On the spatial structure of currents across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

The Chesapeake and Delaware (C&;D) Canal is a man-made waterway connecting two of the largest estuaries on the east coast of the United States: Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. A set of current meter data collected during April–May 1975 along two cross-sections of the C&;D Canal was used to examine the spatial distributions of the currents at tidal and subtidal time scales. The different responses of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays to tidal and wind forcing produce significant differences in sea level fluctuations between the two ends of the canal. These alongcanal surface slopes produce significant barotropic current fluctuations at both tidal (semidiurnal and diurnal) and subtidal (2-d to 3-d) time scales. Under the influence of bottom friction, the barotropic currents near the surface are stronger than those at depth, but these currents do not exhibit significant lateral variations across the canal. On the other hand, the long-term flow in the canal exhibits strong lateral variability with eastward flow off the south shore of the canal and westward flow off the north shore of the canal. The lateral structure of the long-term flow may carry significant implications for the long-term exchange of material between the two bays.     

Geographies of Displacement: The Karenni and The Shan Across The Myanmar-Thailand Border

First, central to our analysis is the argument that human movement within and across borders fundamentally challenges the view of geopolitics based upon fixed territorial states, inter-state relations, national identities and citizenship; indeed the whole idea of "national geographic". Using the examples of the Karen and Shan peoples, we explore the processes and patterns of forced relocation, displacement and migration in the border regions of Myanmar and Thailand. Our main concern is with forced displacement as a result of political and ethnic conflict; specifically, how the Burmese military regime's desire for "national unity" within Myanmar's "national space" has influenced the militarily inspired displacements of hundreds of thousands of villagers and civilians within the border zones inhabited mostly by so-called "national minorities". We examine the particular problems of the so-called "internally displaced persons" within "national" boundaries compared with the "refugees" and "undocumented migrants" who make it across "international" space into Thailand. We illustrate the ways displaced people are represented by state agencies and the media as "threats" and "transgressors". We consider some of the "long term" aspects of the displacement problem along the Myanmar-Thai border and the vital contribution geographers can make to the study of displacement.     

Predictive instantaneous optimal control of elastic structures during earthquakes

A predictive instantaneous optimal control (PIOC) algorithm is proposed for controlling the seismic responses of elastic structures. This algorithm compensates for the time delay that happens in practical control applications by predicting the structural response over a period that equals the time delay, and by substituting the predicted response in the instantaneous optimal control (IOC) algorithm. The unique feature of this proposed PIOC algorithm is that it is simple and at the same time compensates for the time delay very effectively. Numerical examples of single degree of freedom structures are presented to compare the performance of PIOC and IOC systems for various time delay magnitudes. Results show that a time delay always causes degradation of control efficiency, but PIOC can greatly reduce this degradation compared to IOC. The effects of the structure's natural periods and the choice of control gains on the degradation induced by the time delay are also analyzed. Results show that shorter natural periods and larger control gains are both more sensitive and more serious to the degradation of control efficiency. Finally, a practical application of PIOC is performed on a six‐story moment‐resisting steel frame. It is demonstrated that PIOC contributes significantly to maintain stability in multiple degree of freedom structures, and at the same time PIOC has a satisfactory control performance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictive instantaneous optimal control of inelastic structures during earthquakes

A new inelastic structural control algorithm is proposed by incorporating the force analogy method (FAM) with the predictive instantaneous optimal control (PIOC) algorithm. While PIOC is very effective in compensating for the time delay for elastic structures, the FAM is highly efficient in performing the inelastic analysis. Unlike conventional inelastic analysis methods of changing stiffness, the FAM analyzes structures by varying the structural displacement field, and therefore the state transition matrix needs to be computed only once. This greatly simplifies the computation and makes inelastic analysis readily applicable to the PIOC algorithm. The proposed algorithm compensates for the time delay that happens in practical control systems by predicting the inelastic structural response over a period that equals the magnitude of the time delay. A one‐story frame with both strain‐hardening and strain‐softening inelastic characteristics is analyzed using this algorithm. Results show that the proposed control algorithm is feasibile for any inelastic structures. While the control efficiency deteriorates with the increase in magnitude of the time delay, the PIOC maintains acceptable performance within a wide range of time delay magnitudes. Finally, a computer model of a six‐story moment‐resisting steel frame is analyzed to show that PIOC has good control results for real inelastic structures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Failure Mode and Spatial Distribution of Damage in Rothbach Sandstone in the Brittle-ductile Transition

— To elucidate the spatial complexity of damage and evolution of localized failure in the transitional regime from brittle faulting to cataclastic ductile flow in a porous sandstone, we performed a series of triaxial compression experiments on Rothbach sandstone (20% porosity). Quantitative microstructural analysis and X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging were conducted on deformed samples. Localized failure was observed in samples at effective pressures ranging from 5 MPa to 130 MPa. In the brittle faulting regime, dilating shear bands were observed. The CT images and stereological measurements reveal the geometric complexity and spatial heterogeneity of damage in the failed samples. In the transitional regime (at effective pressures between 45 MPa and 130 MPa), compacting shear bands at high angles and compaction bands perpendicular to the maximum compression direction were observed. The laboratory results suggest that these complex localized features can be pervasive in sandstone formations, not just limited to the very porous aeolian sandstone in which they were first documented. The microstructural observations are in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions of bifurcation analyses, except for the occurrence of compaction bands in the sample deformed at effective pressure of 130 MPa. The bifurcation analysis with the constitutive model used in this paper is nonadequate to predict compaction band formation, may be due to the neglect of bedding anisotropy of the rock and multiple yield mechanisms in the constitutive model.     

The inversion of anelastic coefficient,source parameters and site respond using genetic algorithm

It gradually becomes a common work using large seismic wave data to obtain source parameters, such as seismic moment, break radius, stress drop, with completingof digital seismic network in China (Hough, et al, 1999; Bindi, et al, 2001). These parameters are useful on earthquake prediction and seismic hazard analysis.Although the computation methods of source parameters are simple in principle and the many research works have been done, it is not easy to obtain the parameters accurately. There are two factors affecting the stability of computation results. The first one is the effect of spread path and site respond on signal. According to the research results, there are different geometrical spreading coefficients on different epicenter distance. The better method is to introduce trilinear geometrical spreading model (Atkinson, Mereu, 1992; Atkinson, Boore, 1995; WONG, et al, 2002). In addition, traditional site respond is estimated by comparing with rock station, such as linear inversion method (Andrews, 1982), but the comparative estimation will introduce some errors when selecting different stations. Some recent research results show that site respond is not flat for rock station (Moya, et al, 2000; ZHANG,. et al, 2001; JIN, et al, 2000; Dutta, et al, 2001). The second factor is to obtain low-frequency level and corner frequency fromdisplacement spectrum. Because the source spectrum model is nonlinear function,these values are obtained by eye. The subjectivity is strong. The small change of corner frequency will affect significantly the result of stress drop.     

地下管线源数据处理方法的研究

为了保障顺利建设上海市地下管线数据库．需要对现存的地下管线的源数据进行一些技术处理，以满足数据入库的要求。本文主要个绍：笔者在从事地下管线源数据处理工作中，碰到的现存的上海市地下管线源数据对于建设上海市地下管线数据库所存在的一些问题：以及笔者利用Autodesk公司的AutoCAD二次开发工具开发的应用程序来处理这些问题的方法。     

斜底面上的表面波理论

考察了任意倾斜底面上的Kelvin波问题，并用线性化的控制方程分别研究了相应于垂直刚壁的和无限倾斜底面上的表面波频散关系。文中还对任意斜坡上的浅水表面波做了尺度分析，并把决定其频散关系的特征值问题简化为该斜坡上气压扰动的常微分方程，且用数值方法进行了求解。     

Beyond the impasse: the power of political ecology in Third World environmental research

Summary In the context of a deepening impasse in Third World environmental research, this paper suggests that researchers should adopt a political ecology perspective to ensure that research addresses the political and economic issues that underlie the Third World's environmental problems. Since an understanding of unequal power relations is central to political ecology, the paper considers how questions of power influence human-environmental interaction, before assessing briefly how research of this kind might contribute to a resolution of the Third World's environmental problems.