Search results for "technical"

Using very high resolution (VHR) imagery within a GEOBIA framework for gully mapping: an application to the Calhoun Critical Zone Observatory

2019

AbstractGully erosion is a form of accelerated erosion that may affect soil productivity, restrict land use, and lead to an increase of risk to infrastructure. An accurate mapping of these landforms can be difficult because of the presence of dense canopy and/or the wide spatial extent of some gullies. Even where possible, mapping of gullies through conventional field surveying can be an intensive and expensive activity. The recent widespread availability of very high resolution (VHR) imagery has led to a remarkable growth in the availability of terrain information, thus providing a basis for the development of new methodologies for analyzing Earth's surfaces. This work aims to develop a ge…

Dance moves reflect current affective state illustrative of approach–avoidance motivation.

2013

The Technical Language in the Practice of the Students Learning the French Language

2012

Abstract The technical language is a basic element in the practice of the students in the modern organizations. At present moment the situation of the technical language acquired by the students is rather uncertain, because in universities there is the tendency to teach the classical French language, based on literary texts. In this context, they are only few teachers having a cognitive and lexical knowledge which includes the technical specialized language.The objectives of our study dedicate themselves to the discovery of new strategies and didactic methods in order to make easier the study and the education of the technical vocabulary. We worked with a group of 87 students of French lang…

Modelling the Water Retention Domain of a Compacted Scaly Clay

2012

A body of experimental data on the water retention behaviour of compacted samples of an Italian scaly clay is analysed. The mechanical and the hydraulic behaviour of compacted samples of this clay are governed by multi-scale arrangement of scales and aggregates, which characterises the compacted clay fabric. At least two different pore networks, namely intra-aggregate and inter-aggregate, may be identified, which interact one with the other along coupled hydro-mechanical paths. The retention behaviour is interpreted in the framework of a comprehensive multi-scale modelling approach recently proposed for compacted clays of low and medium activity, which proves to be able to account for the i…

Shear Strength of a Compacted Scaly Clay from Suction-Controlled Triaxial Tests

2012

The paper presents the results of an experimental research aimed at investigating the shear strength characteristics of an unsaturated compacted scaly clay. Shear strength was investigated by suction-controlled triaxial compression tests on dynamically compacted samples. Collected results point out that suction effects on stiffness and shear strength can be very different for suction values applied lower or greater than air entry value (AEV), corresponding to the material void ratio.

Advances in the Testing of the Hydro-mechanical Behaviour of Shales

2013

The paper presents some of the advanced experimental techniques and apparatuses that have been developed by the authors for testing the hydromechanical behaviour of shales. A methodology established for the analysis of the water retention behaviour in non-isochoric conditions is introduced; the method allows for the determination of the main drying and wetting paths in addition to the volume change response upon total suction variations. A high-pressure oedometric cell is then presented; the apparatus allows for the analysis of the transition from the pre-yield behaviour to the normally consolidated state. The analysis of the settlement versus time curves yields information on the permeabil…

Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail : Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913

2016

The study examines the evolution of skill premium and share at industry level in shipping during the age of sail. We argue that the period from the 1750s to the 1910s represented deskilling for the seamen working in sailing ships. The growth of international trade and shipping during the first era of globalization increased the overall demand for sailors but decreased the relative demand for skilled labor in favor of less skilled ones. This deskilling was associated with a decline in wage inequality, as the premium for high skilled seamen fell relative to mean wages in the shipping industry. The decline in skill premium may have facilitated the growth of trade and shipping, as the relative …

Technology Diffusion, Worker Mobility and the Returns to Skill

2015

In this paper I illustrate how the diffusion across firms of a skill-neutral technology leads to a skill-biased impact on the economy. The model identifies (i) differences in inter-firm mobility between skill groups, (ii) productivity dispersion across firms within industries, and (iii) differences in wages between small and large firms as key determinants of the skill premium. Calibrated to match differences in inter-firm mobility between skill groups and rising productivity dispersion across firms, the model ascribes one-third of the sharp increase in the skill premium in U.S. manufacturing from 1977 to 1997 to skill-neutral technical progress and the technology diffusion process itself. …

New-stage discharge relationship for weirs of finite crest lenght

2014

AbstractThe flow process of weirs of finite crest length is analyzed on the basis of the dimensional analysis and incomplete self-similarity theory. The crest length is incorporated in the functional stage-discharge relationship for weirs of finite crest length. The theoretically deduced stage-discharge formula was then calibrated using the experimental data compiled in this research. According to the current experimental data it is also concluded that the performance of the proposed stage-discharge formula is better than the previous dimensional stage-discharge formulae. Also, the proposed stage-discharge formula is applicable for all types of the weirs, i.e., long-crested, broad-crested, …

Investigation into water retention behaviour of deformable soils

2013

The paper presents an experimental and modelling approach for the soil-water retention behaviour of two deformable soils. The objective is to investigate the physical mechanisms that govern the soil-water retention properties and to propose a constitutive framework for the soil-water retention curve accounting for the initial state of compaction and deformability of soils. A granular soil and a clayey soil were subjected to drying over a wide range of suctions so that the residual state of saturation could be attained. Different initial densities were tested for each material. The soil-water retention curves (SWRCs) obtained are synthesized and compared in terms of water content, void rati…