Vibration analysis of damaged and undamaged steel structure systems: cantilever column and frame

This paper presents the experimental and numerical studies conducted on a steel column and a steel frame structure using free vibration analysis. The effects of damages on structures were investigated, which were simulated by introducing multiple cracks at different locations in the experimental and numerical models. The acceleration responses of the test models, were recorded through an accelerometer, and were used to calibrate the numerical models developed in finite element based software. Modal frequencies of damaged and undamaged structures were compared and analyzed, to derive relationships for damaged and undamaged structures' frequencies in terms of crack depth. It was found that, due to the presence of cracks, the mechanical properties of a structure changes, whereby, the modal frequencies decrease. An approximately linear trend was observed for the frequency decrease with the increase in crack depth, which was also confirmed by the numerical models. The derived relationships were extended to further develop a mechanics-based damage scale for steel structures, to help facilitate structural health monitoring and screening of vulnerable structures.     

Thermal structure of hot events and their possible role in maintaining the warm isothermal layer in the Western Pacific warm pool

Ocean Dynamics - The short-lived events of high SST are called hot events (HEs) and can only be generated under the conditions of large daily heat gain due to strong solar radiation and weak wind....     

Green and Eco‐Friendly Removal of Mycotoxins with Organo‐Bentonites; Isothermal,Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Studies

In the current study the application of organo‐modified bentonite for the adsorption of mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, citrinin, patulin, and zearalenone) is presented. The modification of clays is carried out using benzyl‐tri‐n‐butyl ammonium bromide (BTB), benzethonium chloride (BTC), and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS). Various experimental parameters such as pH, time, adsorbent dose, and mycotoxins concentration are thoroughly studied. The modified clays (B‐BTB, B‐BTC and B‐DSS) are characterized by X‐ray fluorescence, X‐ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results depicted the high detoxification efficiency (≈99%) of modified clays for the removal of mycotoxins under optimized conditions (pH 5, time: 30 min, adsorbent amount: 50 mg). The adsorption capacities of modified clays are found in the order of: B‐BTC (AFB1: 18.02, CIT: 18.35, PAT: 18.21, ZEA: 18.09 mg g^?1) > B‐BTB (AFB1: 17.7, CIT: 18.11, PAT: 17.95, ZEA: 17.90 mg g^?1) > B‐DSS (AFB1: 17.5, CIT: 18.02, PAT: 17.86, ZEA: 17.80 mg g^?1). The obtained results fitted well with thermodynamic, isothermal (Langmuir) and pseudo‐second order kinetics. Low cost organo‐modified bentonite shows the promise in mitigating mycotoxin contamination, which could improve food safety and reduce environmental contamination.     

高密度电法电性结构揭示天山天池堆积坝体厚度及其阻渗稳水功能分析

天山天池北堆积坝体结构受其成因和演化控制,影响其含水和渗流特性。对该坝体稳定至关重要的下伏基岩埋深、坝体结构阻渗水结构特征等需现场探测并给出科学判断。在地质调查基础上采用高密度电法对天池堆积坝体结构进行探测,首次获得深达下伏基岩的堆积坝体纵向和横向电性剖面。结合光释光测年、水化学成分对比、水量平衡计算等手段,分析坝体堆积物形成时代以及坝体水文地质结构特征。结果显示：天池坝堆积体厚度大于100 m并可分为3层,上部浅表层滑坡形成的巨大块石层厚30～40 m且基本不含水,其下松散含水层厚度为30～50 m;下部为较低电阻率弱透水的冰碛物,主要分布在坝体下游和东端;底部为高电阻率不透水的石炭系火山岩。坝体中间部位地下水集中下渗补给了西小天池。同时靠坝体东侧发育排泄通道,呈现多处溢水点,控制了飞龙涧左岸下降泉季节性发育,同河谷冲刷作用一起影响并导致下游左岸冰碛物中发育4处滑坡体。电法剖面揭示出与坝体轴向近平行的2条隐伏断层,其中堆积坝高堤处气象台所在山丘上游一侧发育一条近东西走向并倾向上游的断层F1,构成地下水阻隔带而使天池堆积坝上游潜水水位呈现一定雍高,同坝体下伏基岩和弱透水冰碛物联合组成的...     

Assessment of causes and future deforestation in the mountainous tropical forest of Timor Island,Indonesia

The Mutis-Timau Forest Complex,one of the remaining mountainous tropical forest areas in Timor Island,eastern Indonesia that covers an area of 31,984 ha,tends to decrease gradually.Efforts to secure mountain forest functions and counteract the negative impact of declining forest areas are often constrained by data uncertainty on factors contributing to deforestation.For this reason,this study attempts to develop models of deforestation and predict future deforestation in the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex.We constructed models of deforestation that describe the relationship between deforestation and factors contributing to deforestation using spatial statistical models.In this model,we used the deforestation data for the 1987-2017 period obtained from a previous study as dependent variables and the potential causes of deforestation generated from Geographic Information System spatial analysis as independent variables.Using the probability of deforestation derived from the model,we predicted future deforestation under two different scenarios,namely,business-as-usual(as the reference scenario)and reducing emission fromdeforestation and forest degradation.Our findings showed that a positive relationship exists between probability of deforestation,distance to the settlement,and population density variables,whereas a negative relationship exists between likelihood of deforestation,elevation,slope,distance to the road,distance to the savanna,and forest management unit variables.During the 2017-2030 period,under the business-as-usual scenario,the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex will lose 1327.65 ha in forest area with an annual deforestation rate of 0.54%.Meanwhile,under the reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation scenario,the overall forest loss was estimated to be 1237.11 ha with an annual deforestation rate of 0.50%.The predicted area of avoided deforestation in 2017-2030 under the reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation scenario was 90.54 ha.Such data and information are important for the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex authority in prioritizing actions for combating deforestation and designing appropriate forest-related policies and supporting data for reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation programme or other incentive schemes in reducing deforestation.     

Evaluation of SWAT Model performance on glaciated and non-glaciated subbasins of Nam Co Lake,Southern Tibetan Plateau,China

This paper presents an assessment of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT) on a glaciated(Qugaqie) and a non-glaciated(Niyaqu) subbasin of the Nam Co Lake. The Nam Co Lake is located in the southern Tibetan Plateau, two subbasins having catchment areas of 59 km~2 and 388 km~2, respectively. The scores of examined evaluation indices(i.e., R~2, NSE, and PBIAS) established that the performance of the SWAT model was better on the monthly scale compared to the daily scale. The respective monthly values of R~2, NSE, and PBIAS were 0.94, 0.97, and 0.50 for the calibration period while 0.92, 0.88, and -8.80 for the validation period. Glacier melt contribution in the study domain was simulated by using the SWAT model in conjunction with the Degree Day Melt(DDM) approach. The conjunction of DDM with the SWAT Model ensued improved results during both calibration(R~2=0.96, NSE=0.95, and PBIAS=-13.49) and validation (R~2=0.97, NSE=0.96, and PBIAS=-2.87) periods on the monthly time scale. Average contribution(in percentage) of water balance components to the total streamflow of Niyaqu and Qugaqie subbasins was evaluated. We found that the major portion(99.45%) of the streamflow in the Niyaqu subbasin was generated by snowmelt or rainfall surface runoff(SURF_Q), followed by groundwater(GW_Q, 0.47%), and lateral(LAT_Q, 0.06%) flows. Conversely, in the Qugaqie subbasin, major contributor to the streamflow(79.63%) was glacier melt(GLC_Q), followed by SURF_Q(20.14%), GW_Q(0.13%), and LAT_Q(0.089%). The contribution of GLC_Q was the highest(86.79%) in July and lowest(69.95%) in September. This study concludes that the performance of the SWAT model in glaciated catchment is weak without considering glacier component in modeling; however, it performs reasonably well in non-glaciated catchment. Furthermore, the temperature index approach with elevation bands is viable in those catchments where streamflows are driven by snowmelt. Therefore, it is recommended to use the SWAT Model in conjunction with DDM or energy base model to simulate the glacier melt contribution to the total streamflow. This study might be helpful in quantification and better management of water resources in data scarce glaciated regions.     

Intraspecific morphometric diversity of barramundi (Lates calcariferBloch, 1790) in the waters of southern Bangladesh

A total of 160 barramundi's(Lates calcarifer Bloch,1790)sampled from four rivers(Tentulia,Balaswar,Bakkhali,and Andarmanik)along the southern coastal region of Bangladesh were investigated in terms of morphometric characters to reveal the intraspecific variation.Twenty-five morphometric measurements were extracted using the conventional method and subjected to multivariate analyses(i.e.,principal component analysis(PCA),discriminate function analysis(DFA),cluster analysis(CA))to distinguish individuals from different rivers.The result demonstrated that twenty-two out of 2 5 measurements was statistically significant(Univariate ANOVA)among all four populations.PCA analy sis of morphometric characters resulted in two principal components,PC I and PCII which accounted for 79.25%and 4.28%of the total data variance.PC I-PC Ⅱ plot explained 83.5 3%of total variance differentiated the population of L.calcarifer into two groups.Discriminate analysis correctly classified about 88.1%of the examined fish into the four areas.The UPGMA dendrogram showed that Bakkhali populations were the most morphologically different populations in comparison to other populations,while Andarmanik and Balaswar populations were very close to each other.The strong morphometric variation between Bakkhali and Tentulia,Andarmanik and Balaswar was observed in the present study,suggested the evidence of the separate stock population of barramundi in these locations,which might require distinct stock management strategies for resource sustainability in the waters of southern Bangladesh.However,if these findings are supported by further molecular markers and geometric morphometry,this would be a strong indication of different stocks of this population in the four rivers of southern Bangladesh.     

Evaluation of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) for Water Quality Monitoring: A Case Study for the Estimation of Salinity

Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) dataset have been used to estimate salinity in the coastal area of Hong Kong. Four adjacent Landsat TM images were used in this study, which was atmospherically corrected using the Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) radiative transfer code. The atmospherically corrected images were further used to develop models for salinity using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) based on in situ data of October 2009. Results show that the coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.42 between the OLS estimated and in situ measured salinity is much lower than that of the GWR model, which is two times higher (R² = 0.86). It indicates that the GWR model has more ability than the OLS regression model to predict salinity and show its spatial heterogeneity better. It was observed that the salinity was high in Deep Bay (north-western part of Hong Kong) which might be due to the industrial waste disposal, whereas the salinity was estimated to be constant (32 practical salinity units) towards the open sea.     

An international program on Silk Road Disaster Risk Reduction——a Belt and Road initiative (2016-2020)

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a Chinese national strategy which calls for cooperative economic, political and cultural exchange at the global level along the ancient Silk Road. The overwhelming natural hazards located along the belt and road bring great challenges to the success of BRI. In this framework, a 5-year international program was launched to address issues related to hazards assessment and disaster risk reduction (DRR). The first workshop of this program was held in Beijing with international experts from over 15 countries. Risk conditions on Belt and Road Countries (BRCs) have been shared and science and technology advancements on DRR have been disseminated during the workshop. Under this program, six task forces have been setup to carry out collaborative research works and three prioritized study areas have been established. This workshop announced the launching of this program which involved partners from different countries including Pakistan, Nepal, Russia, Italy, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan. The program adopted the objectives of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and United Nation Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and was implemented to assess disaster risk in BRCs and to propose suitable measures for disaster control which can be appropriate both for an individual country and for specific sites. This paper deals with the outcomes of the workshop and points out opportunities for the near future international cooperation on this matter.