A method for assessing kinematic bending moments at the pile head

The conventional design methods for seismically loaded piles still concentrate in providing adequate resistance from the pile to withstand only the inertial bending moments generated from the oscillation of the superstructure, thus neglecting the effect of kinematic interaction between pile and soil. By contrast there has been extensive research on kinematic effects induced by earthquakes and a number of simplified methods are available for a preliminary evaluation of kinematic bending moments at the interface between two soil layers. Less attention has been paid to the effects of kinematic interaction at the pile‐head. The paper summarizes recent research work on kinematic response analysis of fixed‐head piles aimed at the performance evaluation of a piled foundation. Results from an extensive parametric study, undertaken by means of three‐dimensional FE analyses, suggest a new criterion to predict kinematic bending effects at the pile head, where the combination of kinematic and inertial effect may be critical. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of the Interaction between Biological Cells of Different Shapes and Sizes and Electromagnetic Fields Produced by Natural Phenomena

We carry out a study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields produced innature and cells with no structure but with different shapes and sizes, considered asapproximations of those observed in the human body. Magnetic fields produced byvarious atmospheric and geomagnetic phenomena are compared with the fieldsgenerated by the cells themselves. Working with frequencies up to 10⁵ Hz, we found that in most cases lightning is the natural phenomena capable of producingfield intensities comparable to those generated by the cells. As a first approximationwe assume that a cell might be affected only if a field of intensity comparable to thecell's field is present. Oscillating fields of less intensity and their harmonics can involveresonant interactions with the cells, however this situation is not considered here. Under the approximation of our study we found that the size and the shape are parameters of paramount importance: lightning represents a natural hazard only for the largest cells, while the quadrangular cells are not affected by any of the natural phenomena considered here.     

Generalized thermostatistics and wavelet analysis of solar wind and proton density variability

In this paper, we analyze the probability density function (PDF) of solar wind velocity and proton density, based on generalized thermostatistics (GT) approach, comparing theoretical results with observational data. The time-series analyzed were obtained from the SOHO satellite mission where measurements were sampled every hour. We present in the investigations data for two years of different solar activity: (a) moderate activity (MA) period (1997) and (b) high activity (HA) period (2000). For the MA period, the results show good agreement between experimental data and GT model. For the HA period, the agreement between experimental and theoretical PDFs was fairly good, but some distortions were observed, probably due to intermittent characteristics of turbulent processes. As a complementary analysis, the global wavelet spectrum (GWS) was obtained, allowing the characterization of the predominant temporal variability scales for both periods and the stochastic aspects of the nonlinear solar wind variability are discussed.     

Geochemistry and geothermometry of volcanic rocks from Serra Branca, Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal

Volcanic rocks from Serra Branca, Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal, consist of calc-alkaline felsic and intermediate rocks. The latter are massive andesites, whereas the former include four dacitic to rhyolitic lithologies, distinguishable on spiderdiagrams and binary plots of immobile elements. Zircon thermometry indicates that two felsic suites may have formed from different magmas produced at distinct temperatures, with only limited fractionation within each suite. Alternatively, all the felsic rocks can be related through fractionation of a single magma if the lower zircon saturation temperature obtained for one suite merely results from Zr dilution, mostly reflecting silicification.

The relatively high magma temperatures at Serra Branca ease the classification of felsic rocks based on their HFSE contents and also indicate volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit favorability. This contrasts with other areas of the Belt that register lower magma temperatures and are subsequently barren. However, magma temperatures may have not been high enough to cause complete melting of refractory phases in which HFSE reside during crustal fusion of an amphibolite protolith, implying difficult discrimination of tectonic environments for the felsic rocks. The intermediate rocks were possibly formed by mixing between basaltic magmas and crustal material, compatible with volcanism in an attenuated continental lithosphere setting.     

Star formation and AGN

We analyse the data from narrow band H and [O III] CCD imaging of a sample of nearby spiral galaxies with active nuclei. The results show that the large scale star formation depends on the level of nuclear activity, with Seyfert 2 presenting the strongest disk and circum-nuclear star formation, while Seyfert 1 show very little. We present particular results for the galaxies NGC 3982, NGC 4579, NGC 5427 and NGC 7469.     

Energy release in solar flares

Team 2 of the Ottawa FLARES 22 Workshop dealt with observational and theoretical aspects of the characteristics and processes of energy release in flares. Main results summarized in this article stress the global character of the flaring phenomenon in active regions, the importance of discontinuities in magnetic connectivity, the role of field-aligned currents in free energy storage, and the fragmentation of energy release in time and space.Report of Team 2, Flares 22 Workshop, Ottawa, May 25–28, 1993.     

Management of Cultural Heritage Sites Using Remote Sensing Indices and Spatial Analysis Techniques

Sustainable management and exploitation policies as well as suitable conservation and mitigation strategies are mandatory to preserve cultural heritage and to reduce threats, weathering phenomena, and human actions that may produce significant deterioration and alteration of cultural heritage and “its environment”. In this context, remote sensing technologies can offer useful data to timely update information and documentation and set up reliable tools for systematic monitoring of cultural properties. In this study, multi-temporal and multi-sensor satellite data from Corona, Landsat, Spot, Quickbird, and Sentinel-2A have been exploited along with spatial analysis to investigate the area of the Theban temples at west Luxor (Egypt), severely threatened by uncontrolled urban sprawl. The results from our analyses showed that the urban expansion continuously occurred during the whole investigated period causing an increasing in urban areas around (1) 1.316 km² from 1967 to 1984, (2) 1.705 km² from 1984 to 2000, (3) 0.978 km² from 2000 to 2003, (4) 2.314 km² from 2003 to 2011, and (5) 1.377 km² from 2011 to 2017. The random urban expansion caused bad sewage networks and high groundwater depth which in turn affected the archaeological areas directly (as evident on a landscape view) and indirectly by causing changes (growing) in the level of ground water depth and increasing and accelerating weathering phenomena. The quantification and mapping of urban sprawl enabled us not only to quantify and spatially characterize urban sprawl but also to create a model to mitigate the impact and provide some operational recommendations to protect the archaeological site. Outcomes from our analysis pointed out that today the tremendous availability of advanced remote sensing data has opened new prospectives unthinkable several years ago.