Digital Commons Network^™

Long-Term Project And Network-Level Ndt Implementation Plan For Indiana, Yunhui Jia, Christopher S. Williams, Prince Baah, Mark D. Bowman

JTRP Technical Reports

Bridge deck condition assessments in Indiana are primarily reliant on visual inspection. The condition of bridge decks, however, is highly dependent on deterioration under the surface, which includes the corrosion of steel reinforcement and concrete delamination. The implementation of reliable nondestructive testing (NDT) methods can provide information about such internal deterioration, but considering the multiple NDT methods currently available, guidance is needed to find the best approach for assessing bridge decks in the state’s bridge inventory. A research program was conducted to examine various NDT methods with the objective of recommending an effective NDT strategy for network-level and project-level bridge …

Pile Stability Analysis In Soft Or Loose Soils: Guidance On Foundation Design Assumptions With Respect To Loose Or Soft Soil Effects On Pile Lateral Capacity And Stability, Yao Wang, Jeehee Lim, Rodrigo Salgado, Monica Prezzi, Jeremy Hunter

JTRP Technical Reports

The design of laterally loaded piles is often done in practice using the p-y method with API p-y curves representing the behavior of soil at discretized points along the pile length. To account for pile-soil-pile interaction in pile groups, AASHTO (2020) proposes the use of p-multipliers to modify the p-y curves. In this research, we explored, in depth, the design of lateral loaded piles and pile groups using both the Finite Element (FE) method and the p-y method to determine under what conditions pile stability problems were likely to occur. The analyses considered a wide …

Case Studies Of Atmospheric River-Induced Surface Changes In The Arctic, Yonghuai Huang

Geodata Science Technical Reports

Atmospheric river (AR) takes a significant role in transporting warm moisture into the Arctic, which could further enhance the Arctic Amplification. This project aims to examine the surface conditions during selected cases of AR events that are detected by climate time series of Arctic AR index. Mono-level variables related to temperature, pressure, heat fluxes and wind speed of fourteen AR events were analyzed using the MERRA-2 derived Arctic AR index, and results were compared with the detected AR basins. Results of MERRA-2 data show that AR basins detected by both Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) and Integrated water Vapor Transport (IVT) …

Developing An Air Pollutant Emissions Database For Global Economic Analysis, Maksym Chepeliev

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

According to the Global Burden of Disease study (Cohen et al., 2017), in 2015 ambient air pollutant emissions caused 4.2 million deaths and a loss of 103.1 million disability-adjusted life-years, making it the fifth-ranked global risk factor. In terms of the welfare costs of mortality and illnesses associated with outdoor air pollutant emissions, global estimates for 2015 range between $2.7-3.2 trillion (Coady et al., 2015; OECD, 2016). Still, while greenhouse gas emissions are usually well represented in many global economic databases and models, air pollutant emission accounts in most cases are not included. In particular, this is the case for …

Linking Migration To Community Resilience In The Receiving Basin Of A Large-Scale Water Transfer Project, Anna Erwin, Zhao Ma, Ruxandra Popovici, Emma Patricia Salas O’Brien, Laura Zanotti, Chelsea A. Silva, Eliseo Zeballos Zeballos, Jonathan Bauchet, Nelly Ramírez Calderón, Glenn Roberto Arce Larrea

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Large-scale water transfer projects (LWTPs) transfer water to urban and agricultural areas. The Majes-Siguas canal, established in 1983, is an LWTP that created a thriving agricultural area through irrigating the Majes district in the Atacama Desert of Peru. Like other LWTP receiving basins, the project has attracted an influx of migrants who work on the farms. At the same time, the Majes LWTP is the district’s only source of water and has an aging infrastructure which presents significant risks. While many studies critically analyze the consequences of LWTPs in water supply basins, few evaluate the resilience of communities living in …

Machine Learning To Simulate And Predict Infection Rates Of Covid-19 Pandemic, Peter Xu

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

As the covid-19 pandemic brings uncertainty to the medical system, engineering technology comes ahead in an attempt to understand and simulate the impact of it. As the unprecedented pandemic worsens in some states, the medical system encounters severe shortage of medical supplies. To better manage the limited resource nation-wise, the system must foresee the demand in each state and distribute the resources accordingly and prematurely. This project aims to simulate the pandemic and make short-term prediction on daily infections in each state. This forecast would allow the medical system to recognize the states that would require supplies of hospital resource …

Physics-Informed Machine Learning To Predict Extreme Weather Events, Rthvik Raviprakash, Jonathan Buchanan, Mahdi Bu Ali

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Extreme weather events refer to unexpected, severe, or unseasonal weather events, which are dynamically related to specific large-scale atmospheric patterns. These extreme weather events have a significant impact on human society and also natural ecosystems. For example, natural disasters due to extreme weather events caused more than $90 billion global direct losses in 2015. These extreme weather events are challenging to predict due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere and are highly correlated with the occurrence of atmospheric blocking. A key aspect for preparedness and response to extreme climate events is accurate medium-range forecasting of atmospheric blocking events.

Unlike …

Active Membrane Energy Exchanger For Air Cooling And Dehumidification, Songhao Wu, Andrew Fix, David M. Warsinger, James E. Braun

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment consume 35% of total building energy use in the US, among which a large share is used for cooling and dehumidification. The majority of air dehumidification systems take the conventional approach of moisture condensation removal. It requires air to be cooled below its dew point temperature and is an energy-intensive process, especially for areas with hot and humid climates. Vapor selective membrane systems are promising alternatives for air dehumidification as they do not require cooling energy for latent (humidity) heat removal. It allows water vapor transport through the membrane while blocking air. Previous …

Characterization Of Landfill Leachate For Enhanced Metal Recovery, Hanna Fulford, Amisha Shah, Inez Hua, Nadezhda Zyaykina, Lori Hoagland, Alejandro Rodriguez Sanchez, Umut Bicim

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Landfills contain a trove of valuable materials, such as critical, precious, and rare earth metals, that are integral to the United State’s economy and national security. The leachate that filters through landfills picks up these materials, which allows for the possibility of recovery. For this research, samples will be analyzed from landfills throughout the Midwestern United States to provide a baseline on water quality constituents, elements present, and microbial activity. Preliminary data for this study was acquired by analyzing samples of landfill leachate from a landfill in northern Indiana. pH readings indicate that the leachate is slightly basic. It also …

Elementary Teachers’ Verbal Support Of Engineering Integration In An Interdisciplinary Project, Sarah Lilly, Anne M. Mcalister, Jennifer L. Chiu

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Despite emphasis on authentic science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (STEM+CS) projects in classrooms, research continues to demonstrate opportunity gaps in learning STEM+CS for students with disabilities. This study investigates how teachers verbally support students in two differently tracked classrooms to engage in engineering lessons that integrate science and computer science. Specifically, this study explores how the same elementary teachers both implicitly and explicitly support students across two classroom contexts, one class section with a larger proportion of students who were tracked into accelerated mathematics and another class section with a larger proportion of students with individualized educational plans …

Deep Learning Approach To Improved Image Quality For Medical Diagnostics, Olivia Loesch, Katie Leyba, Halyley Chan, Craig Goergen

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

The United Nation’s health-related Sustainable Development Goals are difficult to achieve in low- and middle-income countries due to workforce shortages and inadequate health surveillance systems. However, with the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer algorithms, it is possible to apply AI to healthcare technologies to improve progress towards these UN standards. This project aims at using and improving computer algorithms and deep learning to aid in the extraction of important structural and functional information from murine carotid artery ultrasound and photoacoustic images. First, we created a large database of simulated photoacoustic images to optimize the algorithms. These images were …

The Impact Of The Presidency Of Donald Trump On American Jewry And Israel, Steven F. Windmueller

The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review

The Trump presidency has resulted in a fundamentally disruptive moment in this nation’s political culture. Not only were there different policy options and directions, but the cultural artifacts of politics changed because of how this president dramatically challenged the existing norms of political behavior and action. As we have shifted from a period of American liberalism to a time of political populism, deep fissures are dividing Americans in general and Jews in particular.

The Impact of the Presidency of Donald Trump on American Jewry and Israel unpacks President Donald Trump’s distinctive and unique relationship with the American Jewish community and …

Democracy And The Media: The Year In C-Span Archives Research, Volume 7, Robert X. Browning

The Year in C-SPAN Archives Research

Volume 7 of The Year in C-SPAN Archives Research series focuses on the relationship between democracy and the media. Using the extensive collection of the C-SPAN Video Library, chapters cover Trump political rallies, congressional references of late-night comedy, responses of African American congresswomen to COVID-19 bills, and congressional attacks on the media through floor speeches in the House of Representatives and Senate.

The C-SPAN Video Library is unique because there is no other research collection that is based on video research of contemporary politics. Methodologically distinctive, much of the research uses new techniques to analyze video, text, and spoken words …

2021 Seedless Pickling Cucumber Variety Trial, Ben Phillips, Jessica Good

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

A pickling cucumber variety trial was planted at the Saginaw Valley Research and Extension Center (43.399097, -83.694497, Frankenmuth, Michigan). Bejo (BJ), Nunhems (NU), Rijk Zwaan (RZ), and Sakata (SK) seed companies donated parthenocarpic (seedless) varieties for mechanical once-over harvest. The top five varieties each had Total Percent Recovery scores of 100%. When arranged in order of their highest combined clean yields of the most profitable fruit sizes (2B + 3A + 3B), they were NU 2106 (711 bu/a), NU 2105 (699 bu/a), RZ 16 (639 bu/a), RZ 11 (446 bu/a), and BJ Aristan (303 bu/a).

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Improving Pharmacovigilliance Quality Management System In The Pharmacy And Poisions Board Of Kenya, Eric Apiyo, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore ways of improving the pharmacovigilance quality system employed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Kenya. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Kenya employs a hybrid system of pharmacovigilance that utilizes an online system of reporting pharmacovigilance incidences and a physical system, where a yellow book is physically filled by the healthcare worker and sent to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board for onward processing. This system, even though it has been relatively effective compared to other systems employed in Africa, has one major flaw. It is a slow and delayed system that …

Defects Analysis And Root Cause Robustness Of Product Labels Of An Acaricide Product In East Africa, Moses Okal Ogodo, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

This project aimed at investigating online damages of packaging materials generated during production because of imperfectness of production processes. These online damages may lead to upsurge in production cost and/or market returns, causing the company to experience losses and even damage its reputation. Data on online damages were collected for 20ml, 40ml and 100ml labels of an acaricide product for the period between July 2018 and June 2019 and statistically analyzed. Investigation was done on the causes of online damages, then corrective and preventive actions carried out. Analysis of online damages of labels of the three pack sizes revealed a …

Medicines Regulation In West Africa: Current State And Opportu-Nities, Oluwafunmike Sopein-Mann, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

Ndomondo-Sigonda et al. (2017) observed that there is scarcity of information on human resources (person-nel devoted to regulation of medicines) in the domain of medicines regulation in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The published information on medicines regulation by the National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRAs) in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region are no longer current and consistent with the current realities in the NMRAs. In order to reveal this occurrence, show the trends that exist over the years and make appropriate recommendations, data were collected and compared from 2005, 2010 and 2017 research reports on seven regulatory …

Quality Of Sample Testing In The Laboratory Unit: Current Situation And Strategies For Improvement, Aloyce Constantine, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

The purpose of this study was to understand the status quo of quality sample testing in the laboratory unit. A quantitative research method was used. An extensive laboratory documents (protocol, worksheets, laboratory analytical plan, standard operating procedures and manuals) review was performed and a networking approach to both management and lab staff at all levels was reviewed in order to identify all non-conformities occurred in the past three years. Results identified 36 number of results deviated from reference standards among different test performed, 400 number of samples lost, the number of laboratory personnel who were not sufficiently trained to take …

Pharmaceutical Industry In Uganda: A Review Of The Common Gmp Non-Conformances During Regulatory Inspections, Nasser Lubowa, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

The prevalence of substandard medicines in Africa is high but not well documented. Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are likely to face considerable challenges with substandard medications. Africa faces inadequate drug regulatory practices, and in general, compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in most of the pharmaceutical industries is lacking. The majority of pharmaceutical manufacturers in developing countries are often overwhelmed by the GMP requirements and therefore are unable to operate in line with internationally acceptable standards. Non-conformances observed during regulatory inspections provide the status of the compliance to GMP requirements. The study aimed to identify the GMP non-conformances during …

The Impact Of Mentoring As A Gmp Capability Building Tool In The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry In Nigeria, Monica Agu, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), a component of Pharmaceutical Quality Systems, is aimed primarily at managing and minimizing the risks inherent in pharmaceutical manufacture to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of products. Provision of adequate number of personnel with the necessary qualifications/practical experience and their continuous training and evaluation of effectiveness of the training is the responsibility of the manufacturer. (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014; International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 2015). The classroom method of training that has been used for GMP capacity building in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Nigeria over the years, delivered by experts from stringently regulated …

Retrospective Study Of Inspectors Competency In The Act Of Writing Gmp Inspection Report, Chidi Uche, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

The research was a retrospective study of twenty-five Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspection reports (from March 2017 through to December 2018) of a national medicine regulatory agency, drug Inspectorate, in West Africa, designed to assess the inspectors’ expertise in the act of inspection report writing. The investigation examined a paper-based tool of thirteen pre-registration Inspection reports and twelve GMP reassessment reports written prior and following an intervention program by external GMP trainers to enhance inspectors’ skill in pharmaceutical cGMP inspection. The study made use of quantitative analysis to investigate each team’s expertise in the act of writing GMP inspection report. …

Second Reaction: Free Lunch, Joseph Prince

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

First Opinion: Understanding Living In Poverty From An Adolescent’S Perspective, Emily Fisher

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

Second Reaction: The Impact Of An Empty Fridge In 2021, Glenna Fulitano

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

First Opinion: …But Not Hungry: The Complexity Of Keeping Promises, Kristine M. Lize

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

Second Reaction: Still A Family, Clara Thiry

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

First Opinion: A Child’S Perspective On Homelessness, Tammi R. Davis

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

Second Reaction: Yard Sale Critique, Melissa Kepler

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

First Opinion: Yard Sale Simply Comes Up Short, Jennifer Conner

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.