Viscous fluid universe filled with stiff fluid in general relativity

We have investigated two stiff-fluid models in which the material distribution is that of viscous fluid. In the first model, the coefficient of shear viscosity is assumed to be constant while in the second model the coefficient of shear viscosity is proportional to the rate of expansion in the model. The paper also discusses some physical and geometrical aspects of the model. The behaviour of the model in absence of viscosity is also discussed.     

Trace elemental and Nd-Sr-Pb isotopic compositional variation in 37 lava flows of the Mandla lobe and their chemical relation to the western Deccan stratigraphic succession,India

The Mandla lobe is a 900 m thick lava pile that forms a 29,400 km² northeastern extension of the Deccan Traps. Earlier, combined field, petrographic, and major element studies have shown that this lobe comprises 37 lava flows. Using a combination of trace elements (Ba, Ti, Zr, Rb, Sr) and Nb/Zr values, we group the flows into six chemical types (A–F) that are separated stratigraphically. Combined trace element and Nd-Pb-Sr isotopic data, document the presence of lavas resembling those of the Poladpur Formation and less abundantly, the Ambenali Formation of the southwestern Deccan are in conformity with the earlier reconnaissance work. In addition, our data reveal several flows similar to those of the Mahabaleshwar Formation, the type sections of which are located?~?900 km to the southwest. Based on the isotopic data the superposition of Mahabaleshwar-like flows over flows with Ambenali- and Poladpur-like characteristics is in the same stratigraphic order seen in the southwestern Deccan type section. However, from the stratigraphy indicated by the Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) results and the serious discrepancy between the DFA and isotopic data, it seems that few Mandla lobe flows are different and not in the same stratigraphic order as in the southwestern part of the province. To some extent the differences may be explained by faulting along four large post-Deccan normal faults near Nagapahar, Kundam, Deori, and Dindori areas across which offsets of ~150 m have been measured. This post-emplacement faulting accounts for the presence of several chemically Mahabaleshwar-like lavas at the base of the ~900 m thick Mandla lobe pile, at a lower elevation than a thick sequence dominated by chemically Poladpur-like flows. However, presence of common signature lavas (similar to that in the northeastern Deccan) cannot be ruled out in this area. They are similar to Poladpur-type lavas both chemically and isotopically. They appear in different formations and erupted at different times other than Poladpur Formation. Close similarities in petrogenetic processes between the two regions are indicated, although it is not clear whether any of the Mandla lobe lavas are far-traveled counterparts of flows cropping out in the southwestern Deccan, or whether some magma migrated laterally in dike systems over great distances. Feeder dykes have not been found in the study area except for Chakhla-Delakhari Intrusive Complex (CDIC) in Satpura region that shows major and trace elemental similarities with the Seoni lavas, although, long distance transport of magma is yet to be proved. The Poladpur-like Mandla lobe flows appear to be different flows from those of the Poldapur Formation in the southwest, as they are somewhat different in isotopic (higher ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb) composition. They also differ from any known flows in the other southwestern formations, but are broadly similar to flows found in sections across the northern Deccan west of the Mandla lobe.     

Strain estimation from single forms of distorted fossils — A computer graphics and MATLAB approach

Most of the existing methods of strain analysis can estimate strain in a single form of distorted brachiopod, or trilobite provided independent evidence, such as the association of the fossil with cleavage and/or stretching lineation is available for inferring the direction of maximum principal strain. This article proposes a simple computer graphics based method and its MATLAB code that determine the minimum amount of strain in a single distorted fossil form even if data for inferring the maximum principal strain direction are lacking. Our method is a rapid computer-graphics alternative to some of the existing analytical methods. In a distorted fossil form of original bilateral symmetry, the relative senses of angular shears along the hinge line and the median line are mutually opposite to each other. It follows, therefore, that the maximum principal strain direction lies within the acute angle between the hinge and the median lines in the plane of the fossil. Using this principle, our method performs several simulations such that each simulation retrodeforms the distorted fossil by assuming a particular orientation, lying within the acute angle between the hinge line and the median line, as the potential direction of the maximum principal strain. Each simulation of retrodeformation yields a potential strain ratio. The distribution of all the potential strain ratios, obtained by assuming different orientations as the potential directions of the maximum strain, is typically a parabola-like curve with a distinct vertex that corresponds to the minimum amount of strain in the distorted fossil. An entirely computer graphical approach is somewhat time-intensive because it involves a large number of retrodeformational simulations. We, therefore, give a MATLAB code, namely, the Minstrain, that rapidly retrodeforms the fossil and determines the minimum strain with precision.     

Dry season precipitation over the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor is more sensitive to deforestation than to greenhouse gas driven climate change

To prevent the loss of biodiversity in northern Central America, which is one of 34 global biodiversity hotspots, the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, a network of protected parks and reserves has been proposed. While on-going deforestation to croplands and pastures outside the protected regions is likely to effect the dry season precipitation over the regenerated and extant forests in the proposed protected regions, global climate change driven precipitation changes may also be a significant factor, at least at some locations. This study compares the effects of land cover change to the effects of elevated greenhouse gas concentrations on precipitation in the proposed areas of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor network. Using 5 consecutive dry season simulations of the effects of land cover change that included dry, wet and normal years, and using statistically downscaled global climate model (GCM) precipitation from the fourth assessment report (AR4), a larger expanse of the proposed protected regions was found more sensitive to precipitation decreases due to land cover changes. Two specific protected regions however stand out: the Maya Highlands and some areas of the Maya lowlands that were more sensitive to global climate change driven precipitation decreases. In these protected regions it is likely that irrespective of local policies the climate change signal would dominate.     

Appropriate viscous damping for nonlinear time‐history analysis of base‐isolated reinforced concrete buildings

There is no consensus at the present time regarding an appropriate approach to model viscous damping in nonlinear time‐history analysis of base‐isolated buildings because of uncertainties associated with quantification of energy dissipation. Therefore, in this study, the effects of modeling viscous damping on the response of base‐isolated reinforced concrete buildings subjected to earthquake ground motions are investigated. The test results of a reduced‐scale three‐story building previously tested on a shaking table are compared with three‐dimensional finite element simulation results. The study is primarily focused on nonlinear direct‐integration time‐history analysis, where many different approaches of modeling viscous damping, developed within the framework of Rayleigh damping are considered. Nonlinear direct‐integration time‐history analysis results reveal that the damping ratio as well as the approach used to model damping has significant effects on the response, and quite importantly, a damping ratio of 1% is more appropriate in simulating the response than a damping ratio of 5%. It is shown that stiffness‐proportional damping, where the coefficient multiplying the stiffness matrix is calculated from the frequency of the base‐isolated building with the post‐elastic stiffness of the isolation system, provides reasonable estimates of the peak response indicators, in addition to being able to capture the frequency content of the response very well. Furthermore, nonlinear modal time‐history analyses using constant as well as frequency‐dependent modal damping are also performed for comparison purposes. It was found that for nonlinear modal time‐history analysis, frequency‐dependent damping, where zero damping is assigned to the frequencies below the fundamental frequency of the superstructure for a fixed‐base condition and 5% damping is assigned to all other frequencies, is more appropriate, than 5% constant damping. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing anthropogenic pressure and its impact on Hippophae salicifolia pockets in Central Himalaya, Uttarakhand

Natural habitat of Hippophae salicifolia in Central Himalaya is continuously being degraded due to habitat destruction and harvesting.Although logging is prohibited,habitat destruction has increased because of regular road construction,repairing and broadening activities.In addition,Hippophae resources are continuously being harvested by lopping(both partial and complete) for fuelwood,fodder and fruits in higher Himalayan region.This paper presents a detailed analysis of relationship between density,demographic structure,and harvesting of H.salicifolia growing pockets in the five major valleys(Gangotri,Yamunotri,Niti,Mana and Bhyundhar) of Uttarakhand in Central Himalaya,India.A total of 120 quadrats were laid randomly to study population structure,regeneration,sex ratio and lopping using quadrats of 100 m 2(24 in each valley) in Hippophae growing patches.Our study shows that the density,size distribution,and regeneration of Hippophae vary considerably among the major valleys.Trees in the Yamunotri valley have the highest density of large trees but the lowest density of seedlings.In contrast,there are few large trees but many seedlings in the Mana valley.The number and size of lopped trees also varied among the valleys.Lopping was greatest in Bhyundhar(11.4%) and Yamunotri(19.7%) and least in Niti(3.9%).The size of lopped trees differed substantially as well.In Bhyundhar,the largest trees were taken while saplings were taken in Yamunotri.Our study revealed that unsustainable harvesting from plants for fuel,fencing and fruits along with road broadening activities in Central Himalaya are the main cause of habitat destruction.Our research highlights the urgent need for in-situ and ex-situ conservation of Hippophae salicifolia so that it’s potential can be harnessed sustainably by rural hill societies for their socio-economic development.     

Structural performance of a base-isolated reinforced concrete building subjected to seismic pounding

The effects of seismic pounding on the structural performance of a base-isolated reinforced concrete (RC) building are investigated, with a view to evaluate the influence of adjacent structures and separation between structures on the pounding response. In particular, seismic pounding of a typical four-story base-isolated RC building with retaining walls at the base and with a four-story fixed-base RC building is studied. Three-dimensional finite element analyses are carried out considering material and geometric nonlinearities. The structural performance of the base-isolated building is evaluated considering various earthquake excitations. It is found that the performance of the base-isolated building is substantially influenced by the pounding. The investigated base-isolated building shows good resistance against shear failure and the predominant mode of failure due to pounding is flexural. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trends in reference evapotranspiration in the humid region of northeast India

In the present study, the trends in the reference evapotranspiration (ET_O) estimated through the Penman‐Monteith method were investigated over the humid region of northeast (NE) India by using the Mann‐Kendall (MK) test after removing the effect of significant lag‐1 serial correlation from the time series of ET_O by pre‐whitening. During the last 22 years, ET_O has been found to decrease significantly at annual and seasonal time scales for 6 sites in NE India and NE India as a whole. The seasonal decreases in ET_O have, however, been more significant in the pre‐monsoon season, indicating the presence of an element of a seasonal cycle. The decreases in ET_O are mainly attributed to the net radiation and wind speed, which are also corroborated by the observed trends in these two parameters at almost all the times scales over most of the sites in NE India. The steady decrease in wind speed and decline in net radiation not only balanced the impact of the temperature increases on ET_O, but may have actually caused the decreases in ET_O over the humid region of northeast India. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Future changes in rainfall,temperature and reference evapotranspiration in the central India by least square support vector machine

Climate change affects the environment and natural resources immensely. Rainfall, temperature and evapotranspiration are major parameters of climate affecting changes in the environment. Evapotranspiration plays a key role in crop production and water balance of a region, one of the major parameters affected by climate change. The reference evapotranspiration or ET₀ is a calculated parameter used in this research. In the present study, changes in the future rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature, and ET₀ have been shown by downscaling the HadCM3 (Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3) model data. The selected study area is located in a part of the Narmada river basin area in Madhya Pradesh in central India. The downscaled outputs of projected rainfall, ET₀ and temperatures have been shown for the 21st century with the HADCM3 data of A2 scenario by the Least Square Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) model. The efficiency of the LS-SVM model was measured by different statistical methods. The selected predictors show considerable correlation with the rainfall and temperature and the application of this model has been done in a basin area which is an agriculture based region and is sensitive to the change of rainfall and temperature. Results showed an increase in the future rainfall, temperatures and ET₀. The temperature increase is projected in the high rise of minimum temperature in winter time and the highest increase in maximum temperature is projected in the pre-monsoon season or from March to May. Highest increase is projected in the 2080s in 2081–2091 and 2091–2099 in maximum temperature and 2091–2099 in minimum temperature in all the stations. Winter maximum temperature has been observed to have increased in the future. High rainfall is also observed with higher ET₀ in some decades. Two peaks of the increase are observed in ET₀ in the April–May and in the October. Variation in these parameters due to climate change might have an impact on the future water resource of the study area, which is mainly an agricultural based region, and will help in proper planning and management.