Strongly nonlinear behavior of granular phononic crystals composed of stainless steel cylinders and PTFE spheres is considered experimentally and numerically. The tenability of phononic band gap in this two-mass prestressed chain was investigated. The results show that the phononic band gap exists within audible frequency regime (20–20,000 Hz) and can be tuned by changing the value of prestress. Influence of the weak and strong nonlinearity on the propagation of signals with frequencies inside band gap was investigated. The mechanical properties of reactive materials (e.g., high density mixtures of polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE), aluminum (Al) and tungsten (W) powders) where unconsolidated granular packing of metal particles plays significant role in the dynamic behavior was investigated. It was found that dynamic strength can be tailored by changing the morphology of the particles and porosity. Cold isostatically pressed PTFE-Al-W powder composites with fine metallic particles and a higher porosity exhibited higher ultimate compressive strength than less porous composites having equivalent mass ratios with coarse W particles. Based on the numerical analysis it was concluded that a mesoscale force chains between the fine metallic particles are responsible for this unusual phenomenon. This work was supported by the NSF DCMS03013220 and by MURI ONR N00014-07-1-0740.

2 span continuous RC-slab bridge is one of structures employed for the provincial road construction because of its simplicity in design and construction. In this paper, Web-based automation system has been developed to not only manage resultant documents but also speed up to repetitive design process. The combination of internet technologies provides a foundation for developing a Web-based parametric design support system that may facilitate the design process of 2 span RC-slab bridge as well as the manipulation of the resultant engineering documents. This application is able to implement all engineering calculation, CAD drawings, and itemized statements of quantities by using XML Data Island in 2 span RC-slab bridge. This paper introduces a Web-based application, which is able to operate anytime and anywhere, is developed to not only speed up the design process but also enhance the collection and manipulation of resultant electronic documents.

Concrete has a void, which exists as one of defect in concrete. If the porosity of concrete increases, durability of concrete decreases. In this paper, to improve surface void of concrete, surface penetration sealers are applied to specimen. And, it were investigated that the resistances of chloride penetration and freezing and thawing for concrete with surface penetration sealer of two types. According to the results, surface penetration sealer has not show a harmful influence on strength and resistance of freezing and thawing. Surface penetration sealers were effective in the resistance of chloride penetration.

Wideband enhancement was implemented by detecting visually relevant edge and bar features in an image to produce a bipolar contour map. The addition of these contours to the original image resulted in increased local contrast of these features and an increase in the spatial bandwidth of the image. Testing with static television images revealed that visually impaired patients (n = 35) could distinguish the enhanced images and preferred them over the original images (and degraded images). Most patients preferred a moderate level of wideband enhancement, since they preferred natural-looking images and rejected visible artifacts of the enhancement. Comparison of the enhanced images with the originals revealed that the improvement in the perceived image quality was significant for only 22% of the patients. Possible reasons for the limited increase in perceived image quality are discussed, and improvements are suggested.

An image enhancement algorithm for low-vision patients was developed for images compressed using the JPEG standard. The proposed algorithm enhances the images in the discrete cosine transform domain by weighting the quantization table in the decoder. Our specific implementation increases the contrast at all bands of frequencies by an equal factor. The enhancement algorithm has four advantages: 1) low computational cost; 2) suitability for real-time application; 3) ease of adjustment by end-users (for example, adjusting a single parameter); and 4) less severe block artifacts as compared with conventional (post compression) enhancements. Experiments with visually impaired patients show improved perceived image quality at moderate levels of enhancement but rejection of artifacts caused by higher levels of enhancement.

AbstractA new MPEG based image enhancement algorithm for people with low‐vision is presented. Contrast enhancement is performed by modifying the Inter and Intra quantization matrices in the decoder. The algorithm has low computational complexity and does not affect the existing MPEG compressibility of the original image.

TSH is known as an important hormone that plays the major role not only in the maintenance of normal physiology but also in the regulation of immunomodulatory gene expression in thyrocytes. The adhesion molecule intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) was identified as one of the proteins that are abnormally expressed in the thyroid gland during autoimmune thyroid diseases. In this study we found that TSH inhibits interferon-gamma (IFNgamma)-mediated expression of the ICAM-1 gene, and we investigated the involved mechanisms in rat FRTL-5 thyroid cells. After exposure to IFNgamma, ICAM-1 expression is positively regulated at the level of transcription. This effect occurs via the IFNgamma-activated site (GAS) element in the ICAM-1 promoter as a consequence of the activation of STAT1 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-1), but not of STAT3. On the other hand, after exposure to TSH plus IFNgamma, ICAM-1 transcription is negatively modulated. We found that this inhibitory effect of TSH also occurs via the GAS element. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays confirmed that the IFNgamma-induced DNA-binding activities of STAT1 were reduced by TSH. Furthermore, our results showed that the inhibitory effect of TSH on IFNgamma signaling is caused by inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation on STAT1, Janus kinase-1 (Jak1), and IFNgamma receptor a, but not Jak2. In conclusion, we have identified a novel mechanism in which TSH modulates the IFNgamma-mediated Jak/STAT signaling pathway through the inhibition of Jak1 and STAT1.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Session 1121 Development of Web-based Interactive 4D Block-Tower Model for Construction Planning and Scheduling Education Julian H. Kang*, Byeong-Cheol Lho**, Jeong-Hoon Kim** *Texas A&M University / **Sangji University For construction projects implemented in a congested area, the ability to understand spatial relationship between structures is expected to play an important role in construction planning and scheduling. However, students can hardly understand the time-space relationship at the job site using a CPM network or a bar chart. Research shows that visual representation of the construction sequence helps to detect logical errors in the construction schedule. Therefore, a 4D construction model, which depicts the construction sequence in the 3D world is expected to help students learn time-space relationship in the construction schedule more effectively. Also, by disseminating the 4D construction model over the Internet, students will learn the time-space issues in construction planning and scheduling at their own pace. We developed a Web-based interactive 4D block-tower model in order to teach time-space issues in construction planning and scheduling more effectively. This paper addresses the process of developing a Web-based interactive 4D block-tower model and how it could improve teaching time-space relationship in the construction schedule. 1. Introduction The construction planning and scheduling process is composed of multiple steps that include interpreting the given information to figure out what to build and visualizing the construction sequence to determine how to build it. In the visualization process of a construction sequence, professionals disassemble the planned structure into identifiable work packages that are logically connected. The critical path in the logical network of the work packages is then identified using Critical Path Method (CPM) and the construction schedule is illustrated using a bar chart. The conceptual expression of the schedule may be an effective way for explaining the entire construction schedule. A graphic timetable for the Java railroad line drawn in 1937, very well demonstrates the merit of abstractness in describing multi-dimensional information 1. It expresses six different types of information sets on one sheet using the station title and inclined lines. However, a conceptual expression of the construction schedule often demands a significant amount of education and site experience. The owners or the end users of a proposed structure may experience difficulties in interpreting the schedule documents and understanding why a certain decision is made for the project. In construction projects, a 3D expression of the proposed structure has been always considered as an effective way of explaining the designer’s goal. A 3D expression of the structures in space dates back to the early Renaissance when painters developed a set of rules for constructing realistic spatial settings known as the Perspective 2. Besides using the perspective, architects “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ©2004, American Society for Engineering Education”

For construction projects implemented in a congested area, the ability to understand spatial relationship between structures is expected to play an important role in construction planning and scheduling. However, students can hardly understand the time-space relationship at the job site using a CPM network or a bar chart. Research shows that visual representation of the construction sequence helps to detect logical errors in the construction schedule. Therefore, a 4D construction model, which depicts the construction sequence in the 3D world is expected to help students learn time-space relationship in the construction schedule more effectively. Also, by disseminating the 4D construction model over the Internet, students will learn the time-space issues in construction planning and scheduling at their own pace. We developed a Web-based interactive 4D block-tower model in order to teach time-space issues in construction planning and scheduling more effectively. This paper addresses the process of developing a Web-based interactive 4D block-tower model and how it could improve teaching time-space relationship in the construction schedule.

Summary Most retaining walls and box culverts built for arterial road construction are simple, and the design process of these structures is often repetitive and labor-intensive because they are so similar in structural configuration. Although some integrated design automation systems developed for retaining walls and box culverts have expedited the design process of these structures, the process of collecting and distributing the resultant engineering documents has not been fully integrated with the computer applications. We have been developing a Web-based design automation system to manage the resultant documents as well as to speed up the repetitive design process. Manipulation of engineering drawings in the Web page is one of the critical functions needed for Web-based design automation. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and XML-based vector graphics are expected to facilitate the representation of engineering drawings in the Web page. In this paper, we present how we used XML and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to compose engineering drawings and represent them in the Web page. XML Data Island we designed to define drawing components turned out effective in manipulating the engineering drawings in the Web page.