I need help creating a thesis and an outline on Research Guide. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required.

I need help creating a thesis and an outline on Research Guide. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. Research Guide RESEARCH GUIDE Professional Journal in Civil Engineering The American Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering is an inter-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal that mainly focuses on applications, methods, and theories in structural and civil engineering. Some of the topics of interest that the journal covers include building and construction technology, application of structural health monitoring in civil engineering, and integrated numerical/experimental analysis of dynamic offshore structure behavior. The journal is published twice a month in English and has several benefits, such as providing scholars with an international forum to disseminate findings in civil engineering. It also aims to publish original and definitive research papers, in which the emphasis is placed on new engineering construction and design developments.

Relevant Internet Sites

The Institution of Civil Engineers’ website https://www.ice.org.uk/ provides student career advice, conference lists, and useful source references for civil engineering aspects. Another relevant website is http://www.icivilengineer.com/, which provides numerous links to hand-picked websites containing information on civil and structural engineering and technology. A third website is http://www.cif.org/, which is managed by the Construction Innovation Forum that seeks to recognize construction industry innovations that improve cost effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of structures and constructions. Finally, the American Society of Civil Engineers runs the http://www.asce.org/ website that has a membership of almost 150,000 in more than 140 countries. This website provides access to journals, magazines, papers, and books related to civil and structural engineering.

Article in Scholarly Journal

Lignos, D. G., Hikino, T., Matsuoka, Y., & Nakashima, M. (2012). Collapse assessment of steel moment frames based on E-Defense full-scale shake table collapse tests. Journal of Structural Engineering, 139(1), 120-132

Lignos et al (2012) set out to investigate the critical parameters that influence steel frame structure numerical modeling for reliable simulations of structure collapse. The authors base their collapse evaluations on experimental data from a four-story steel moment frame full-scale shaking table collapse test, as well as a parallel blind numerical analysis contest. They find that prediction of sideways collapse mechanism for regular plan view buildings using 3D and 2D analyses has no clear advantage. They specifically note that a combination of local buckling delays in first story columns and increased bending strength is effective in enhancing seismic performance against structural collapse (Lignos et al, 2012). This resource is particularly useful when considering construction of structures in areas prone to seismic disturbances.

Article in Major Newspaper

Kurtenbach, E. (2015, March 22). Japan Opts for Massive, Costly Sea Wall to Fend Off Tsunamis. Retrieved May 17, 2015, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/22/world/asia/ap-as-japan-great-sea-wall.html

This article follows up from the tsunami that ravaged the northeastern coast of Japan and the efforts being made to fend off similar disasters in the future. In this case, the focus is on building a chain of cement walls approximately 400 km long and almost five stories high in some places (Kurtenbach, 2015). This structural project is meant to improve on an earlier sea wall built previously at Iwanuma beach, which managed to slow the tsunami, although the wall of water was still able to sweep almost three miles inland. This wall is to be built along with a mixture of planted mixed forests on tall mounds of rubble and soil, creating a ‘green’ wall (Kurtenbach, 2015). This information is relevant in case a specific region is vulnerable to tsunamis, while the resource may be used in understanding the trade-offs between the need for structural barriers and environmental conservation.

Major Headline in NYT on the day I was born

The major headline in the NYT on May 1, 1990 was ‘Legal Ripples of Spill are said to Distort Big Picture of Damage’. This headline story focused on the effects on the Exxon Valdez oil spill, especially in Prince William Sound, as well as the actions of marine scientists in understanding how the spill was impacting the environment and ecosystem. This information was retrieved by logging into the PSU database and searching for the NYT database by title. Under the Title N was the New York Times Historical database available from 1851 and after clicking on it, the next step involved entering the date, month, and year of my birth.

References

Lignos, D. G., Hikino, T., Matsuoka, Y., & Nakashima, M. (2012). Collapse assessment of steel moment frames based on E-Defense full-scale shake table collapse tests.