This is a case study analyzing the program officers of the Biological Instrumentation Program at the National Science Foundation. It was conducted in order to fill a lacuna in the literature concerning the program officers of science funding agencies. The current literature places the program officer in a black box, implying an autonomous professional. In contrast this study portrays the Program Officer as embedded in a web of relationships extending within and without the Foundation. Constructivist and relativist approaches to science studies argue for the significance of the influence of these 'non-scientific' relationships on all contemporary scientific activity. The study describes the web of resource relationships surrounding the program officer and how the program officer wields power that may affect the content and submission of proposals for scientific research grants. / Master of Science

In recent years, the lifetime of an insulated railroad joint in the field has decreased due to increasing wheel loads. The goal of this research is to investigate possible changes in insulated rail joint design in order to improve the performance of the insulated joint. The finite element program ABAQUS is used to model the supported butt joint. In this model, the rail, joint bars, epoxy, and ties surrounding the joint are modeled using solid elements. The remaining ties are modeled as an elastic foundation. The rail is subjected to a tensile load, as well as a vertical wheel load that is applied to the rail using Hertz contact theory. Parametric studies are performed by varying the tie width, joint bar length, and joint bar dimensions. Two different wheel load locations are also investigated: centered about the end post, and halfway between the tie under the end post and the tie just to the left of the end post. The vertical displacement of the rail and insulated joint is one measure used to determine the effect of the parameters on the insulated joint. However, since the most common cause of failure in insulated rail joints is the debonding of the epoxy, this research also focuses on the stresses present in the epoxy when the joint is subjected to a static wheel load. The two out-of-plane shear stresses as well as the normal peel stress are used to compare the various designs of the joint. / Master of Science

No / In this paper the rocking response of slender/rigid structures stepping on a viscoelastic foundation is revisited. The study examines in depth the motion of the system with a non-linear analysis that complements the linear analysis presented in the past by other investigators. The non-linear formulation combines the fully non-linear equations of motion together with the impulse-momentum equations during impacts. The study shows that the response of the rocking block depends on the size, shape and slenderness of the block, the stiffness and damping of the foundation and the energy loss during impact. The effect of the stiffness and damping of the foundation system along with the influence of the coefficient of restitution during impact is presented in rocking spectra in which the peak values of the response are compared with those of the rigid block rocking on a monolithic base. Various trends of the response are identified. For instance, less slender and smaller blocks have a tendency to separate easier, whereas the smaller the angle of slenderness, the less sensitive the response to the flexibility, damping and coefficient of restitution of the foundation.

Yes / Seabed consolidation state is one of important factors for evaluating the foundation stability of the marine structures. Most previous studies focused on the seabed consolidation around breakwaters standing on the seabed surface. In this study, a numerical model, based on Biot’s poro-elasticity theory, is developed to investigate the unsaturated seabed consolidation around a nearshore pile foundation, in which the pile inserted depth leads to a different stress distribution. Seabed instabilities of shear failure by the pile self-weight and the potential liquefaction under the dynamic wave loading are also examined. Results indicate that (1) the presence of the inserted pile foundation increases the effective stresses below the foundation, while increases and decreases the effective stresses around the pile foundation for small (de/R<=3.3) and large (de/R>3.3) inserted depths, respectively, after seabed consolidation, (2) the aforementioned effects are relatively more significant for small inserted depth, large external loading, and small Young’s modulus, (3) the shear failure mainly occurs around the inserted pile foundation, rather than below the foundation as previously found for the located marine structures, and (4) wave-induced momentary liquefaction near the inserted pile foundation significantly increases with the increase of inserted depth, due to the change of seabed consolidation state. / National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (51425901), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51209082, 51209083), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20161509), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015B15514), Jiangsu Graduate Research and Innovation Plan Grant (#CXLX11_0450) and the 111 project (B12032).

Yes / A new programme incorporating online study days delivered using team-based learning (TBL) for hospital-based trainee pharmacists (TPs) in the North of England was created. To our knowledge, TBL has not previously been used in educational programmes for TPs designed to supplement their workplace learning. The project aimed to investigate the experiences of TPs learning using online TBL by exploring their perceptions on their engagement, learning, and satisfaction with TBL. Data were collected using online anonymous surveys at the end of four online TBL study days. A bespoke survey consisted of 5-point or 4-point Likert scale and two free text questions. TBL Student Assessment Instrument (SAI), a validated survey, was used to assess TPs' acceptance of TBL. Survey data was summarized descriptively, and free text comments analysed using thematic analysis. TPs developed accountability to their team, remained engaged with TBL delivery online and stated a preference for and satisfaction with this method. TPs valued opportunities to apply their knowledge in challenging scenarios and learn from discussions with their peers, the larger group, and facilitators. TBL was also perceived to be an engaging approach to learning and helped to maintain their interest with the teaching material. However, TPs struggled to engage with pre-work outside of the class due to competing work priorities. This study shows that online TBL was well accepted by TPs and can be successfully used to deliver education to large cohorts of learners. The model developed shows potential for scalability to larger numbers of learners. / The teaching programme was funded by National Health Service England Workforce, Training, Education (NHSE WTE) (previously known as Health Education England).

A framework for evaluating different wind turbine foundations has been proposed and applied in six hypothetical case studies located in three sites in different locations throughout Sweden.The framework is based on decision making method PROMETHEE II and consists of nine criteria covering financial, environmental and technical aspects of wind turbine foundations. The foundation has been evaluated from two different stakeholder perspectives – civil designers and financial advisors. Application of this framework has shown that an existing commonly used wind turbine foundation type is not the most favourable alternative, whilst a new market entrant – prefabricated foundation – shows promising results. Using PROMETHEE II it became evident that in any given case, a prefabricated foundation is ranked as the most or a close second to most suitable type of foundation. Gravity caissons ranked as the least favourable option in almost all, except one, case. Comparing these three alternatives prefabricated foundation showed greater economic feasibility, lower impact on environment and technologically more applicable than other alternatives with very few existing drawbacks.

Ferramentas de simulação de barramentos de comunicação de chão de fábrica (fieldbuses) têm aplicação industrial durante a fase de projeto de malhas de controle, pois permitem a prévia avaliação do desempenho de tais malhas bem como o treinamento de operadores do sistema de controle. Este trabalho descreve uma ferramenta de simulação de fieldbus com foco na camada de aplicação de blocos funcionais Foundation Fieldbus que preenche os requisitos acima citados em uma plataforma única e autônoma em relação a fabricantes do sistema de controle e, para além disso, tem aplicação no ambiente industrial por usuários de fieldbus como uma ferramenta no desenvolvimento de blocos funcionais \"customizados\", bem como no ambiente acadêmico como ferramenta didática para ensino de sistemas de controle distribuídos. / Fieldbus simulation tools are used in the industry during the planning stages of control network implementations since they allow for a pre-evaluation of the network\'s performance as well as providing a training environment for the control systems operators. This thesis describes a fieldbus simulation tool focused on the Foundation Fieldbus functional blocks application layer that meets the requirements mentioned above within a single vendor independent platform. Additionally, the tool can be used by industrial fieldbus users developing custom functional blocks and, in an academic environment, as an application for teaching distributed control systems.

Frente a abrangente presença da internet no ambiente acadêmico e residencial, a literatura relata, na última década, um número crescente de experiências de ensino a distância na área de automação e controle industrial, nas quais desde procedimentos teóricos até aulas práticas podem ser realizados através de acesso remoto. Neste contexto, este trabalho apresenta o estado da arte sobre as experiências acadêmicas no emprego de laboratórios on-line relacionados à teoria de controle e introduz uma nova proposta de arquitetura de acesso remoto, que será aplicada ao ensino de sistemas de controle distribuídos via rede de campo no protocolo FOUNDATION Fieldbus em ambiente simulado. / Due to the increasing presence of the internet in the academic and residential environment, the literature shows an increasing number of experiences of distance learning in the automation and industrial control area in the last decade, in which theoretical procedures as well as practical lessons can be carried out through remote access. In this context, this dissertation presents a brief survey on the academic experiences in the application of on-line laboratories and introduces a new proposal of remote access architecture that will be applied on a distance learning experience in the networked control systems area based on the FOUNDATION Fieldbus protocol using a simulated environment.

A crescente complexidade do controle dos processos industriais vem exigindo sistemas de controle cada vez mais precisos, confiáveis e versáteis. No sentido de atender a estas exigências, algoritmos diversos de controle e estimação, tais como: técnicas de controle adaptativas, preditivas, estimação paramétrica, filtros de Kalman, observação de estados, etc. têm sido desenvolvidas, simuladas e implementadas com relativa facilidade nos modernos sistemas digitais. Este trabalho propõe uma estratégia de controle em redes Fieldbus usando controle adaptativo por modelo de referência através de variáveis de estado, para resolver sistemas complexos. O algoritmo de controle proposto é composto por um observador de estados trabalhando em conjunto com um esquema de controle adaptativo por modelo de referência. As malhas de controle no Fieldbus consistem em um conjunto de blocos funcionais padrões existentes, conectados aos novos blocos funcionais propostos e desenvolvidos de acordo com as especificações da norma Fieldbus Foundation. Este algoritmo de controle realiza os cálculos de maneira distribuída entre os dispositivos da rede Fieldbus, implicando em várias vantagens, tais como: a) perda do supervisório não implica na perda do algoritmo de controle, b) menor tráfego de dados na rede, c) algoritmo de controle que não depende do tempo de processamento do computador. Os resultados dos testes obtidos são apresentados e demonstraram um alto grau de precisão, destacando-se a estabilidade e aplicabilidade do algoritmo proposto. / The rising complexity of the industrial control processes has been claiming more and more accurate, reliable and versatile control systems. Attempting to satisfy this demand, several control and estimation systems algorithms, such as adaptive and predictive techniques, parametric estimation, Kalman filtering, state observation, have been designed, simulated and implemented with relative easiness in the modern digital systems. This work proposes a new control strategy in Fieldbus networks, using adaptive control techniques through state variables, to solve complex systems. The proposed control algorithm is based on an states observer concurrently working with a reference model adaptive control scheme. The modified Fieldbus network consists of a set of standard function blocks, connected to the proposed new function blocks. These new function blocks comply with the specifications of the Fieldbus Foundation norm. This control algorithm accomplishes its calculation in a distributed way among the fieldbus devices. This operating feature results in some advantages, such as: any failure in the supervisory system does not imply in the loss of the control algorithm, b) a lower data transmission in the network, c) control algorithm that does not depend on the processing time of the computer. The obtained results corroborate with the expected advantages of the proposed algorithm, in terms of high degree of accuracy, stability and applicability.

Les inclusions rigides sont un concept récent développé dans le prolongement des fondations mixtes, avec un matelas de transfert de charges entre les colonnes et la structure. Des méthodes de calculs et des concepts de sécurité existent pour ces systèmes combinés, notamment en France où le module pressiométrique mesuré et les recommandations ASIRI (IREX 2012) pour les inclusions rigides sont utilisés. Le dimensionnement classique des pieux basé sur une simple vérification de la portance des colonnes isolées ne peut pas être appliqué à ces systèmes combinés. Les tassements peuvent être plus importants du fait de la part significative de charge reprise par le sol. Le présent travail est une contribution au développement des méthodes de calcul et de dimensionnement en déplacement (préconisé par l'Eurocode 7, EN 1997-1 2004) pour les systèmes combinés sous charge verticale, en particulier au niveau international où des mesures in situ de module de sol ne sont généralement pas disponibles. Les éventuelles particularités de ces systèmes, notamment la sensibilité de colonnes non renforcées de petit diamètre, devaient également être examinées. La méthode de transfert de charge (“load transfer method”, LTM) est identifiée comme un outil d'ingénieur particulièrement adapté au calcul des systèmes combinés présentant une géométrie relativement simple. L'interaction sol-colonne en frottement et en pointe est définie par des courbes de transfert de charge (ou courbes “t-z” et “q-z”). Les méthodes en milieu continu comme la méthode des éléments finis sont à réserver en général aux cas complexes. Le comportement non-linéaire des semelles est examiné sur la base de mesures obtenues dans la littérature. Cette étude aboutit à la proposition d'une courbe charge-tassement hyperbolique pour les semelles. Cette courbe de mobilisation est définie de sorte qu'il y ait concordance avec la méthode linéaire habituelle pour un tiers de la charge ultime de la semelle. Le comportement de pieux isolés est étudié avec de nombreux essais de chargement instrumentés et non-instrumentés pour différents types de pieux et de sol. Une alternative aux courbes de transfert de charge selon Frank et Zhao (1982), basées sur le module pressiométrique, est recherchée. Des courbes de transfert de charge de type racine cubique et hyperbolique sont proposées pour tous types de pieux et de sol. La raideur des courbes proposées dépend d'une bonne estimation des valeurs ultimes de frottement et de résistance de pointe. Au contraire, la raideur initiale des courbes de Frank et Zhao est entièrement définie par le module pressiométrique, ce qui permet d'éviter des erreurs en termes de raideur. Les courbes de mobilisation proposées pour les fondations superficielles et pour les pieux sont combinées et étendues au cas des systèmes combinés. Cette méthode est implémentée comme option LTM dans le programme KID (Keller company 2015). Les prévisions avec le modèle proposé sont en très bonne adéquation avec les mesures effectuées sur 3 sites documentés dans la littérature. Une étude paramétrique montre une transition continue entre la fondation mixte et les inclusions rigides et une possibilité d'optimisation avec une diminution significative des efforts dans les colonnes et dans la fondation superficielle si un matelas est utilisé. En complément, une comparaison avec des calculs en éléments finis en 3D dans un cas théorique de semelle sur colonnes confirme que la méthode de transfert de charge développée est très performante pour des géométries simples. Une analyse de sensibilité est effectuée avec des modèles éléments finis axisymmétriques et 3D avec Plaxis (2013, 2014). Les imperfections géométriques ont principalement une incidence sur l'intégrité structurelle des colonnes non-armées de faible diamètre. Cependant, ces effets sont atténués dans les systèmes combinés en comparaison avec la colonne isolée du fait des possibilités de redistribution des charges dans le système / Rigid inclusions represent a further development of combined pile-raft foundations, comprising a load transfer platform between the columns and the structure. Calculation methods and design concepts are available for such combined systems in particular in France, based on measured pressuremeter modulus values and on the French recommendations ASIRI for rigid inclusions (IREX 2012). The conventional pile design consisting only of a bearing capacity check for the individual column cannot be applied to such combined systems. The expected settlements may be larger due to a significant load proportion supported by the soil. The present work contributes to the development of displacement-based calculation methods (advocated by the Eurocode 7, EN 1997-1 2004) and design methods for combined systems under vertical loads, in particular on an international level where in general no in situ soil modulus values are measured. Possible particularities of such systems, like the sensitivity of unreinforced small-diameter columns, also had to be investigated. The load transfer method (LTM) is identified as a straightforward engineering tool for the calculation of combined systems with relatively simple geometries. The soil-column interaction in terms of skin friction and tip resistance is described by deformation-dependent load transfer curves (or “t-z” and “q-z” curves). Continuum methods like the finite element method should be preferred only for complex cases in general. The non-linear load-settlement behaviour of single footings up to failure is analysed based on measurements given in the literature. This yields the proposal of a hyperbolic load-settlement curve for footings. This mobilization curve is defined in a way to match the linear usual method for one third of the footing ultimate load. The behaviour of single piles is investigated based on numerous available instrumented and non-instrumented pile load tests with different pile and soil types. A reliable alternative to the load transfer curves after Frank and Zhao (1982), which are based on the pressuremeter modulus, is sought. Cubic root and hyperbolic axial load transfer curves are proposed for all pile and ground types. The stiffness accuracy of the proposed curves depends on an accurate estimation of the ultimate skin friction and tip resistance values. On the contrary, the initial stiffness of the Frank and Zhao curves is fully described by the pressuremeter modulus, avoiding thus errors in the stiffness. The proposed mobilization curves for the shallow and pile foundation behaviours are combined and extended for all combined systems. The proposed method is implemented as the LTM option into the software KID (Keller company 2015). The prediction with the developed model matches very well the measurements made for 3 different cases from the literature. A parametric study shows a smooth transition between the combined pile-raft foundation case and the rigid inclusion case and a potential for optimisation with a significant reduction of the internal forces in the columns and in the rigid slab when a load transfer platform is used. In addition, a comparison with 3D finite element calculations for a theoretical footing case with columns confirms that the developed load transfer method is very reliable for simple geometries. Sensitivity investigations using the axisymmetric and 3D finite element method with Plaxis (2013, 2014) are performed. Geometrical imperfections impact mainly the structural integrity of small-diameter unreinforced columns. However, these effects are reduced in combined systems compared to the single column case due to the possibility of redistribution of the loads within the system