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Peer Review Report 2007

United States Department of Transportation: Publications

The purpose of this document is to report findings from the research peer reviews held March 27-29, 2007 for PHMSA’s Pipeline Safety Research and Development Program. The findings and recommendations in this report derive from the scoring and comments collected from the peer review panelists.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Operating Agencies (OA) are required to develop and execute a systematic process for peer review plan for all influential and highly influential information the OA plans to disseminate in the foreseeable future.

Through the Information Quality Act1, Congress directed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to “provide policy and procedural guidance …

Rd&T Program Overview 2007

United States Department of Transportation: Publications

PHMSA Mission

PHMSA Supports DOT Goals

RD&T Overview

PHMSA RD&T Program Appropriations

Pipeline Safety RD&T

1. External Stakeholder Involvement In Developing Research Agendas

1. External Stakeholder Involvement “Elements of Implementation”

1. External Stakeholder Involvement “Indicators of Implementation”

2. Merit Review of Proposals “Elements of Implementation”

2. Merit Review of Proposals “Indicators of Implementation”

3. Independent Evaluation of Research “Elements & Indicators of Implementation”

4. Performance Measurement “Elements of Implementation"

4. Performance Measurement “Indicators of Implementation”

5. RD&T Coordination “Elements of Implementation”

5. RD&T Coordination “Indicators of Implementation”

Hazardous Materials Safety RD&T

Hazmat Elements & Possible Products

Identification Of Chicken-Specific Fecal Microbial Sequences Using A Metagenomic Approach, Jingrang Lu, Jorge Santo Domingo, Orin Shanks

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

In this study, we applied a genome fragment enrichment (GFE) method to select for genomic regions that differ among different fecal metagenomes. Competitive DNA hybridizations were performed between chicken fecal DNA and pig fecal DNA (CP) and between chicken fecal DNA and an avian DNA composite consisting of turkey, goose, and seagull fecal DNA extracts (CB) to enrich for chicken-specific DNA fragments. A total of 471 non-redundant chicken metagenomic sequences were retrieved and analyzed. All of the clone sequences were similar to prokaryotic genes, of which more than 60% could not be assigned to previously characterized functional roles. In general …

Florida Seagrass Habitat Evaluation: A Comparative Survey For Chemical Quality, Michael A. Lewis, Darrin D. Dantin, Cynthia A. Chancy, Kathryn Abel, Christopher G. Lewis

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Contaminant concentrations were determined for media associated with 13 Florida seagrass beds. Concentrations of 10 trace metals were more commonly detected in surface water, sediment and two seagrass species than PAHs, pesticides and PCBs. Concentrations of copper and arsenic in surface water exceeded Florida aquatic life criteria more frequently than other trace elements. Total organic carbon, mercury, chromium, zinc, total chlordane, total PAHs, total PCBs, DDD and DDE were significantly greater in seagrass-rooted sediments than adjacent non-vegetated sediments. Total DDT, DDD, DDE, total chlordane, arsenic, copper and nickel exceeded proposed sediment quality guidelines at six of 13 grass beds. Pesticides, …

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Omaha District Monthly Drought Report, January 2007

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Current Conditions

Drought Outlook

Missouri River Region Mountain Snowpack Report

Ft. Peck, Montana

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Garrison, North Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Boat Ramp Information

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Other Areas of Interest/Concern

Oahe, South Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Mainstem Reservoir Information, Weekly Elevation Comparison 6 NOV 2006 through 27 NOV 2006

Mainstem Reservoir Storage Comparison Water Years 2004, 2005, 2006

Ft. Peck, MT

Garrison, ND

Oahe, SD

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Omaha District Monthly Drought Report, May 2007

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Current Conditions

Drought Outlook

Missouri River Region Mountain Snowpack Report

Ft. Peck, Montana

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Garrison, North Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Boat Ramp Information

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Other Areas of Interest/Concern

Oahe, South Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Mainstem Reservoir Information, Weekly Elevation Comparison 5 MAR 2007 through 26 MAR 2007

Mainstem Reservoir Storage Comparison Water Years 2004, 2005, 2006

Ft. Peck, MT

Garrison, ND

Oahe, SD

Genetically Attenuated Plasmodium Berghei Liver Stages Induce Sterile Protracted Protection That Is Mediated By Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I–Dependent Interferon-Y–Producing Cd8+ T Cells, Ousman Jobe, Joanne Lumsden, Ann-Kristin Mueller, Jackie Williams, Hilda Silva-Rivera, Stefan H. I. Kappe, Robert J. Schwenk, Kai Matuschewski, Urszula Krzych

United States Army: Publications

At present, radiation-attenuated plasmodia sporozoites (y-spz) is the only vaccine that induces sterile and lasting protection in malaria-naive humans and laboratory rodents. However, g-spz are not without risks. For example, the heterogeneity of the y-spz could explain occasional breakthrough infections. To avoid this possibility, we constructed a double-knockout P. berghei parasite by removing 2 genes, UIS3 and UIS4, that are up-regulated in infective spz.We evaluated the double-knockout Pbuis3(-)/4(-) parasites for protective efficacy and the contribution of CD8+ T cells to protection. Pbuis3(-)/4(-) spz induced sterile and protracted protection in C57BL/6 mice. Protection was linked to CD8+ …

Using Adaptive Management To Meet Conservation Goals, Thomas M. Franklin Franklin, Ronald Helinski Helinski, Andrew Manale Manale

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Natural resource professionals should know whether or not they are doing an effective job of managing natural resources. Their decision-making process should produce the kind of results desired by the public, elected officials, and their agencies’ leadership. With billions of dollars spent each year on managing natural resources, accountability is more important than ever. Producing results is the key to success. Managers must have the necessary data to make enlightened decisions during program implementation—not just at the conclusion of a program. Adaptive management is described as an adapt-and-learn methodology as it pertains to implementing Farm Bill conservation practices. Four regional …

Ph Effect On Adsorption Of Saxititoxin On Powdered Activated Carbon, Jie Ding

Masters Theses

"The presence of algal toxins, or cyanotoxins, in surface water has been increasingly reported. These highly hazardous toxins are potential threat to both human health and animals by contaminating drinking water sources over the world. In this study, the removal efficiency of saxitoxin from water using powered activated carbon was tested at different pH values for deionized water and natural surface water. The results of this study showed that pH has a strong impact on removal efficiency of saxitoxin using powdered activated carbon. Specifically, the removal efficiency of saxitoxin is significantly increased at higher pH from 5.7 to pH 10.7. …

Real-Time Query Scheduling For Wireless Sensor Networks, Octav Chipara, Chenyang Lu, Gruia-Catalin Roman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Recent years have seen the emergence of wireless sensor network (WSN) systems that require high data rate real-time communication. This paper proposes Real-Time Query Scheduling (RTQS), a novel approach to conflict-free transmission scheduling for real-time queries in WSNs. We show that there is an inherent trade-off between prioritization and throughput in conflict-free query scheduling. RTQS provides three new real-time scheduling algorithms. The non-preemptive query scheduling algorithm achieves high throughput while introducing priority inversions. The preemptive query scheduling algorithm eliminates priority inversion at the cost of reduced throughput. The slack stealing query scheduling algorithm combines the benefits of preemptive and non-preemptive …

A Hybrid Simulation Model For Studying Acute Inflammatory Response, Wayne W. Wakeland, Louis Macovsky, Gary An

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

The modeling of complex biological systems presents a significant challenge. Central to this challenge is striking a balance between the degree of abstraction required to facilitate analysis and understanding, and the degree of comprehensiveness required for fidelity of the model to its reference-system. It is likely necessary to utilize multiple modeling methods in order to achieve this balance. Our research created a hybrid simulation model by melding an agent-based model of acute local infection with a system dynamics model that reflects key systemic properties. The agent based model was originally developed to simulate global inflammation in response to injury or …

Coordinated Machine Learning And Decision Support For Situation Awareness, Timothy Draelos, Pengchu Zhang, Donald C. Wunsch, John E. Seiffertt Iv, Gregory Conrad, Nathan Brannon

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For applications such as force protection, an effective decision maker needs to maintain an unambiguous grasp of the environment. Opportunities exist to leverage computational mechanisms for the adaptive fusion of diverse information sources. The current research employs neural networks and Markov chains to process information from sources including sensors, weather data, and law enforcement. Furthermore, the system operator's input is used as a point of reference for the machine learning algorithms. More detailed features of the approach are provided, along with an example force protection scenario.

Health Monitoring Of A Truss Bridge Using Adaptive Identification, James W. Fonda, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Integration of structural analysis, system identification, and sensor networks provide health monitoring capabilities that benefit many aspects of infrastructure management. This work presents an adaptive identification method based on Lyapunov methods for a truss structure. Lyapunov methods in the identification provide guaranteed convergence for the parameter estimation. Identification is carried out on a simulation model based on FEA methods. The FEA model offers realistic results from a truss structure and allows verification of the identification method for a rolling load case. A rolling load scenario provides use of realistic loading of a structure so that identification methods may be extended …

High-Pressure Turbine Deposition In Land-Based Gas Turbines From Various Synfuels, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Ash deposits from four candidate power turbine synfuels were studied in an accelerated deposition test facility. The facility matches the gas temperature and velocity of modern first-stage high-pressure turbine vanes. A natural gas combustor was seeded with finely ground fuel ash particulate from four different fuels: straw, sawdust, coal, and petroleum coke. The entrained ash particles were accelerated to a combustor exit flow Mach number of 0.31 before impinging on a thermal barrier coating (TBC) target coupon at 1150°C. Postexposure analyses included surface topography, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray spectroscopy. Due to significant differences in the chemical composition of the …

Acoustic Emission Detection And Prediction Of Fatigue Crack Propagation In Composite Patch Repairs Using Neural Networks, Navdeep Singh, Navrag Singh, Anthony Chukwujekwu Okafor

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An aircraft is subjected to severe structural and aerodynamic loads during its service life. These loads can cause damage or weakening of the structure especially for aging military and civilian aircraft, thereby affecting its load carrying capabilities. Hence composite patch repairs are increasingly used to repair damaged aircraft metallic structures to restore its structural efficiency. This paper presents the results of Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring of crack propagation in 2024-T3 Clad aluminum panels repaired with adhesively bonded octagonal, single sided boron/epoxy composite patch under tension-tension fatigue loading. Crack propagation gages were used to monitor crack initiation. The identified AE sensor …

The Smart Helmet, Michael Walsh

Theses

This thesis addresses the design, development and testing of a wireless sensor network for a sports helmet. The objective is to monitor an athlete's physiology and also physical impacts using a sensor network. A detailed literature review is presented addressing currently available appropriate wireless technologies, sensors and their operation, packaging, interconnections and applications. It gives a brief introduction to each sensor used in the smart helmet, accelerometers, temperature sensors, heart rate and blood oxygen sensors, along with a review of possible sensors which could be added at a later stage. The specific sensors and other related components for the helmets …

The Shape Of Pulverized Bituminous Vitrinite Coal Particles, Jonathan P. Mathews, Patrick G. Hatcher, Alan W. Scaroni

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The shape of pulverized bituminous coal particles (vitrinites) was determined by optical and laser light scattering. Vitrain samples were collected from obvious tree remains located in the ceilings of two Appalachian coal mines. Wet sieving produced narrow size cuts. The particles were determined to be oblong or blocky in shape, with average length-to-width ratio of 1.7 and sphericity of 0.78. They were analogous in shape to a square ended, rectangular "house brick". The two bituminous coals and different size cuts of each coal had essentially the same shape parameters. Characteristic heating times and terminal velocities were higher by 22 and …

Bioelectric Effects Of Intense Nanosecond Pulses, Karl H. Schoenbach, Barbara Y. Hargrave, Ravindra P. Joshi, Juergen F. Kolb, Richard Nuccitelli, Christopher J. Osgood, Andrei G. Pakhomov, Michael W. Stacey, James R. Swanson, Jody A. White, Shu Xiao, Jue Zhang, Stephen J. Beebe, Peter F. Blackmore, E. Stephen Buescher

Bioelectrics Publications

Electrical models for biological cells predict that reducing the duration of applied electrical pulses to values below the charging time of the outer cell membrane (which is on the order of 100 ns for mammalian cells) causes a strong increase in the probability of electric field interactions with intracellular structures due to displacement currents. For electric field amplitudes exceeding MV/m, such pulses are also expected to allow access to the cell interior through conduction currents flowing through the permeabilized plasma membrane. In both cases, limiting the duration of the electrical pulses to nanoseconds ensures only nonthermal interactions of the electric …

Medium Access Control Protocols And Routing Algorithms For Wireless Sensor Networks, Anirban Bag

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the development of a large variety of mobile computing devices has led to wide scale deployment and use of wireless ad hoc and sensor networks. Wireless Sensor Networks consist of battery powered, tiny and cheap "motes", having sensing and wireless communication capabilities. Although wireless motes have limited battery power, communication and computation capabilities, the range of their application is vast. In the first part of the dissertation, we have addressed the specific application of Biomedical Sensor Networks. To solve the problem of data routing in these networks, we have proposed the Adaptive Least Temperature Routing (ALTR) algorithm …

Understanding The Low Temperature Electrical Propertiesof Nanocrystalline Sno2 For Gas Sensor Applications, Christina Drake

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nanocrystalline metal/metal oxide is an important class of transparent and electronic materials due to its potential use in many applications, including gas sensors. At the nanoscale, many of the phenomena observed that give nanocrystalline semiconducting oxide enhanced performance as a gas sensor material over other conventional engineering materials is still poorly understood. This study is aimed at understanding the low temperature electrical and chemical properties of nanocrystalline SnO2 that makes it suitable for room temperature gas detectors. Studies were carried out in order to understand how various synthesis methods affect the surfaces on the nano-oxides, interactions of a target gas …

Parameter Estimation Using Sensor Fusion And Model Updating, Kevin Francoforte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engineers and infrastructure owners have to manage an aging civil infrastructure in the US. Engineers have the opportunity to analyze structures using finite element models (FEM), and often base their engineering decisions on the outcome of the results. Ultimately, the success of these decisions is directly related to the accuracy of the finite element model in representing the real-life structure. Improper assumptions in the model such as member properties or connections, can lead to inaccurate results. A major source of modeling error in many finite element models of existing structures is due to improper representation of the boundary conditions. In …

Decision-Maker Trade-Offs In Multiple Response Surface Optimization, Alicia Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is on improving decision-maker trade-offs and the development of a new constrained methodology for multiple response surface optimization. There are three key components of the research: development of the necessary conditions and assumptions associated with constrained multiple response surface optimization methodologies; development of a new constrained multiple response surface methodology; and demonstration of the new method. The necessary conditions for and assumptions associated with constrained multiple response surface optimization methods were identified and found to be less restrictive than requirements previously described in the literature. The conditions and assumptions required for a constrained method to …

Recognizing Teamwork Activity In Observations Of Embodied Agents, Linus Jan Luotsinen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents contributions to the theory and practice of team activity recognition. A particular focus of our work was to improve our ability to collect and label representative samples, thus making the team activity recognition more efficient. A second focus of our work is improving the robustness of the recognition process in the presence of noisy and distorted data. The main contributions of this thesis are as follows: We developed a software tool, the Teamwork Scenario Editor (TSE), for the acquisition, segmentation and labeling of teamwork data. Using the TSE we acquired a corpus of labeled team actions both …

Stress, Fatigue And Workload: Determining The Combined Affect On Human Performance, Jessica Mock-Mclaughlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research generated a model that will help to predict, prevent, control and mitigate the occurrence of task related factors that negatively influence stress, fatigue, and workload; thus enhancing human performance. Past research efforts involving stress, fatigue and workload identified factors that influence a change in performance (Lan, Ji and Looney, 2003, and Hancock & Warm, 1989). Also, while some mathematical models have been developed within each respective area, however, there is no evidence of an integrated model describing the combined affect of stress, fatigue and workload. To respond to this research gap, a quantitative model representing the state of …

Cs 415-01: Social Implications Of Computing, Leo Finkelstein

Computer Science & Engineering Syllabi

CS 415 is a communication skills course using as its subject matter current salient issues associated with the social implications of computing. In addition to the course text, you will need to use certain reading materials in the library and elsewhere, and you will be responsible for using concepts and theories provided in class lectures and discussions.

The Journal Of Undergraduate Research: Volume 05

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

This is the complete issue of the South Dakota State University Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 5.

Dust Emission From South Dakota Cattle Feedlots, Rick Weber

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

Dust and particle emissions (PM) from cattle feedlots is a concern for producers in order to maintain good relations with neighbors and also to comply with the EPA proposed PM_2.5 particulate emission rules. Dust at 2.5 microns, which cannot be seen by the naked eye, is a potential health hazard since it can be ingested into the lungs of humans. One of the proposed regulations of the Federal Clean Air Act is to apply the PM_2.5 standard to the agricultural sector. This research project examines the particulate matter dust emissions of various sizes in microns including 2.5, 10, …

Using Surrogate Measures To Predict Patient Satisfaction In The Emergency Department, Erica Egri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With healthcare organizations struggling to remain competitive and financially stable in a market where minimizing costs is a priority, hospital administrators feel the sense of urgency when it comes to keeping patients satisfied with services in order to expand volume and market share. The Emergency Department is considered the front door of a healthcare organization, and keeping its visitors satisfied in order to guarantee a future visit or a referral to a friend or family member is a must. While patient input on the services received in a healthcare facility is essential to improving quality of care, the costs associated …

Pilot Study Of Nutrient Loading In A Wet Detention Lake, Eric C. Gurr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Florida is surrounded by water, and its many internal lakes and rivers have long been recognized for their excellent fishing and boating. This notoriety draws land developers to the lake shores to establish residential and commercial infrastructure. This land development brings with it flood plain alteration, water level stabilization, and increased nutrients which cause adverse impacts to our lakes. In response, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) passed the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972 which set the framework for the water quality standards for the entire United States. As a result of the CWA many point sources …

Congestion Avoidance And Fairness In Wireless Sensor Networks, Mohammad Ahmad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sensor network congestion avoidance and control primarily aims to reduce packet drops while maintaining fair bandwidth allocation to existing network flows. The design of a congestion control algorithm suited for all types of applications in sensor networks is a challenging task due to the application-specific nature of these networks. With numerous sensors transmitting data simultaneously to one or more base stations (also called sinks), sensor nodes located near the base station will most likely experience congestion and packet loss. In this thesis, we propose a novel distributed congestion avoidance algorithm which calculates the ratio of the number of downstream and …