Correlations between microbial indicators, pathogens, and environmental factors in a subtropical Estuary

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether indicator microbes and physical–chemical parameters were correlated with pathogens within a tidally influenced Estuary. Measurements included the analysis of physical–chemical parameters (pH, salinity, temperature, and turbidity), measurements of bacterial indicators (enterococci, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, and total coliform), viral indicators (somatic and MS2 coliphage), viral pathogens (enterovirus by culture), and protozoan pathogens (Cryptosporidium and Giardia). All pathogen results were negative with the exception of one sample which tested positive for culturable reovirus (8.5 MPN/100 L). Notable physical–chemical parameters for this sample included low salinity (<1 ppt) and high water temperature (31 °C). Indicator bacteria and indicator virus levels for this sample were within average values typically measured within the study site and were low in comparison with levels observed in other freshwater environments. Overall results suggest that high levels of bacterial and viral indicators were associated with low salinity sites.     

Effect of foundation flexibility on ductility reduction factors for R/C stack-like structures

The most important parameter used to determine force reduction factors in force-based design procedures adopted in the current seismic codes is the structural ductility. For a structure supported on a flexible foundation, the ductility factor could be affected by foundation compliances. The ductility factors given in the current codes are mostly assigned ignoring the effect of SSI and therefore the objective of this research is to assess the signifi cance of SSI phenomenon on ductility factors of stack-like structures. The deformed confi guration of stack-like structures is idealized as an assemblage of beam elements considering nonlinear moment-curvature relations, while a linear sway-rocking model was implemented to model the supporting soil. Using a set of artifi cial records, repeated linear and nonlinear analyses were performed by gradually increasing the intensity of acceleration to a level where the fi rst yielding of steel in linear and nonlinear analyses is observed and a level corresponding to the stack collapse in the nonlinear analysis. The difference between inelastic and elastic resistance in terms of displacement ductility factors has been quantifi ed. The results indicate that foundation flexibility can decrease the ductility of the system and neglecting this phenomenon may lead to erroneous conclusions in the prediction of the seismic performance of flexibly-supported R/C stack-like structures.     

Theory-guided machine learning to predict density evolution of sand dynamically compacted under Ko condition

Acta Geotechnica - This paper introduces a theory-guided machine learning (TGML) framework, which combines a theoretical model (TM) and a machine learning (ML) algorithm to predict compaction...     

Compounding effects of human activities and climatic changes on surface water availability in Iran

Climatic Change - By combining long-term ground-based data on water withdrawal with climate model projections, this study quantifies the compounding effects of human activities and climate change...     

A laboratory investigation of bed-load transport of gravel sediments under dam break flow

Dam break flows and resulting river bed erosion can have disastrous impacts on human safety,infrastructure,and environmental quality.However,there is a lack of research on the mobility of non-uniform sediment mixtures resulting from dam break flows and how these differ from uniform sized sediment.In this paper,laboratory flume experiments revealed that coarse and fine fractions in non-uniform sediment had a higher and a lower bed-load parameter,respectively,than uniform sediments of the same size.Thus,the finer fractions were more stable and the coarser fractions were more erodible in a nonuniform bed compared to a uniform-grained bed.These differences can be explained by the hiding and protrusion of these fractions,respectively.By investigating changes in mobility of the mixed-size fractions with reservoir water levels,the results revealed that at low water levels,when the coarser fractions were only just mobile,the bed-load parameter of the finer fractions was higher than the coarser fractions.The opposite was observed at a higher water level,when a significant proportion of the coarsest fractions was mobilized.The higher protrusion of these grains had an important effect on their mobility relative to the finer grains.The transported sediment on these mixed-sized beds was coarser than the initial bed sediment,and became coarser with an increase in reservoir water level.     

Elasticity of a beryllium silicate (phenacite: Be2SiO4)

The adiabatic single-crystal elastic moduli of a beryllium silicate (phenacite: Be₂SiO₄, trigonal, have been determined at atmospheric pressure and 22° C by Brillouin spectroscopy. The elastic stiffness moduli in gigapascals are: C ₁₁=341.9 C ₃₃=391.0 C ₄₄=91.4 C ₆₆= 96.9 C ₁₂=148.0 C ₁₃=136.0 C ₁₄= 0.1 C ₁₅= 3.5Overall, the elastic stiffness moduli for phenacite parallel and perpendicular to the c axis are comparable (i.e., it is almost cubic in its elastic signature). The elastic moduli can be rationalized in terms of division of the structure into two types of coordination polyhedra (1Si+2Be) with slightly different stiffnesses, which are linked to form a three dimensional framework. Values of the isothermal bulk modulus and the linear compressibilities, as determined from hydrostatic compression experiments of Hazen and Au (1986), are in good agreement with those obtained here. Combining the two studies indicates a low pressure derivative of the bulk modulus for phenacite.     

An Assessment of Changes in Winter Cold and Warm Spells over Canada

The recent Third Assessment Report (TAR) of the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) indicated that observed 20th century changes in severalclimatic extremes are qualitatively consistent with those expected due to increasedgreenhouse gases. However, a lack of adequate data and analyses make conclusiveevidence of changing extremes somewhat difficult, particularly, in a global sense.In Canada, extreme temperature events, especially those during winter, can havemany adverse environmental and economic impacts. In light of the aforementionedIPCC report, the main focus of this analysis is to examine observed trends andvariability in the frequency, duration, and intensity of winter (Jan–Feb–Mar) cold and warm spells over Canada during the second half of the 20th century.Cold spell trends display substantial spatial variability across the country. From1950–1998, western Canada has experienced decreases in the frequency, duration, and intensity of cold spells, while in the east, distinct increases in the frequency and duration have occurred. These increases are likely associated with morefrequent occurrences of the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)during the last several decades. With regard to winter warm spells, significantincreases in both the frequency and duration of these episodes were observedacross most of Canada. One exception was found in the extreme northeasternregions, where warm spells are becoming shorter and less frequent. The resultsof this study are discussed within the context of climate warming expectations.     

The role of visual saliency in the automation of seismic interpretation

In this paper, we propose a workflow based on SalSi for the detection and delineation of geological structures such as salt domes. SalSi is a seismic attribute designed based on the modelling of human visual system that detects the salient features and captures the spatial correlation within seismic volumes for delineating seismic structures. Using this attribute we cannot only highlight the neighbouring regions of salt domes to assist a seismic interpreter but also delineate such structures using a region growing method and post‐processing. The proposed delineation workflow detects the salt‐dome boundary with very good precision and accuracy. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed workflow on a real seismic dataset acquired from the North Sea, F3 block. For the subjective evaluation of the results of different salt‐dome delineation algorithms, we have used a reference salt‐dome boundary interpreted by a geophysicist. For the objective evaluation of results, we have used five different metrics based on pixels, shape, and curvedness to establish the effectiveness of the proposed workflow. The proposed workflow is not only fast but also yields better results as compared with other salt‐dome delineation algorithms and shows a promising potential in seismic interpretation.     

Application of artificial neural networks in optimal tuning of tuned mass dampers implemented in high-rise buildings subjected to wind load

High-rise buildings are usually considered as flexible structures with low inherent damping. Therefore, these kinds of buildings are susceptible to wind-induced vibration. Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) can be used as an effective device to mitigate excessive vibrations. In this study, Artificial Neural Networks is used to find optimal mechanical properties of TMD for high-rise buildings subjected to wind load. The patterns obtained from structural analysis of different multi degree of freedom (MDF) systems are used for training neural networks. In order to obtain these patterns, structural models of some systems with 10 to 80 degrees-of-freedoms are built in MATLAB/SIMULINK program. Finally, the optimal properties of TMD are determined based on the objective of maximum displacement response reduction. The Auto-Regressive model is used to simulate the wind load. In this way, the uncertainties related to wind loading can be taken into account in neural network’s outputs. After training the neural network, it becomes possible to set the frequency and TMD mass ratio as inputs and get the optimal TMD frequency and damping ratio as outputs. As a case study, a benchmark 76-story office building is considered and the presented procedure is used to obtain optimal characteristics of the TMD for the building.