We formally derive the chiral Lagrangian for low lying pseudoscalar mesons from the first principles of QCD considering the contributions from the normal part of the theory without taking approximation.The derivation is based on the standard generating functional of QCD in the path integral formalism.The gluon-field integration is formally carried out by expressing the result in terms of physical Green's functions of the gluon. To integrate over the quark-field, we introduce a bilocal auxiliary field Φ(x, y) representing the mesons. We then develop a consistent way of extracting the local pseudoscalar degree of freedom U (x) in Φ(x, y) and integrating out the rest degrees of freedom such that the complete pseudoscalar degree of freedom resides in U (x). With certain techniques, we work out the explicit

Eroding permafrost coasts are likely indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing environmental conditions due to temporal data gaps. This study increases the temporal fidelity of coastal permafrost bluff observations using near-annual high spatial resolution (<1 m) satellite imagery acquired between 2008-2017 for a 9 km segment of coastline at Drew Point, Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska. Our results show that mean annual erosion for the 2007-2016 decade was 17.2 m yr −1 , which is 2.5 times faster than historic rates, indicating that bluff erosion at this site is likely responding to changes in the Arctic System. In spite of a sustained increase in decadal-scale mean annual erosion rates, mean open water season erosion varied from 6.7 m yr −1 in 2010 to more than 22.0 m yr −1 in 2007, 2012, and 2016. This variability provided a range of coastal responses through which we explored the different roles of potential environmental drivers. The lack of significant correlations between mean open water season erosion and the environmental variables compiled in this study indicates that we may not be adequately capturing the environmental forcing factors, that the system is conditioned by long-term transient effects or extreme weather events rather than annual variability, or that other not yet considered factors may be responsible for the increased erosion occurring at Drew Point. Our results highlight an increase in erosion at Drew Point in the 21st century as well as the complexities associated with unraveling the factors responsible for changing coastal permafrost bluffs in the Arctic.

Soil filters, which are commonly used to provide stability to the base soils in subsurface infrastructure, are prone to long-term accumulation of fine micron-sized particles. This causes reduction in the permeability, which in turn may lead to intolerable decreases in their drainage capacity. In this paper, the extent of this reduction is addressed using results from both experimental and theoretical investigations. In the experimental phase, a sandy soil commonly used as a filter or drainage layer was subjected to pore fluids containing polystyrene or kaolinite particles, and their permeability reductions were determined in terms of the pore fluid suspension parameters. In the theoretical phase of the investigation, a representative elemental volume of the soil filter was modeled as an ensemble of capillary tubes and the permeability reduction due to physical clogging was simulated using basic principles of flow in cylindrical tubes. The results from the experimental and theoretical investigations were in good agreement. In general, the permeability reduced by more than one order of magnitude, even when the migrating particles were smaller than the majority of the soil filter pores. The concentration of particles in the pore stream affected the rate at which the permeability reduced. Self-filtration of particles, which is prominent at higher flow rates, may itself lead to a 20% reduction in the permeability for these sands.