1,720,956 research outputs found
Developing and Designing Sustainable Nature-based Solutions (NBS) for Mitigating Landslips.
No full textIn the UK, geohazards like landslides and soil erosion have a major negative influence on the economy and public safety. Traditional cement-based slope stabilisation is costly and harmful for the environment. Although nature-based solutions, such as vegetation and biopolymers, provide affordable substitutes, there are still issues determining how reliable and successful they will be in the long term for wide usage in slope stability assessments. This research aimed to develop, design, and evaluate the impact of plant-derived biopolymers and vegetation on soil and slope stability. The PhD research was structured into three distinct phases.
Phase 1 focused on the effects of controlled wetting and drying cycles (wd) on the
hydromechanical properties of clay and silty sand soils and their implications for the performance of typical flood embankments. Volumetric changes were monitored throughout
the wd cycles. Parameters measured included the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC), saturated hydraulic conductivity (ksat), effective cohesion (c′), and effective angle of internal friction (ϕ′) at both 1 and 10 wd cycles. The results indicated that the ten wd cycles reduced
saturated moisture content and produced a flatter SWCC compared to the single cycle for clayey soil. Additionally, ksat was significantly higher after ten cycles than after one for clayey soil, while no significant differences were observed in both SWCC and ksat for silty sand soil
across cycles. The effective angle of internal friction (ϕ′) for clayey soil decreased from 28.5 to 20.1 as the wd cycles increased from one to ten, while the effective cohesion (c′) remained constant at 10 kN/m². In contrast, for silty sand soil, ϕ′ increased from 34.6 to 37.5 with the increase in wetting and drying cycles, with c′ remaining constant at 1 kN/m². Numerical modelling of transient water flow, coupled with slope stability analysis, highlighted that the
performance of flood embankments depends on the soil's hydromechanical properties and the duration of flooding. These findings underscore the necessity for proactive measures to mitigate landslide risks in regions subject to frequent wetting and drying cycles for clayey soil, thereby ensuring the safety and resilience of slopes and associated infrastructure.
Phase 2 of the research investigated the effects of biopolymers derived from chia and basil seeds on the hydromechanical characteristics of clayey and silty sand soils under conditions of one and ten wetting and drying cycles at two different temperatures (25°C and 40°C).
Volumetric changes and water drop penetration time (WDPT) were assessed from one to ten cycles after each cycle. The SWCC, ksat, c' and ϕ' were measured after both 1 and 10 wd cycles.
The findings demonstrated that the application of biopolymers significantly increased soil stability and strength, particularly in clayey soil, where marked improvements in effective cohesion and angle of internal friction were observed. The basil seed-based biopolymer
outperformed the chia seed-based variant. Similar enhancements were noted in silty sand soils treated with these biopolymers, particularly in the effective angle of internal friction. Both seed-based biopolymers increased soil water repellency and retention regardless of soil type.
These results underscore the capacity of chia and basil seed-based biopolymers to enhance soil strength, presenting a nature based and environmentally friendly strategy for proactive landslide risk mitigation in areas experiencing frequent wd cycles, thus ensuring the resilience
and safety of slopes and related infrastructure.
In the third phase, the ability of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) to enhance the stability of clay and silty sand soils at varying depths was examined. Consolidated drained (CD) direct shear tests were conducted on soil samples with and without grass reinforcement at depths of 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 40–50 cm to evaluate the impact of grassroots on soil stability. The roots of Bermuda grass markedly improved soil shear strength and, thus, stability, further
demonstrating the potential of vegetation in slope stabilisation practices. X-ray computed tomography was employed to conduct a detailed scan of soil columns with and without Bermuda grass. This analysis aimed to quantify the root systems present and assess theirinfluence on soil pore structure.
Overall, the study highlighted how NBS, such as vegetation and seed-derived biopolymers, can improve soil stability in climate change scenarios, resulting in more resilient infrastructure in areas vulnerable to erosion and landslides
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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