and at most, improves the performance of the established system - an outcome associated with first-order change. Bridging responses, where the firm adapts organisational activities to meet external expectations, typically leads a firm to acquire new behavioural capacities characteristic of double-loop learning, whereby insights and understanding are uncovered that are fundamentally different from existing knowledge and where stakeholders are brought into problem-solving conversations that enable them to influence corporate decision-making to address shortcomings in the system - an outcome associated with second-order change. Boundary redefinition suggests that the firm engages in triple-loop learning, where the firm changes relations with stakeholders in profound ways, considers problems from a whole-system perspective, examining the deep structures that sustain the system, producing innovation to address chronic problems and develop new opportunities - an outcome associated with third-order change. This study supports earlier theoretical and empirical studies {e.g. Weick's (1979, 1985) work on self-enactment; Maitlis & Lawrence's (2007) and Maitlis' (2005) work and Weick et al's (2005) work on sensegiving and sensemaking in organisations; Brickson's (2005, 2007) and Scott & Lane's (2000) work on organisational identity orientation}, which indicate that corporate self-perception is a key underlying factor driving the dynamics of organisational teaming and change. Such theorizing has important implications for managerial practice; namely, that a company which perceives itself as a 'victim' may be highly inclined to view stakeholders as a source of negative influence, and would therefore be potentially unable to benefit from the positive influence of engagement. Such a selfperception can blind the firm from seeing stakeholders in a more positive, contributing light, which suggests that such firms may not be inclined to embrace external sources of innovation and teaming, as they are focussed on protecting the firm against disturbing environmental influences (through buffering), and remain more likely to perform better within an existing paradigm (single-loop teaming). By contrast, a company that perceives itself as a 'leader' may be highly inclined to view stakeholders as a source of positive influence. On the downside, such a firm might have difficulty distinguishing when stakeholder contributions are less pertinent as it is deliberately more open to elements in operating environment (including stakeholders) as potential sources of learning and change, as the firm is oriented towards creating space for fundamental change (through boundary redefinition), opening issues to entirely new ways of thinking and addressing issues from whole-system perspective. A significant implication of this study is that potentially only those companies who see themselves as a leader are ultimately able to tap the innovation potential of stakeholder dialogue.

A Middleware architecture for Unmanned Aircraft Avionics

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a non-piloted airplane designed to operate in dangerous and repetitive situations. With the advent of UAV's civil applications, UAVs are emerging as a valid option in commercial scenarios. If it must be economically viable, the same platform should implement avariety of missions with little reconguration time and overhead.This paper presents a middleware-based architecture specially suited to operate as a exible payload and mission controller in a UAV. The system is composed of low-costcomputing devices connected by network. The functionality is divided into reusable services distributed over a number ofnodes with a middleware managing their lifecycle and communication.Some research has been done in this area; yetit is mainly focused on the control domain and in its realtime operation. Our proposal differs in that we address the implementation of adaptable and reconfigurable unmannedmissions in low-cost and low-resources hardware.

The marmora used in the imperial cult area of Tarraco (Hispania Citerior)

The imperial cult area of Tarraco was built in the 1st century AD in the highest part of the city and presided over the seat of the Concilium Prouinciae Hispaniae Citerioris. It was a temenos with a similar layout to that of the Forum Pacis and architectural decoration imitating that of the Forum Augustum in Rome, where the use of marble was a fundamental part of the architectural and sculptural decorative programme. An extensive assemblage of marble was recovered during the excavations carried out under the Tarragona Cathedral Master Plan. It reflects the use of imperial quarries in the decorative programme and has been analyzed at the Unitat d’Estudis Arqueomètrics (ICAC) facilities. This assemblage reflects the wide panorama of marmora imported and used in the decoration of the temenos. Local varieties of marmora have been identified in Tarraco, plus a series of foreign marmora from quarries all over the Roman Empire (Greece, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa). All this shows the involvement of the imperial power in the monumental architecture of the capital of the prouincia Hispania Citerior.