Biogeochemical Budgets of Nutrients and Metabolism in the Curonian Lagoon (South East Baltic Sea): Spatial and Temporal Variations

Estuaries are biogeochemical reactors able to modulate the transfer of energy and matter from the watershed to the coastal zones and to retain or remove large amounts of terrestrially generated nutrients. However, they may switch from nutrient sink to source depending upon interannual variability of the nutrient supply and internal processes driving whole system metabolism (e.g., net autotrophic or heterotrophic). We tested this hypothesis in the Curonian Lagoon, a hypertrophic estuary located in the south east Baltic Sea, following the budget approach developed in the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project. Annual budgets for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and silica (Si) were calculated for the 2013–2015 period. The lagoon was divided in a flushed, nutrient loaded area, and in a confined, less loaded area. The lagoon was always a sink for dissolved inorganic Si and P whereas it was a N sink in the confined area, dominated by denitrification, and a N source in the flushed area, due to dinitrogen (N2) fixation. The net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) indicated that the Curonian Lagoon was mainly autotrophic because of high primary production rates. In this turbid system, low N:P ratio, high summer temperatures, and calm weather conditions support high production of N2-fixing cyanobacteria, suppressing the estuarine N-sink role.

The impact of petroleum contamination on the ecological conditions of the Dendrological park “Oleksandriya”

Within the territory of the Dendrological park Oleksandriya subsurface contamination with petroleum prod- ucts, the source of which is a former aircraft repair plant, has existed for a long time. The circumstances of the formation of ecological and hydrogeological situation on the territory of the dendrological park under the influence of petroleum con- tamination from the technogenic loaded area are considered in order to create the system of control of potentially negative impact on the environment and planning of remediation actions. The creation of the eco-industrial park Bila Tserkva will minimize the man-made impact on the state of the underground hydrosphere of the dendrological park.

Preliminary Design and Experimental Study of a Steel-Batten Ribbed Cable Dome

A steel-batten ribbed cable dome structural system is proposed. By replacing the upper flexible cables with semi-rigid steel battens, rigid roofing materials were conveniently installed overhead via non-bracket or less-bracket technology. Additionally, an 8 m diameter test model was designed, and a ‘ω’ shaped less-bracket consequent hoist-dragging system was adopted. Finally, the test model was tested under symmetric and asymmetric uniform loading arrangements, while a finite element model was established to verify the test values. The results indicate that the measured values are basically consistent with the finite element values. In the early steps of hoisting and dragging, the structure establishes a prestress, accumulates stiffness, and found its internal force balance, while the entire structure keeps a “ω” shape to guarantee stability. As the internal forces of the components increase, the structure turns from “ω” to “m” and finally reached its designed shape. With increasing symmetric uniform load, the internal forces of the cables decrease, the bending stresses of the steel battens increase, and the steel battens remain in the elastic stage. Under an asymmetric uniform load, the high loaded area is displaced downward, and the low loaded area behaves upward, twisting the overall structure.

Development of a smart fabric force-sensing glove for physiotherapeutic Applications

In this work, a low-priced smart fabric forcesensing glove is developed which is able to measure the total amount and direction of the force a person applies on a patient in a physiotherapeutic context. A device like this would be beneficial for the education of physiotherapists, to measure the progress of a patient and to evaluate the treatment. The proposed device uses a new sensor, which is based on a piezoresistive fabric. This fabric changes its electrical resistance according to the applied stress. The characterization of this sensor revealed that the change in resistance of the sensor is dependent of the amount of force, the loaded area, the total time the sensor is loaded and hysteresis. To compensate these behaviours, an additional sensor based on the same smart fabric was developed which measures the loaded area of the first sensor. By combining these two sensors, it is possible to calculate the applied force. The results show the feasibility to build a measurement system out of smart fabric material that can measure the applied force. Furthermore, the prototype shows promising results in determining the applied force in amount and direction.

Optimum location of geogrid reinforcement in unpaved road

This study evaluated the optimum location of a reinforcement layer to maximize the efficiency of the reinforcement inclusion in an unpaved road section. The analyses are used to investigate the optimum location of the reinforcement layer within the aggregate base course (ABC) layer, and provide a possible reason for the improvement in performance. A series of three-dimensional finite element method analyses was performed, and the strain and stress response of a reinforced unpaved road section with two different ABC thicknesses was evaluated. The analyses were conducted under cyclic loading with three different radii of the circular loaded area. The embedded depth of reinforcement was varied within the ABC layer. Results indicate that regardless of ABC layer thickness, the surface deformation is minimized when the reinforcement is embedded at a depth equal to half of the radius of the loaded area (D = 0.5r). A higher tension force is mobilized in the reinforcement element when it is placed at D = 0.5r. It is also shown that the required thickness of ABC is reduced when the reinforcement layer is implemented at the depth at which the maximum vertical strain occurs. Depending on the thickness of the ABC layer, the finite element analysis results indicate that the reinforcement layer could be ineffectual if it is placed at the interface between the ABC and the subgrade layer as is traditionally the case.