Directional wave measurement at Haifa,Israel, and sediment transport along the Nile littoral cell

Results of three years of directional wave measurement at the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Haifa, Israel are presented. The wave-height and energy-flux distributions reveal a moderately high-energy coast with a bimodal annual cycle.The rate of wave-induced longshore sediment transport is estimated from the directional energy flux distributions. It describes an annual cycle with a maximum northward transport of 75 ± 14 × 10³ m³/month in midwinter and a southward transport of 26 ± 5 × 10³ m³/month in summer. The net annual transport is northward and computed at 110 ± 100 × 10³ m³/yr.We show that a wave-induced transport is sufficient in explaining the apparent transport of sediments in the Nile Littoral Cell, from the Nile Delta source to the Haifa Bay sink.     

Eta carinae nebulosities in 1963

The purpose of this note is to give further information regarding the positions of some condensations around Carinae in 1963, an epoch not yet considered in the literature. The new information is unable to confirm the deceleration hypothesis of theeir motion.     

Intermittent chaos in nonlinear wave–wave interactions in space plasmas

There is increasing observational evidence of nonlinear wave–wave interactions in space and astrophysical plasmas. We first review a number of theoretical models of nonlinear wave–wave interactions which our group has developed in the past years. We next describe a nonlinear three-mode truncated model of Alfvén waves, involving resonant interactions of one linearly unstable mode and two linearly damped modes. We construct a bifurcation diagram for this three-wave model and investigate the phenomenon of intermittent chaos. The theoretical results presented in this paper can improve our understanding of intermittent time series frequently observed in space and astrophysical plasmas.     

Effects of heavy metal (Pb) concentration on some growth parameters of plants grown in lead polluted soil under organic fertilizer amendment

This study investigated morphological variation and biomass accumulation that occurred in Sida acuta and Chromolaena odorata plants grown in lead polluted soil under organic fertilizer amendment. The study was carried out in the screen house at the Biological Gardens of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. The experiment was a factorial combination of one heavy metal (Pb) at five levels of concentration (0, 200, 400, 800 and 1,000 mg/kg) in a completely randomized design, and were replicated three times for each of the two plants and two levels (0 g/kg and 9.4 g/kg) of organic fertilizer (OBD-Plus). Each pot was filled with 5 kg of air-dried and sieved soil and placed on a plastic tray for the collection of excess water. Two weeks after planting, seedlings of uniform height were transplanted from the nursery to experimental pots at the rate of one seedling per pot and grown for 10 weeks. The growth parameters of the plants were biomonitored for 7 weeks. After 10 weeks of treatment, the plants were harvested and dried to calculate the biomass accumulation. The two plant species performed better under fertilizer application than without it. For each of the plant species the growth parameters decreased as the levels of Pb concentration increased. Furthermore, the plants' biomass decreased significantly (p<0.05) as the levels of Pb concentration increased. The organic fertilizer helped to improve the plants' performance in lead-polluted soil.     

Effect of Drain Pipes on Uplift Force and Exit Hydraulic Gradient and the Design of Gravity Dams Using the Finite Element Method

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The effects of diameter and location of drain pipes on the uplift force and exit hydraulic gradient for a gravity dam are investigated. A numerical model...     

Dielectric constants of BeO,MgO, and CaO using the two-terminal method

Using fused SiO₂, CaF₂, and SrF₂ samples with accurately known dielectric constants, we have evaluated the accuracy and precision of two-terminal dielectric constant measurements on small single crystals using empirically determined edge corrections. Values of κ′ at 1 MHz of 3.836±0.05 for silica, 6.814±0.07 for CaF₂ and 6.463±0.09 for SrF₂ indicate an accuracy and precision of 1.0–1.5% for samples having areas of 0.05–1.0 cm². Dielectric constants of BeO, MgO, and CaO measured by this technique are: BeO, κ′_a=6.87 and κ′_c=7.74; MgO, κ′= 9.90; and CaO, κ′=11.95 where κ′_a and κ′_c are the dielectric constants parallel to the a and c axes, respectively. Dielectric loss measurements on CaO in vacuum between 5–400 K at 10–10⁵ Hz indicate significant dispersion at temperatures higher than 300 K, but the effect of the losses on the dielectric constant is less than 1% at 1 MHz and 300 K.