124 research outputs found
Workshop Dutch Chapter of IGS: Geosynthetics in levee improvement - "An innovation is only an innovation when applied successfully!"
No full textGeoscience & EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Reassessing frontline medical practitioners of the British civil wars in the context of the seventeenth-century medical world
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this recordMedical provision in Civil War armies has generally suffered a poor reputation. Medical matters have been excluded from assessments of how far Civil War armies confirm evidence of the so-called ‘Military Revolution’, whilst Harold Cook argued that it was not until after the Glorious Revolution that the medical infrastructure of the armed forces was brought in line with continental practices, particularly those of the Dutch army. Despite the recent rehabilitation of early modern practitioners elsewhere, frontline military practitioners continue to be dismissed as uneducated, unskilful and incompetent. This is largely due to the lack of a fresh perspective since C. H. Firth published Cromwell's Army in 1902. This article argues that the English were well aware of current medical practice in European armies and endeavoured to implement similar procedures during the Civil Wars. Indeed, almost all the developments identified by Cook for the later seventeenth century can be found in Civil War armies. Whilst failures may have occurred, most of these can be attributed to administrative and financial miscarriages, rather than ignorance of contemporary medical developments. Moreover, there is little to suggest that medics mobilized for Civil War armies were any less capable than those who practised civilian medicine in this period.This article draws on research undertaken whilst a postdoctoral research associate on the Wellcome Trust-funded project ‘The Medical World of Early Modern England, Wales and Ireland, c. 1500–1715’ at the University of Exeter (grant reference number 097782/Z/11/Z)
Reassessing frontline medical practitioners of the British civil wars in the context of the seventeenth-century medical world
No full textMedical provision in Civil War armies has generally suffered a poor reputation. Medical matters have been excluded from assessments of how far Civil War armies confirm evidence of the so-called ‘Military Revolution’, whilst Harold Cook argued that it was not until after the Glorious Revolution that the medical infrastructure of the armed forces was brought in line with continental practices, particularly those of the Dutch army. Despite the recent rehabilitation of early modern practitioners elsewhere, frontline military practitioners continue to be dismissed as uneducated, unskilful and incompetent. This is largely due to the lack of a fresh perspective since C. H. Firth published Cromwell's Army in 1902. This article argues that the English were well aware of current medical practice in European armies and endeavoured to implement similar procedures during the Civil Wars. Indeed, almost all the developments identified by Cook for the later seventeenth century can be found in Civil War armies. Whilst failures may have occurred, most of these can be attributed to administrative and financial miscarriages, rather than ignorance of contemporary medical developments. Moreover, there is little to suggest that medics mobilized for Civil War armies were any less capable than those who practised civilian medicine in this period
The divergence of cpcBA-IGS sequences between Dolichospermum and Aphanizomenon (Cyanobacteria) and the molecular detection of Dolichospermum flos-aquae in Taihu Lake, China
No full textThe occurrence of bloom-forming heterocystous cyanobacteria such as Dolichospermum flos-aquae has become increasingly serious. This study was conducted to provide a detailed understanding of diversity, distribution and seasonal dynamics of Dolichospermum flos-aquae populations in Taihu Lake, China. Morphological identifications showed Dolichospermum flos-aquae and Aphanizomnon flos-aquae were the two main heterocystous cyanobacteria in Taihu Lake. Phylogenetic analysis based on cpcBA-IGS sequences, the highly variable intergenic spacer (IGS) region between two phycobilisome subunits (cpcB and cpcA), distinguished Dolichospermum from other filametous cyanobacterial genera. Therefore, the real-time PCR detection of Dolichospermum flos-aquae based on cpcBA-IGS sequences was developed to study the distribution and abundance of Dolichospermum flos-aquae. The investigation began in August 2008 and extended through September 2010. Dolichospermum flos-aquae occurred throughout the entire lake. There was an average abundance of 2.0 x 10(6) gene copies L-1, and the peak abundance was in the western part of Taihu Lake during late spring when it reached 4.0 x 10(7) copies L-1. Dolichospermum flos-aquae had a regular annual cycle; it began appearing in late autumn and it reached a peak in late spring.The occurrence of bloom-forming heterocystous cyanobacteria such as Dolichospermum flos-aquae has become increasingly serious. This study was conducted to provide a detailed understanding of diversity, distribution and seasonal dynamics of Dolichospermum flos-aquae populations in Taihu Lake, China. Morphological identifications showed Dolichospermum flos-aquae and Aphanizomnon flos-aquae were the two main heterocystous cyanobacteria in Taihu Lake. Phylogenetic analysis based on cpcBA-IGS sequences, the highly variable intergenic spacer (IGS) region between two phycobilisome subunits (cpcB and cpcA), distinguished Dolichospermum from other filametous cyanobacterial genera. Therefore, the real-time PCR detection of Dolichospermum flos-aquae based on cpcBA-IGS sequences was developed to study the distribution and abundance of Dolichospermum flos-aquae. The investigation began in August 2008 and extended through September 2010. Dolichospermum flos-aquae occurred throughout the entire lake. There was an average abundance of 2.0 x 10(6) gene copies L-1, and the peak abundance was in the western part of Taihu Lake during late spring when it reached 4.0 x 10(7) copies L-1. Dolichospermum flos-aquae had a regular annual cycle; it began appearing in late autumn and it reached a peak in late spring
Comparison of new memory surface hardening models for prediction of high cyclic loading (Comparaison de nouveaux modèles de surface de mémoire à durcissement pour la prévision de fortes charges cycliques)
No full textThis paper presents an objective comparison between two recent constitutive models employing the concept of the hardening memory surface to predict the high cyclic loading behaviour of granular soils. The hardening memory surface is applied to the well-known Severn-Trent sand and the SANINSAND04 constitutive models. While the addition of the new model surface (the memory surface) leads to enhanced model capabilities, slight differences in the implementation can lead to different model performances and simulations. This paper describes the differences between the two implementations and highlights the most relevant modelling ingredi-ents to predict particular features of the cyclic soil behaviour. This paper will help the reader in selecting the most suitable model and related ingredients for a particular geotechnical application.Accepted Author ManuscriptGeo-engineerin
Advanced Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical modelling features for practical applications in energy geotechnics (Sur la modélisation Thermo-Hydro-Mécanique avancée pour des applications en Géo-énergie)
No full textThermal and Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) analysis is at the core of a broad range of geotechnical engineering applications. In this context, an implicit fully coupled formulation has been implemented in the Finite Element software PLAXIS to perform robustly THM analyses. Advanced constitutive models can be easily defined and implemented with the well-known User-Defined Soil Model (UDSM) module. Recently, another module of User-Defined Flow Model (UDFM) has been developed so that users can implement user-defined fluid and heat transfer models (permeability, thermal conductivity functions etc). These improvements allow to perform advanced research analyses in a practical and user-friendly way. In this paper, the aforementioned formulation and functionalities are briefly summarised. Different examples of benchmark numerical analyses of Engineered Barrier Systems (EBS) in radioactive waste disposals as well as geothermal foundation systems are then presented. The obtained numerical results are verified by comparisons with other simulators and/or experimental data.Accepted Author ManuscriptGeo-engineerin
Integrated genome sizing (IGS) approach for the parallelization of whole genome analysis
No full textBackground: The use of whole genome sequence has increased recently with rapid progression of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. However, storing raw sequence reads to perform large-scale genome analysis pose hardware challenges. Despite advancement in genome analytic platforms, efficient approaches remain relevant especially as applied to the human genome. In this study, an Integrated Genome Sizing (IGS) approach is adopted to speed up multiple whole genome analysis in high-performance computing (HPC) environment. The approach splits a genome (GRCh37) into 630 chunks (fragments) wherein multiple chunks can simultaneously be parallelized for sequence analyses across cohorts. Results: IGS was integrated on Maha-Fs (HPC) system, to provide the parallelization required to analyze 2504 whole genomes. Using a single reference pilot genome, NA12878, we compared the NGS process time between Maha-Fs (NFS SATA hard disk drive) and SGI-UV300 (solid state drive memory). It was observed that SGI-UV300 was faster, having 32.5 mins of process time, while that of the Maha-Fs was 55.2 mins. Conclusions: The implementation of IGS can leverage the ability of HPC systems to analyze multiple genomes simultaneously. We believe this approach will accelerate research advancement in personalized genomic medicine. Our method is comparable to the fastest methods for sequence alignment. © 2018 The Author(s)
Improved embedded beam with interaction surface (Poutre incorporée améliorée avec surface d’interaction)
No full textFinite Element Analysis of serviceability limit states (SLS) and bearing capacity (ULS) of piled foundations involves the modelling piles in the soil, including pile-soil interaction. Embedded beams are an efficient way to model multiple piles for complex practical applications. Following initial work of Sadek & Shahrour (2004) on embedded beam elements, Turello et al (2016a,b) introduced a new embedded beam formulation with interaction surface to overcome mesh-dependence and to improve the behaviour under lateral loading. The proposed paper describes an improvement and further evolution of the embedded beam with interaction surface for practical applications. The element has been implemented in the PLAXIS finite element software, compared with previous implementations and validated against pile load test data. The paper will show that the results of the new implementation are more accurate and less mesh-dependent than the previous implementation and the load-displacement performance is much closer to the actual pile response; both in axial loading and in lateral loading.Accepted Author ManuscriptGeo-engineerin
Eemdijk full-scale field test programme: ground dike and sheet pile dike failure test (Programme d’essai terrain à taille réelle Eemdijk: essais de déformation et de rupture pour une digue standard en terre et une digue renforcée avec palplanchesitre)
No full textDikes in the Netherlands have traditionally been constructed with soil. Climate change and subsidence requires heightening and or reinforcing these existing dikes. Traditional reinforcements demand additional space, which in some cases conflicts with existing buildings. Applying sheet pile walls in dikes allows for strengthening while minimizing the increase in footprint. However, a validated design approach that complies with relevant regulations lacks. To enable the validation of a proposed design approach, a full-scale field test programme (Eemdijkproef) was performed near the town of Eemdijk, The Netherlands. It consisted of a step wise approach: 1) sheet pile pullover tests, 2) ground dike stability test, 3) sheet pile dike stability test. All tests were loaded until failure occurred. The two similar test dikes were constructed at full scale (5m high, 25m wide, 60m long). In one dike an 18m long sheet pile wall was installed. This paper presents the test setup, monitoring, measurements and first findings. The test program provides better insight in the soil-structure interaction of the reinforced dike, on soft soil, under high water and uplift conditions. Ultimately this will lead to a validated design approach for sheet pile walls in dikes.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.Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris
Balancing selection on the number of repeats in the ribosomal intergenic spacer (IGS) present in naturally occurring yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations
No full textThe ribosomal intergenic spacer (IGS), responsible for the rate of transcription of rRNA genes, is associated with the growth and fecundity of individuals. A previous study of IGS length variants in a yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population revealed the presence of two predominant alleles differing by 1 kb due to variation in the number of repeat units. This study aims to assess whether length variation of IGS is the result of selection in natural populations. Length variation of IGS and eleven neutral microsatellite loci were assessed in geographically distant yellow perch populations. Most populations displayed the very same IGS alleles; they did not differ in frequencies among populations and the FST was not significantly different from zero. In contrast, diversity at microsatellite loci was high and differed among populations (FST = 0.18). Selection test based on FST identified IGS as a significant outlier from neutral expectations for population differentiation. Heterozygote excess was also detected in one specific cohort suggesting temporal variation in the selection regime. While the exact mechanism remains to be specified, together the results of this study support the contention that balancing selection is acting to maintain two distinct IGS alleles in natural fish populations.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author
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