Experimental Researches on Hydro-Mechanical Properties of Altered Rock Under Confining Pressures

Altered rock, as the abutment materials of Xiaowan Hydropower Station in China, is a kind of geological defective rock mass. It is loosely structured and its strength is low, with some development of pores and cavities. Research on the hydro-mechanical coupling of the altered rock are of important significance to hydropower projects. In this study, the advanced fully automatic triaxial fluid flow-rheological test servo system is employed to study the hydro-mechanical coupling characteristics of the altered rock, and the water pressures and confining pressures in the laboratory tests are set to simulate the conditions of excavation and impoundment of Xiaowan Hydropower Station. Based on the test results, the stress–strain laws of the rock specimens under the effect of complete hydro-mechanical coupling, as well as the lateral strain and volumetric strain characteristics, are studied. The fluid flow laws of the rock specimens and the effects of the confining pressures on the fluid flow are analyzed. The fluid flow failure characteristic under the effect of the complete hydro-mechanical coupling is discussed. The research achievements show that with the change of the stress states, the permeability of the rock also changes, and the permeability evolution shows the phase characteristic during the process of stress and strain. The impacts of the confining pressures on the strength and deformation and permeability of the altered rock are obvious. The failure behaviours of the rock specimens under the effect of coupling relates to the confining pressures, including two kinds of splitting failure and shear failure. The fluid flow failure characteristic of the rock specimens depend upon the initiation, growth and coalesce of micro-cracks, heterogeneity, confining pressures and properties of the rock.     

Late Devensian environments in the Vale of Mowbray, North Yorkshire, UK: evidence from palynology

Two radiocarbon-dated Lateglacial pollen diagrams from the Vale of Mowbray (northern Vale of York) are presented from sites in the lowlands between the washlands courses of the rivers Swale and Ure in North Yorkshire, an area with little previous palynological research despite its proximity to the Devensian glacial advance limits in eastern England. The profiles, from Snape Mires and Nosterfield, include the Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas) and the Holocene transition, while that from Snape Mires also includes the period from the early part of the Lateglacial Interstadial. This profile differs from most published Interstadial diagrams from the Yorkshire region in having a long-delayed expansion of tree and shrub taxa. Juniperus (juniper) remains important after vegetation development takes place and the pollen record includes evidence of two cold climate oscillations before the maximum development of Betula (birch) woodland near the end of the Lateglacial Interstadial. At both profiles Artemisia (mugwort) frequencies are lower during the Loch Lomond Stadial than at many regional sites, probably due to edaphic factors in these lowland locations. The two sites provide valuable environmental data that enable comparison between the more wooded Lateglacial vegetation to the south in the Vale of York and Humberside and the more open contemporaneous vegetation to the north in the Durham and Northumberland lowlands.     

Report of the International Astronomical Union Division I Working Group on Precession and the Ecliptic

The IAU Working Group on Precession and the Equinox looked at several solutions for replacing the precession part of the IAU 2000A precession–nutation model, which is not consistent with dynamical theory. These comparisons show that the (Capitaine et al., Astron. Astrophys., 412, 2003a) precession theory, P03, is both consistent with dynamical theory and the solution most compatible with the IAU 2000A nutation model. Thus, the working group recommends the adoption of the P03 precession theory for use with the IAU 2000A nutation. The two greatest sources of uncertainty in the precession theory are the rate of change of the Earth’s dynamical flattening, ΔJ₂, and the precession rates (i.e. the constants of integration used in deriving the precession). The combined uncertainties limit the accuracy in the precession theory to approximately 2 mas cent⁻². Given that there are difficulties with the traditional angles used to parameterize the precession, z_A, ζ_A, and θ_A, the working group has decided that the choice of parameters should be left to the user. We provide a consistent set of parameters that may be used with either the traditional rotation matrix, or those rotation matrices described in (Capitaine et al., Astron. Astrophys., 412, 2003a) and (Fukushima Astron. J., 126, 2003). We recommend that the ecliptic pole be explicitly defined by the mean orbital angular momentum vector of the Earth–Moon barycenter in the Barycentric Celestial Reference System (BCRS), and explicitly state that this definition is being used to avoid confusion with previous definitions of the ecliptic. Finally, we recommend that the terms precession of the equator and precession of the ecliptic replace the terms lunisolar precession and planetary precession, respectively.     

Dynamical studies of cluster pairs in the Magellanic Clouds

We performed N -body simulations of star cluster encounters with Hernquist's TREECODE in a CRAY YMP-2E computer under different initial conditions (relative positions and velocities, cluster sizes, masses and concentration degrees). The total number of particles per simulation ranged from 1024 to 20480. These models are compared with a series of isodensity maps of cluster pairs in the Magellanic Clouds. Evidence is found that during the interactions, transient morphological effects such as an expanded halo, isophotal deformation and isophotal twisting can occur as a result of tidal effects and dynamical friction. The simulations also show that different outcomes are possible depending on the initial parameters: (i) long-standing changes of concentration degree can occur after the collision; (ii) one member can disaggregate; or (iii) the pair can coalesce into a single cluster with a distinct structure compared with the original ones. These simulations can reproduce a wide range of morphological structures in observed cluster pairs.     

Ultra-Deep Optical Spectroscopy with PMAS. Using the Nod-and-Shuffle Technique

PMAS, the Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer, is a new integral field spectrograph in the optical, which is optimized for good transmission and high image quality from 350 nm to 1 μm. We present our plan to implement a CCD charge-shuffle mode to allow for beam switching with a very high degree of sky subtraction accuracy for faint object 3-D spectroscopy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the surface distribution of chemical anomalies of Ap stars in spectroscopic binary systems

By estimating the orbital inclinations of non-eclipsing Ap spectroscopic binaries with periods less than 13 days, we can obtain a marked statistical result on the frequency distribution of the inclinations which strongly suggests that the abundance anomalies of Ap components tend to concentrate towards the stellar polar region. This would provide a critical test for models of Ap stars.     

Statistics-based outlier detection for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor network (WSN) applications require efficient, accurate and timely data analysis in order to facilitate (near) real-time critical decision-making and situation awareness. Accurate analysis and decision-making relies on the quality of WSN data as well as on the additional information and context. Raw observations collected from sensor nodes, however, may have low data quality and reliability due to limited WSN resources and harsh deployment environments. This article addresses the quality of WSN data focusing on outlier detection. These are defined as observations that do not conform to the expected behaviour of the data. The developed methodology is based on time-series analysis and geostatistics. Experiments with a real data set from the Swiss Alps showed that the developed methodology accurately detected outliers in WSN data taking advantage of their spatial and temporal correlations. It is concluded that the incorporation of tools for outlier detection in WSNs can be based on current statistical methodology. This provides a usable and important tool in a novel scientific field.