302 research outputs found
Performance and Freeze-Thaw Durability of Precast Concrete Block Walls with Stepped Expansion Joints.
No full textIn-situ Characterization of New Zealand Bridges
No full textThis research investigated the in-situ behaviour of reinforced concrete bridges and components
that are typical to New Zealand bridge stock based on experimental and numerical modelling
approaches. The behaviour at the component level was characterized by performing field testing
on two separate reinforced concrete bridge pile foundations and developing numerical models
accounting for nonlinear soil response, soil gapping, and material nonlinearities. Piles with
smooth reinforcement tested under cyclic loading were able to maintain their strength through
large displacements and multiple cycles. Numerical models showed bond-slip implementation
improved the representation of the global cyclic response of the pile-soil system with smooth
reinforcement, but this difference was not as significant as that seen for other structural elements
with smooth reinforcement. Monotonic loading and dynamic snapback testing of piles with
deformed reinforcement demonstrated how loading history and magnitude influenced system
damping and the varying contributions of different energy dissipation mechanisms. Bridge pier
response was characterized by analysing the response of an in-service bridge pier during
multiple earthquakes and developing their numerical models. The fundamental period of the
bridge pier varied significantly during these earthquakes due to system softening. A sensitivity
analysis on the effect of input ground motions highlighted the importance of accounting for
ground motion spatial variability and the difficulties involved in post-earthquake back-analysis.
There was a significant system softening observed prior to the onset of any structural damage
across all these examples, with numerical models demonstrating the importance of including
soil and gapping. Sensitivity analyses showed the influence of concrete strength and the top soil
layers on the static response of pile-soil systems and the dynamic response of bridge pier. This
research improved the understanding of in-situ behavior of reinforced concrete bridges through
the field test and monitored data, and suggested modelling approaches that can effectively
capture the response of bridge pile foundations and piers similar to the ones studied under
different loading conditions
Digital Media and Knowledge Production Within Social Movements: Insights From the Transition Movement in Italy
No full textsponsorship: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article grounds in research activites carried out in the period 2016-2017 within the framework of the project "MAKERS- Movements as knowledge producers and learning spaces in the digital age" funded by the Scuola Normale Superiore. (Scuola Normale Superiore)status: Publishe
Esiste in Italia un diritto al figlio sano? (Riflessioni a margine della causa Costa et Pavan vs Italia)
No full textThe author, starting from the case Costa et Pavan vs Italy decided by the European Court of Human Rights, poses the question about the existence in Italy of the right to a healthy son. In the light of the data both legislative and jurisprudential, she concludes to deny the existence of such a right in italian law and casts doubt on the power of the Strasbourg Court to take basic policy decisions on "new rights", for which there are no specific constitutional requirements and there is a tragic conflict about them within society and societies
In Dowland’s Own Words: Poetry and Rhetoric in ‘Flow My Tears’ and ‘Lachrimae’ Pavan
No full textJohn Dowland (1563–1626) was among the finest lute players of his time and is widely recognized as the greatest English composer of lute music and lute song. Despite there being nearly 100 sources containing Dowland’s music, only 10 per cent of these can be directly connected to Dowland, and only his single-author songbooks can be considered authoritative texts. As a result, modern scholar-performers are required to look beyond the tablature to identify Dowland’s personal performance style, seeking justification for interpretive decisions in other historical sources. While treatises and organology dominate historical performance research, Dowland’s contrafacts—pieces existing as both songs and instrumental dances—offer equally valuable insights. This article focuses on the most famous example of this musical interrelationship: the instrumental solo ‘Lachrimae’ pavan and the corresponding lute song ‘Flow My Tears.’ The published lute song provides an important opportunity to directly examine an authoritative Dowland composition, with particular focus on his treatment of rhetorical devices, word stress, articulations, and punctuation. Although the links to the original instrumental pavan are not always immediately clear or easy to identify, once established, they provide robust opportunities to learn from the vocal version when interpreting the related solo piece
Linguistic Representations of Motion Do Not Depend on the Visual Motion System
No full textEmbodied semantics proposes that constructing the meaning of motion verb phrases relies on representations of motion in sensory cortex. However, the data reported by earlier studies as evidence for this claim are also explained by a symbolic-semantics view proposing interactions between dissociable systems. In the experiments reported here, participants were visually adapted to real and implied leftward or rightward motion, which produced a motion aftereffect opposite to the direction of the adapting stimulus. Participants then decided whether a directionally ambiguous or a leftward- or rightward-directional verb phrase implied leftward or rightward motion. Because the visual system is engaged in the motion aftereffect, embodied semantics predicts that responses in the motion-aftereffect direction (opposite to the direction of the adapting stimulus) are facilitated, whereas symbolic semantics predicts response facilitation in the direction of the adapting stimulus (opposite to the direction of the motion aftereffect). We found response facilitation in the direction of real- and implied-motion adapting stimuli in ambiguous and directional verb phrases. These results suggest that visual and linguistic representations of motion can be dissociated. © The Author(s) 2012
Spatially evolving cascades in wall turbulence with and without interface
No full textDirect numerical simulations of channel flow and temporal boundary layer at a Reynolds number Reτ=1500 are used to assess the scale-by-scale mechanisms of wall turbulence. From the peak of turbulence production embedded at the small scales of the near-wall region, spatially ascending reverse cascades are generated that move through self-similar eddies growing in size with the wall distance. These fluxes are followed by spatially ascending forward cascades through detached eddies thus reaching sufficiently small scales where eventually scale energy is dissipated. This phenomenology is shared by both boundary layer and channel flow and is recognized as a robust physical feature characterizing wall turbulence in general. Specific features related to the flow configuration are indeed identified in the outer region. In particular, the central region of channels is characterized by a generalized Richardson energy cascade where large scales are in equilibrium with small scales at different wall distances through a combined forward cascade and spatial flux. On the contrary, the interface region of boundary layers is characterized by an almost two-dimensional physics where spatially ascending reverse cascades sustain long and wide interface structures with a forward cascade that survives only in the wall-normal scales. The overall scenario consists in a variety of scale motions that while protruding from the turbulent core towards the external region, squeeze at the interface thus sustaining vertical shear in a thin layer. The observed multidimensional physics sheds light on the complex interactions between outer entrainment and near-wall self-sustaining mechanisms with possible repercussions for theories.Energy Technolog
Pushover testing of isolated piles of the Whirokino Trestle
No full textIn New Zealand over 60% of State Highway bridges were designed and built during eras with low seismic provisions and most of these bridges are supported by pile foundations. An improved understanding of the in-service performance of these bridge foundations is a key aspect of seismic resilience, however there is limited data on the performance of these foundations in the field. A unique opportunity to study bridge foundations from this period has been presented during the replacement and demolition of the Whirokino Trestle in Foxton. A field testing programme involving a series of static cyclic and monotonic pushover tests has been developed in order to characterize the behaviour of isolated pile foundations that are embedded in loose to medium dense sands. Five different loading protocols were defined and applied across ten isolated bridge piles. To better understand the ability of modelling techniques to capture the observed field behaviour, computational models of these piles were developed using OpenSeesPy. The observations and results from this research will be used to improve the assessment approach for existing bridge foundations and seismic design standards
Modeling NAND Flash memories for circuit simulations
No full textIn this paper, we will present the basic structure and the parameter extraction procedure for a compact model of a NAND Flash memory string working in Spice-like circuit simulators. To the author knowledge, this is the first Spice-like model of a NAND Flash memory string. This model is modular and simple to be implemented. It will allow accurately reproducing both DC and transient behavior of NAND Flash memories without increasing computational effort, thus becoming an indispensable tool for designers to optimize circuits especially in multi-level applications
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