Study of a Ground-Motion Simulation Method using a Causality Relationship

The causality of natural ground motions is evaluated through statistical values for the phase difference. The causality is expressed in terms of the Hilbert transform relationship between the real and imaginary parts of the Fourier transform of the ground motion. We find that ground motions with a shorter duration have a higher degree of causality. Furthermore, we propose a ground-motion simulation algorithm that incorporates causality. The simulated ground motions, compatible with design response spectra, have almost the same spectrum conversion factors as those estimated from natural ground motions.     

From the logic of ideas to active-matter materialism: Priestley’s Lockean problem and early neurophilosophy

ABSTRACT

Empiricism is a claim about the contents of the mind: its classic slogan is nihil est in intellectu quod non fuerit in sensu, “there is nothing in the mind (intellect, understanding) which is not first in the senses.” As such, it is not a claim about the fundamental nature of the world as material. I focus here on in an instance of what one might term the materialist appropriation of empiricism. One major component in the transition from a purely epistemological claim about the mind and its contents to an ontological claim about the nature of the world is the new focus on brain–mind relations in the eighteenth century. Here I examine a Lockean trajectory as exemplified in Joseph Priestley’s 1777 Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit. However, Locke explicitly ruled out that his inquiry into the logic of ideas amounted to a “physical consideration of the mind.” What does it mean, then, for Priestley to present himself as continuing a Lockean tradition, while presenting mental processes as tightly identified with “an organical structure such as that of the brain” (although he was not making a strict identity claim as we might understand it, post-Smart and Armstrong)? One issue here is that of Priestley’s source of “empirical data” regarding the correlation and indeed identification of mental and cerebral processes. David Hartley’s theory in his 1749 Observations on Man was, as is well known, republished in abridged form by Priestley, but he discards Hartley’s “vibratory neurophysiology” while retaining the associationist framework, although not because he disagreed with the former. Yet Hartley was, at the very least, strongly agnostic about metaphysical issues (and it is difficult to study these authors while bracketing off religious considerations). One could see Locke and Hartley as articulating programs for the study of the mind which were more or less naturalistic (more strongly so in Hartley’s case) while avoiding “materialism” per se; in contrast, Priestley bit the (materialist) bullet. In this paper I examine Priestley’s appropriation and reconstruction of this “micro-tradition,” while emphasizing its problems.     

High-throughput mass spectrometric analysis of 1400-year-old mycolic acids as biomarkers for ancient tuberculosis infection

The cell wall of mycobacteria includes an unusual outer membrane of extremely low permeability. This cell envelope consists of a characteristic cell wall skeleton, a mycoloyl arabinogalactan peptidoglycan complex, and related hydrophobic components that contribute to the cell surface properties. In this study 1400-year-old mycolic acids as unique tuberculosis biomarkers have been extracted and identified for the first time by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The data suggest that the MALDI TOF MS has potential as a rapid and reproducible technique for the detection and identification of ancient mycobacterial infections.     

“The Gospel Has Always Been Disturbing”: The Centrality of “God's Will” to the Cold War Political Activism of the Reverends Frank Hartley and Alfred Dickie

Religious faith was pivotal to the personal ideologies and radical political activism of the Reverends Alf Dickie and Frank Hartley, both of whom were prominent in the Australian peace movement from 1949 until the early seventies. This article examines Dickie's and Hartley's self‐identification as prophets in the context of the optimism of the post‐war era and its subsequent retreat as the Cold War altered the political climate. It examines how their post‐war political activism was framed by a devout faith in the existence of an objective “truth” with regard to the Cold War, a “truth” based on a self‐styled notion of the “Will of God”. Further, it argues that suffering was understood by these self‐declared prophets to be inherent to their mission and was thus embraced, when ostensibly visited upon them, as an affirmation of the righteousness of their cause. For Dickie and Hartley, an active association with the radical Left was a natural expression of God's Will.     

Geographical Differentiation and its Measures in a Discrete System

The preceding preliminary paper is expanded into a full-fledged theory of differentiation. Two types are considered: feature-based differentiation and areal differentiation, both in their geographical and nongeographical contexts. Each type is examined both in a broad sense, without weighting, and in a narrow sense, with the values of a selected feature or other weights attached to the parts of a whole. Measures of differentiation are then borrowed from information theory. Differentiation in the broad sense (without weights) can be measured by the simpler Hartley measure of information transmission, which applies when any one of distinct possible outcomes of an event is equally likely to occur. Differentiation in the narrow sense (weighted) can be measured by the more complicated Shannon measure of entropy, which takes into consideration the probability that a given event will have a particular outcome.     

FIELD AND LABORATORY MULTI‐TECHNIQUE ANALYSIS OF PIGMENTS AND ORGANIC PAINTING MEDIA FROM AN EGYPTIAN COFFIN (26TH DYNASTY)

This paper describes the physico‐chemical analyses performed on an Egyptian wood coffin on the occasion of its restoration in the hall of the National Archaeological Museum of Parma (Italy), with the aim of investigating the pigments and organic materials originally used. Pigment determination was performed both in situ by a portable energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer and in the laboratory using a micro‐Fourier‐transform‐infrared (micro‐FTIR) and a Fourier‐transform (FT) Raman spectrometer. The identification of organic materials was performed through gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and micro‐FTIR analysis. Amongst the pigments, special attention was paid to the green, which appeared to be severely degraded and was examined using powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy – energy‐dispersive X‐ray (SEM–EDX) in addition to the above‐cited techniques. Other materials used in the polychromatic decorations are Egyptian blue, cinnabar and possibly orpiment, while calcium carbonate was used for the ground layer. The organic materials were identified as beeswax, mastic and gum arabic, sometimes as mixtures.     

A model for estimation of the relation between a nation and a colonial area,applied to the Denmark‐Greenland relations

A model based on identification of three different phases of relations between a nation and a colonial area is set up by the author. The phases are called the colonial phase, the assimilation phase, and the autonomous phase, respectively. Each phase is characterized by special aspects of law, culture, economics, politics and administration, through which the sciences are combined and integrated to a phase model. Appropriate systems of accounts related to the phases are discussed and set up. Furthermore, the model is applied to the relations between Denmark and Greenland, and it is shown that although Greenland formally is found to be in the autonomous phase, real matters such as the economy and administration still are in the assimilation phase. Finally it is pointed out that the official accounts for Greenland are inappropriate to estimate the real current economic relations between Denmark and Greenland.     

透闪石玉物相构成及沁蚀演化机理新解

中国是世界上玉文化源远流长的地区,随着玉文化研究的深入和玉学的兴起,玉石的物相构成及受沁演化机理成为学界和出土古玉鉴定中的重要问题。由于埋藏环境的作用,许多玉器出土时的面貌和成分结构已发生很大改变。本研究运用扫描电子显微镜及能谱仪(SEM-EDX)、显微激光拉曼光谱仪(MLRM)和傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)等分析设备,对湖北省京山市苏家垄遗址春秋时期M88号墓棺内出土的4件玉器残片以及1件现代透闪石玉原石开展比较研究。研究确认透闪石玉中除了纤维状的矿物成分,还包含玻璃相的高级脂肪酸盐,分布于晶界及晶体间隙的玻璃相脂肪酸盐在玉石晶链间形成缓冲,使透闪石玉具有较高的韧性,不易崩碎。当腐蚀发生时,脂肪酸盐会变质分解溶出,部分会在玉石裂隙及疏松处富集并吸附其他物质,致使玉石受沁。脂肪酸盐大量流失后,透闪石玉晶链因失去缓冲而极易碎裂。此时,链状结构中Ca-O键和Fe-O键因强度低于Mg-O键而优先断裂流失,使得玉石内阳起石结构减少,外观由半透明向不透明转变,甚至白化。关于古代玉石中脂肪酸盐来源及其对玉石影响的研究,为古玉研究开拓了新的途径。     

文物保护用丙烯酸树酯ParaloidB72的光稳定性能研究

Paraloid B72(PB72)是现今世界文物保护领域中使用最广泛的一种聚合物材料,但人们发现它的耐老化性能并不理想,需对其光稳定性能进行研究。为此,通过傅立叶红外光谱衰减全反射技术(ATR-FTIR)和漫反射光谱技术跟踪监测了PB72光老化过程。同时测量了材料在光老化过程中的质量、涂膜硬度、可逆性等参数的变化。结果表明,PB72在光老化过程中,色度方面表现出相对较好的稳定性,因为在光老化过程中并没有产生过多的发色基团;但在光老化过程中分子结构发生了一系列变化,尤其是其羰基峰和酯基峰出现了明显的降低,并出现了较为明显的涂膜变硬、重量损失及可逆性降低现象。对监测数据的分析比较说明,PB72的耐光老化性能并不十分理想,其光稳定性有待进一步提高。     

Imperial Connections: Frederick Lugard,Charles Hartley,and Hubert Lyautey’s English Influences

ABSTRACT

This article examines the English influence on the thinking of the French colonial soldier and administrator Marshal Hubert Lyautey (1854–1934) through his interactions with the colonial Governor Lord Frederick Lugard (1858–1945) and the Victorian Engineer Sir Charles Hartley (1825–1915). Whereas Lyautey’s affinity for the British approach to colonial governance has long been noted, earlier considerations focussed on translated texts as the means by which knowledge of British practice was disseminated. Adopting a micro-historical approach, this essay instead scrutinises Lyautey’s encounters with Lugard and Hartley, both in person and in correspondence, so as to assess their influence upon him. Consequently, it can be seen that although Lugard is held up as a cross-channel equivalent of Lyautey, whose career spanned a similar period and whose ideas and approach to colonial governance mirrored those of the Frenchman, his influence upon Lyautey was minor. In fact, following correspondence in the mid-1920s, the two men met for the first time as part of a process of rapprochement which helped to forge a new link between the pair and to position them as Franco-British counterparts. Although this episode afforded both men the opportunity to reflect on the thinking of the other, in Lyautey’s case such knowledge as was acquired only reinforced ideas he had generated years earlier. Conversely, although Lyautey’s meeting with Sir Charles Hartley on the banks of the Danube in 1893 was fleeting, and of consequence only to the Frenchman, it exercised a profound effect upon him. Coming at an opportune moment in his transformation from metropolitan cavalry officer to fully-fledged colonial soldier, Lyautey would return to this encounter at intervals throughout the rest of his life, highlighting its importance in teaching him about the possibilities of a life abroad and what could be realised by a capable ‘man of action’. This article argues that a transnational lens allows for a deeper appreciation of the complexities of Franco-British imperial relations. The example of Lyautey’s encounters illustrates that national competitors could also be individual collaborators. Depending on the circumstances, enmity could exist alongside admiration, even at times of increasing cross-channel tension.     

The crystallinity of ancient bone and dentine: new insights by transmission electron microscopy

We studied various archaeological and palaeontological bones and dentines from different burial environments by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR), X–ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in the framework of a general study of diagenesis. FT–IR and XRD were used to evaluate the global preservation state of the bone and dentine mineral phase by determining a splitting factor (SF) or a crystallinity index (CI), respectively. These data can be combined with studies on the nanometer scale made with TEM. This latter technique,coupled with electron microdiffraction, provides determination of dimensions and shapes of individual bone and dentine apatite nanocrystals as well as of secondary minerals formed during diagenesis. It enables us to distinguish between heat–induced recrystallization processes and crystal growth in solution occurring during diagenesis.     

Non-destructive analysis of amber artefacts from the prehistoric Cioclovina hoard (Romania)

Amber beads from the Cioclovina hoard (Hunedoara County, Romania), dating from the transitional period between the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, were analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy – variable angle reflectance (FTIR-VAR) and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman). The aim was to determine if the raw material came from the shores of the Baltic Sea, on the Amber Route which crosses Central Europe, or if it originated from the area of the main amber occurrences in Romania, in Buz?u County, around the village of Col?i. All applied analyses strongly suggest that a large part of the amber from the Cioclovina deposit has a Romanian origin, and thus no connection with the Amber Route.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF PLASTERS FROM PTOLEMAIC BATHS: NEW EXCAVATIONS NEAR THE KARNAK TEMPLE COMPLEX,UPPER EGYPT*

The aim of the present work is to characterize plasters from Ptolemaic baths recently discovered in front of the Karnak temple complex, by the excavations of an Egyptian–French team. The characterization was carried out by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an energy‐dispersive X‐ray detector (EDS), X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR). The results allowed the identification of the chemical composition and structure of these plasters. In addition, samples of red, yellow, black and white pigments were examined and identified. The results helped in providing an image concerning some materials used during the Ptolemaic era in ancient Egypt.     

Archaeometric Investigation of Medieval Pottery from Excavations at Novo Brdo,Serbia

Medieval pottery from excavations at Novo Brdo, Serbia, an important mining and trading centre during the 14th and 15th centuries, was investigated by a combination of optical microscopy, inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared, micro‐Raman and energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy and X‐ray powder diffraction methods in order to determine its composition and firing temperature. The samples investigated were made of medium‐ to coarse‐grained, non‐calcareous clay, by a relatively well‐controlled firing procedure in an oxidizing atmosphere. The firing temperature was estimated to be 850–950°C. The similarity between the chemical composition of the investigated pottery and the local raw clay, combined with the outward appearance and the archaeological findings, indicate domestic production. The pottery is covered with the transparent lead‐rich glaze. Iron and copper were used as colourants.     

Executive diplomacy: multilateralism, unilateralism and managing American power

The clash between unilateralists and multilateralists dominates contemporary debate, with many assuming that American foreign policy must result from nothing more or less than a tug of war between the two. The practicalities of diplomacy at a juncture of competing viewpoints on American power reveal, however, that this old dichotomy simply has lost steam as a policy–making engine. Springing straight from today's front pages and centred in the transatlantic conversation over America's role in the world, this article throws into question how America and its allies grapple for international initiative. Managing American power demands a new concept—anchored as much in the social arena of consensus formation described by Jürgen Habermas as in the experience of corporate officers leading a large business. The article argues that the real world challenges facing America as unrivalled superpower have strained the old approach, and asks if managing American influence has to continue as an either/or choice between ‘going it alone’ or waiting for others to recognize new threats. Or might it instead transform into a quest for integrating key constituencies behind practical action?     

山西大同关帝庙窖藏贴金彩绘铜造像表面装饰层的调查研究

为了解山西大同出土的五件明清时期铜造像的表面病害、装饰材料和工艺,对出土造像进行了调查,并运用显微照相技术、扫描电镜能谱、傅里叶红外等科学手段对装饰层进行分析。结果表明,造像表面均经过数次装饰,贴金采用了金胶黏贴工艺。蓝色的石青多用于头部,但在服饰上也有发现。红色的朱砂多出现在金层下部。铅丹与铅白混和使用,多出现在手部、面部及服饰上。有两件造像表面还发现了绿铜矿的使用。分析数据可为进一步的修复提供参考。     

Spatial Filtering for Identifying a Shortest Path Around Obstacles

The shortest path between two locations is crucial for location modeling, spatial analysis, and wayfinding in complex environments. When no transportation system or network exists, continuous space movement adds substantial complexity to identifying a best path as there are increased travel options as well as barriers inhibiting potential movement. To derive the shortest path, various methods have been developed. Recent work has attempted to exploit spatial knowledge and geographic information system functionality, representing significant advantages over existing methods. However, a high density of obstacles increases computational complexity making real‐time solution difficult in some situations. This article presents a spatial filtering method to enhance Euclidean shortest path derivation in complex environments. The new approach offers substantial computational improvement while still guaranteeing an optimal path is found. Application results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach and its comparative superiority.     

清雕漆描金宝座材料与工艺研究

为了了解清雕漆描金宝座的材料和工艺,对胎体制作切片进行了显微镜观察,确定了其种属;采用傅里叶红外光谱分析法分析了红漆,图谱与桐油很相近,由此可确定调漆工艺中加入了桐油。另外,结合文献,初步复原了此宝座的髹漆工艺。此研究对宝座以后的保护及清代家具及漆器的制作工艺具有参考价值。