Basic Skill Assessment Requirements for Placement into Courses and Programs at Iowa Community Colleges, September 26, 2007

Iowa Department of Education surveyed Iowa’s 15 community colleges to gain information about each institution’s basic skill assessment requirements for placement into courses and programs. The survey asked what basic skill assessment(s) each institution uses, whether developmental course placement was mandatory, and what scores students needed to obtain to avoid being required or urged to take developmental courses in math, science, and reading. Additionally, staff members at each college were asked what the testing requirements are for students’ enrolled full time in high school that are taking community college classes.

Synthesis Study: Effectiveness of Safety Corridor Programs, Report on Tasks 1-3, 2008

This report synthesizes the safety corridor programs of 13 states that currently have some type of program: Alaska, California, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. This synthesis can help Midwestern states implement their own safety corridor programs and select pilot corridors or enhance existing corridors. Survey and interview information about the states’ programs was gathered from members of each state department of transportation (DOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division office. Topics discussed included definitions of a safety corridor; length and number of corridors in the program; criteria for selection of a corridor; measures of effectiveness of an implemented safety corridor; organizational structure of the program; funding and legislation issues; and engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency medical service strategies. Safety corridor programs with successful results were then examined in more detail, and field visits were made to Kansas, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington for first-hand observations. With the survey and field visit information, several characteristics of successful safety corridor programs were identified, including multidisciplinary (3E and 4E) efforts; selection, evaluation, and decommissioning strategies; organization structure, champions, and funding; task forces and Corridor Safety Action Plans; road safety audits; and legislation and other safety issues. Based on the synthesis, the report makes recommendations for establishing and maintaining a successful safety corridor program.

A Thermokinetic approach to radiative heat transfer at the nanoscale

Radiative heat exchange at the nanoscale presents a challenge for several areas due to its scope and nature. Here, we provide a thermokinetic description of microscale radiative energy transfer including phonon-photon coupling manifested through a non-Debye relaxation behavior. We show that a lognormal-like distribution of modes of relaxation accounts for this non-Debye relaxation behavior leading to the thermal conductance. We also discuss the validity of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The general expression for the thermal conductance we obtain fits existing experimental results with remarkable accuracy. Accordingly, our approach offers an overall explanation of radiative energy transfer through micrometric gaps regardless of geometrical configurations and distances.

The Effectiveness of Iowa's Automated Red Light Running Enforcement Programs, 2007

The Federal Highway Administration estimates that red light running causes more than 100,000 crashes and 1,000 fatalities annually and results in an estimated economic loss of over $14 billion per year in the United States. In Iowa alone, a statewide analysis of red light running crashes, using crash data from 2001 to 2006, indicates that an average of 1,682 red light running crashes occur at signalized intersections every year. As a result, red light running poses a significant safety issue for communities. Communities rarely have the resources to place additional law enforcement in the field to combat the problem and they are increasingly using automated red light running camera-enforcement systems at signalized intersections. In Iowa, three communities currently use camera enforcement since 2004. These communities include Davenport, Council Bluffs, and Clive. As communities across the United States attempt to address red light running, a number of communities have implemented red light running camera enforcement programs. This report examines the red light running programs in Iowa and summarizes results of analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of such cameras.

Remote Sensing Change Analysis Methodology to Support Traffic Monitoring Programs, 2003

The Federal Highway Administration mandates that states collect traffic count information at specified intervals to meet the needs of the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). A manual land use change detection method was employed to determine the effects of land use change on traffic for Black Hawk County, Iowa, from 1994 to 2002. Results from land use change detection could enable redirecting traffic count activities and related data management resources to areas that are experiencing the greatest changes in land use and related traffic volume. Including a manual land use change detection process in the Iowa Department of Transportation’s traffic count program has the potential to improve efficiency by focusing monitoring activities in areas more likely to experience significant increase in traffic.

Remote Sensing Change Analysis Methodology to Support Traffic Monitoring Programs: Phase 2, 2004

The Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE) issued a report in July 2003, based on a sample study of the application of remote sensed image land use change detection to the methodology of traffic monitoring in Blackhawk County, Iowa. In summary, the results indicated a strong correlation and a statistically significant regression coefficient between the identification of built-up land use change areas from remote sensed data and corresponding changes in traffic patterns, expressed as vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Based on these results, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) requested that CTRE expand the study area to five counties in the southwest quadrant of the state. These counties are scheduled for traffic counts in 2004, and the Iowa DOT desired the data to 1) evaluate the current methodology used to place the devices; 2) potentially influence the placement of traffic counting devices in areas of high built-up land use change; and 3) determine if opportunities exist to reduce the frequency and/or density of monitoring activity in lower trafficked rural areas of the state. This project is focused on the practical application of built-up land use change data for placement of traffic count data recording devices in five southwest Iowa counties.

Image quality assessment in digital mammography: part II. NPWE as a validated alternative for contrast detail analysis.

Assessment of image quality for digital x-ray mammography systems used in European screening programs relies mainly on contrast-detail CDMAM phantom scoring and requires the acquisition and analysis of many images in order to reduce variability in threshold detectability. Part II of this study proposes an alternative method based on the detectability index (d') calculated for a non-prewhitened model observer with an eye filter (NPWE). The detectability index was calculated from the normalized noise power spectrum and image contrast, both measured from an image of a 5 cm poly(methyl methacrylate) phantom containing a 0.2 mm thick aluminium square, and the pre-sampling modulation transfer function. This was performed as a function of air kerma at the detector for 11 different digital mammography systems. These calculated d' values were compared against threshold gold thickness (T) results measured with the CDMAM test object and against derived theoretical relationships. A simple relationship was found between T and d', as a function of detector air kerma; a linear relationship was found between d' and contrast-to-noise ratio. The values of threshold thickness used to specify acceptable performance in the European Guidelines for 0.10 and 0.25 mm diameter discs were equivalent to threshold calculated detectability indices of 1.05 and 6.30, respectively. The NPWE method is a validated alternative to CDMAM scoring for use in the image quality specification, quality control and optimization of digital x-ray systems for screening mammography.

Propuestas para afrontar los retos del European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) en asignaturas universitarias de redacción periodística

Los retos del nuevo paradigma comunicativo, un cruce histórico lleno de posibilidades pero también de riesgos y límites, obligan auna redefinición en la educación superior de los futuros profesionales de la comunicación.Este trabajo, realizado a partir de las experiencias de dos profesores universitarios, propone la introducción del hipertexto en ladocencia universitaria en el campo del periodismo y analiza las ventajas que esta nuevaherramienta supone en la formación de los periodistas del siglo XXI. En esta investigación los autores proponen el hipertexto como metodologíade trabajo en el aula, suponiendoque el hipertexto tiene que ser concebido,como se verá en esta investigación, como ellocus en el que deben converger la teoría y lapráctica, donde tiene que explotarse la capacidadcrítica y la creatividad del alumno y en elque debe potenciarse la interactividad profesor-alumno y alumno-alumno.

Feasibility of Visualization and Simulation Applications, Tech Transfer Summary, 2008

Visualization is a relatively recent tool available to engineers for enhancing transportation project design through improved communication, decision making, and stakeholder feedback. Current visualization techniques include image composites, video composites, 2D drawings, drive-through or fly-through animations, 3D rendering models, virtual reality, and 4D CAD. These methods are used mainly to communicate within the design and construction team and between the team and external stakeholders. Use of visualization improves understanding of design intent and project concepts and facilitates effective decision making. However, visualization tools are typically used for presentation only in large-scale urban projects. Visualization is not widely accepted due to a lack of demonstrated engineering benefits for typical agency projects, such as small- and medium-sized projects, rural projects, and projects where external stakeholder communication is not a major issue. Furthermore, there is a perceived high cost of investment of both financial and human capital in adopting visualization tools. The most advanced visualization technique of virtual reality has only been used in academic research settings, and 4D CAD has been used on a very limited basis for highly complicated specialty projects. However, there are a number of less intensive visualization methods available which may provide some benefit to many agency projects. In this paper, we present the results of a feasibility study examining the use of visualization and simulation applications for improving highway planning, design, construction, and safety and mobility.

Fiscal Year 2015 Report on the Condition of Affirmative Action, Diversity, and Multi-cultural Programs in State Government and Fiscal Year 2016 Plan, September 30, 2015

Each agency is invited and encouraged to send a representative to a quarterly Department of Administrative Services State Recruitment Coordinating Committee “Committee” meeting. This Committee conducts strategic planning sessions to identify top goals and initiatives for the next 2-3 years.

Bayesian Networks and the Value of the Evidence for the Forensic Two-Trace Transfer Problem

Forensic scientists face increasingly complex inference problems for evaluating likelihood ratios (LRs) for an appropriate pair of propositions. Up to now, scientists and statisticians have derived LR formulae using an algebraic approach. However, this approach reaches its limits when addressing cases with an increasing number of variables and dependence relationships between these variables. In this study, we suggest using a graphical approach, based on the construction of Bayesian networks (BNs). We first construct a BN that captures the problem, and then deduce the expression for calculating the LR from this model to compare it with existing LR formulae. We illustrate this idea by applying it to the evaluation of an activity level LR in the context of the two-trace transfer problem. Our approach allows us to relax assumptions made in previous LR developments, produce a new LR formula for the two-trace transfer problem and generalize this scenario to n traces.

Rpe65-Gene Transfer Using an Integration-Deficient Lentiviral Vector

Purpose: We previously demonstrated efficient retinal rescue of RPE65 mouse models (Rpe65-/- (Bemelmans et al, 2006) and Rpe65R91W/R91W mice) using a HIV1-derived lentiviral vector encoding for the mouse RPE65 cDNA. In order to optimize a lentiviral vector as an alternative tool for RPE65-derived Leber Congenital Amaurosis clinical trials, we evaluated the efficiency of an integration-deficient lentiviral vector (IDLV) encoding the human RPE65 cDNA to restore retinal function in the Rpe65R91W/R91W mice. Methods: An HIV-1-derived lentiviral vector expressing either the hrGFPII or the human Rpe65 cDNA under the control of a 0.8 kb fragment of the human Rpe65 promoter (R0.8) was produced by transient transfection of 293T cells. A LQ-integrase mutant was used to generate the IDLV vectors. IDLV-R0.8-hRPE65 or hrGFPII were injected subretinally into 1 month-old Rpe65R91W/R91W mice. Functional rescue was assessed by ERG (1 and 3 months post-injection) and cone survival by immunohistology. Results: An increased light sensitivity was detected by scotopic ERG in animals injected with IDLV-R0.8-hRPE65 compared to hrGFPII-treated animals or untreated mice. However the improvement was delayed compared to integration-proficient LV and observed at 3 months but not 1 month post-injection. Immunolabelling of cone markers showed an increased number of cones in the transduced area compared to control groups. Conclusions: The IDLV-R0.8-hRPE65 vectors allow retinal improvement in the Rpe65R91W/R91W mice. Both rod function and cone survival were demonstrated even if there is a delay in the rescue as assessed by scotopic ERG. Integration-deficient vectors minimize insertional mutagenesis and thus are safer candidates for human application. Further experiments using large animals are now needed to validate correct gene transfer and expression of the RPE65 gene as well as tolerance of the vector after subretinal injection before envisaging a clinical trial application.

Efficiency of informational transfer in regular and complex networks

We analyze the process of informational exchange through complex networks by measuring network efficiencies. Aiming to study nonclustered systems, we propose a modification of this measure on the local level. We apply this method to an extension of the class of small worlds that includes declustered networks and show that they are locally quite efficient, although their clustering coefficient is practically zero. Unweighted systems with small-world and scale-free topologies are shown to be both globally and locally efficient. Our method is also applied to characterize weighted networks. In particular we examine the properties of underground transportation systems of Madrid and Barcelona and reinterpret the results obtained for the Boston subway network.

A preliminary study of dredging programs, benefits, costs, and effects for eight Iowa lakes, 1974

This report is a study of the costs, benefits and impacts of dredging programs for eight Iowa Lakes: Backbone Lake, Black Hawk Lake, Blue Lake, Five Island Lake, Lake Manawa, Mill Creek Lake, Rock Lake and Silver Lake. The studies were done by Economics Research Associates (ERA) and Engineering Consultants, Inc. (ECI) and was commissioned by the Iowa General Assembly to assist in determining public policy with respect to the dredging of the subject lakes.

Report of the 4th Workshop for Technology Transfer for Intelligent Compaction Consortium, TPF-5(233), 2015

This document summarizes the discussion and findings of the 4th workshop held on October 27–28, 2015 in Frankfort, Kentucky as part of the Technology Transfer Intelligent Compaction Consortium (TTICC) Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF-5(233)) study. The TTICC project is led by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and partnered by the following state DOTs: California, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The workshop was hosted by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and was organized by the Center for Earthworks Engineering Research (CEER) at Iowa State University of Science and Technology. The objective of the workshop was to generate a focused discussion to identify the research, education, and implementation goals necessary for advancing intelligent compaction for earthworks and asphalt. The workshop consisted of a review of the TTICC goals, state DOT briefings on intelligent compaction implementation activities in their state, voting and brainstorming sessions on intelligent compaction road map research and implementation needs, and identification of action items for TTICC, industry, and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on each of the road map elements to help accelerate implementation of the technology. Twenty-three attendees representing the state DOTs participating in this pooled fund study, the FHWA, Iowa State University, University of Kentucky, and industry participated in this workshop.