64,727 research outputs found
Assessing aquitard integrity in a complex aquifer – aquitard system contaminated by chlorinated hydrocarbons
No full textThis study investigates for the first time the integrity of multiple stacked aquitards with different degrees of contaminant degradation. Aquitard integrity was assessed in a contaminated, multi-layered, alluvial aquifer-aquitard system (Ferrara, northern Italy). The system was contaminated by mixed organic contaminants of industrial origin (mostly chlorinated ethenes) that were illegally disposed in an urban dump four to five decades ago. High spatial resolution profiles of hydraulic head, geochemistry and chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations were determined through the multi-layered system via discrete interval sampling of continuous cores and multilevel groundwater sampling, at three locations aligned along a transect adjacent to the buried waste to a maximum depth of 53 m below the water table. The profiles revealed that the two shallow aquitards had low integrity with respect to impeding downward migration of dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), and provided little protection to the underlying aquifers against DNAPL contamination due to preferential pathways through imperceptible fractures and/or permeable micro-beds. However, both aquitards inhibited downward DNAPL migration to some extent due to DNAPL retention along its flow paths and accumulation at lower permeability interfaces, with decreasing peak concentrations at the top of successively deeper aquitard units. Moreover, both aquitards enhanced contaminant biodegradation due to the occurrence of organic rich sub-layers, influencing the contaminant plume composition, mobility and fate in the underlying and overlying aquifers. The deepest aquitard showed evidence of DNAPL accumulation at the top and slow diffusion-dominated transport consistent with 40 years of transport, suggesting higher integrity compared to the two shallower aquitards. However, the occurrence of micro-fractures and/or discontinuities in the aquitard upgradient under the dump (source) is the most likely explanation for contamination of the deepest aquifer. Analytical 1-D simulations of the diffusion profiles in the deepest aquitard revealed that DNAPL contamination down to the top of this aquitard occurred with minimal delay after DNAPL waste disposal began. The results highlight the necessity of high-resolution vertical profiling for assessing the presence of imperceptible features relevant to DNAPL migration and integrity of individual aquitards affecting organic contaminant source zone mass and phase distributions over decades
A 2 h periodic variation in the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1
No full textSpectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1 using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have revealed a ?2 h periodic variability that is present in the three strongest emission lines. We tentatively interpret this variability as due to orbital motion, making it the first indication of the orbital period of Ser X-1. Together with the fact that the emission lines are remarkably narrow, but still resolved, we show that a main-sequence K dwarf together with a canonical 1.4 M? neutron star gives a good description of the system. In this scenario, the most likely place for the emission lines to arise is the accretion disc, instead of a localized region in the binary (such as the irradiated surface or the stream-impact point), and their narrowness is due instead to the low inclination (?10°) of Ser X-1
Stable voters in an unstable party environment : continuity and change in Italian electoral behaviour
No full textM.24981-1999 Paolo Segatti, Paolo Bellucci and Marco Maraffi. 30 cm. A previous version of this paper was presented at a symposium on Political Parties : Changing Roles in Contemporary Democracies, held at the Center for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences of the Juan March Institute, Madrid, December 15-17, 1994. -- P.1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59
Rosenbrock time integration for unsteady flow simulations
No full textThis contribution compares the efficiency of Rosenbrock time integration schemes with ESDIRK schemes, applicable to unsteady flow and fluid-structure interaction simulations. Compared to non-linear ESDIRK schemes, the linear implicit Rosenbrock-Wanner schemes require subsequent solution of the same linear systems with different right hand sides. By solving the linear systems with the iterative solver GMRES, the preconditioner can be reused for the subsequent stages of the Rosenbrock-Wanner scheme. Unsteady flow simulations show a gain in computational efficiency of approximately factor three to five in comparison with ESDIRK.Aerodynamics, Wind Energy & PropulsionAerospace Engineerin
PATExpert: Semantic Processing of Patent Documentation
No full textPATExpert is a recently started “Specific Targeted
Research Project” funded by the EC in FP 6, IST priority.
PATExpert’s goal is to change the paradigm currently followed
for patent processing from textual to semantic. We are about to
develop a semantic multimedia content representation based on
Semantic Web technologies for selected technology areas and to
investigate some central topics from the semantic representation
angle: patent retrieval and classification, content extraction, generation
of multilingual user comprehensible patent information,
visualization of and navigation in patent content spaces, and
patent valuing and technology area assessment
De Maiestate / Praeside M. Jacobo Thomasio, Moralis Philosoph. P. P., publice disputabit Johannes Dunte, R. L. Author & Respon: ad diem 9. Septembr. H L. Q. C.
No full textDE MAIESTATE / PRAESIDE M. JACOBO THOMASIO, MORALIS PHILOSOPH. P. P., PUBLICE DISPUTABIT JOHANNES DUNTE, R. L. AUTHOR & RESPON: AD DIEM 9. SEPTEMBR. H L. Q. C.
De Maiestate / Praeside M. Jacobo Thomasio, Moralis Philosoph. P. P., publice disputabit Johannes Dunte, R. L. Author & Respon: ad diem 9. Septembr. H L. Q. C. (1)
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Emergence of biofilm-forming subpopulations upon exposure of Escherichia coli to environmental bacteriophages
No full textExposure of Escherichia coli MG1655 to environmental bacteriophages results in rapid selection for phage-tolerant subpopulations displaying increased biofilm formation. Analysis of one phage-tolerant strain revealed large amounts of the DNA-binding Dps protein in the outer membrane protein and production of fimbria-like structures. In dps and fimA mutant derivatives of MG1655, no selection of phage-tolerant bacteria upon exposure to bacteriophages occurred, suggesting a role for Dps and type I pili in bacteriophage tolerance. Copyrigh
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe 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
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