Heavy Damage Research Articles

IMPACT OF FLOODING ON AIRPORTS USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES

Floods are considered one of the worst weather-related natural disasters. They are sudden and highly unexpected following brief period of heavy rain. Egypt is subjected to flash floods, their impact vast areas causing serious damages with thousands of human injuries, economic losses and heavy damage to man-made features. According to the importance and criticality of severe rains that may lead to floods that make us thinking about making flood management to avoid risks resulting from it. Flood management is an approach that is virtually unknown in Egypt and has not been widely discussed despite the growing problem of widespread flood damage in recent years. This study aims to evaluate the comprehensive of flash flooding occurrences, impacts, and possible mitigation on the Airports. In this study, Alexandria (Borg El-Arab district) was selected for flash flooding vulnerability assessment, because it is a coastal city and exposed to heavy rains for long periods causing floods, especially Borg El-Arab international airport, it’s about 49 km away from Alexandria city in the southwestern direction, and it is 14 km away from the new city of Borg El Arab in the eastern direction. It was established to relieve Alexandria International Airport, the area of ​​the airport is about 43,669 square meters, the airport served about 189,064 passengers and this number is expected to rise especially after the opening of the new terminal, Runway and other buildings in the airport. Using digital elevation model (DEM) implemented into a Geographic Information System (GIS), the climate maps and metalogical data of this study can help initiating appropriate measures to mitigate the probable hazards in the area. During this research review the impact of floods, how they predict their occurrence to the Disaster Risk Reduction and avoid of danger impacts on vital areas in cities through surveying techniques. how to protect the assets and infrastructure of the airport by predicting the crisis appropriate to mitigate the probable hazards in the airport. يعتبر النقل الجوي من أفضل وسائل السفر ولکن أصبح غير موثوق به بسبب عوامل کثيرة , تم اختيار الإسکندرية لتقييم مدى تعرضها للفيضانات ، لأنها مدينة ساحلية ومعرضة للأمطار الغزيرة. تم استخدام نظم المعلومات الجغرافية (GIS) وعمل التحليلات لتقييم مخاطر الفيضانات وتم عمل نمذجة للفيضانات من خلال الاستشعار عن بعد ، و بيانات الأرصاد الجوية التى تساعد على إنشاء نظام إنذار مبکر وتهدف الدراسة إلى التنبؤ بحدوث الفيضانات و التحکم في المخاطر الناتجة عنها باستخدام تقنية تحليل متعددة المعايير من خلال دراسة الخرائط المناخية و عمل أنظمة حماية و تجميع لمياه الامطار بحيث لا تؤثر على البنية التحتية في المطار. وقد تم عمل دراسة شاملة للفيضانات في مطار برج العرب وتوفير نظام محاکاة ديناميکي لتحديد أماکن ومستويات السيول , القضاء على التعديات و إزالة العوائق في الوديان وعمل حملات توعية عن مخاطر السيول وکيفية التعامل معها .

Flash Flood struck Dhauliganga valley on February 7, 2021: A Case study of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand Himalaya in India

Combining effects of prolonged rock fall, glacier avalanche, multiple damming of streams, rapid erosion of slope materials and sudden rise in temperature witnessed a flash flood situation on 7 February, 2021. Aftermath of initial incidence which was occurred in the morning 1015 hours at upper reaches of Raunthi Gadhera, within 30 minutes Rishiganga, Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers swelled enormously. Unprecedented discharge of the same washed off functional Rishiganga hydroelectric project of 13.2 MW capacity on Rishiganga near Rini while badly damaged under construction hydropower project of 520 MW of National Thermal Power Corporation at Tapoban on Dhauliganga river. Except for, 5 pedestrian bridges in various places over Dhauliganga river along with one motorable RCC bridge over Rishiganga at Rini leading to Joshimath - Malari State Highway were swept away in flash flood wherein disrupted the connectivity along with other supply of 13 villages. This caused heavy damage to life and property, particularly in these hydropower project sites. As many as 204 persons went missing, of these bodies of 77 persons could be recovered along with 12 persons injured and 184 farm animals were lost in this incidence. The aim of the present research is to examine the possible causes of the rock fall and flash flood together with their destructive effects. This work also focuses on present risk scenario and suggestions for disaster risk reduction within the affected region.

Effect of Sub Lethal Doses of Nickel Chloride on CBC and Histology of Cirrhinus Mrigala

This present study aims to investigate the histological and CBC parameters on Cirrhinus marigala after the exposure of Nickel Chloride. The first group of fish was taken as control group and placed in normal water without given any treatment. The second and third groups of fish were administered to two concentrations of sub-lethal doses of 96 hrs (LC50, 3.75ppm) of nickel chloride for 30 days. Results of this study showed that the number of white blood cells, platelets and haemoglobin level were significantly increased where simultaneously the number of red blood cells was significantly decreased due to exposure of nickel chloride. It was also observed that nickel chloride accumulated in organs (Kidneys < Gills < Liver < Heart) of Cirrhinus marigala. Results of histopathology showed the heavy damage of vital organs in fish due to nickel chloride exposure. One-way ANOVA test was performed in SPSS package volume 16 showed that observed data was statistically signi?cant (P < 0.05). This study concluded that nickel chloride effects the CBCs and histopathological parameters of fish Cirrhinus marigala. Keywords: Fish, Toxic effect, Heavy metal, blood parameters

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

SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC DAMAGE DETECTION CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINFALL USING MULTITEMPORAL HIGH RESOLUTION OPTICAL IMAGERY AND AUXILIARY DATA

Abstract. In the context of climate change and rising frequency of extreme hydro-meteorological events around the world, flood risk management and mapping of heavy rainfall-related damages represent an ongoing critical challenge. For decades now, remote sensing has been largely used to investigate spatial and temporal changes in land use and water resources. Today, different satellite products provide fast and crucial knowledge for the study of hydrological disasters over large areas, possibly in remote regions, with high spatial resolution and high revisit frequency. Yet, until now, few works have sought to detect the full range of extreme rainfall-related damages with optical imagery, especially those caused by intense rainwater runoff beyond the direct vicinity of major waterways. The work presented in this paper focuses on the Aude severe weather event of October 15th, 2018, in the South of France, for which more than a thousand claims for agricultural disaster were registered, both related to river overflowing and rainwater runoff.The full resources of ground truths, contextual information, land use as well as digital elevation model (DEM) combined to high resolution and high frequency optical imagery (Sentinel-2, Pléiades) are used to develop an automatic damage detection method based on supervised classification algorithms. Through the combination of several indicators characterizing heterogeneous spectral variations among agricultural plots following the event, a Gaussian process classifier achieved various classification accuracies up to 90% on a large comparable and independent photo-interpreted validation sample. This work builds great expectations for applications in other areas with contrasted climate, topography and land cover.

Tension–tension fatigue behavior and residual strength evolution of SiC/(PyC/SiC)2/SiC minicomposites prepared by CVI+MI and CVI+PIP processes

The residual tensile strength (RTS) evolution of SiC/(PyC/SiC)2/SiC samples, prepared by chemical vapor impregnation (CVI) combined with either melting reaction sintering (MI) or polymer impregnation and pyrolysis (PIP), was investigated after 106 cycles as the pre-fatigue stress increased. The fatigue limits of the two tested specimen types, CVI + MI and CVI + PIP, were 760 and 660 MPa, respectively, corresponding to 95% and 75% of the tensile strength, respectively. Although the RTS of the two specimen types first increased and then decreased, it was interesting that after pre-fatigue, the maximum RTS of the CVI + PIP-prepared sample at 680 MPa, was 16 MPa higher than that of the CVI + MI-prepared sample at 590 MPa. The nanoindentation results indicate that the matrix prepared by CVI could protect the fiber from heavy damage in subsequent preparation, and the matrix modulus and hardness were higher in samples prepared by PIP than those prepared by MI. According to the microstructure observations and hysteresis characteristics, it was concluded that the differences mainly came from the internal stress state, matrix, and fiber properties.

Insecticidal, Oviposition Deterrent and Antifeedant Property of Certain Plant Extracts against Pulse Beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis Linn. (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Background: The bruchid Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) is one of the major store grain pest of pulses capable of attacking wide range of legumes viz., green gram, black gram, chick pea and pigeon pea and causes 50 per cent damage during storage within 3 to 4 months. The infestation starts in the field, but heavy damage is done in storage. Hence, the current study was aimed to evaluate the insecticidal, oviposition deterrent and antifeedant activity of certain plant extracts against pulse beetle, C. chinensis under storage condition.Methods: The aquous extracts (10%) of Vitex negundo, Pongamia glabra, Cassia angustifolia and Calotropis gigantea were evaluated against the pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis Linn. were carried out at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, Imayam Institute of Agriculture and Technology, Thuraiyur during 2019-20. The commercial product Azadirachtin was kept as a check and the mortality rate was assessed every 24 Hours after treatment (HAT) for three days.Result: The mortality rate after 72HAT was 85.8-87.5% with V. negundo, followed by C. angustifolia (73.33-80.00%) and P. glabra (70.0-75.0%). Azadirachtin gave 100% mortality of the beetle. The oviposition deterrence percentage for pulse beetle, C. chinensis was found to be highest in Calotropis gigantea (37.66-68.16%) followed by Pongamia glabra (30.91-41.50) and Vitex negundo (7.58-46.75) per cent, respectively. The antifeedant activity for pulse beetle was found to be very high when treated with Azadirachtin where there was no food consumption. This was followed by V. negundo (0.1g) and C. angustifolia (0.2g).

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.

Assessment of Structural Damage Following the October 30, 2020 Aegean Sea Earthquake and Tsunami

The strong shallow earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) range between 6.6 and 7.0 according to different sources (AFAD, KOERI and USGS) took place at local time 14:51 on 30th October 2020, in Aegean Sea near Samos Island. According to the data given from Earthquake Department of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the epicenter of the earthquake is 27.17[Formula: see text]km far away from the İzmir coast and the duration of the earthquake that occurred in 14.9[Formula: see text]km deep of the ground is 15.68[Formula: see text]s. The main shock of the earthquake brought about a small local tsunami that struck especially Seferihisar district in Izmir and Vathi in Samos. The main shock was followed by more than 5799 aftershocks with magnitudes varying between 0.7 and 5.1 in 62 days. Turkey, Greece and the islands in Aegean Sea felt the earthquake but it caused heavy damage and casualties at Bayraklı location in the city center of Izmir due to ground effects and structural problems. According to the data released after the field investigations made by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization in the regions affected by the earthquake, 103 buildings collapsed and urgently demolished, 700 were severely damaged, 814 were moderately damaged, 7889 were slightly damaged and 159,000 were undamaged. The earthquake and tsunami resulted in 117 deaths and 1632 injured in Turkey, whereas two deaths and several injured in Samos, despite the distance between the epicenter and Turkey coast being more than Samos Island. One of these deaths occurred as a result of the tsunami and according to official sources; it was recorded as the first person to die from a tsunami in Turkey. This study aims to examine the damage and collapses that occurred on the structures due to the earthquake and the tsunami. The types and causes of damage that occurred on both reinforced concrete (RC) and masonry structures were evaluated in detail with taking into account the conditions of the existing Turkish Building Earthquake Design Code, [TBEC, [2018] Turkish Building Earthquake Design Code. Specifications for Structures to be Built in Disaster Areas (Earthquake Department of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, Ankara, Turkey).] and previous Turkish Earthquake Codes (TECs).

An active control method for reducing sonic boom of supersonic aircraft

Sonic boom reduction has been an urgent need to develop the future supersonic transport, because of the heavy damages of the noise pollution. This paper provides an active control method for the supersonic aircraft to reduce the sonic boom, wherein a suction slot near the leading edge and an injection slot near the trailing edge on the airfoil suction surface are opened, and the mass flow sucked in near the leading edge is equal to the mass flow injected near the trailing edge. The diamond and 566 airfoils are adopted as the baseline airfoil to verify the capability of the active control method, and the effects of the suction and injection location, the mass flow rate and the attack angle on the ground boom signature, the maximum overpressure, the drag coefficients and the ratio of lift to drag are studied in detail. The results show that the proposed active control method can significantly reduce the sonic boom, and the reduction of the sonic boom intensity is more sensitive to the injection near the trailing edge than the suction near the leading edge. Applying this active control method to the diamond (NACA0008) airfoil, when the mass flow rate is 6.5 kg/s(7.5 kg/s), the value of maximum positive overpressure is decreased by 12.87%(12.85%), the value of maximum negative overpressure is decreased by 33.83%(56.77%) and the drag coefficient is decreased by 9.50%(10.96%). It can be seen that the method proposed in this paper has great benefits in the reduction of sonic boom and provides a useful reference for designing a new generation of lower sonic boom supersonic aircraft.

Ground motion characteristics of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake sequence

On 25 April - 12 May 2015, a series of large earthquakes struck the north-central part of Nepal, causing not only a substantial number of casualties, but also heavy damage to the building structures and infrastructure facilities. Up to now, most of seismic reconnaissance studies about this event have attributed the structural damage and life losses to the relatively loose implementation of the building design codes in Nepal, as most of those damaged structures were largely owner-built. Based on the quite limited ground motion data, this paper investigated the primary characteristics of the Nepal earthquake sequence. It is highlighted that the pulse-like features are significant at both the soft and rock sites, which is also responsible for the unique characteristics of the main-shock ground motions other than site effects.

The protection of selenium against cadmium-induced mitophagy via modulating nuclear xenobiotic receptors response and oxidative stress in the liver of rabbits

Cadmium (Cd) is a harmful heavy metal that can cause many health problems, while selenium (Se) is an essential nutrient for organisms that can protect them from heavy metal-induced damage. To explore the effects of Se on Cd-induced mitophagy in the liver, forty 3-month-old New Zealand white rabbits (2–2.5 kg), half male and half female, were randomly divided into four groups: the Control group, the Se (0.5 mg/kg body weight (BW)) group, the Cd (1 mg/kg BW) group and the Se+Cd group. After 30 days, the toxicity from Cd in the liver was assessed in terms of the nuclear xenobiotic receptor (NXR) response, oxidative stress and mitophagy. It was found that Cd decreased the activities of CYP450 enzymes and antioxidant enzymes and increased the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and also increased the consumption of reduced glutathione (GSH). Moreover, the mRNA levels of NXRs (CAR, PXR, AHR and Nrf2), some mitochondrial function factors (PGC-1α, Sirt1, Sirt3, Nrf1 and TFAM) and mitochondrial fusion factors (Mfn1, Mfn2 and OPA1) were downregulated, but the mRNA levels of other mitochondrial function factors (VDAC1, Cyt C and PRDX3), mitochondrial fission factors (Fis1 and MFF) and those in the PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy pathway (p62, Bnip3 and LC3) were upregulated under Cd exposure. The protein expression levels of Nrf2, SOD2, PGC-1α, PINK1 and Parkin were consistent with the mRNA expression levels in the Cd group. Se alleviated the changes in the abovementioned factors induced by Cd. In conclusion, the results indicate that Cd can cause oxidative stress in rabbit livers by inhibiting NXRs and the antioxidation response leading to mitophagy, and these harmful changes caused by Cd can be alleviated by Se.

Mapping of Potential Damages Area in Lombok Island Base on Microtremor Data

Lombok Island and its surrounding is an area that has a high seismicitys level because it is located in the Eastern Sunda Arc. Tectonically, Lombok Island located between the Indo-Australia plate collision zone with Eurasia in the south and the fult of the backarc Bali-Flores in the north. This research’s purposed to determine the distribution of vulnerability index and peak ground acceleration value are used to determine the GSS value, so mapping of potential damage areas could be done. The microtremor data taken on 32 observation points distributed in Lombok Island. Microtremor data is analysed using Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) method to get seismic vulnerability index (Kg) and dominant period. Determination of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) value using data from the MASE Stasion measurement results based on earthquake events on August 5, 2018. Seismic vulnerability index and peak ground acceleration value are used to determine the GSS value. Determination of potential damage area using analysis of the dominant period, seismic vulnerability indexs and Ground Shear Strain values. The results of this research showed that seismic vulneribility index value in research area is about 0,029 sekon to 1,360 sekon, seismic vulneribility index value is about 0,56 to 189,92 and GSS value is about 2,52 x 10-5 to 8,46 x 10-3. The results show that the light damage dominated in East Lombok Districts, the moderate damage is on Mataram City and it dominated in West Lombok Districts. The heavy damage present in the most parts of West Lombok Districts.

Damage and loss magnitudes of Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia mangium stands due to 2D-seismic activity

2D-seismic activity for oil and gas exploration was conducted in Jambi, Indonesia in 2014-2015. The seismic lines passed through the area of HTI (Industrial Plants Forest), Oil Palm Estate, and people’s plantation as well. The 2D-seismic activity was conducted in such a careful way, that any negative impact had to be avoided, minimized, managed, and monitored. However, any damage and loss of the other party occurred. Inventory of cultivated plants or trees damage was conducted for loss compensation purposes. In fact, from a total of 1,376 shot points of the 2D-seismic activity in the HTI-plants traversing about 183,008 plants, which each shot point represented 133 growing plants, involved 286 damaged plant categorized in slight, medium, and heavy damage. Plant age was categorized in juvenile, very young, young, and higher plants. The damaged plants were found only equivalent to 0.00001% of the total growing plants. The total economic loss of timber Plantation due to the 2D-seismic activity consisted of Loss of Expected Value, Loss of Expected Benefit Value, Loss of the Damage of Installation, and Infrastructure of timber plantation and Loss due to Inefficiency Value as well was estimated less than USD 0.01 per ha.

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

Increased motor vehicle crashes following the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, Japan: an interrupted time series analysis of property damage crashes

Driving after natural disasters entails a substantial amount of stress; therefore, the number of motor vehicle crashes may increase. However, few studies have examined this issue. This study investigated motor vehicle crashes after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake in Japan. Monthly data about crashes resulting in property damage from 49 municipalities in Kumamoto from 2015 to 2018 were used. An interrupted time series analysis using Poisson or negative binomial regression models was conducted for 49 municipalities; the models were estimated for four classified areas to obtain the robust results. We found that property damage crashes increased significantly in the heavily affected area (Relative Risk (RR) = 1.48, 95% Confidence interval (CI): 1.29, 1.71) and the affected area (RR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.36) after the earthquake. A mountainous area showed a reduction in property damage crashes despite its heavy damage (RR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.82), which can be attributed to the closure of its main gate routes. The unaffected area showed no difference before and after the earthquake. Geographical presentation of the result demonstrates a clear positive association of earthquake damage and increased crashes. The findings of this study highlight the importance of motor-vehicle-crash alerts after an earthquake.

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.

Intense extreme hydro-climatic events take a toll on society

In March 2019, the Iranian meteorological organization warned of the formation of several dense precipitation systems throughout the country. This was followed by a chain of storm events that ended up with three major floods with heavy damages, including at least 78 fatalities. Reportedly, within the first 48 h of the storm, the cumulative rainfall reached about 400 mm. Soon after, 23 provinces of Iran received a severe storm warning and an imminent flood alert as the second wave of rainfall was forming in the region. What was striking about these events was that, according to the historical data, the local rainfall rarely caused such extreme floods, indicating the dominant role of human alteration to natural cycles in these damaging flood events. Extreme hydro-climatic events are unavoidable, yet damages by such events are, to some extent, preventable. With proper, efficient, and timely decision making, the threat of natural hazards can be reduced or avoided. On the other hand, hasty and short-sighted decisions can be costly in the face of a natural catastrophe. This study evaluates the 2019 flood events in Iran and assesses the potential causes that amplified the damages, in search for clues to prevent future flood losses.

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.

Cyclic behavior of beams rehabilitated by reinforced concrete layers

AbstractOne of the well‐known methods for rehabilitation of insufficient or damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beams is to add a new RC layer. Although RC beams strengthened or repaired in this way have proved themselves under monotonic and repeated loads, the behavior under cyclic loads has not been adequately investigated yet. In this experimental research, beams were strengthened, repaired, or revived (repaired after heavy damage) using familiar RC layer adding methods and tested under reversal cyclic loading. Ten half‐scaled specimens, composed of columns and a beam, were prepared and 18 tests were conducted on these specimens. The obtained results showed that the strengthened and repaired beams mostly could achieve the monolithic behavior. However, sufficient ductility could not be maintained for the revived ones.