Evaluation of potential surface instability using finite element method in Kharsali Village,Yamuna Valley,Northwest Himalaya

Kharsali village, located in the Northwest Himalaya near the confluence of the Yamuna River and Unta Gad, is situated on a thick(>150 m) paleolandslide deposit. The village is continuously being eroded at its base by the two rivers. Cracks are noted in most houses while the ancient Shani Temple lying to the south of the village has tilted ~5° towards the northeast. Three slope sections(S-1, S-2, S-3) were modelled and analysed to determine the displacement and shear strain patterns of the slopes. Based on surface failure conditions, potential slope instability of the Kharsali village was evaluated from 2D Finite Element Method(FEM) using Shear Strain Reduction(SSR) analysis in the Phase2 software. Results indicate a critical Stress Reduction Factor(SRF) of 1.5 for the southern edge of the village(S-1) housing the Shani Temple. The development of failure surfaces at its lower portion signifies the propagating, progressive nature of the slope. The S-2 slope section is most vulnerable to slope failure, with a critical SRF of 1.08. This has been inferred by the formation of failure surfaces with displacements of 0.05-0.08 m. The S-3 section in the northern part of the Kharsali shows highest critical SRF of 2.76. The un-metalled road section in the north of the village near S-3 hasdeveloped a failure surface with displacement of 0.003-0.004 m, and a zone of subsidence. The S-3 section is relatively stable, whereas the S-2 section is the most vulnerable portion of the village.

Comparative Study of the Protein Contents of Local and Imported Rice Consumed in Senegal

Protein is essential for the growth and maintenance of the body. They play a crucial role in different biological processes. This study focuses on comparing the protein contents of local rice grown in the Senegal River valley and rice imported from Asia. The objective is to evaluate the importance of the protein nutritional value of local rice compared to imported rice. Protein contents were determined using the Kjeldahl method. The results of the protein assays show that local rice varieties such as Sahel 108 and Sahel 134 grown in the Thilène basins had protein percentages comparable to those of imported rice. The protein percentages were 15.19% ± 0.91% for the Sahel 108 variety and 16.62% ± 0.01% for the Sahel 134 variety compared to 15.8% ± 0.01% on average for imported rice. Thus from the point of view of protein content, local rice has a nutritional value identical to that of imported rice which it can validly replace. It is important in Senegal to encourage local production, which would make it possible to reduce imports on the one hand and to make quality rice available to the local Senegalese market on the other. Sahel varieties with high protein contents deserve large-scale development to meet the country’s protein needs.

Diffraction of plane P waves around an alluvial valley in poroelastic half-space

Diffraction of plane P waves around an alluvial valley of arbitrary shape in poroelastic half-space is investigated by using an indirect boundary integral equation method. Based on the Green＇s fimctions of line source in poroelastic half-space, the scattered waves are constructed using the fictitious wave sources close to the interface of the valley and the density of ficti- tious wave sources are determined by boundary conditions. The precision of the method is verified by the satisfaction extent of boundary conditions, and the comparison between the degenerated solutions and available results in single-phase case. Finally, the nature of diffraction of plane P waves around an alluvial valley in poroelastic half-space is investigated in detail through nu- merical examples.

Surface Motion of Alluvial Valley in Layered Half-Space for Incident Plane P-Waves

The indirect boundary element method (IBEM) is used to study the surface motion of an alluvial valley in layered half-space for incident plane P-waves based on Wolf’s theory. Firstly, the free field response can be solved by the direct stiffness method, and the scattering wave response is calculated by Green’s functions of distributed loads acting on inclined lines in a layered half-space. The method is verified by comparing its results with literature and numerical analyses are performed by taking the amplification of incident plane P-waves by an alluvial valley in one soil layer resting on bedrock as an example. The results show that there exist distinct differences between the wave amplification by an alluvial valley embedded in layered half-space and that in homogeneous half-space and there is interaction between the valley and the soil layer. The amplitudes are relatively large when incident frequencies are close to the soil layer’s resonant frequencies.

Improved Data Processing of Loading Spectrum for Applications of Rainflow Counting Method

The rainflow counting method is a reasonable cyclecounting procedure for fatigue life calculation and simulation testing of structures.It defines cycles as closed stress /strain hysteresis loops.Application of the rainflow counting method requires a data processing of the loading spectrum,which consists of the elimination of non-peak value data points,load time histories adjustment and loop extraction.In the data processing of the loading spectrum,if a stress point is neither the peak nor the valley,it will be identified and eliminated from the loading spectrum.Generally,the loading process is idealized as a single peak-valley straight line.But in actually,there are polylines or nearly straight lines between peaks and valleys which can't be ignored.Therefore,in the process of eliminating such data points,it will produce error in method itself.To reduce the error produced by the traditional method itself,a new method which can well simplify the polylines in data processing of loading spectrum is proposed in this paper.Comparing with the original approximation method,the proposed method has higher precision.

Performance of Medicinal and Aromatic Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) under Different Planting, Manure cum Fertilizer Regimes in Kathmandu Valley

New and old genotypes of German chamomile(Matricaria chamomilla Linn.)were experimented under different planting methods,manure and fertilizer combinations first time in Kathmandu valley.The researches aimed at evaluating genotypes performance,identifying suitable planting method and optimum combination of manures and fertilizers.The germplasm evaluation experiment was conducted at the National Agriculture Research Institute(NARI)field,Khumaltar during January-May.Planting method trial was laid out in randomized complete block and manure cum fertilizer trial was in Latin square design(LSD).The results showed good performance of chamomile growth,development and oil content.Major agronomic traits had average figures in all experiments comparable to chamomile growing areas.Most data differed significantly and at par.New genotype produced relatively higher number of branches,leaves and flower heads maintaining more plant density.Growth was higher in row sown and transplanted plots,row sowing found more beneficial.Transplanted plots delayed maturity.Transplanted(0.95%)and broadcasted(0.80%)chamomile gave higher oil percentage,no difference found between genotypes.Significantly(p<0.05)higher and at par branch numbers,flower heads,biomass yield,plant height were recorded in the treatments with higher rate of farm yard manure(FYM)20 t/ha followed by combined application of NPK 60:40:20 kg/ha plus manure 10 t/ha.Oil content was the highest(0.95%)in FYM(20 t/ha)applied plots followed by combined fertilization(0.80%).Despite inferior to treatment N:P:K 60:40:20 kg/ha only to enhance growth and oil production,other results suggested suitable technology and successful cultivation of chamomile in valley conditions are recommended.

A TPDP-MPM-based approach to understanding the evolution mechanism of landslide-induced disaster chain

With complex topographic and hydrological characteristics,the landslide-induced surge disaster chain readily develops in mountainous and gorge areas,posing a huge challenge for infrastructure construction.This landslide-induced surge disaster chain involves a complex fluid-solid coupling between the landslide mass and a water body and exhibits complex energy conversion and dissipation characteristics,which is challenging to deal with using traditional finite element analysis.In this study,the energy evolution characteristics in the whole process of the disaster chain were first investigated,and the momentum-conservation equations for different stages were established.Then,the two-phase doublepoint material point method(TPDP-MPM)was used to model the landslide-induced surge disaster chain,and an experiment involving block-induced surge was modeled and simulated to validate this method.Finally,three generalized models were established for the landslide-induced surge process in a U-shaped valley,including subaerial,partly submerged,and submarine scenarios.The interaction mechanism between the landslide mass and the water body in the disaster chain was revealed by defining the system energy conversion ratio and the mechanism of evolution of the disaster chain from the perspective of energy.The results help further evaluate the secondary disasters,given the submerged position of the landslide mass.

Investigation of Glacial Effects and the Permanent Snow Lines on the Southern Slopes of the Hamadan Alvand Kuh

One of the issues that geomorphology researchers have focused on is to trace the geomorphic effects and the snow lines in the Quaternary glaciers in Iran. This research has been carried out in the valleys of the southern slopes of Alvand Kuh Mountains, namely the Serkan and Mobarakabad valleys. The equilibrium line altitude between current and ancient glaciers is one of the parameters that is used as a variation indicator of climate. There are several ways to rebuild this parameter (Ancient ELA). Equilibrium Line altitude requires the accurate knowledge of glacial geomorphic landforms and evidence. According to Kuhle, Hofer and Luis methods, providing and estimating the ancient and permanent snow lines were carried out in this research during field operations within several intervals and the glacial geomorphic evidences were identified such as circuses, sidebar moraines and terminal moraines. The six glacier subwatersheds were developed in a study area based on Kuhle, Hofer and Luis methods in which only two valleys of Serkan 3 and Mubarak Abad 3 had a high degree of accuracy in their ELA drop rate and old snow lines. It should be noted that the current snowlines of the current study area are 4400 m and 1400 m (based on the Schweitzer map). The results of the estimated snow lines for each of the six valleys are shown in Table 4. At the present study, the main of the Mobarak Abad valley area was divided to six glacial valleys which are called Serkan 1, 2, 3 and Mobarak Abad 1, 2, 3 and then several layers were provided, including cirque layers, moraine layers, primary and secondary crest layers, high crest layers, 10-meter DEM layer, highlight, different contour line layers and valleys profiles and finally, the ultimate map of glacial geomorphology of Serkan and Mobarak Abad valleys was prepared.

Electronic Transport Study of ZnTe and ZnSe

The transport properties of electrons in ZnTe and ZnSe are of great interest because of their numerous technological applications. This paper investigates several calculation results of Monte Carlo device simulation. The average quantities directly accessible by the simulation are the drift velocity, the carriers’ energy and diffusion. The method we choosed to study the transport phenomena uses a three valley model (Γ, L, X) non-parabolic. The results have been obtained by applying the electric field in the direction . Finally we compared our results with those obtained previously.

ANALYSIS OF THE PREDICTION CAPABILITY OF WEB SEARCH DATA BASED ON THE HE-TDC METHOD - PREDICTION OF THE VOLUME OF DAILY TOURISM VISITORS

Web search query data are obtained to reflect social spots and serve as novel economic indicators. When faced with high-dimensional query data, selecting keywords that have plausible predictive ability and can reduce dimensionality is critical. This paper presents a new integrative method that combines Hurst Exponent （HE） and Time Difference Correlation （TDC） analysis to select keywords with powerful predictive ability. The method is called the HE-TDC screening method and requires keywords with predictive ability to satisfy two characteristics, namely, high correlation and fluctuation memorability similar to the predicting target series. An empirical study is employed to predict the volume of tourism visitors in the Jiuzhai Valley scenic area. The study shows that keywords selected using HE-TDC method produce a model with better robustness and predictive ability.

Valley-resolved transport in zigzag graphene nanoribbon junctions

Applying the transfer matrix and Green’s function methods,we study the valley-resolved transport properties of zigzag graphene nanoribbon(ZGN_(R))junctions.The width of the left and right ZGN_(R)s are N_(L)and N_(R),and N_(L)≥N_(R).The step/dip positions of the conductance G,the intravalley transmission coefficients(TKKand TK’K’),and the valley polarization efficiency PK’K correspond to the subband edges of the right/left ZGN_(R)that are controlled by N_(R)/N_(L).The intervalley transmission coefficients(TKK and TK’K)exhibit peaks at most of the subband edge of the left and right ZGN_(R)s.In the bulk gap of the right ZGN_(R),TKK’=TK’K=0,and PKK’=±1,the valley polarization is well preserved.As N_(R)increases,the energy region for PK’K=±1 decreases.When N_(L)is fixed and N_(R)decreases,G,TKK,TK’K’and PKK’exhibit more and more dips,and the peaks of TKK’(TK’K)become more and more high,especially when(N_(L)-N_(R))/2 is odd.These characters are quite useful for manipulating the valley dependent transport properties of carriers in ZGN_(R)junctions by modulating N_(L)or N_(R),and our results are helpful to the design of valleytronics based on ZGN_(R)junctions.