Energy Absorption Capacity Of Rat-Trap Bond Masonry Under Base Excitation

Brick masonry does not exhibit much capacity to resist lateral loads and hence the masonry suffers heavy damage during earthquakes, which impart lateral loads to structures. In the Bhuj earthquake of Jan 26, 2001, that occurred in majority of masonry structures failed because they were built with un-reinforced brick masonry. The EBC code of practice for brick masonry, suggests the use of lintel band and roof band that introduce a rigid box-type behavior which will help the structure to improve its performance against seismic loads. But there are no Codal provisions for use of Rat-Trap bond masonry which has been found to possess good seismic resistance characteristics. Rat-Trap bond system consists of an array of headers and stretchers with bricks laid vertically on the edge to form a cavity within a set of two headers and two stretchers. In this investigation, an attempt has been made to study the behavior of un-reinforced Rat-Trap bond masonry of two categories viz., (i) with roof slab, and (ii) without roof slab. Shock-table tests on one-third scale masonry building models ( with and without roof slabs ) were carried out to study the behavior. The peak accelerations were recorded for each shock. The scaled bricks were obtained by cutting locally available bricks using special tools. The size of the masonry models was 2m x 1m x 1m. The amount of energy imparted during each shock was measured before total collapse both for Rat-Trap bond masonry models with and without roof slabs. The results of the tests revealed that the roof weight plays an important role in the design of Rat-Trap masonry systems subject to seismic loads.

Comparative vulnerability analysis of structure with sand and soft soil

World frequently faces the seismic activities at different locations with varying intensities causing heavy damage to the property. Here we are doing Comparative vulnerability study between two soil type which is sand and soft soil. We will analyze two building having same dimensions, beam column sections. This paper represents the comparative vulnerability analysis which have been resulted using pushover analysis. Also the plastic hinge properties have been utilized for calculating the seismic vulnerability index to examine the performance stages of the selected building, complete used software is SAP 2000.

Appraisal of Rainwater Harvesting in ASCOT Engineering Zabali Campus Baler Aurora

One of the problems encountered by the engineering students and faculty and staff members of Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT) is the water supply for toilet and urinal flushing. This problem is attributed to the location of the area which is 50m above sea level. The main water source of the campus is the water coming from water falls which requires pipelines that are vulnerable from heavy damage during natural disasters and illegal intrusion. To address the scarcity, rainwater harvesting is considered by the researchers and in this research, the researchers assessed the potential of rainwater harvesting using the roof of an existing building in the area. The result shows that harvesting water from rainfall can become a solution in the scarcity of water in the area. Based on 10-year rainfall data from PAGASA Baler Station Complex which is Located approximately 4.3 km from the location of the study that on average, during December, November and October the amount of rainfall can fulfill the demand of water for toilet and urinal flushing up to 102.54 %, 76.98% and 75.40% respectively. The total area of rainwater collector in this study is about 186.87 square meter. Data also shows that on average, the month of August has the minimum potential of fulfilling the demand water for the area but by increasing the area of collector by 68%, 100% of the demand for this specific purpose maybe met during the driest month of the year

Imazapic Herbigation for Egyptian Broomrape (Phelipanche aegyptiaca) Control in Processing Tomatoes—Laboratory and Greenhouse Studies

Parasitic plants belonging to the Orobanchaceae family include species that cause heavy damage to crops in Mediterranean climate regions. Phelipanche aegyptiaca is the most common of the Orobanchaceae species in Israel inflicting heavy damage to a wide range of broadleaf crops, including processing tomatoes. P. aegyptiaca is extremely difficult to control due to its minute and vast number of seeds and its underground association with host plant roots. The highly efficient attachment of the parasite haustoria into the host phloem and xylem enables the diversion of water, assimilates and minerals from the host into the parasite. Drip irrigation is the most common method of irrigation in processing tomatoes in Israel, but the delivery of herbicides via drip irrigation systems (herbigation) has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of these studies was to test, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions, the factors involved in the behavior of soil-herbigated imazapic, and the consequential influence of imazapic on P. aegyptiaca and tomato plants. Dose-response Petri dish studies showed that imazapic does not impede P. aegyptiaca seed germination and non-attached seedlings, even at the high rate of 5000 ppb. Imazapic applied to tomato roots inoculated with P. aegyptiaca seeds in a PE bag system revealed that the parasite is killed only after its attachment to the tomato roots, at concentrations as low as 2.5 ppb. Imazapic sorption curves and calculated Kd and Koc values indicated that the herbicide Kd is similar in all soils excluding a two-fold higher coefficient in the Gadash farm soil, while the Koc was similar in all soils except the Eden farm soil, in which it was more than twofold lower. In greenhouse studies, control of P. aegyptiaca was achieved at >2.5 ppb imazapic, but adequate control requires repeated applications due to the 7-day half-life (t1/2) of the herbicide in the soil. Tracking of imazapic in soil and tomato roots revealed that the herbicide accumulates in the tomato host plant roots, but its movement to newly formed roots is limited. The data obtained in the laboratory and greenhouse studies provide invaluable knowledge for devising field imazapic application strategies via drip irrigation systems for efficient and selective broomrape control.

TREE STRATIFICATION BASED ON ERUPTION DAMAGE LEVEL IN MOUNT MERAPI NATIONAL PARK YOGYAKARTA INDONESIA

Mount Merapi’s eruption has caused damage to the forests in the Mount Merapi National Park (MMNP). Nine years after the eruption, the vertical structure of vegetation can illustrate the progress of succession. This study aimed to analyze the tree composition and stratification in different forest damage levels after the 2010 Merapi eruption. The study was conducted in March 2019 at three stations, namely station A (heavy damage area), station B (moderate damage area), and station C (minor damage area). Vegetation parameters in each station were taken in a 10x100 plot and were processed using a tree profile diagram. Abiotic parameters were measured in each plot and analyzed using the correlation test. The results showed that the three stations were still dominated by the tree in Stratum C, but the tree density and tree height varied in proportion to the damage level. Station A in the heavy damage area has the lowest tree density (23 trees/0.1 ha) with a maximum tree height of 12 meters, in contrast to Station C in the minor damage area with tree density reaching 195 trees/0.1 ha and maximum tree height reaching 30 meters. Nine years after the Mount Merapi big eruption, the MMNP forests in Yogyakarta Province are still classified as young secondary forests. Key words: diagram, profile, succession, structure, vertical

Near-Source Simulation of Strong Ground Motion in Amatrice Downtown Including Site Effects

On 24 August 2016, a Mw 6.0 earthquake started a damaging seismic sequence in central Italy. The historical center of Amatrice village reached the XI degree (MCS scale) but the high vulnerability alone could not explain the heavy damage. Unfortunately, at the time of the earthquake only AMT station, 200 m away from the downtown, recorded the mainshock, whereas tens of temporary stations were installed afterwards. We propose a method to simulate the ground motion affecting Amatrice, using the FFT amplitude recorded at AMT, which has been modified by the standard spectral ratio (SSR) computed at 14 seismic stations in downtown. We tested the procedure by comparing simulations and recordings of two later mainshocks (Mw 5.9 and Mw 6.5), underlining advantages and limits of the technique. The strong motion variability of simulations was related to the proximity of the seismic source, accounted for by the ground motion at AMT, and to the peculiar site effects, described by the transfer function at the sites. The largest amplification characterized the stations close to the NE hill edge and produced simulated values of intensity measures clearly above one standard deviation of the GMM expected for Italy, up to 1.6 g for PGA.

Knockout of the lignin pathway gene BnF5H decreases the S/G lignin composition ratio and improves S. sclerotiorum resistance in B. napus

Ferulate-5-hydroxylase (F5H) is a key enzyme involved in the conversion of the guaiacyl monolignol (G-monolignol) to the syringyl monolignol (S-monolignol) in angiosperms. The monolignol ratio has been proposed to affect biomass recalcitrance and the resistance to plant disease. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (S. sclerotiorum) stem rot of Brassica napus (B. napus) causes heavy damage in oilseed rape production. To date, there is no information about the effect of the lignin monomer ratio on the resistance to S. sclerotiorum in B. napus. Four dominantly expressed BnF5H genes were knocked out by CRISPR/Cas9 simultaneously in B. napus, and the f5h mutant KO-7 was generated. The S/G lignin composition ratio was decreased compared to that of the wild type (WT) based on the results of Mӓule staining and 2D-NMR profiling. The resistance to S. sclerotiorum in stems and leaves increased in KO-7. Furthermore, we found that the stem strength of KO-7 was significantly increased compared to that of the WT. Collectively, for the first time, we demonstrate that knockout of the lignin pathway gene F5H decreases the S/G ratio, improves S. sclerotiorum resistance in B. napus, and increases stem strength.

Responses to Cadmium in Early-Diverging Streptophytes (Charophytes and Bryophytes): Current Views and Potential Applications

Several transition metals are essential for plant growth and development, as they are involved in various fundamental metabolic functions. By contrast, cadmium (Cd) is a metal that can prove extremely toxic for plants and other organisms in a dose-dependent manner. Charophytes and bryophytes are early-diverging streptophytes widely employed for biomonitoring purposes, as they are able to cope with high concentrations of toxic metal(loid)s without showing any apparent heavy damage. In this review, we will deal with different mechanisms that charophytes and bryophytes have evolved to respond to Cd at a cellular level. Particular attention will be addressed to strategies involving Cd vacuolar sequestration and cell wall immobilization, focusing on specific mechanisms that help achieve detoxification. Understanding the effects of metal(loid) pollution and accumulation on the morpho-physiological traits of charophytes and bryophytes can be in fact fundamental for optimizing their use as phytomonitors and/or phytoremediators.

Puerto Rico debt deal could hasten economic recovery

Significance This provides a 25-year debt servicing schedule, but leaves suppliers with unpaid public service contracts as the main losers. Puerto Rico’s finances will be under renewed scrutiny this week as the US House of Representatives holds hearings on two different bills that would offer a path to statehood. Impacts After a period of deep uncertainty, the debt settlement should help near-term business confidence rebound. Washington’s interest is linked to next year’s congressional elections, as Puerto Rico’s future is a political issue in Florida. The island’s infrastructure has suffered heavy damage recently, but the debt settlement should provide a framework for recovery.

Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominalis (rice root aphid).

R. rufiabdominalis is an economic pest of upland rice, particularly in Japan, but is not a pest of irrigated rice anywhere in the world (Grist and Lever, 1969). Injury to upland rice can be severe in Japan, with losses of up to 50-70% (Yano et al., 1983). Occurrence was related to the cultivars of upland rice in China, where aphids caused light damage at the seedling stage and heavy damage at the tillering stage (Ding, 1985). Generally, aphids cause more serious damage during the early growth stages (Yano et al., 1983).