Reaction to Fire of Existing Timber Elements Protected With Fire Retardant Treatments: Experimental Assessment

Fire safety is an important issue of building safety, especially when the building’s fire load contents enhance the risks of fire deflagration. When existing timber structures are involved, the most usual way to improve its reaction to fire is to treat wood with fire retardants. This study focuses on the surface protection of existing timber roof structures against fire, through the use of fire retardant (FR) treatments applied on site. An experimental investigation was carried out to study the effect of FR treatments on timber reaction to fire, with a special emphasis on timber members with biological deterioration and previously treated with preservative products. The behaviour and effectiveness of intumescent and non-intumescent treatments was also investigated. The study showed that the application of FR treatments improved the reaction to fire of timber, even in the presence of previous preservative treatments. However, the choice of the specific FR treatment should take into account the substrate conditions. In addition, test results suggest that protection systems involving multi layers (intumescent and non-intumescent) with different functioning modes each are likely to have a good global performance on the protection of timber elements against fire.     

Gender Education Gaps among Indigenous and Non‐Indigenous Groups in Bolivia

This article studies gender education gaps among indigenous and non‐indigenous groups in Bolivia. Using the National Census of Population and Housing 2012 and an estimation method analogous to difference‐in‐differences, the study finds that the intersection of gender and indigenous identity confers cumulative disadvantage for indigenous women in literacy, years of schooling and primary and secondary school completion. While gender education gaps have become narrower across generations, there remain significant differences within indigenous groups. The Aymara have the largest gender gap in all outcomes, despite having high overall attainment rates and mostly residing in urban centres with greater physical access to schools. The Quechua have relatively smaller gender gaps, but these are accompanied by lower attainment levels. The article discusses the possible sources of these differentials and highlights the importance of taking gender dynamics within each indigenous group into greater consideration.     

«Une mission glorieuse et profitable» réforme missionnaire et économie sucrière dans la province jésuite du Brésil au début du XVIIe siècle

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Jesuit province of Brazil is affected by tensions which reveal the complexity of its relation both with the colonial society and with the Roman center of the order. The paper is focused on an exceptional and original document about which nothing is clearly identified (author, date), theAdvertências para a província do Brasil. It allows a precise analysis of the missionary enterprise, as an economico-political experience (the Jesuits become one of the most important sugar producers of the country), and as a spiritual experience (through the salvation of the missionaries and the conversion of the Indians). This document is centered on thealdeia which is described as the main structure for the action of the Jesuits in Brazil. In that way, it reveals a global vision of the mission, geopolitical, economical and religious, which has systematically been overshadowed by the traditional historiography, whose approach of the missionary phenomenon was exclusively spiritual.     

Sur l'expertise anthropologique territoires et identités indigènes au Brésil

Is it possible for an anthropologist to decide whether an individual or a collectivity can or cannot be characterized as « indigenous », and then proceed to establish the limits of the territory which should be assigned (or recognized) by the state? Does his role as a scientist furnish him with the conceptual and methodological instruments necessary for such a task? In epistemological and ethical terms, is this something which he should endeavour to do? The purpose of this paper is to discuss how these questions are being put to Brazilian anthropologists since the 1980s. Torn between an « indianist » and an « indigenist » discourse, between romanticism and political mediation, the anthropologist must define an appropriate posture for dealing with policy-making; one which will simultaneously safeguard the scientific quality of his work while addressing the specific demands of each situation.     

Aqui Lourenço Marques!! Radio colonization and cultural identity in colonial Mozambique, 1932–74

The Portuguese empire in Africa was one of the last to collapse amidst the waves of decolonization that swept the continent in the 1950s and 1960s. The astonishing endurance of Portuguese colonialisms until the mid-1970s can be viewed partly in relation to the communication technologies that underscored the Lusophone imperial presence in Africa in important cultural and political ways. This paper explores the historical geography of radio-broadcasting in colonial Mozambique and examines the importance of colonial anthropological knowledges in the formation of radio programming. Colonial broadcasters represented their work as «radio-colonization» and frequently stressed the links between their activities and the development of imperial and colonial modernity. From the very beginning of radio-broadcasting in Mozambique, broadcasters sought to harmonize their contribution to colonial culture and society with the objectives of the colonial state, and broadcasting became central to the capitalist development of the colony. In the dying days of Portuguese colonialism broadcasters belatedly began to attempt to assimilate non-white subjects into the perceived order of colonial modernization. Radio programming was differentiated in important ways according to ethnicity and gender and this paper seeks to discuss some of the complex relationships between colonial subjectivities and the search for the colonial modernization of Mozambique.     

An Ancient and Common Tradition: Funerary Rituals and Society in Equatorial Guinea (First–Twelfth Centuries ad)

In this article, we present the results of the 2011 field season at the Iron Age burial site of Nandá, on the Island of Corisco, located between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The excavations followed a survey conducted in 2009, which evinced the extraordinary interest of the site and suggested its funerary nature. The excavations documented three levels of occupation belonging to two different phases, which are known in the region as Oveng (ad 1–600) and Group II (ad 600–1100). The first phase was characterized by secondary burials with rich metallic offerings, which were sealed by a settlement at the end of the period; the second phase witnessed the establishment of a large burial site with primary interments. Similar burials are known from Cameroon and Gabon, but the number of features identified at Nandá and the funerary sequence are quite unique in the region. Here, the evidence will be interpreted in light of Jan Vansina’s theories, where he postulates a common political tradition in Equatorial Africa from which later developments stem.     

Asian Textiles in the Carreira da Índia: Portuguese Trade,Consumption and Taste, 1500–1700

This article focuses on the textile trade between Asia and Portugal in the early modern period. It highlights the pivotal role that Portugal played in the distribution of Asian manufactures across Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, before England and Holland set up large trading companies. It further examines the nature of Asian textile imports in Portugal, assessing their impact on consumption patterns, local manufacturing and shifts in taste.     

Cruise Passengers in a Homeport: A Market Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine cruise passengers' characteristics, preferences and their overall experience in a port of call. Based on 1,361 survey data collected from passengers in the port of call of Cartagena, during the third quarter of 2009, a three-step multivariate market segment analysis is employed. First, a correspondence analysis is run to reveal the underlying factors in the data; second, based on the correspondence analysis, a hierarchical cluster investigation is performed to segment the sample into homogeneous groups; third, a decision tree is computed to characterise each group. The cluster analysis identifies six distinct market segments differentiated by nationality, satisfaction, safety perception and expenditure. The findings imply several policy directions. In particular, institutions should enhance the perception of safety in Cartagena to guarantee repeated visits, an ad hoc marketing policy may encourage revisit by young South Americans, and managers should extend the inland visiting time that is likely to produce local multiplier effects.     

SPARK: Strategic Planning Approach for Resilience Keeping

In a world in growing turbulence, complexity and uncertainty, where crisis is becoming the norm rather than the exception, resilience is increasingly seen as a critical feature that reflects the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize without collapsing. Resilient systems are more adaptable to change, are more able to learn and are less vulnerable to disturbance and external shocks (e.g. natural phenomena, economic crises or political shifts). The resilience theories are re-emerging as a field of research and practice with application to socio-ecological systems, fostering new insights in the discussions about sustainable development. The main purpose of this paper is to explore resilience as a concept and as a framework for promoting more sustainable trajectories, highlighting its potentialities and advantages for policy and planning processes. SPARK, or the strategic planning approach for resilience keeping is introduced in the paper as a new sustainability framework, following key underlying concepts and seven key principles that capture the essence of resilience theories. The paper advances a methodological concept proposal for resilience assessment and planning that aims to contribute to linking theory and practice, performing knowledge brokerage and enhancing policy learning.