Development of a macro-element model for rockfall steel wires using

This paper aims to present a few aspects of the development of a plastic-hardening macro-element model for steel wires in flexible protection systems. First, the material behaviour is obtained using uniaxial tensile tests. Successively, the evolution of the elastic and plastic domain is obtained using a combination of physical tests, analytical models, and numerical simulations. Finally, the results obtained with the macro-element model are compared to those obtained using other approaches found in literature.

Monthly variation of micro- and macro-element composition in smooth scallop, Flexopecten glaber (Linnaeus, 1758), from the Çardak Lagoon (Çanakkale Strait, Turkey)

The present study investigated the total elemental composition (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Al, S, B, Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S) in smooth scallop (Flexopecten glaber) meat collected monthly in the Çardak Lagoon (Turkey) in 2017- 2018. Considering the distribution of elements in terms of quantity during the year, the elements were sorted as S> Na> K> P> Mg> Ca> Fe> Zn> Mn> Al> B> Cu> Se and the heavy metals were below the detection limit. Although the elements were at their highest values during autumn and summer, they were at their lowest values during spring and winter. The differences between the months in terms of Fe, Mn, Mg, and Ca elements were found to be statistically significant (p <0.05). It was determined that the element composition of smooth scallop meat was suitable for consumption in terms of the area where it is collected and is beneficial for health when consumed in the amounts recommended by FAO/WHO, and CODEX. The Hazard Quotient (THQ) and the Hazard Index (HI), which was conducted to evaluate the health risks of consuming smooth

Empirical Models to Formulate the Nonlinear Response of Rocking Shallow Foundations

This paper aims to introduce a simplified moment-rotation backbone model for exploring the nonlinear behavior of shallow foundations subjected to rocking. The model is developed based on parametric numerical investigations of rectangular footings on dense dry sand, taking advantage of a nonlinear macro-element model verified based on a set of experimental results. Empirical expressions are proposed for rocking stiffness degradation due to gravity loads and foundation rotation as a function of the factor of safety against vertical loads and aspect ratio of foundations. Similar to previous researches, the uplift reference rotation was introduced to explore a new closedform expression appropriate for normalizing the foundation response in a non-dimensional form. The proposed approach for stiffness degradation and nonlinear backbone model of rocking foundations aims to be simple, to minimize the dependence on the variable parameters, and to provide physically sound selections for engineering applications.

Emotion Valence for Social Communication During Story Retells

Purpose: Children's narratives may differ based on whether they are describing events that elicit positive versus negative emotions and may be more detailed when talking about negative emotions. Understanding how children retell stories representing varied emotions may guide educators in providing opportunities for children to develop social communication. This study examined retells of stories depicting positive versus negative emotions and responses to follow-up questions relating to facets of social communication. Method: Video stories depicting positive versus negative emotions were presented to 22 preschool children (ages 4;1–5;3 [years;months]). Macrostructure in the retells (measured by the Index of Narrative Complexity) and talk about emotions (measured by number and variety of emotion words) and action/attempts (rated by a rubric for quality of response) were analyzed. Results: The only significant result was the difference between the number of times the macro element, complication, was included in retells, with a greater number in the negative condition. Conclusion: The consistent quality of retells across emotion valence suggests that positive and negative emotions may both be used in fictional stories depicting social scenarios to develop opportunities to assess and talk about facets of social communication.

A family of C1 quadrilateral finite elements

We present a novel family of C1 quadrilateral finite elements, which define global C1 spaces over a general quadrilateral mesh with vertices of arbitrary valency. The elements extend the construction by Brenner and Sung (J. Sci. Comput. 22(1-3), 83-118, 2005), which is based on polynomial elements of tensor-product degree p ≥ 6, to all degrees p ≥ 3. The proposed C1 quadrilateral is based upon the construction of multi-patch C1 isogeometric spaces developed in Kapl et al. (Comput. Aided Geometr. Des. 69, 55–75 2019). The quadrilateral elements possess similar degrees of freedom as the classical Argyris triangles, developed in Argyris et al. (Aeronaut. J. 72(692), 701–709 1968). Just as for the Argyris triangle, we additionally impose C2 continuity at the vertices. In contrast to Kapl et al. (Comput. Aided Geometr. Des. 69, 55–75 2019), in this paper, we concentrate on quadrilateral finite elements, which significantly simplifies the construction. We present macro-element constructions, extending the elements in Brenner and Sung (J. Sci. Comput. 22(1–3), 83–118 2005), for polynomial degrees p = 3 and p = 4 by employing a splitting into 3 × 3 or 2 × 2 polynomial pieces, respectively. We moreover provide approximation error bounds in $L^{\infty }$ L ∞ , L2, H1 and H2 for the piecewise-polynomial macro-element constructions of degree p ∈{3,4} and polynomial elements of degree p ≥ 5. Since the elements locally reproduce polynomials of total degree p, the approximation orders are optimal with respect to the mesh size. Note that the proposed construction combines the possibility for spline refinement (equivalent to a regular splitting of quadrilateral finite elements) as in Kapl et al. (Comput. Aided Geometr. Des. 69, 55–75 30) with the purely local description of the finite element space and basis as in Brenner and Sung (J. Sci. Comput. 22(1–3), 83–118 2005). In addition, we describe the construction of a simple, local basis and give for p ∈{3,4,5} explicit formulas for the Bézier or B-spline coefficients of the basis functions. Numerical experiments by solving the biharmonic equation demonstrate the potential of the proposed C1 quadrilateral finite element for the numerical analysis of fourth order problems, also indicating that (for p = 5) the proposed element performs comparable or in general even better than the Argyris triangle with respect to the number of degrees of freedom.

Isolation of phosphate-solubilizing rhizosphere fungi from jabon merah (Neolamarckia macrophylla) stand of Sidrap Provenance, South Sulawesi

Phosphate is an essential macro element that has a necessary function as a constituent of ATP and DNA in plants. However, the availability of dissolved phosphate in the soil is minimal because it tends to bind with soil minerals to form phosphate complexes. With rhizosphere fungi, the low available phosphate in the soil can be overcome. This study aimed to determine the character and potential of fungi capable of dissolving phosphate. The source of the isolates used was a collection of rhizosphere fungus isolates under the red jabon stand. Purification was carried out using the point method on PDA media. The phosphate dissolving ability test was done using the standard method using liquid pikovskaya media and then analyzed descriptively and quantitatively. Eighteen rhizosphere fungus isolates were observed, two of which could dissolve phosphate, respectively, obtained from isolates JCS16 with a concentration value of 10.48 ppm, JCS 13 with a concentration value of 10.06 ppm.