Energy-based method for identifying vulnerable macro-elements in historic masonry churches

Seismic vulnerability of historic churches is a well known issue in earthquake engineering. The need of preserving these buildings encourages the development of reliable numerical methods to assess their seismic behavior. In this paper a new approach is presented, based on evaluating damage pattern obtained by non-linear dynamic analysis and the energy dissipated by each macro-element during earthquakes. A “hierarchy of dissipated energy” concept emerges to give a scale of vulnerability of the parts that compose a church. By modifying masonry mechanical parameters or geometric features, the crack pattern and amount of energy dissipation density of each element is varied and calibrated to achieve the desired hierarchy. The structural designer can therefore estimate the effectiveness of strengthening devices by checking reduction and possibly migration of dissipated energy density from weaker structural elements to more resistant ones, together with a preferable damage pattern. The proposed strategy is applied to a single nave church, hit by the Emilia Romagna earthquake (Italy, 2012), first defining a scale of vulnerability of the macro-elements and then proposing a rehabilitation strategy, which improves the seismic response in terms of damages and dissipated energy. The strong vulnerability of the main dome vault is shown, due to the combination of its high dissipated energy density with its intrinsic weakness. Strengthening techniques are aimed to reduce the amount of dissipated energy of vulnerable macro-elements and to attenuate out-of-plane mechanisms.     

Sr-isotope stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic of central Portugal (Lusitanian Basin) based on oyster shells

Strontium isotope stratigraphy was performed on oyster shells from the Late Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin (central Portugal). This represents the first approach to obtain numerical ages for these strata. The new chronostratigraphic data provide a more precise age determination of several units. After a basin-wide hiatus sedimentation in the Late Jurassic is proven in the Cabo Mondego and Cabaços formations to resume as early as the Middle Oxfordian. The Alcobaça formation can be placed in the latest Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian, while data from the upper part of the Abadia Formation indicate an Early to Late Kimmeridgian age. The Farta Pao formation ranges from the latest Kimmeridgian to the latest Tithonian. The largely synchronous Sobral, Arranhó I, and Arranhó II members are overlain by the late Early to Late Tithonian Freixial Member. The brief, local carbonate incursion of the Arranhó I member marks the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian boundary. Oysters are shown once more to be suitable for strontium isotope studies. Their calcitic shells are often unaffected by diagenesis. In particular for marginal marine Jurassic and Cretaceous strata, where belemnites are usually absent, oysters may serve as a valuable tool for isotope stratigraphy.     

A spatial genetic algorithm for automating land partitioning

Land fragmentation is a widespread situation which may often hinder agricultural development. Land consolidation is considered to be the most effective land management planning approach for controlling land fragmentation and hence improving agricultural efficiency. Land partitioning is a basic process of land consolidation that involves the subdivision of land into smaller sub-spaces subject to a number of constraints. This paper explains the development of a module called LandParcelS (Land Parcelling System) that is a part of an integrated planning and decision support system called LACONISS (LAndCONsolidation Integrated Support System) which has been developed to assist land consolidation planning in Cyprus. LandParcelS automates the land partitioning process by designing and optimising land parcels in terms of their shape, size and value. The methodology integrates geographical information systems and a genetic algorithm that has been applied to two land blocks that are part of a larger case study area in Cyprus. Partitioning is treated as either a single or multi-objective problem for various optimisation cases. The results suggest that a step forward has been made in solving this complex spatial problem, although further research is needed to improve the algorithm. This approach may have relevance to other spatial planning tasks that involve single or multi-objective optimisation problems, especially those dealing with space partitioning.     

Maximizing Net Extraction Using an Injection‐Extraction Well Pair in a Coastal Aquifer

In this study, we examine the maximum net extraction rate from the novel arrangement of an injection‐extraction well pair in a coastal aquifer, where fresh groundwater is reinjected through the injection well located between the interface toe and extraction well. Complex potential theory is employed to derive a new analytical solution for the maximum net extraction rate and corresponding stagnation‐point locations and recirculation ratio, assuming steady‐state, sharp‐interface conditions. The injection‐extraction well‐pair system outperforms a traditional single extraction well in terms of net extraction rate for a broad range of well placement and pumping rates, which is up to 50% higher for an aquifer with a thickness of 20 m, hydraulic conductivity of 10 m/d, and fresh water influx of 0.24 m²/d. Sensitivity analyses show that for a given fresh water discharge from an inland aquifer, a larger maximum net extraction is expected in cases with a smaller hydraulic conductivity or a smaller aquifer thickness, notwithstanding physical limits to drawdown at the pumping well that are not considered here. For an extraction well with a fixed location, the optimal net extraction rate linearly increases with the distance between the injection well and the sea, and the corresponding injection rate and recirculation ratio also increase. The analytical analysis in this study provides initial guidance for the design of well‐pair systems in coastal aquifers, and is therefore an extension beyond previous applications of analytical solutions of coastal pumping that apply only to extraction or injection wells.     

UML‐Based Approach to Developing a CityGML Application Domain Extension

Recently a national 3D standard was established in the Netherlands as a CityGML Application Domain Extension (called IMGeo). In line with the Dutch practice of modeling geo‐information, the ADE is developed using a model driven approach. The classes are designed in UML and automatically mapped to GML schema. The current OGC CityGML specification does not provide rules or guidance on correctly modeling an ADE in UML. This article fills this gap by studying how CityGML can be extended for specific applications starting from the UML diagrams. Six alternatives for modeling ADEs in UML are introduced and compared. The optimal alternative is selected and applied to obtain the national 3D standard. The approach was extensively discussed with international experts, who were members of both SIG3D and other working groups. As a consequence the approach was adopted by the SIG3D, the Special Interest Group 3D which, among other things, work on the 3D standard CityGML in cooperation with OGC. Therefore the approach contains many issues that can be generalized and reused by future domain extensions of CityGML. To further support this, the article formulates a model‐driven framework to model CityGML ADEs. Open issues are described in the conclusions.     

Bi-level optimization for risk-based regional hurricane evacuation planning

Almost all engineering evacuation models define the objective as minimizing the time required to clear the region or total travel time, thus making an implicit assumption that who will or should evacuate is known. Conservatively evacuating everyone who may be affected may be the best strategy for a given storm, but there is a growing recognition that in some places that strategy is no longer viable and in any case, may not be the best alternative by itself. Here, we introduce a new bi-level optimization that reframes the decision more broadly. The upper level develops an evacuation plan that describes, as a hurricane approaches, who should stay and who should leave and when, so as to minimize both risk and travel time. The lower level is a dynamic user equilibrium (DUE) traffic assignment model. The model includes four novel features: (1) it refocuses the decision on the objectives of minimizing both risk and travel time; (2) it allows direct comparison of more alternatives, including for the first time, sheltering-in-place; (3) it uses a hurricane-scenario-based analysis that explicitly represents the critically important uncertainty in hurricane track, intensity, and speed; and (4) it includes a new DUE algorithm that is efficient enough for full-scale hurricane evacuation applications. The model can be used both to provide an evacuation plan and to evaluate a plan’s performance in terms of risk and travel time, assuming the plan is implemented and a specified hurricane scenario then actually occurs. We demonstrate the model with a full-scale case study for Eastern North Carolina.     

The Significance of Intestinal Parasite Remains in Pollen Samples from Medieval Pits in the Piazza Garibaldi of Parma,Emilia Romagna,Northern Italy

This paper presents the study of parasite remains recovered in pollen samples collected from archaeological layers. Laboratory treatment enabled us to obtain very high concentrations of both pollen and parasite eggs from the same samples. The case study of the site of Piazza Garibaldi in Parma, a town in the Po plain, is reported. The site was a sacred area in Roman times and a market square in Medieval times (10th–11th century A.D.). Pollen, seeds, and fruits from the latter phase were collected from four Medieval pits and one cesspit. After a palynological treatment including sieving, floating, and light acetolysis, abundant quantities of parasite eggs were extracted. Human and animal parasite eggs belonging to Trichuris, Ascaris, Taenia/Echinococcus, Capillaria, Dicrocoelium, and Diphyllobothrium were found. The analyses of animal and plant remains identified in the same samples suggested that the pit infillings consisted of waste, human and animal excrements, deteriorated plant food, and refuse of grapes. Therefore, parasite remains help the interpretation of archaeobotanical data in identifying human behaviors and site functions.     

Climate change vulnerability of sustainable forest management in the Eastern Alps

Considering climatic uncertainties in management planning is a prerequisite for sustainable forest management (SFM). The aim of the study was to evaluate climate change vulnerability of the current SFM strategy for commercial forests managed by the Austrian Federal Forests. To that end vulnerability indicators were defined in a stakeholder process (selected indicators were productivity, timber and carbon stocks, biodiversity, disturbances, a tree species’ position in fundamental niche space, silvicultural flexibility and cost intensity) and their performance under climate change scenarios assessed with an ecosystem model. Multi criteria analysis techniques were employed in a partial aggregation of indicators to locate forest stands on a vulnerability surface. Results revealed high vulnerability particularly in the second half of the twenty-first century, where 39.6% of the 164.550 ha study area were assessed highly vulnerable to climate change, indicating a strong decline in the functions and services represented by the indicator system. Water-limited sites on calcareous bedrock were most negatively affected whereas assessment units at higher altitudes responded predominately positive to climate warming. The presented approach, transparently integrating multiple management objectives and allowing a quantitative comparison of vulnerabilities between sites and management strategies, contributes to the development of operational and efficient climate change adaptation measures in forest management.     

Magma at depth: a retrospective analysis of the 1975 unrest at Mount Baker,Washington, USA

Mount Baker volcano displayed a short interval of seismically-quiescent thermal unrest in 1975, with high emissions of magmatic gas that slowly waned during the following three decades. The area of snow-free ground in the active crater has not returned to pre-unrest levels, and fumarole gas geochemistry shows a decreasing magmatic signature over that same interval. A relative microgravity survey revealed a substantial gravity increase in the ~30 years since the unrest, while deformation measurements suggest slight deflation of the edifice between 1981–83 and 2006–07. The volcano remains seismically quiet with regard to impulsive volcano-tectonic events, but experiences shallow (<3 km) low-frequency events likely related to glacier activity, as well as deep (>10 km) long-period earthquakes. Reviewing the observations from the 1975 unrest in combination with geophysical and geochemical data collected in the decades that followed, we infer that elevated gas and thermal emissions at Mount Baker in 1975 resulted from magmatic activity beneath the volcano: either the emplacement of magma at mid-crustal levels, or opening of a conduit to a deep existing source of magmatic volatiles. Decadal-timescale, multi-parameter observations were essential to this assessment of magmatic activity.