With transportation's rapid growth, ship-bridge collisions occur frequently, causing substantial losses. Ship-bridge anticollision facilities should not only protect the structural integrity of bridges but also minimise ship damage. This paper designs a novel ship-bridge anti-collision device based on a trapezoidal foam-filled composite sandwich structure. Using the finite element software LS-DYNA, a ship-anti-collision device-bridge collision model was established, taking into account pile-water-soil coupling. The study investigates the selection of box materials, filling materials and wall thickness for the novel anti-collision device. By analysing the damage characteristics of the ship, anti-collision device and pier under typical collision loads, the optimal material properties were determined. The impact resistance of the optimised device was evaluated under different ship speeds and collision angles, demonstrating that the novel anti-collision device exhibits excellent buffering and energy absorption, effectively reducing the peak collision force, extending the collision duration and reducing damage to the ship's bow structure.

Vessel collisions on bridge piers have become a potential threat to the safety of bridges crossing navigation waterways. Such collision will cause inevitable damage on bridge piers and hence reduce the performance of the whole structure. It is therefore critical to identify the condition of abridge pier after a vessel collision event to judge whether it can still be used or certain rehabilitation is required to recover its normal operation. This paper develops an intelligent approach based on machine learning algorithms to identify the evolution process of damage on abridge pier during collision using sensor-measured acceleration time-history data considering the effects of multi-hazards. A barge vessel is employed and atypical reinforced concrete (RC) bridge pier is considered in this study. A coupled vessel-pier collision model (CVCM) considering soil-pile interactions and material non-linearity of RC components is developed and employed to generate pseudo-experimental data to assess the accuracy of the proposed damage identification strategy. The results demonstrate the potential of the proposed strategy for intelligent damage identification of waterway-crossing bridge piers after vessel collision.

Thirty-two% of European soils are thought to suffer soil structural damage by compaction. Temperate agricultural grasslands are particularly vulnerable. Larger vehicles, coupled with extended periods of grazing, and greater soil moisture, result in soil compaction: a component of poor soil health. This reduction in soil health reduces yields and increases emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from N application. As grass swards are not tilled regularly, mechanical improvement of structure is restricted. We assessed two non-inversion methods of grassland soil alleviation: mechanical slitting of the surface and shallow soil lifting. These were tested on two contrasting soils (sandy, free draining and silty clay loam, imperfectly drained) for dry matter (DM) yields over three annual silage cuts and emissions of N2O. Alleviation decreased soil bulk density, especially for the clay soil, but gave limited improvement in yield; as the sward lifter reduced the first cut DM yield for both soil types. N2O emissions were enhanced by alleviation, especially, the sandier soil, up to 94% more than the uncompacted control with implications for the potential short-term release of N2O from grassland, (up to 243 kg) associated with improvements to the physical aspects of soil health, for a 150 ha dairy farm.

Vessel collisions pose significant threats on the safety of cross-channel bridges. Previous studies have paid little attention on the impact performance of common arch bridges with gravity foundations in inland waterways. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the anti-impact resistance and analyze the damage and failure mechanisms of arch bridges under vessel collisions. The entire process of vessel-bridge collision is simulated using three-dimensional explicit finite element technique. The damage characteristics, as well as the progressive collapse process of arch bridge are investigated thoroughly. Moreover, the rational calculation method for bridge lateral resistance against vessel collisions (BRaVC) is discussed. The results show that the gravity foundation bottom of arch bridge can be fixed in vessel-bridge collision numerical analysis due to insignificant foundation-soil interaction. The head-on barge collision on the bridge pier leads to indistinctive lateral displacement, while obvious local damage can be observed. The impact displacement of the bridge pier is not positively correlated with the impact energy according to the impact load spectra analysis. Barge collision on the main arch results in the progressive collapse of the bridge due to unbalanced horizontal thrust from the arch on the other side. The rational BRaVC can be calculated by using sectional strength based on elastoplastic analysis.

Accessory vessels, including platters, dishes, beakers, flagons, jars, and amphorae, are a common feature of Romano-British burials, raising questions as to their provenance; for example, were such vessels recycled from the domestic sphere or made specially for funerary purposes? Furthermore, uncertainty surrounds their purpose: did they contain foods for the deceased, possibly for their final journey to the underworld? Interestingly, organic residue analysis of vessels from Baginton, a site adjacent to The Lunt fort, Coventry, an early (mid to late first century) Roman military cremation cemetery did not yield evidence for food offerings and may have reflected the use of seconds or damaged vessels in burials, perhaps to provide a symbolic meal. In contrast, here we provide, for the first time, direct chemical and isotopic evidence for 'meals for the dead', comprising mainly dairy products, often mixed with leafy plants, extracted from somewhat unusual accessory vessels found in a small, enclosed inhumation cemetery, perhaps associated with a family group, which dates to the late (third to late fourth century, or early fifth century A.D) in urban Canterbury. Thus, we can confirm that accessory vessels found in later Romano-British burials were, in this instance, used in the laying out of funerary meals, presumably to nourish the soul on the journey to the underworld. These preliminary insights on vessel use and burial practices across the span of the Roman occupation of Britain thus provide a strong hint at the diversity of Roman burial practices.

Widespread shrubification across the Arctic has been generally attributed to increasing air temperatures, but responses vary across species and sites. Wood structures related to the plant hydraulic architecture may respond to local environmental conditions and potentially impact shrub growth, but these relationships remain understudied. Using methods of dendroanatomy, we analysed shrub ring width (RW) and xylem anatomical traits of 80 individuals of Salix glauca L. and Betula nana L. at a snow manipulation experiment in Western Greenland. We assessed how their responses differed between treatments (increased versus ambient snow depth) and soil moisture regimes (wet and dry). Despite an increase in snow depth due to snow fences (28-39 %), neither RW nor anatomical traits in either species showed significant responses to this increase. In contrast, irrespective of the snow treatment, the xylem specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and earlywood vessel size (LA95) for the study period were larger in S. glauca (p < 0.1, p < 0.01) and B. nana (p < 0.01, p < 0.001) at the wet than the dry site, while both species had larger vessel groups at the dry than the wet site (p < 0.01). RW of B. nana was higher at the wet site (p < 0.01), but no differences were observed for S. glauca. Additionally, B. nana Ks and LA95 showed different trends over the study period, with decreases observed at the dry site (p < 0.001), while for other responses no difference was observed. Our results indicate that, taking into account ontogenetic and allometric trends, hydraulic related xylem traits of both species, along with B. nana growth, were influenced by soil moisture. These findings suggest that soil moisture regime, but not snow cover, may determine xylem responses to future climate change and thus add to the heterogeneity of Arctic shrub dynamics, though more longterm species- and site- specific studies are needed.

The most practical approach for dissecting the liver parenchyma involves first visualizing and subsequently addressing the blood vessels within the parenchyma while maintaining a dry operative field. This process is similar to excavation of ancient artifacts from soil without causing any damage. To excavate the blood vessels in a dry operative field during liver parenchymal dissection, proficiency in both blood flow control and parenchymal dis techniques is mandatory. For blood flow management, inflow control is achieved using an externally applied Pringle maneuver, whereas outflow control is achieved by decreasing the central venous pressure. Precision in parenchymal dis lies in dissecting the liver parenchyma in areas devoid of the Glissonean branch, such as the intersegmental plane, using the back-scoring technique with a cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator (CUSA) to read the grain of the blood vessels.