1,721,828 research outputs found
He Qing, Images du Silence : Pensée et art chinois
Rabut Isabelle. He Qing, Images du Silence : Pensée et art chinois. In: Perspectives chinoises, n°68, 2001. pp. 76-77
Quantification of Tidal Asymmetry and Its Nonstationary Variations
Tidal wave deformation and tidal asymmetry widely occur in tidal estuaries and lagoons. Tidal asymmetry has been intensively studied because of its controlling role on residual sediment transport and large‐scale morphological evolution. There are several methods available to characterize tidal asymmetry prompting the need for an overview of their applicability and shortcomings. In this work we provide a brief review and evaluation of two methods, namely, the harmonic method and the statistical method. The latter comprises several statistical measures that estimate the probability density function and various forms of skewness. We find that both the harmonic and statistical methods are effective and have complementary advantages. The harmonic method is applicable to predominantly semidiurnal or diurnal regimes, while the statistical methods can be used in mixed tidal regimes. Assisted by harmonic data, a modified skewness measure can isolate the contribution of different tidal interactions on net tidal asymmetry and also reveal its subtidal variations. The application of the skewness measure to nonstationary river tides reveals stronger tidal asymmetry during spring tides than neap tides, and the nonlinear effects of river discharges on tidal asymmetry in the upper and lower regions of long estuaries.Coastal Engineerin
The impacts of cultural background on project communication management in international construction projects / He Qing
This thesis aims to explore intercultural communication in the international construction project in the implementation phase and to examine the responses of international construction projects to cope with the challenges that arise from intercultural communication. A guideline for international construction projects, especially Chinese construction companies, to conduct construction projects in another cultural background is developed in this thesis.
There have lots of literature in the project communication field, and there also exist lots of researches related to cultural impacts in the business field. While there has been few of them considered the impacts of cultural factors to project communication in international construction projects or examined the impacts of intercultural communication in intercultural construction projects. This thesis based on this situation, trying to develop insights from the intercultural communication and project management literature to bridge the knowledge gap between cultural background and international construction project communication in term of challenges and the results of their responses to cope with challenges.
This thesis adopted a case study research method within the qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews, documents analysis and observation when the author worked at international construction project A in Tanzania as a human resource manager. A grounded theory approach was applied in the analysis of data .this thesis examined a series of factors that affect intercultural communication in international construction projects and the responses of the project at the organization and individual level to cope with challenges.
This thesis revealed the impacts of cultural background to intercultural construction projects by revealing more challenges than opportunities caused by intercultural communication; identifying responses in international construction projects to cope with challenges; revealing the neglect of intercultural communication in international construction projects.all of these aspects make a theoretical contribution to the communication management in international construction projects
From the headwater to the delta: A synthesis of the basin-scale sediment load regime in the Changjiang River
Many large rivers in the world delivers decreasing sediment loads to coastal oceans owing to reductions in sediment yield and disrupted sediment deliver. Understanding the sediment load regime is a prerequisite of sediment management and fluvial and deltaic ecosystem restoration. This work examines sediment load changes across the Changjiang River basin based on a long time series (1950–2017) of sediment load data stretching from the headwater to the delta. We find that the sediment loads have decreased progressively throughout the basin at multiple time scales. The sediment loads have decreased by ~96% and ~74% at the outlets of the upper basin and entire basin, respectively, in 2006–2017 compared to 1950–1985. The hydropower dams in the mainstem have become a dominant cause of the reduction, although downstream channel erosion causes moderate sediment load recovery. The basin-scale sediment connectivity has declined as the upper river is progressively dammed, the middle-lower river is leveed and river-lake interplay weakens. The middle-lower river has changed from a slight depositional to a severe erosional environment, from a sediment transport conduit to a new sediment source zone, and from a transport-limited to a supply-limited condition. These low-level sediment loads will likely persist in the future considering the cumulative dam trapping and depleted channel erosion. As a result, substantial hydro-morphological changes have occurred that affect the water supply, flood mitigation, and the aquatic ecosystem. The findings and lessons in this work can shed light on other large river systems subject to intensified human interference.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Coastal Engineerin
Sedimentation of overbank floods in the confined complex channel-floodplain system of the Lower Yellow River, China
The channel boundary conditions along the Lower Yellow River (LYR) have been altered significantly since the 1950s with the continual reinforcement and construction of both main and secondary dykes and river training works. To evaluate how the confined complex channel-floodplain system of the LYR responds to floods, this study presents a detailed investigation of the relationship between the tempo-spatial distribution of sedimentation/erosion and overbank floods occurred in the LYR. For large overbank floods, we found that when the sediment transport coefficient (ratio of sediment concentration of flow to flow discharge) is less than 0.034, the bankfull channel is subject to significant erosion, while the main and secondary floodplains both accumulate sediment. The amount of sediment deposited on the main and secondary floodplains is closely related to the ratio ofpeak discharge to bankfull discharge, volume of water flowing over the floodplains and sediment concentration of overbank flow, while the degree of erosion in the bankfull channel is related to the amount of sediment deposited on the main and secondary floodplains, water volume and sediment load in flood season. The significant increase in erosion in the bankfull channel is due to the construction of the main and secondary dykes and river training works, which are largely in a wide and narrow alternated pattern along the LYR such that the water flowing over wider floodplains returns to the channel downstream after it drops sediment. For small overbank floods, the bankfull channel is subject to erosion when the sediment transport coefficient is less than 0.028, while the amount of sediment deposited on the secondary floodplain is associated closely with the sediment concentration of flow. Over the entire length of the LYR, the situation of erosion in the bankfull channel and sediment deposition on the main and secondary floodplains occurred mainly in the upper reach of the LYR, in which a channel wandering in planform has been well developed
Flow structure in large bedrock-channels: The example of macroturbulent rapids, lower Mekong River, Southeast Asia
The rate of bedrock channel incision is key to the understanding of landscape evolution. Theoretical models relate channel incision to sediment transport; the latter conditioned by the bed shear stress. However, theory is deficient in an appreciation of the transverse and vertical flow structure that mediates shear stress for deep, narrow inner-channels, which often characterize large bedrock rivers. Here we present the detail of the structure of high Reynolds number flows for bedrock-controlled rapids of the Mekong River, SE Asia. Distinct filaments of high-velocity flow, separated by regions of slower flow, occur across channels; the numbers of filaments scale linearly with channel width to maximum-depth (B/hmax) ratios. Inner-channels with low ratios (B/hmax < 20) exhibit wall-effected flow structure. Effects include suppressed maximum velocity filaments due to: (i) significant channel-transverse flow; (ii) strongly-sheared vertical flow structure; and (iii) significant underflows. Such complex water column flow patterns largely defy theoretical description. Nonetheless near the bed, the vertical velocity distributions often conform to: (i) ‘law-of-the-wall’ logarithmic theory; or (ii) profiles in the near-bed region and within the transition to outer flow can be described using a log-wake function. Consequently, for selected velocity profiles it is possible to derive hydraulic parameters suitable for input to incision models. Chezy-C values are high, indicating low flow resistance, while bed shear stresses remain competent, even during low-discharges, to transport cobble bedload across low roughness bedrock surfaces. Thus, as competence is high, no blanketing sediment deposits can develop within inner channels to prevent bedrock erosion. Consequently, within similar high competence systems, incision is probably progressive as long as sediment supply is sustained to abrade the bedrock. The landscape modelling implication is that abrasion in this system is supply-limited and not limited by flow competence. In contrast, a transport-limited system is likely to evolve to exhibit an alluvial bed.</p
River flow induced nonlinear modulation of M4 overtide in large estuaries
River discharge is known to enhance tidal damping and tidal wave deformation in estuaries. While the damping effect on astronomical tides has been well documented, river impact on tidal wave deformation and associated overtide generation (shallow water harmonics of one or more astronomical constituents, such as M
4) remains insufficiently understood. Overtides affect tidal asymmetry, extreme water levels, and subsequent sediment transport and flooding management, thus meriting in-depth examination. Being inspired by unusual overtide changes in the landward and seaward parts of the Changjiang Estuary under low and high river discharges, in this work, we use a schematized tidal estuary model to systematically explore overtide variations under different river discharges. Model results show enhanced overtide generation in the case with river discharge compared with that without river impact. The M
4 amplitude decreases in the landward parts of the estuary, but increases in the seaward parts under increasing river discharges. The potential energy of M
4 integrated throughout the estuary shows nonlinear variations and reaches a transitional maximum when the river discharge to tidal mean discharge (R2T) ratio at the mouth is close to unity. Similar nonlinear behaviors are observed for compound tides like MS
4 when more astronomical constituents are prescribed and triad tidal interactions are enabled. The space-dependent overtide variability is more profound in large estuaries with high river discharges like the Amazon and Changjiang estuaries. It is ascribed to the inherently nonlinear river-tide interactions, specifically the twofold effects of river discharge in enhancing bottom stress, which simultaneously enhances dissipation of astronomical constituents and reinforces the energy transfer to overtides. These findings highlight the profound nonlinear impact of river discharge on overtides, and inform the study of tidal asymmetry and compound flood risk in large estuaries and deltas.
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Morphodynamic adaptation of a tidal basin to centennial sea-level rise: The importance of lateral expansion
Global climate changes have accelerated sea-level rise (SLR), which exacerbates the risks of coastal flooding and erosion. It is of practical interest to understand the long-term hydro-morphodynamic adaptation of coastal systems to SLR at a century time scale. In this work we use a numerical model to explore morphodynamic evolution of a schematized tidal basin in response to SLR of 0.25–2.0 m over 100 years with special emphasis on the impact of lateral basin expansion. Starting from a sloped initial bed, morphodynamic development of the system leads to the formation of alternating bars and meandering channels inside the tidal basin and an ebb-tidal delta extending seaward from the basin. Imposing rising sea level causes progressive inundation of the low-lying floodplains, found along the basin margins, inducing an increase in basin plain area and tidal prism, as well as intertidal area and storage volume. Although the overall channel-shoal structure persists under SLR, lateral shoreline expansion alters the basin hypsometry, leading to enhanced sediment export. The newly-submerged floodplains partly erode, supplying sediment to the system for spatial redistribution, hence buffering the impact of SLR. The vertical accretion rate of the tidal flats inside the tidal basin lags behind the rate of SLR. However, lateral shoreline migration under SLR creates new intertidal flats, compensating intertidal flat loss in the original basin. In contrast, a constrained tidal basin without low-lying floodplains is subject to profound drowning and tidal flat losses under SLR. Overall, the model results suggest that an unconstrained tidal system allowing lateral shoreline migration has buffering capacity for alleviating the drowning impact of SLR by evolving new intertidal areas, sediment redistribution and morphodynamic adjustment. These findings suggest that preserving tidal flats located along the margins of tidal basins (instead of reclaiming them) sustains the system's resilience to SLR.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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