13 research outputs found
As If Their Activities Could Explain Something: Joris van Casteren and Het zusje van de bruid
No full textAbstract: Joris Van Casteren (b. 1976) is undoubtedly one of the most famous literary journalists in the Netherlands. In his stories he creates a peculiar atmosphere by drawing on diverse elements, such as the choice of topic, original perspectives, and his typical, dry, matter-of-fact style. His breakthrough came with his 2008 book, Lelystad, in which he describes his own coming of age in a brand-new city built on new Dutch land. In Het zusje van de bruid. Relaas van een onmogelijke liefde (The sister of the bride: a tale of an impossible love), published in 2011, the writer goes back nine years in order to describe his own love story with a rich, intelligent, and artistic, borderline patient who is addicted to alcohol and drugs. The book caused a stir, and Van Casteren was reproached for transgressing the limits of privacy and morality. This study argues that Van Casteren challenges the boundaries of literary journalism by using different techniques. One is an absence of explicit emotions that he combines with suggestive and sometimes slightly bizarre signs of those emotions. This aligns with the abundance of scene and the absence of interpretation and judgment. The study argues that the effect of distance and uncertainty generates an open atmosphere that allows the author to touch upon basic human questions, such as loyalty and responsibility, as well as the creation of meaning and sense, and the limits of understanding both one’s own motives and those of others.
Keywords: Dutch literary journalism –– Joris Van Casteren –– rhetorics of nonfiction –– literary journalism –– literary criticismstatus: Publishe
Veldproeven op steenzettingen in Zeeland: Eindrapport met resultaten en analyse van onderzoek naar de klemming van gezette stenen
No full textHet onderzoek beschrijft de trekproeven en schuifproeven die in het veld zijn uitgevoerd ter verificatie van het liggermodel voor geklemde steenzettingen. De proeven worden in Zeeland uitgevoerd. Er is gemeten aan Hydroblocks en Basalton zettingen met resp. 35 en 25 cm zuilhoogte. In totaal zijn er 61 trekproeven en 11 schuifproeven uitgevoerd. De meetkar bestaat uit een rijdende staalconstructie, die afgestempeld kan worden op vijzels om tijdens de proeven de belasting af te dragen. Die staalconstructie is de basis van de kar, waaraan ook het aluminium meetframe kan worden gehangen met een overspanning van 4x4 meter, waarbinnen de zetting niet anders belast wordt van via de getrokken steen. Voor de metingen zijn 40 verplaatsingssensoren en 3 druksensoren (=krachtsensor) ingezet. Alle data wordt met computerapparatuur geregistreerd, waardoor het mogelijk is iedere seconde de 43 sensoren af te lezen. Bij de trekproeven is de sterkte van de stenen aan een flinke spreiding onderhevig. Er blijkt geen significant verschil aan te wijzen tussen de metingen hoog en laag op de zetting. De resultaten zijn ook met een plaatmodel geanalyseerd. Hiermee wordt de verplaatsing en de belastingen opgelegd aan de plaat, waarna er een stijfheid kan worden berekend. Uit de schuifproeven kan ook een elasticiteitsmodulus worden berekend. Deze blijkt ongeveer 2 á 4 keer groter dan uit de trekproeven werd berekend. Verder zijn de Basaltons ongeveer 2 keer stijver dan de Hydroblocks (600 vs 1300 MPa). Dat de uit de schuifproeven een hogere E-modulus wordt berekend dan uit de trekproeven kan door het wrijvingsaandeel worden verklaard. Met de proefnemingen aangetoond dat de stenen vaak ingeklemd liggen en er een normaalkracht en momentcapaciteit aanwezig is. Het is met de analyses uit deze rapportage mogelijk een waarde aan deze grootheden te geven. Er is geen relatie tussen de plaats op de zetting en de trekkracht aangetoond.Civil Engineering and Geoscience
A 3D Glacial Isostatic Adjustment model for Northwestern Europe
No full textThe Earth is subjected to 100,000 year cycles of glaciation and deglaciation. The deformations induced by glacial and oceanic loading and the continuous attempt at recovery of the isostatic equilibrium within the solid Earth, are referred to as Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). This process is ongoing still and yields a large contribution to present day surface deformation and sea level change in formerly glaciated areas. In order to accurately model GIA, the lateral viscosity variations within the interior of the Earth are accounted for (Kaufmann et al., 2000; Steffen et al., 2006; Wu and van der Wal, 2003). Additionally, an increased level of accuracy is obtained by adopting a combination of linear and non-linear viscoelasticity as demonstrated by Barnhoorn et al. (2011); Forno and Gasperini (2007); van der Wal et al. (2013);Wu and Wang (2008). During the Last Glacial Maximum, the British-Irish and Fennoscandian Ice Sheets covered large parts of Northwestern Europe. The interior of the Earth in this area is known to consist of material of very heterogeneous tectonic origin (Artemieva et al., 2006). Additionally, research in this area is promoted by the availability of the independent regional ice model Bradley2018 (Bradley, personal communication), an RSL observation database for the Rhine-Meuse Delta (Hijma and Cohen, 2019), and a collection of GPS derived uplift rates throughout Europe (Teferle, personal communication). At the Astrodynamics and Space Missions research group of Delft University of Technology, a 3D GIA FEM model has been developed to model GIA in Antarctica (Blank et al., 2017). This model follows the work by Wu (2004) and van der Wal et al. (2013), and is complemented with an iterative algorithm to solve the sea level equation in accordance with Kendall et al. (2005). This research aims to provide a single GIA model best suited for the prediction of GIA induced vertical surface deformation in Northwestern Europe, by adapting the existing model. In doing so, a better understanding of the interior of the Earth in Northwestern Europe can be achieved.The response of the Earth is dictated by the composite rheology creep flow laws for olivine (Hirth and Kohlstedt, 2003). By varying the grain size as well as the water content of the mantle material, and by implementing a global temperature model of the Earth’s interior, four 3D composite rheology Earth models are obtained. The fifth Earth model considered is the radially symmetric VM5a viscosity profile developed by Peltier et al. (2015) in conjunction with the global ice model ICE-6G_C. The performance of all five Earth model configurations in combination with both the ICE-6G_C model and the Bradley2018 model is analysed in terms of relative sea level and uplift rates.It is found that the Bradley2018 model is the preferred ice model for GIA modelling in Northwestern Europe. The ICE-6G_C model outperforms the Bradley2018 model at far-field RSL sites, which is attributed to its superior representation of global eustatic sea level rise. The 3D composite rheologies lead to improved fits to RSL observations for the majority of the investigated measurement sites compared to the 1D scenario. The dry 4 mm grain size rheology yields the best overall performance out of all rheological configurations considered. A preference towards wet rheology exists in regions of Sveco-Norwegian tectonic origin. The strongest rheology is preferred in the mid-west of Scotland. No definitive connection is found between the local tectonic origin and preferred rheology fromRSL simulations. It is believed that this analysis may benefit from the inclusion of laterally varying grain sizes and water content inferred from geophysical observations, as well as the extension of the variable space for the water content.For both ice models, an improved fit to observed uplift rates can be obtained through the application of a 3D composite rheology. The GPS derived uplift rates can be reproduced best using the dry 10 mm grain size rheology in combination with the Bradley2018 ice history. This model is deemed to be best suited for simulation of GIA induced uplift rates in Northwestern Europe. The second-best performance in terms of uplift rate is found using the 1D Earth model. In Scandinavia the 4 mm dry rheology yields uplift rates equal to roughly half the observed uplift rates, while the uplift rates for the 10 mm and 4 mm wet rheologies are near-zero. In the far-field, where other surface deformation mechanisms may infer a larger deformation rate than GIA (Fokker et al., 2018), no model could reproduce the observed uplift rates. The presence of a high viscosity anomaly beneath Eastern Fennoscandia is captured by the 3D rheologies and results in a shift of the centre of positive and negative uplift rates. As the spatial distribution of minima and maxima in both uplift rates and RSL change rates is sensitive to the inclusion of a 3D rheology, this should be accounted for in future regional sea level change and surface deformation projections.Aerospace Engineerin
Feasibility of prefabricated concrete elements for underpasses - Watertight connection & structural safety
No full textThe main objective of this research is to test the feasibility of prefabricated concrete as a construction material for (railway) underpasses. By means of a literature study the most important aspects for the use of prefabricated concrete are analyzed, as well as the execution aspects for an underpass crossing a railway. Based on the findings from the literature study, different element configurations are designed. Subsequently these designs are tested with a list of criteria and the most interesting configurations are used for the design study of this research. In the design study the overall design is worked out to a more detailed level. A solution is found for connecting the elements together and obtain a watertight structure and structural safety. Within the design study, a suitable execution schedule is searched for various situations.Structural and Building EngineeringConcreteCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Boundedness properties of resolvents and semigroups of operators
No full textAbstract. Let T: H → H be an operator in the complex Hilbert space H. Suppose that T is square bounded in average in the sense that there exists a constant M(T) with the property that, for all natural numbers n and for all x ∈ H, the inequality 1 n+ 1 n∑ j=0 ‖T jx‖2 ≤M(T)2‖x‖2 is satisfied. Also suppose that the adjoint T ∗ of the operator T is square bounded in average with constant M(T ∗). Then the operator T is power bounded in the sense that sup{‖Tn ‖ : n ∈ N} is finite. In fact the following inequality is valid for all n ∈ N: ‖Tn ‖ ≤ eM(T)M(T ∗). Suppose that T has a bounded everywhere defined inverse S with the property that for λ in the open unit disc of C the operator (I − λS)−1 exists and that the expression sup{(1 − |λ|)‖(I − λS)−1 ‖ : |λ | < 1} is finite. If T is power bounded, then so is S and hence in such a situation the operator T is similar to a unitary operator. If both the operators T ∗ and S are square bounded in average, then again the operator T is similar to a unitary operator. Similar results hold for strongly 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: 47A30, 47D05. Key words and phrases: power bounded operator, bounded semigroup, operator Poisson kernel, square bounded in average. The author is grateful to a number of people who in one way or another were involved during the preparation of this paper: F. Delbaen, L. Waelbroeck (Brussels), J. Zemánek (Warsaw). The author also wants to thank the National Fund for Scientific Research (NFWO) and the University of Antwerp (UIA) for their material support. The author is indebted to the referee for pointing out some errors in an earlier draft of the paper. Finally, the author is obliged to the “International Scientific and Technical Cooperation BLEU-Poland ” for making it possible to visit the Banac
The search for a new method of computing the power exchange matrix based on electrical distances
No full textDespite the uncertainties on the generation end and the consumption end, the transmission network thrives to be reliable. This includes its effort to predict the power flows in its lines and maintain the flows under a safety margin. Due to the said uncertainties and approximations, predicted power flows in the lines can exceed the acceptable limits. Under such a scenario, the responsible TSO has to take actions to ensure that this predicted violation won’t occur in the reality. It needs to be noted that the flow in the line that mandated these actions could be caused partly by power exchanges outside the borders of the TSO. The responsible TSO bears the costs of these actions initially. The incurred expenses can be split in a fair manner by partitioning the power flow in the line into power flows caused by the power exchanges of all zones. Full Line Decomposition(FLD) is an application developed by the FB4INV team at TenneT that calculates the power flow partitions. To compute the power flow partitions, it requires all power exchanges occurring in the system. The existing method of computing power exchanges(called the Bialek method) models the power network as a directed graph based on power flows in the branches. It traces the flow of power from the generator to the load(or vice-versa) along the paths available. If a power flow path is not available due to the directed modelling, an error of zero power exchange is introduced. There exists multiple ways of computing the power exchanges. This paper attempts to find an unquestionable method. A method of computing power exchanges based on electrical distance reflects the behaviour of the power system in distributing flows. Through the literature review, the superposition method was found that makes use of circuit theory to find generator-to-load power contribution. In the course of the thesis, the superposition method was found to have a flaw in the equations. A new approach was developed in this thesis where power exchange is computed by defining it as an optimisation problem. The objective function of the optimisation problem reflects the excepted behaviour of the power system. The optimisation process was implemented using a genetic algorithm. The existing and developed methods were tested on an IEEE 30 bus system.Electrical Engineerin
Linear flow modelling of an integrated energy system on a national scale in 2050
No full textAn increasing part of European electricity is provided by renewable sources, whose output varies considerably. In order to offset these variations, gas can be used as an auxiliary source of energy for power production, but extra power can also be used to produce hydrogen or methane for storage. As a consequence, gas and power networks are growing more and more interdependent and thus need to be modelled together in order to make meaningful predictions. A growing body of literature deals with the modelling and simulation of such coupled networks, but the main focus of most sources is accuracy. On the other hand, Gasunie and TenneT’s Infrastructure Outlook report aimed to study hourly snapshots of a coupled network over one year, in a variety of different scenarios. Therefore, a simplified and computationally inexpensive model was needed. Literature dealing with such models is lacking, so a linear model consisting of transport load minimization was constructed for this purpose. It was used for both gas and power simulations, but it is inadequate for the latter.In this thesis, the transport load model is combined with the standard DC model of power flow in order to obtain more accurate results. The resulting combined linear model is tested on small sample networks, showing that it is functional given a set of modelling assumptions. In addition, the transport load model is compared to the DC model in a sample set of Dutch power networks. A large difference is observed between the two, confirming that there is no reason to use transport load as a model for electricity. Further research is needed to evaluate the accuracy of the transport load model for gas.Applied Mathematics | Computational Science and Engineerin
Thinking in network terms: Brain functional networks in migraine and the analogy with the patient's social network
No full textMuch is still unknown about the cause of migraine attacks in the brain. Similarly, a lot is unclear about the influence of patient-physician communication on migraine outcomes. An analogy between the migraine brain and the migraine patient by means of network analysis was therefore carried out in this research to search for new insights into both systems.Applied Sciences | Science CommunicationMechanical Engineerin
Real-time chloride diffusion coefficient in concrete using embedded resistivity sensors
No full textService life of concrete infrastructure is severely compromised because of chloride-induced corrosion and measuring the chloride content is crucial to determine the remaining service life. DuraCrete provides a chloride ingress model based on Fick’s 2nd law. Although the diffusion coefficient is modelled as a time-dependent variable, the DuraCrete solution averages it to a constant value. This simplification leads to inaccurate estimation of the chloride content. A new analytical solution that addresses the underlying mathematical discrepancy has been proposed. However, the time-dependent diffusion coefficient is still based on an empirical factor. In this study, a real-time durability monitoring system has been developed using remotely operated resistivity sensors. Such a system is able to monitor the time dependent diffusion coefficient without the need to incorporate empirical factors. Additionally, a numerical technique to find an approximation of the proposed improved analytical solution is presented using real-time resistivity measurements from laboratory and real structures. The results show that the discrete sensor data measurements over time provide a good approximation of the proposed analytical solution. The system developed in this study is used as a data-driven input parameter to supplement the existing chloride models
Cesaro bounded operators in Banach spaces
No full text[EN] We study several notions of boundedness for operators. It is known that any power bounded operator is absolutely Cesaro bounded and strongly Kreiss bounded (in particular, uniformly Kreiss bounded). The converses do not hold in general. In this note, we give examples of topologically mixing (hence, not power bounded) absolutely Cesaro bounded operators on l(p)(N), 1 <= p < infinity, and provide examples of uniformly Kreiss bounded operators which are not absolutely Cesaro bounded. These results complement a few known examples (see [27] and [2]). We also obtain a characterization of power bounded operators which generalizes a result of Van Casteren [32]. In [2] Aleman and Suciu asked if every uniformly Kreiss bounded operator T on a Banach space satisfies that. We solve this question for Hilbert space operators and, moreover, we prove that, if T is absolutely Cesaro bounded on a Banach (Hilbert) space, then parallel to T-n parallel to = o(n) ((parallel to Tn parallel to=o(n12), respectively). As a consequence, every absolutely Cesaro bounded operator on a reflexive Banach space is mean ergodic.The first, second and fourth authors were supported by MINECO and FEDER, Project MTM201675963-P.
The third author was supported by grant No. 17-27844S of GA CR and RVO: 67985840.
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