Analysis of the Out-Of-Plane Seismic Behavior of Unreinforced Masonry: A Literature Review

Although the issue of the out-of-plane response of unreinforced masonry structures under earthquake excitation is well known with consensus among the research community, this issue is simultaneously one of the more complex and most neglected areas on the seismic assessment of existing buildings. Nonetheless, its characterization should be found on the solid knowledge of the phenomenon and on the complete understanding of methodologies currently used to describe it. Based on this assumption, this article presents a general framework on the issue of the out-of-plane performance of unreinforced masonry structures, beginning with a brief introduction to the topic, followed by a compact state of art in which the principal methodologies proposed to assess the out-of-plane behavior of unreinforced masonry structures are presented. Different analytical approaches are presented, namely force and displacement-based, complemented with the presentation of existing numerical tools for the purpose presented above. Moreover, the most relevant experimental campaigns carried out in order to reproduce the phenomenon are reviewed and briefly discussed.     

传统农区城乡体系空间结构演变及其形成机制研究——以河南省周口市为例

以传统农区周口市为研究对象，利用聚落斑块面积和相关社会经济指标，探讨了周口市城乡体系空间结构演变规律与作用机制。研究发现，周口市城乡体系空间结构演变呈现低端均衡结构（1973年）-点轴结构（1990年）-中心外围结构（2000年）-圈层结构（2015年）的演进过程，每种结构对城乡要素流动的方向和作用各不相同，从而使城乡体系的空间结构各不相同。交通导向机制是影响城乡体系空间结构演变的早期主导因素，促进城镇体系空间结构不断拓展，并带动乡村体系空间结构不断更迭；特色产业是影响城乡体系空间结构的新机制，助推城乡体系空间结构进一步完善；政府作用机制有效地引导城乡体系空间拓展方向，推动城乡空间格局结构性地演变。     

Successful cervical disc surgery by Professor Angelo Chiasserini Sr of Rome in 1937: a historical case report

Although resection of cervical "chondromas" had been reported since the late twenties, the true nature of this condition was not recognized at that time. This paper reports a case of "inferior cervical radiculitis by herniation of nucleus pulposus" operated by Prof. Angelo Chiasserini Sr, one of the founders of Italian neurosurgery, in January 1937. To our knowledge this represents one of the first examples of correct etiopathogenetic interpretation of cervical disc disease. Surgery was followed by excellent recovery, a quite remarkable result in those times. The case history is reported in detail, and a short historical sketch of cervical disc disease is depicted.     

Domesticating Diamonds and Dollars: Identity,Expenditure and Sharing in Southwestern Zaire (1984–1997)

This article explores the impact of the recent diamond traffic on both rural and urban life in southwestern Congo-Zaire, in an attempt at a ‘multi-sited’ ethnography of the circulation of cultural meanings, commodities, money and identities in an increasingly diffuse time-space, in which the standard dichotomies between rural and urban worlds, lived world and system, traditional and modern, or precapitalist and capitalist realities have lost much of their explanatory strength. More specifically, the article deals with the widespread phenomenon of the bana Lunda, ‘the children of Lunda’, young Congolese urbanites who travel from all over southwestern Zaire to the Angolan province of Lunda Norte in order to dig or dive for diamonds in the UNITA-controlled territories. It investigates the changes brought about by the diamond trade and by the influx of these urban youngsters into the rural border area, as well as the impact of the accompanying monetization, known as ‘dollarization’, on the daily life of villagers and urbanites in Southwestern Zaire.