Measured Research Articles

Amplitude-dependent model updating of masonry buildings undergoing demolition

Precise knowledge of dynamic characteristics and data-driven inference of material properties of existing buildings are key for assessing their seismic capacity. While dynamic measurements on existing buildings are typically extracted under ambient conditions, masonry, in particular, exhibits nonlinear behavior at already very low shaking amplitudes. This implies that material properties, inferred via data-driven model updating under ambient conditions, may be inappropriate for predicting behavior under seismic actions. In addition, the relative amount of nonlinearity arising from structural behavior and soilstructure interaction are often unknown. In this work, Bayesian model updating is carried out on field measurements that are representative of increasing levels of shaking, as induced during demolition, on a pre-code masonry building. The results demonstrate that masonry buildings exhibit nonlinear behavior as the elastic modulus drops by up to 18% in the so-called equivalent elastic range, in which the observed frequency drop is reversible, prior to any visible sign of damage. The impact of this effect on the seismic assessment of existing structures is investigated via a nonlinear seismic analysis of the examined case study, calibrated under dynamic recordings of varying response amplitude. While limited to a single building, such changes in the inferred material properties results in a significant reduction of the safety factor, in this case by 14%.

Clear vs. dark /l/ in German Learner English: Dataset for chapter 5 in "Phonological variation in German Learner English"

This dataset contains tabular files with acoustic measurements for prevocalic and non-prevocalic laterals produced by n = 62 German learners of English and n = 26 native speakers of English (BrE and AmE). The German subjects are instructional-setting learners ranging from grade 5 (age: 11) to university. They are predominantly from northern Bavaria and represent a broad range of proficiency levels. Pronunciation ability was assessed with a foreign accent rating. The data were elicited with a word list and each subject produced n = 15 tokens (n = 10 in non-prevocalic position, n = 5 in prevocalic position). Measurements are reported for the first two formants (F1 and F2). See ReadMe file for more details. Related publication: Soenning, Lukas. 2020. Phonological variation in German Learner English. University of Bamberg dissertation. DOI: 10.20378/irb-49135 Open access: https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/49135

Development of mathematics motivation scale: A preliminary exploratory study with a focus on secondary school students

The motivation for learning mathematics is an essential factor in predicting the performance of secondary school students. Students who are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to learn mathematics generally demonstrate higher performance than others who are not motivated. However, a properly designed instrument for the measurement of this construct has been sparsely reported in the literature. The present study is carried out to develop an instrument of high psychometric properties for measuring the construct. The study involved 439 students randomly selected across secondary schools using a survey research design. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the factor structure and distribution of items in each of the mathematics motivation subscales. The factors are extracted using principal component analysis, and the extracted factors are rotated using varimax. The analysis results in a final 24-item mathematics motivation scale, which contained five subscales with around half of the total variance explained of 48.99% explained variance. A high-reliability coefficient was found for the whole instrument with some empirical evidence of construct validity. The concise instrument is recommended for assessing the motivation of secondary school students, and further studies are recommended for its confirmation of factor structures in independent samples.

Removal of the Cationic Textile Dye by Recycled Newspaper Pulp and Its Cellulose Microfibers Extracted: Characterization, Release, and Adsorption Studies

In this work, the Cellulose MicroFibers (CMF) were produced by using Recycled Newspaper Paper (RNP). The two adsorbents (CMF) and (RNP) were used in the adsorption of the basic textile dye BY28. RNP was characterized by X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy while the morphology was visualized by SEM analysis. The chemical composition was determined by EnergyDispersive Spectroscopy (EDS); the characteristics showed a good extraction of cellulose from a newspaper pulp compared to cellulose alone. The release of RNP was followed by measuring both the absorbance and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in water after washing and deinking. Alkaline pH medium has a positive effect on the release of various compounds of the pulp. The adsorption of BY28 on RNP and CMF according to various parameters such as biosorbent dose (1 - 8 g) and initial BY28 concentration (25 - 200 mg/L) was investigated. The adsorption isotherms were studied by using the Langmuir and Freundlich. Maximal RNP and CMF adsorption capacities of 91.21 and 52.67 mg/g respectively were obtained at 20 °C.

The variations of surface wetness recorded by multi-proxies in Yuanchi peatland of the Changbai Mountains from 1962 to 2008.

Surface wetness of Yuanchi peatland in the Changbai Mountains were reconstructed by comprehensive analysis on plant residue, testate amoeba and humification, using the age-depth model established with AMS 14C and 137Cs dating methods. The response of surface wetness to climate change was addressed. Results showed that plant residues in the top 50 cm of peat sequence were dominated by mosses. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of plant residue revealed that axis 1 of DCA biplot might represent mire surface wetness (MSW). MSW from 1962 to 2008 as indicated by axis 1 scores of DCA on plant residue were compared with depths to water table derived by testate amoebae-DWT transfer function and humification measurements, and the results showed that the trends of MSW reconstructed by three proxies were largely consistent. They were wetter MSW from 40-50 cm (1962 to 1975), 27-40 cm (fluctuating from wet to dry from 1975 to 1987), and 0-27 cm (drier from 1987 to 2008). Compared with instrumental data from nearby Erdao weather station, the reconstructed MSW was basically consistent with temperature change in this period. The decreases of MSW occurred when mean summer temperature and mean annual temperature were higher than long-term mean value. Our results suggest that the variability in MSW in the recent 46 years predominantly responded weakening of effective precipitation induced by increasing temperature.

The Impact of Awakening Perception of Learners’ Comprehension on English Learning via Regularly Listening to Songs in English

“Why can’t I recognize and understand the words clearly rehearsed by the teacher while lecturing or musicians while singing or the native speakers of English while dialoguing?” This situation has been a great challenge and an issue not only for the learners of English Language at English preparatory school at Inonu University but also for others as well. To answer this question, researcher supposes that it is essential that teachers should improve awareness of learners in the perception of comprehension in audio-visual, listening and speaking skill through constant listening to music in English for a certain period of time. To achieve this expectation, the implementation of new teaching style was applied to the class of 29 students via using listening activity with 40 different chosen songs from varies classical and contemporary musicians in English in constant and regular repetition just after each course ends. This process lasted about 10 weeks’ time. Constituted with 10- different questions for a pre-test and post-test form of instrumental measurement based on listening activity as an uncommon style of teaching was administered to 29 students of varies disciplines; engineering, international relations and philosophy in preparatory school. Thus, the aim of this qualitative and quantitative research is to evaluate to what extent the impact of this teaching style is on the learners’ listening and speaking skills. The data obtained were analyzed through chi-square analysis test. Its research design setting is one-way pretest and posttest experimental single group study. The data obtained were analyzed through SPSS package programmer. The results gained indicated that there were significant differences between pretest and the posttest figures after application of meta cognitive awareness raising strategy (mean from 3,0625 to 7000) based on time variable. There is no important difference in mean between the genders; males from 16 to 40, total 56. Females from 13 to 29, total 42. Finally, this implementation related perception awakening in English teaching classroom experiment has resulted in outcomes fruitfully and can be recommended to be applied to the classes in other institutions for the learners of English Language to increase their awareness of perception during the educational processes.

ECOLOGY OF PRESSURES AND LINGUISTIC VITALITY OF THE YOREMNOKKI LANGUAGE IN SINALOA

The study of endangered languages is still of great importance, however, on one hand, the methods of analysis aren’t always presented in an integrated or holistic manner, and on the other hand, the languages aren’t always available to be studied; this is the case for the yoremnokki language in the northwest of Mexico, for which a holistic study is presented using UNESCO’s linguistic vitality and ecology of pressures. The linguistic shift of the yoremnokki language is a fact; To study this phenomenon, an ethnographic study was carried out in 2019 in the North of Sinaloa, Mexico in the yoreme mayo region. We found that there are more factors for the displacement of the yoremnokki language than there are for its maintenance. The centennial restriction generational transmission is one of the factors that most influence the movement of the linguistic yoremnokki; Although the yoreme mayo population grew from 1985 to date, in proportion to the total population, it is decreasing. There are fewer and fewer spaces in their domain; the last refuge is that of festivals and rituals. New spaces have been opened, radio, telephones, internet and higher education, but they are limited. Few written materials are available but the recent establishment of the writing standard represents a major step in maintaining it. Even though the language doesn’t appear as officially high risk in Mexico, urgent measures should be taken to revitalize this language.

Structural identification of the dynamic behavior of floor diaphragms in existing buildings

The deformability of floor diaphragms plays a primary role in the structural behavior of existing buildings. Nonetheless, few structural identification procedures are available to investigate this matter from in-situ experimental measurements. Ambient vibration tests can be very useful to the purpose, allowing to assess the importance of the floor deformability in operational modal analyses through model-driven approaches. This information is particularly valuable for unreinforced masonry buildings, often characterized by deformable diaphragms whose effective stiffness is commonly unknown and hard to be evaluated. Based on these motivations, in this paper, a discrete linear model of deformable diaphragm is formulated in a novel fashion. The modal properties governing the free undamped dynamics are analytically determined through a fully general perturbation technique (direct problem). Therefore, a model-based structural identification procedure is proposed to analytically assess the inertial and elastic properties of the deformable diaphragm (inverse problem), assuming the outcomes of experimental modal analyses as known input. Consistently with the perturbation approach, explicit formulas are determined for low-order minimal models and higher-order model updating, accounting for mass and inertial eccentricities. Among the other identifiable mechanical parameters, the focus is put on the first and second-order identification of the in-plane shear stiffness of the diaphragm. The theoretical developments are successfully verified on pseudo-experimental and experimental bases, by applying the identification procedure to (i) the computational model of a prototypical steel frame structure, (ii) the large scale laboratory model of a two-story composite structure with mass eccentricities, (iii) a permanently monitored masonry building recently struck by the 2016-2017 Central Italy earthquake sequence.

Non-contact monitoring of the tension in partially submerged, miter-gate diagonals

Miter gates are water-control structures used as the damming surface on river locks and allow the water levels in the lock to raise or lower as needed. Miter gates have channel-like cross sections and are thus prone to torsional deflection due to gravity loads. To counter-act the tendency for torsional deflection and to add torsional rigidity to the gate, slender steel members termed diagonals are added across the diagonal dimension of the gate and pre-tensioned. To maintain appropriate tension in the diagonals over their lifetime, the tension in the diagonals should be monitored; however, no such monitoring is utilized. Vibration based methods to obtain an estimate of the tensile loads in the diagonal are attractive because they are simple, inexpensive, and do not require continuous monitoring. However, employing vibration-based methods to estimate the tension in the diagonals is particularly challenging because the diagonals are subjected to varying levels of submersion in water. Finding a relationship between the frequency of vibration and applied pretension that adequately addressed the effects of submersion on diagonals is difficult. This paper proposes an approach to account for the effect of submersion on the estimated tension in miter gate diagonals. Laboratory tests are conducted using scale-model diagonal specimens subjected to various levels of tension and submersion in water. The frequency of the diagonal specimens is measured and compared to an approximation using an assumed modes model. The effects of submersion on the frequency of vibration for the partially submerged diagonals are largely explained by added mass on the diagonals. Field validation is performed using a previously developed vision-based method of extracting the frequency of vibration in conjunction with the proposed method of tension estimation of an in-service miter gate diagonal that is also instrumented with load cells. Results for the proposed method show excellent agreement with load cell measurements.

Composting of Pineapple Residues and Food Waste: A Pilot-Scale Study

Spraying herbicide, followed by burning, is a common practice for clearing pineapple residues (leaves and stems) and preparing subsequent cultivation crops in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. This is an unsustainable agricultural practice that causes environmental pollution. In this study, pilot-scale pineapple residue composting was studied at Tan Phuoc district, Tien Giang province. Approximately 5.5 t of pineapple leaves and stems were mixed with 10 wt% food waste and 0.1 % v/w effective microorganisms. Chopped pineapple residues and food waste were distributed in layers in sequence and sprayed with the microorganism solution. Composting was carried out in a pyramid-shaped pile with a bottom diameter of approximately 5 m and a height of about 1.5 m. The composting temperatures were monitored daily using a digital thermometer. The composting mixture was withdrawn, mixed thoroughly and then re-distributed to the composting pile every 3 d. Composting was performed after 45 d when the composting pile temperature almost reached ambient temperature. The compost product was subjected to pH and mesophilic/thermophilic microorganism cell density measurements. Phytotoxicity tests were carried out, and other important parameters such as organic content, useful/harmful microorganisms and heavy metals were determined. Mesophilic and thermophilic microorganism densities were approximately 2 x 108 and 3.8 x 107 CFU/g. The compost pH was 7.3, and the organic matter content reached 32.3 wt%. Heavy metals and harmful microorganisms, such as E. coli and Salmonella, were also within Vietnamese standards. Root length and number of roots were 372.8 % and 22.6 % higher than controls; stem length and diameter were 137.5 mm and 15.1 mm, and were not significantly different from controls (p

Investigation of the Effect of the "Violence Reduction Psychoeducation Program" on Anger, Violence and Aggression Levels of Students

The study aimed to examine the effect of the "Violence Reduction Psychoeducation Program (VRPP) for Students 11-18 Years Old" on the anger, violence, and aggression levels of students. "Quasi-experimental Designs with Pre-test and Post-test Control Group" were used in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 114 students studying in Selcuklar secondary school affiliated to Mersin Provincial Directorate of National Education in the 2018-2019 academic year. The program was applied to the experimental group for 8 weeks with 1 session per week and 60-70 minutes in the conference hall of the school. To test the effectiveness of the program, the "Continuous Anger and Anger Expression Style Scale," "Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire" and "Aggression Scale" were used as measuring instruments. "Independent Sample T-Test," "Covariance Analysis" and "Two-Way Variance Analysis for Repeated Measurements" were used for data analysis. As a result of the research, it was observed that the program was effective in reducing the anger, violence, and aggression levels of the students and it was concluded that it is a valid and reliable program applicable to secondary school students in Turkey. Suggestions that such programs to prevent anger, violence, and aggression to be placed on the system of education and school curricula within the scope of preventive and developmental guidance and to be applied to students from an early age by the school psychological counselors have been made. It is thought that the program will contribute to the field of Psychological Counseling and Guidance as preventive guidance and will also be a pioneer in new studies in this field.

Flood frequency analysis of River Niger at Lokoja, Kogi State using Log-Pearson Type III distribution

This study applied Log-Pearson Type III probability distribution to model time series annual peak flow records of River Niger recorded at Lokoja gauging station. This was necessitated by the need to provide reliable data for safe and economic hydrologic design for security of lives and property at downstream of river Niger basin. Though several methods have been adopted in the study area for flood mitigation, however, it has become apparent that these measures are inadequate and no attempt has been made to apply statistical approach for provision of sustainable solution. Though flood cannot be prevented but the impact can be reduced by applying adequate counter measures. Therefore, this study shows the result of flood frequency analysis based on annual peak flow measurement covering a period of 18 years (1995-2012) carried by National Inland Water Ways (NIWA) at Lokoja gauge station. The probability distribution function was applied to return periods (T) of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 years. The predicted discharges corresponding to these return periods are 18886.065, 22425.127, 24889.683, 28145.456, 30670.104, 33281.363 and 35997.757 m3/s, respectively. This study also revealed that the return period of 2012 flood is over 50 years. The predictive model which relates the expected discharge to return period is given by X = 3679.7 In(R) + 16381 where X is the expected discharge and R is the return period. Key words: Flood, return periods, discharge, prediction, hydrologic design.

Applying Skimming Strategy in Teaching Reading Descriptive Text

Reading is important activity to enrich knowledge. However, it is considered as difficult skill to learn. There are many students facing difficulties in comprehending the content of the reading text, including descriptive text. It is needed the strategy which can solve such problems. Skimming strategy is the strategy which enable the students to quickly find the main idea and relevant information of the text. Based on that reasons, the research questions are proposed as follows: (1) How can skimming strategy be implemented in teaching reading descriptive texts? and (2) How can the second year students’ reading comprehension ability be improved using skimming strategy?. This study used two research methods. Those were qualitative and quantitative research design. They were collected to prove the implementation and the significant improvement by using skimming strategy. Both numeric information and the real observation were evaluated to gain clear and strong data. The researcher acted as the observer to see the process of teaching and learning descriptive texts in three stages. The results of the research showed that the teacher and students implemented four steps of skimming strategy, as follows: (1) read the first several paragraph; (2) leave out material; (3) find the main ideas; (4) read fast. The t-test of this research was also calculated to see whether there was significant difference between control and experimental class and the mean was also measured to see the students’ improvement score. The mean score of experimental class was better than the mean score of control class. However, the t-test result showed that there was not significant difference between experimental and control class.

The Equipment Used in the SF6 Technique to Estimate Methane Emissions Has No Major Effect on Dairy Cow Behavior.

The natural behavior of animals can be disrupted by the techniques and materials of research methodologies. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the equipment used in the SF6 tracer technique to estimate enteric methane emissions on the behavior of lactating dairy cows. The cows (n = 24) were allocated to one of two diets: CONTROL and experimental diet (MIX). Behavior was assessed through video recordings between milking times during four phases: 3 days before fitting the cows with the SF6 equipment (PRE), first 2 days after the cows were fitted with the SF6 equipment (ADAP), 3 days during methane emission measurements (MEAS), and 2 days after the SF6 equipment removal (POST). The behaviors recorded included eating, ruminating or idling, resting, and others. Affiliative or agonistic and discomfort behaviors (scratching or pushing the equipment) were also recorded. Lying time was recorded over 14 days using dataloggers fitted to the cows' leg. Milk production and feed intake were recorded daily. MIX cows ruminated more than CONTROL cows (P = 0.05). The cows ruminated more at MEAS than in any other phase (P < 0.01). Time spent idling gradually decreased from PRE to MEAS for MIX cows (P < 0.01). The cows were lying down longer in MEAS than in ADAP and POST (P < 0.01). The time spent lying with the head down was shorter during PRE and ADAP than during POST (P < 0.05). No difference was observed in the occurrence of discomfort or agonistic behaviors (P > 0.05). Affiliative behaviors occurred more often in ADAP than in MEAS (P < 0.05). There was no difference between phases in daily lying time, number of lying bouts per day, or mean bout duration (P > 0.05). Milk production was not influenced by the SF6 equipment (P > 0.05). Dry matter intake was higher for CONTROL cows (P < 0.01), and it decreased from PRE to MEAS (P < 0.01). However, milk yield did not differ between cows wearing the SF6 equipment and those without it (P > 0.05). We conclude that the SF6 equipment had a minimal effect on dairy cow behavior.

Neutron measurement and inversion based on CLYC scintillator

Neutron measurement and inversion based on CLYC scintillator

Refractive Indices and Surface Tension of Diacetone Alcohol + Benzene or Chlorobenzene at 303.15, 313.15 K and 323.15 K

The studies of refractive indices and surface tension are being increasingly used as tools for investigation of the properties of pure components and the nature of intermolecular in- teractions between the liquid mixture constituents. Refractive indices (nD), and surface tension (σ) have been measured for the binary liquid mixture of diacetone alcohol + Benzene and diacetone alcohol +chlorobenzene over the entire composition range at 303.15, 313.15 K and 323.15 K. The Redlich-Kister model was used to correlate the measured properties. It was found that in all cases, the experimental data obtained fitted with the values correlated by the corresponding models very well. The molecular interactions existing between the components were also dis- cussed.

Is it time to end the use of imperial measurements?

Is it time to end the use of imperial measurements?

Ground Layer Microhabitats Influence Recruitment of Longleaf Pine in an Old-growth Pine Savanna

Globally, savanna trees experience bottlenecks to recruitment. Likelihoods are low that juveniles, especially of nonclonal, reseeder species, will survive and reach sizes that survive recurrent fires. We hypothesized if ground layer vegetation within savannas contained patches with reduced fire effects, likelihoods of juvenile trees surviving fires would be increased. We refined our general hypothesis based on a field study in an old-growth southeastern pine savanna of North America, in which longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) is the most abundant tree. We hypothesized that recruitment of pines into the fire-resistant ‘grass stage’ may be more likely in three ground layer microhabitats (inside crowns of fallen pines, around pine tree stumps, and inside patches of oak/hardwood stems) than in surrounding groundcover located away from overstory pines. We measured the composition and abundance of ground layer vegetation and censused juvenile grass stages ( 5 times more likely inside the three microhabitats than in the surrounding ground layer matrix. Recruitment was also more likely in pine than oak/hardwood microhabitats. We propose that altered microhabitats, especially those generated by death of large longleaf pines, likely facilitate recruitment into populations of this reseeding savanna tree.

Effect of Fuel Properties on Particulate Matter and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission from Diesel Engine in Taiwan

In this study, a Cummins B5 diesel engine was set up to operate on a dynamometer under the US transient cycle. Twenty-four diesel fuels were tested. Regulated air pollutants (HC, CO, NOx, particulate matter) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions were measured. PAH was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometer detector (GC/MS). The average emission factors were 0.32, 2.1, 4.9 and 0.09g/BHP-hr for HC, CO, NOx and particulate matter, which were all lower than the emission standards in Taiwan. Total PAH (sum of 21 PARs) emission factor was 3.6mg/BHP-hr. The non-liner two-variable regression analysis was used to identify the fuel properties which may have influenced the diesel engine particulate and PAH emissions. The greatest influential factor on particulate emission was carbon content, followed by density and viscosity. A 1% increase in carbon content was associated with an increase of 63.1% in particulate emission. The first three important fuel properties affecting PAH emission were density, viscosity and carbon content. The influences of total aromatics and polyaromatic content on particulate and PAH emissions were insignificant.

Damage detection using both energy and displacement damage index on the ASCE benchmark problem

This paper aims to present a novelty damage detection method to identify damage locations by the simultaneous use of both the energy and displacement damage indices. Using this novelty method, the damaged location and even the damaged floor are accurately detected. As a first method, a combination of the instantaneous frequency energy index (EDI) and the structural acceleration responses are used. To evaluate the first method and also present a rapid assessment method, the Displacement Damage Index (DDI), which consists of the error reliability (β) and Normal Probability Density Function (NPDF) indices, are introduced. The innovation of this method is the simultaneous use of displacement-acceleration responses during one process, which is more effective in the rapid evaluation of damage patterns with velocity vectors. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, various damage scenarios of the ASCE benchmark problem, and the effects of measurement noise were studied numerically. Extensive analyses show that the rapid proposed method is capable of accurately detecting the location of sparse damages through the building. Finally, the proposed method was validated by experimental studies of a six‐story steel building structure with single and multiple damage cases.