Abstract

Rapid urbanization and associated land-use changes in cities cause an increase in the demand for electricity by altering the local climate. The present study aims to examine the variations in total energy and cooling energy demand in a calibrated building, caused by urban heat island formation over Delhi. The study used Sentinel-2A multispectral imagery for land use and land cover (LULC) of mapping of Delhi, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery for land surface temperature (LST) mapping during March 2018. It was observed that regions with dense built-up areas (ie, with built-up area greater than 90%) had a higher annual land surface temperature (LST), ie, 293.5 K and urban heat island intensity (UHII) ranging from 0.9 K-5.9 K. In contrast, lower annual values of LST (290K) and UHII (0.0-0.4 K) were observed in regions with high vegetation cover (53%). Statistical analysis reveals that a negative correlation exists between vegetation and nighttime LST, which is further confirmed by linear regression analysis. Energy simulations were performed on a calibrated building placed at three different sites, identified on the basis of land use and land cover percentage and annual LST. Simulation results showed that the site located in the central part of Delhi displayed higher annual building energy consumption (425.12 MWh/y) compared to the site located in the rural periphery (381.13 MWh/y). For all the three sites, the maximum electricity consumption and the cooling load were observed in the summer season, while the minimum were seen in the winter season. The study indicates that UHI formation leads to …

Abstract

In this study, a three-dimensional, four-storied, reinforced concrete (RC) building is designed for seismic zone-IV and seismically evaluated for different infill configurations along with consideration of openings in infills to develop a realistic model. Four models are considered, ie model I (full RC-infilled frame without lintel beam), model II (bare frame without lintel beam), model III (full RC-infilled frame with lintel beam) and model IV (bare frame with lintel beam). In this study, we have evaluated the effect of lintel beams on response reduction factor of the frame structure. The nonlinear static adaptive pushover analysis has been done using Seismostruct program. In seismic design, the response reduction factor (R-factor) reduces from the elastic to inelastic strength. The R-factor is one of the design tools to show the level of inelasticity in a structure and so it has significant importance in the earthquake engineering field. The response reduction factor mainly consists of ‘ductility reduction factor’and ‘over strength factor’, which are evaluated from static adaptive pushover analysis. Ultimately the response reduction factor is obtained for the building and compared with the value recommended by IS 1893 Part-1 (2016). The results depict that the

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Abstract

An earthquake Mw7.8 occurred on 25 April 2015 in a seismically dominant area of Nepal. No major earthquakes (>Mw7.0) were recorded in the past two decades, though Nepal is one of the active seismic regions in the world. The combined effect of the main event and the aftershocks, which are temporally distributed over 40 days, has led to a huge devastation, killing thousands of people in the epi-central area. A complete seismic catalog and influencing parameters such as type of fault, epi-central/hypo-central distance, type of soil are required for a region to assess seismic hazard scenario. The seismic hazard can be represented in terms of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), which is the most widely used parameter in strong motion studies. The main objective of this paper is to understand the characteristics of ground motion of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Since the available ground motion records are limited, an attempt has been made to generate ground motion records using a modified semi-empirical approach. Contour maps of PGA and intensity have also been generated. It is observed that around 22% of buildings experienced an intensity of VI on MMI scale at Bageswari mandal. A few buildings have experienced an intensity of VII in Thankot, Seuchatar, Satikhel, Mahadevathan, Indrayani, Chhaimale, and Balambu.

Abstract

UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in 2015 at Sendai, Japan, reiterated the need for substantial reduction in loss of life and property. Thus, assessing disaster risk and identifying key items for risk mitigation are in focus. Assessment of disaster risk is a multidisciplinary effort, which includes expected tangible physical loss, such as collapse and damage to built environment. In countries with limited resources, prioritizing risk reduction effort across the different parts of the country needs a quantitative (yet simple) approach to bring objectivity into the decision-making process. This paper presents a simple method, called Earthquake Disaster Risk Index (EDRI), for estimating relative earthquake risk across the different regions in a country; it uses three major constituents of risk, namely Hazard, Exposure and Vulnerability. Hazard is taken as the acceleration hazard specified in the national earthquake design standard, Exposure as per the permitted occupancy in the Local Municipal Byelaws, and Vulnerability through a Level 2 Detailed Qualitative Assessment of buildings built in the Town or City (with penalty points for missing features of earthquake resistance compared to an Ideal Building). First, the EDRI of a Town or City is estimated for each typology of building in the Town or City, and then the net EDRI of the Town or City is obtained as a weighted average of the EDRI of each typology of buildings using the number of buildings of each typology present in the city.

Abstract

A ground-structure vibration response study was carried out at the Ramappa Temple near Warangal, Telangana, India, shaken by underground blasting undertaken at the neighbouring Devadula Lift Irrigation Project to build water tunnels. The intensities of vibrations were examined–subsurface and ground vibrations were measured using velocity meters, and shaking at the temple using accelerometers. The study concluded that high-frequency vibrations of the ground were filtered by the soft natural clay bed underneath, and vibrations at the temple structure were small and well below the levels that can cause damage to it. Here we present the scientific findings of the vibrations recorded during the blasts and their implications.

Abstract

In building construction, reinforced concrete (RC) Frame structures are frequently used due to ease of construction and rapid progress of work. In this study, two types of infill’s are used ie, unreinforced masonry infill and semi-interlocked masonry infill. For the analysis purpose of infill, a double strut nonlinear cyclic model is used. The main objective of the study is to investigate the importance of interlocked brick infill in the RC frame structure. For understanding the same, nonlinear static pushover analysis is carried out on analytical models using finite element based software, SeismoStruct. The response reduction factor components such as ductility reduction factor and overstrength factors were computed from nonlinear static pushover analysis and finally, the response reduction factor is calculated for all models. The primary focus is given to numerical modeling, nonlinear behavior of brick masonry RC buildings subjected to lateral loads and calculation of the response reduction factor of'RC'infilled frames with different aspect ratios.

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In the present study, it was attempted to investigate the cyclic resistance of equi-proportionate silt–sand range pond ash (with 50% fines) at relatively high shear strains using the strain-controlled cyclic triaxial test. The cyclic triaxial tests have been performed considering the effect of relative compaction (97–99%), cyclic shear strain (0.6–1.35%), frequency of loading (0.3–1 Hz) and effective confining pressure (50–100 kPa) on cyclic resistance of pond ash. Dynamic characteristics such as dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of equi-proportionate silt–sand range pond ash was evaluated for all the parameters considered at high shear strain. The maximum value of the dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of pond ash observed in this study was 6534.8 kPa and 23.64%, respectively. The dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of pond ash was decreased from 6534.8 to 5023.87 kPa and 23.64 to 14.17 …

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We thank the respected discussers for appreciating the relevance of the present work, critically analyzing it, and bringing forth the possible constraints in its applicability. This discussion provides us an opportunity to elaborate the point related to the scope and applicability of original work, especially with focus on the hydrological community that otherwise would possibly remain unclarified. Because there are two discussions of our paper, we have addressed them in two different sections.

Abstract

Rice blast disease is a major threat to rice production worldwide; the causative pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe oryzae induces rice (Oryza sativa) plants to undergo molecular changes that help them to circumvent this fungal attack. Transcriptome studies have demonstrated that many genes are involved in the defense response of rice to M. oryzae, but most of these studies focused on the screening of differentially expressed genes and the studies did not investigate the interactions among genes. We examined the interaction of rice and M. oryzae in a network context. Two near-isogenic lines were profiled at different time-points. Using transcriptome data obtained from an RNASeq analysis, a network based on the relationships among genes was developed through weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The analysis of degree centrality identified numerous hub genes and potential key regulators that control the rice response, providing new insights into the molecular network underlying the resistance of rice to M. oryzae infection. Additionally, a protein-protein interaction network was derived to identify complexes that might physically interact. For example, complexes of OsbHLH148/OsJAZ, OsMYB4 and some components of the phenylpropanoid pathway, as well as MYB/bHLH