Electrical anisotropy of α-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4

The transverse magnetoresistance of α-(BEDT-TTF)₂KHg(SCN)₄ was investigated with the magnetic field rotated within a conducting ac-plane. It was found that the magnetic-field-orientation dependence of the magnetoresistance in the weak-field limit, ΔR(B,θ), has the form ΔR(B,θ) = B²(psin²(θ − θ_min) + qcos²(θ − θ_min), where θ is the angle betweeen a-axis and magnetic field direction and (p, q, θ_min) are temperature-dependent parameters. By examining the results based on the classical theory of magnetoresistance, it was concluded that the electrical anisotropy within be-plane is 3.5 4.5 and 2.5 3.0 above and below the phase transition at 10 K, respectively.     

A drag-link drive of mechanical presses for precision drawing

The augmented Lagrange multiplier method has been used to synthesize the dimensions of a drag-link drive of mechanical presses for precision drawing. The objective functions include the maximum normal force on the guide, mean mechanical advantage, variance of the drawing velocity, etc. The constraints include the working velocity for drawing, variance of the working velocity for precision drawing, time ratio, etc. Based on the concept of kinematic coefficients, a method is proposed to provide suitable initial guesses of the optimization. The drag-link drive thus synthesized has performance superior to an existing press for precision drawing.     

Seasonal changes of arsenic speciation in lake waters in relation to eutrophication

In this study, the influence of eutrophication on arsenic speciation in lake waters was investigated. Surface water samples (n = 1-10) were collected from 18 lakes in Japan during July 2007 and February 2008. The lakes were classified into mesotrophic (7 lakes) and eutrophic (11 lakes) based on the total phosphate (T-P) and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations in water column. Inorganic, methylated and ultraviolet-labile fractions of arsenic species were determined by combining hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry with ultraviolet irradiation. Organoarsenicals (mainly methylated and ultraviolet-labile fractions) comprised 30-60% of the total arsenic in most lakes during summer. On the other hand, inorganic arsenic species (As(III + V)) dominates (about 60-85%) during winter. The occurrence of ultraviolet-labile fractions of arsenic was higher in eutrophic lakes than those in mesotrophic lakes in both seasons. The concentration of dimethyl arsenic (DMAA) was high in eutrophic lakes during winter; and in mesotrophic lakes during summer. The results suggest that the conversion of As(III + V) to more complicated organoarsenicals occurred frequently in eutrophic lakes compared to that in mesotrophic lakes, which is thought to be the influence of biological activity in the water column. The distribution of arsenic species were well correlated with phosphate concentrations than those of Chl-a. This might be due to the competitive uptake of As(V) and phosphate by phytoplankton. The organoarsenicals (OrgAs)/As(V) ratio was higher at low phosphate concentration indicating that conversion of As(V) to OrgAs species was more active in phosphate-exhausted lakes with high phytoplankton density.     

The role of umbrella arch and face bolt as deformation preventing support system in preventing building damages

Ground settlement is the most significant environmental impact of the tunnels excavated in intensively urbanized regions. A Considerable amount of ground settlement occurs by pre-convergence, formed during the time of support setting followed by the excavation, and movement of tunnel face into the tunnel. The risk of damage on the buildings by the ground settlement can be catastrophically high. Therefore, rock engineers bear an important duty to prevent the potential damage on buildings by controlling the ground settlement while excavating the tunnels. This has been accomplished by applying umbrella arch with face bolt technique recently in various important areas. In this method, the ground settlements can substantially be decreased by limiting the tunnel face movement into the tunnel, by creating a pseudo shell around the tunnel face with umbrella arch and then increasing the stability with face bolts. In this study, as part of the 2nd phase of Izmir metro construction in densely populated Poligon district of Izmir the effects of umbrella arch-face bolt applications on ground settlements have been determined using numerical modeling and in situ measurements. Results indicated that the umbrella arch and face bolt applications have significantly diminished the risk of settlement damage on buildings by reducing the ground settlements and convergence as 69% and 57%, respectively.     

Numerical simulations examining the relationship between wall-roughness and fluid flow in rock fractures

Understanding how fracture wall-roughness affects fluid flow is important when modeling many subsurface transport problems. Computed tomography scanning provides a unique view of rock fractures, allowing the measurement of fracture wall-roughness, without destroying the initial rock sample. For this computational fluid dynamics study, we used several different methods to obtain three-dimensional meshes of a computed tomography scanned fracture in Berea sandstone. These volumetric meshes had different wall-roughnesses, which we characterized using the Joint Roughness Coefficient and the fractal dimension of the fracture profiles. We then related these macroscopic roughness parameters to the effective flow through the fractures, as determined from Navier–Stokes numerical models. Thus, we used our fracture meshes to develop relationships between the observed roughness properties of the fracture geometries and flow parameters that are of importance for modeling flow through fractures in field scale models. Fractures with high Joint Roughness Coefficients and fractal dimensions were shown to exhibit tortuous flow paths, be poorly characterized by the mean geometric aperture, and have a fracture transmissivity 35 times smaller than the smoother modeled fracture flows.     

Flexible magnetoinductive ring MRI detector: Design for invariant nearest-neighbour coupling

A flexible birdcage-type resonant RF detector for magnetic resonance imaging is described. The circuit consists of a polygonal ring of magnetically coupled L–C resonators, a periodic structure supporting backward magnetoinductive waves. The elements are mechanically linked to allow relative rotation, and the pivot point is optimised to hold the nearest-neighbour coupling coefficient invariant to small changes in the angle of an undistorted joint. Simple theory based on a parallel wire approximation to rectangular inductors is developed to allow the variation of the coupling coefficient with angle and radius to be estimated, and hence determine the location of the pivot. The optimised pivot is shown to reduce resonance splitting in octagonal rings. However, second-neighbour interactions degrade performance. The theory is verified experimentally using printed circuit board elements coupled by flexible hinges, and the invariance of the nearest-neighbour coupling coefficient is confirmed. Octagonal ring resonators are constructed for operation at 63.8 MHz frequency and the mode spectra of regular and distorted rings are measured. Magnetic resonance imaging properties are investigated using ¹H MRI of simple objects in a 1.5 T field. Images are obtained from undistorted and distorted resonators and the effect of distortion on SNR is quantified.     

Physical and mechanical properties of Gokceada: Imbros (NE Aegean Sea) Island andesites

The physical and mechanical properties of the andesite forming much of the island of Gökçeada (Imbros), Turkey, were investigated using 54 mm samples cores from 12 blocks obtained from a quarry. The results were evaluated using regression analysis and good empirical relationships were obtained.     

The importance of the relationship between scale and process in understanding long-term DOC dynamics

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon have increased in many, but not all, surface waters across acid impacted areas of Europe and North America over the last two decades. Over the last eight years several hypotheses have been put forward to explain these increases, but none are yet accepted universally. Research in this area appears to have reached a stalemate between those favouring declining atmospheric deposition, climate change or land management as the key driver of long-term DOC trends. While it is clear that many of these factors influence DOC dynamics in soil and stream waters, their effect varies over different temporal and spatial scales. We argue that regional differences in acid deposition loading may account for the apparent discrepancies between studies. DOC has shown strong monotonic increases in areas which have experienced strong downward trends in pollutant sulphur and/or seasalt deposition. Elsewhere climatic factors, that strongly influence seasonality, have also dominated inter-annual variability, and here long-term monotonic DOC trends are often difficult to detect. Furthermore, in areas receiving similar acid loadings, different catchment characteristics could have affected the site specific sensitivity to changes in acidity and therefore the magnitude of DOC release in response to changes in sulphur deposition. We suggest that confusion over these temporal and spatial scales of investigation has contributed unnecessarily to the disagreement over the main regional driver(s) of DOC trends, and that the data behind the majority of these studies is more compatible than is often conveyed.     

Thermal sensation of Hong Kong people with increased air speed,temperature and humidity in air-conditioned environment

In the warm and humid climate zone, air-conditioning (AC) is usually provided at working places to enhance human thermal comfort and work productivity. From the building sustainability point of view, to achieve acceptable thermal sensation with the minimum use of energy can be desirable. A new AC design tactic is then to increase the air movement so that the summer temperature setting can be raised. A laboratory-based thermal comfort survey was conducted in Hong Kong with around 300 educated Chinese subjects. Their thermal sensation votes were gathered for a range of controlled thermal environment. The result analysis shows that, like in many other Asian cities, the thermal sensation of the Hong Kong people is sensitive to air temperature and speed, but not much to humidity. With bodily air speed at 0.1–0.2 m/s, clothing level 0.55 clo and metabolic rate 1 met, the neutral temperature was found around 25.4 °C for sedentary working environment. Then recommendations are given to the appropriate controlled AC environment in Hong Kong with higher airflow speeds.     

Correction to: Comparative analysis of limit equilibrium and numerical methods for prediction of a landslide

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Landslides that occur due to the rapid motion of a rock-mass are a primary risk in mountainous terrains and are a danger to human life and...