Search results for "Water science"
showing 10 items of 1545 documents
It takes time to see the menu from the body: an experiment on stable isotope composition in freshwater crayfishes
2015
For many applications and ecological studies in which wild individuals are brought to laboratory it would be essential to know accurately how fast novel diet is reflected in composition of different tissues. To study the effects of two different diets on the stable isotope composition of freshwater crayfish muscle and hemolymph, we conducted a three month experiment on noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) by feeding them sweet corn (Zea mays) or Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) as novel food. During the experiment, the crayfish were given 0.4 g of selected food daily and the amount consumed was recorded. The samples for the stable isotope a…
Water distribution network robust design based on energy surplus index maximization
2015
The aim of this paper is to show that energy surplus indices, such as resilience index, besides providing a very good indirect measure of water distribution network reliability to be adopted during the design phase, represent also a valuable and effective indicator of the robustness of the network in alternative network scenarios, and can thus be profitably used in condition of future demands uncertainty. The methodology adopted consisted of (I) multi-objective design optimization performed in order to minimize construction costs while maximizing the resilience index; (II) retrospective performance assessment of the alternative solutions of the Pareto front obtained, under demand conditions…
Gravity-derived Moho map for Latvia
2020
A precise understanding of crustal structure is essential to the fields of geodynamics, seismology and certain branches of geophysics. A boundary between the crust and the mantle is known as the MohoroviÄiÄ discontinuity, simply referred to as the âMohoâ. Moho geometry and depth have been extensively studied in Europe, but there are still regions with little information about it. One such area is the northern Baltics, Latvia in particular. So far, only one seismic refraction profile, spanning from Sovetsk (Kaliningrad) to Kohtla-Järve (Estonia), has been used to study the deep structure of the Earth in Latvia. We propose gravity inversion (ParkerâOldenburg algorithm) to gain more insight i…
Modeling the probability distribution of peak discharge for infiltrating hillslopes
2017
Hillslope response plays a fundamental role in the prediction of peak discharge at the basin outlet. The peak discharge for the critical duration of rainfall and its probability distribution are needed for designing urban infrastructure facilities. This study derives the probability distribution, denoted as GABS model, by coupling three models: (1) the Green-Ampt model for computing infiltration, (2) the kinematic wave model for computing discharge hydrograph from the hillslope, and (3) the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) model for computing design rainfall intensity. The Hortonian mechanism for runoff generation is employed for computing the surface runoff hydrograph. Since the antecede…
Biological and Proteomic Characterization of the Anti-Cancer Potency of Aqueous Extracts from Cell-Free Coelomic Fluid of Arbacia lixula Sea Urchin i…
2022
Echinoderms are an acknowledged source of bioactive compounds exerting various beneficial effects on human health. Here, we examined the potential in vitro anti-hepatocarcinoma effects of aqueous extracts of the cell-free coelomic fluid obtained from the sea urchin Arbacia lixula using the HepG2 cell line as a model system. This was accomplished by employing a combination of colorimetric, microscopic and flow cytometric assays to determine cell viability, cell cycle distribution, the possible onset of apoptosis, the accumulation rate of acidic vesicular organelles, mitochondrial polarization, cell redox state and cell locomotory ability. The obtained data show that exposed HepG2 cells under…
Flooding in the Digital Twin Earth: The Case Study of the Enza River Levee Breach in December 2017
2023
The accurate delineation of flood hazard maps is a key element of flood risk management policy. Flood inundation models are fundamental for reproducing the boundaries of flood-prone areas, but their calibration is limited to the information available on the areas affected by inundation during observed flood events (typically fragmentary photo, video or partial surveys). In recent years, Earth Observation data have supported flood monitoring and emergency response (e.g., the Copernicus Emergency Service) thanks to the proliferation of available satellite sensors, also at high spatial resolution. Under this umbrella, the study investigates a levee breach that occurred in December 2017 along t…
Analysis of the Effects of Reservoir Operating Scenarios on Downstream Flood Damage Risk Using an Integrated Monte Carlo Modelling Approach
2023
The aim of this study is to analyse the effects of reservoir operating scenarios, for flood damage evaluation downstream of a dam, using a Monte Carlo bivariate modelling chain. The proposed methodology involves a stochastic procedure to calculate flood hydrographs and the evaluation of the consequent flood inundation area by applying a 2D hydraulic model. These results are used to estimate the inundation risk and, as consequence, the relative damage evaluation under different water level conditions in an upstream reservoir. The modelling chain can be summarized as follows: single synthetic stochastic rainfall event generation by using a Monte Carlo procedure through a bivariate copulas ana…
Entropic model application to identify cross-sectional flow effect on velocity distribution in a large amplitude meandering channel
2020
Abstract Literature shows the application of the entropy concept in open channels flow. No existing research has been addressed to the application of the entropy concept for evaluating the effect of secondary flow which especially develops in curved channels. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility to evaluate the effect of the secondary flow on the stream-wise velocity distribution starting only from the knowledge of the surface velocity and the entropic concept application. The analysis is conducted with the aid of data collected in a large-amplitude meandering laboratory flume for two different values of the width-to-depth ratio. Results show that the location of the maxi…
Improving the Downwind Sail Design Process by Means of a Novel FSI Approach
2021
The process of designing a sail can be a challenging task because of the difficulties in predicting the real aerodynamic performance. This is especially true in the case of downwind sails, where the evaluation of the real shapes and aerodynamic forces can be very complex because of turbulent and detached flows and the high-deformable behavior of structures. Of course, numerical methods are very useful and reliable tools to investigate sail performances, and their use, also as a result of the exponential growth of computational resources at a very low cost, is spreading more and more, even in not highly competitive fields. This paper presents a new methodology to support sail designers in ev…
First Evidence of Contourite Drifts in the North-Western Sicilian Active Continental Margin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea)
2021
We present the results of an integrated geomorphological and seismo-stratigraphic study based on high resolution marine data acquired in the north-western Sicilian continental margin. We document for the first time five contourite drifts (marked as EM1a, EM2b, EM2, EM3a, and EM3b), located in the continental slope at depths between ca. 400 and 1500 m. EM1a,b have been interpreted as elongated mounded drifts. EM1a,b are ca. 3 km long, 1.3 km wide, and have a maximum thickness of 36 m in their center that thins northwards, while EM1b is smaller with a thickness up to 24 m. They are internally characterized by mounded seismic packages dominated by continuous and parallel reflectors. EM2 is loc…