Mercury Levels of Soils,Sediments and Fish in French Guiana,South America

This study examines the level of mercury contamination for different components of the biosphere in French Guiana. The spatial variability of the contamination of the waters, soils and sediments in the catchment area of the Sinnamary River is studied. The contamination of the trophic chain isdiscussed by analysis of the flesh of fish for the principal species represented in nine Guianese rivers, especially species consumed by human populations. The mercury contamination of sediments and soils, is extremely heterogeneous and that of fish is generalised. For carnivorous fish, the average mercury content is 0.48 μg g^-1 (±0.28) (fresh weight) and for non-carnivorous species, 0.05 μg g^-1 (±0.07). The concentrationsmeasured are greater than the European standards forconsumption for 4.7% of the carnivorous individuals.     

Modelling the long-term strength of timber columns

Summary This paper studies the influence of the used creep function, and the duration of the experimental sustained loading from which the creep function was derived, in modelling the long-term buckling strength of timber columns. The sensitivity of this buckling strength to creep and initial deflection is numerically studied using an energy approach that takes into account the initial deflection. Various creep functions — power laws as well as exponential laws — derived from bending experiments of different durations are used for the numerical simulation. The crucial need for experimental results issued from very long load period experiments is identified. Such experiments may lead to a more credible creep analysis of timber structures.Symbols i radius of giration - s stress level - E_L effective MOE - E₀ instantaneous MOE - I inertia moment - K,K geometrical matrices - L length of beam or column - L_f effective length - N_cr axial force, buckling load - U elastic strain energy - W external forces work - t time variable - u moisture content (m.c.) - v total deflection - v_c, v_e, v₀ creep, instantaneous elastic and initial deflections respectively Greek Letters (t) time function - , _e, ₀ total, instantaneous and initial strains respectively - twist rotation - (t) creep coefficient or fractional creep or relative creep - (x) shape function - load factor - longitudinal shortening - total potential energy - creep factor - relaxation time