this paper presents a new bridge management system (j-bms). it is integrated with a concrete bridge rating expert system that can be used to evaluate the serviceability of existing concrete bridges. the proposed j-bms not only evaluates the performance of bridges, but also offers a rehabilitation strategy based on a combination of maintenance cost minimization and quality maximization. in this ...

Adhesive interactions between white blood cells and the interior surface of the blood vessels they contact is important in inflammation and in the progression of heart disease. Parallel-plate microchannels have been useful in characterizing the strength of these interactions, in conditions that are much simplified over the complex environment these cells experience in the body. Recent computati...

1996 ii The thesis of Brett Alan Warneke is approved. Figure 3-7 Cross-sectional diagram of an aluminum trace running between oxide plates and contacting a polysilicon piezoresistor. The oxide and first metal overetch into the silicon substrate causes the trace Figure 3-8 SEM of a Skeleton Crew accelerometer with bond wires providing 9.6 µgm of additional proof mass. The plate has been bent up ...

It has long been clear that the cell plate formed during cytokinesis in most plant cells results from coalescence of small vesicles. It has been suggested that the origin of these vesicles is the Golgi apparatus. The repeated observations of the ill defined cytokinesis structure called the phragmoplast (see Sharp, 1943) suggest the involvement of some organelle. The Golgi apparatus grouped at t...

There seems to be a lack of mutual understanding between naturalistically oriented philosophers and more traditional philosophers in the philosophy of science. This paper attempts to bridge the gap between these two orientations by introducing a conceptual framework: a distinction between action-guiding rules and evaluative principles. To make the argument concrete, I examine exchanges between ...

Let Hg be a genus g handlebody and MCG2n(Tg) be the group of the isotopy classes of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of Tg = ∂Hg, fixing a given set of 2n points. In this paper we study two particular subgroups of MCG2n(Tg) which generalize Hilden groups defined by Hilden in [16]. As well as Hilden groups are related to plate closures of braids, these generalizations are related to Heegaar...

Fractures of the distal third of the humerus may be complicated by complete lesions of the radial nerve which may be entrapped or compressed by bone fragments. Indirect reduction and internal fixation may result in a permanent nerve lesion. We describe the treatment of these lesions by insertion of a bridge plate using the minimally-invasive percutaneous technique. Six patients were operated on...

the effect of a distributed patch mass on the natural frequency of vibration of a laminated rectangular plate with simply supported boundaries is investigated. the third order displacement field of a composite laminated rectangular plate is defined using the two variable refined plate theory. equations of motion of the plate are obtained with the help of calculus of variation. parametric study ...

the national bridge stock of iran consists of about 330,000 bridges, of which around 50% are older than 30 years. since 2010, iran road maintenance & transportation organization has started implementing a comprehensive bridge management system in order to manage this aged stock efficiently. to predict future conditions of bridge stock, a heuristic numerical method is presented. this methodology...