17,652 research outputs found
Wind loads analysis at the anchorages of the Talavera de la Reina cable stayed bridge
This paper describes wind tunnel tests performed on wind tunnel models of the Talavera de la Reina cable stayed bridge. The work describes the aeroelastic model construction and it is focused on the evaluation and analysis of the mean and peak wind loads at the tower foundation and the cable anchorages since these data can be very useful by the bridge manufacturer as a support for the bridge design. The work is part of a complete wind tunnel study carried out to analyze the aeroelastic stability of the bridge
A self-consistent test of Comptonization models using a long BeppoSAX observation of NGC 5548
We test accurate models of Comptonization spectra over the high quality data
of the BeppoSAX long look at NGC 5548. The data are well represented by a plane
parallel corona with an inclination angle of 30, a soft photon
temperature of 5 eV and a hot plasma temperature and optical depth of 360 keV and 0.1, respectively. If energy balance
applies, such values suggest that a more ``photon-starved'' geometry (e.g. a
hemispheric region) is necessary. The spectral softening detected during a
flare, appears to be associated to a decrease of the heating-to-cooling ratio,
indicating a geometric and/or energetic modification of the disk plus corona
system. The hot plasma temperature derived with the models above is
significantly higher than that obtained fitting the same data with a power law
plus high energy cut off model for the continuum. This is due to the fact that
in anisotropic geometries Comptonization spectra show "intrinsic" curvature
which moves the fitted high energy cut-off to higher energies.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"X-ray Astronomy '99", Bologna, Italy, September 199
Welfare implications of artificial rearing and early weaning in sheep
In the present review the formation and resolution of the ewe–lamb bond under natural conditions are described . Thereafter, the effects of premature dam–lamb separation, performed through artificial rearing or early weaning on behavioural, endocrine and immune responses of ewe and lamb are discussed . The techniques that may be used to mitigate the effects of a premature separation of lambs from mothers are also suggested
SPIDER X - Environmental effects in central and satellite early-type galaxies through the stellar fossil record
A detailed analysis of how environment affects the star formation history of
early-type galaxies (ETGs) is undertaken via high signal to noise ratio stacked
spectra obtained from a sample of 20,977 ETGs (morphologically selected) from
the SDSS-based SPIDER survey. Two major parameters are considered for the
study: the central velocity dispersion (sigma), which relates to local drivers
of star formation, and the mass of the host halo, which relates to
environment-related effects. In addition, we separate the sample between
centrals (the most massive galaxy in a halo) and satellites. We derive trends
of age, metallicity, and [alpha/Fe] enhancement, with sigma. We confirm that
the major driver of stellar population properties in ETGs is velocity
dispersion, with a second-order effect associated to the central/satellite
nature of the galaxy. No environmental dependence is detected for satellite
ETGs, except at low sigma - where satellites in groups or in the outskirts of
clusters tend to be younger than those in the central regions of clusters. In
contrast, the trends for centrals show a significant dependence on halo mass.
Central ETGs in groups (i.e. with a halo mass >10^12.5 M_Sun) have younger
ages, lower [alpha/Fe], and higher internal reddening, than "isolated" systems
(i.e. centrals residing in low-mass, <10^12.5 M_Sun, halos). Our findings imply
that central ETGs in groups formed their stellar component over longer time
scales than "isolated" centrals, mainly because of gas-rich interactions with
their companion galaxies.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Interaction effects on galaxy pairs with Gemini/GMOS- II: Oxygen abundance gradients
In this paper we derived oxygen abundance gradients from HII regions located
in eleven galaxies in eight systems of close pairs. Long-slit spectra in the
range 4400-7300A were obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spec- trograph at
Gemini South (GMOS). Spatial profiles of oxygen abundance in the gaseous phase
along galaxy disks were obtained using calibrations based on strong
emission-lines (N2 and O3N2). We found oxygen gradients signifi- cantly flatter
for all the studied galaxies than those in typical isolated spiral galaxies.
Four objects in our sample, AM1219A, AM1256B, AM 2030A and AM2030B, show a
clear break in the oxygen abundance at galactocentric radius R/R25 between 0.2
and 0.5. For AM1219A and AM1256B we found negative slopes for the inner
gradients, and for AM2030B we found a positive one. In all these three cases
they show a flatter behaviour to the outskirts of the galaxies. For AM2030A, we
found a positive-slope outer gradient while the inner one is almost compatible
with a flat behaviour. A decrease of star forma- tion efficiency in the zone
that corresponds to the oxygen abundance gradient break for AM1219A and AM2030B
was found. For the former, a minimum in the estimated metallicities was found
very close to the break zone that could be associated with a corotation radius.
On the other hand, AM1256B and AM2030A, present a SFR maximum but not an
extreme oxygen abundance value. All the four interacting systems that show
oxygen gradient breakes the extreme SFR values are located very close to break
zones. Hii regions lo- cated in close pairs of galaxies follow the same
relation between the ionization parameter and the oxygen abundance as those
regions in isolated galaxies.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, accepted MNRAS, (Figs. 1 and 2 are in low
resolution
A Long Observation of NGC 5548 by BeppoSAX: the High Energy Cut-off, Intrinsic Spectral Variability and a Truly Warm Absorber
NGC 5548 was observed by BeppoSAX in a single long (8 day) observation from
0.2 to 200 keV. We find (1) the spectral variation of the source is produced by
a change of the intrinsic power law slope; (2) a high energy cut-off at keV with a hint of change of with flux; (3) OVII and
OVIII absorption K edges, and a possible blended OVII-OVIII K
emission feature at keV, inconsistent with a purely
photoionized gas in equilibrium. We propose that the temperature of the
absorbing and emitting gas is K so that both collisional ionization
and photoionization contribute.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
A LINEAR TRANSFORMATION FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RESPONSES BETWEEN SYSTEMS IN SIMILITUDE
The increasing attention towards the possibility of scaling structures and, therefore, systems in similitude in engineering field has led to plenty of methods which allow to reconstruct the response of
a system, starting from that of a reference one. In fact, this approach would help to overcome the obstacles associated with full-scale testing, such as cost and setup. However, the associated
predictions may not be fully reliable, due to some intrinsic limitations characterizing the traditional similitude methods (based on the definition of similitude conditions and scaling laws), such as: size
effects, rate sensitivity phenomena, distorted similitudes. For this reason, a new method, called VOODOO (Versatile Offset Operator for the Discrete Observation of Objects), has been proposed;
such a method is based on the definition of a transformation matrix which links the outputs between two sets of points belonging to a linear systems.
The applications of VOODOO to plates and systems of plates demonstrate that an exact estimation of the frequency response is obtained when the degrees of freedom involved in the definition of the
transformation are considered. Therefore, this work aims at investigating, by means of a sensitivity analysis, the method’s strengths and limitations when other degrees of freedom are considered, in
order to identify the direction for further developments
Growth of a sinkhole in a seismic zone of the northern Apennines (Italy)
Sinkhole collapse is a major hazard causing substantial social and economic losses. However, the surface deformations and sinkhole evolution are rarely recorded, as these sites are known mainly after a collapse, making the assessment of sinkhole-related hazard challenging. Furthermore, more than 40% of the sinkholes of Italy are in seismically hazardous zones; it remains unclear whether seismicity may trigger sinkhole collapse. Here we use a multidisciplinary data set of InSAR, surface mapping and historical records of sinkhole activity to show that the Prà di Lama lake is a long-lived sinkhole that was formed in an active fault zone and grew through several events of unrest characterized by episodic subsidence and lake-level changes. Moreover, InSAR shows that continuous aseismic subsidence at rates of up to 7.1mmyr-1occurred during 2003-2008, between events of unrest. Earthquakes on the major faults near the sinkhole do not trigger sinkhole activity but low-magnitude earthquakes at 4-12 km depth occurred during sinkhole unrest in 1996 and 2016. We interpret our observations as evidence of seismic creep at depth causing fracturing and ultimately leading to the formation and growth of the Prà di Lama sinkhole
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