Technological traditions inferred from iron artefacts of the Xiongnu Empire in Mongolia

Iron objects excavated from sites of the Xiongnu Empire (3rd century BC–2nd century AD) in Mongolia have been examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the Xiongnu iron tradition may be characterized by the use of low carbon iron and carbon control by carburization. Cast iron was also used in the Xiongnu Empire, but only in very limited applications and with no convincing evidence of its use for the production of low carbon iron. The Xiongnu iron technology seems to have been established on the basis of the bloomery technique, without much influence from the Chinese style of technology, based on cast iron.     

Palaeopathology in Britain: a critical analysis of publications with the aim of exploring recent trends (1997–2006)

This study collects data from three major journals and analyses them in order to assess the recent (1997–2006) nature of the study of palaeopathology within Britain. It considers the types of study published (case, population or method), whether findings are integrated with other data, the particular ‘theme’ that is considered (diet, activity patterns, etc) and the particular pathological condition focused upon (metabolic, dental, etc). The findings show there is a move away from the traditional case study and an increase in the acknowledgement of the value of integrating data with wider information. There is also a bias towards certain ‘themes’ and pathologies, reasons for which are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A preliminary study on the role and implication of plate-type iron artifacts in the ancient iron technology of Korea

Special iron objects in the form of a narrow plate with a fan-shaped blade on one or both ends, but with a substantial variation in shape and size, have continually been excavated from ancient historical sites located in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. The frequency and abundance of their excavation imply that they must have played a crucial role in the initial shaping of the Korean iron industry. Little is known, however, of their intended purposes or the exact engineering processes applied in their production. Speculation suggests that they might have been used as currencies or intermediate materials for the making of finished products. This study examined the microstructures of three such iron objects from the Korean Three Kingdoms Period (ca. 300–600 AD). It was determined that they were made of low carbon iron generally containing a number of non-metallic inclusions, with hints of surface carburization particularly at the ends of the plates. These results reveal the likely presence of an iron technology based primarily on the bloomery technique as opposed to the Chinese style of iron-making based on cast iron technology, which was also in use in ancient Korea.     

Revisiting the South Korean developmental state after the 1997 financial crisis

This study reassesses the conventional wisdom surrounding the developmental state of South Korea (hereafter Korea) since the 1997 Korean financial crisis. The conventional wisdom is that, as a result of the continued structural reforms prompted by the crisis, the Korean developmental state, inherently characterised by active or direct state intervention, strong economic and industrial policies, the chaebol-oriented economic policy, and labour exclusion, has finally begun to dissolve in earnest. In this study, we have considered whether that is really the case and also which theoretical implications can be drawn from this consideration. Analysis of the Korean developmental state following the 1997 crisis has indicated that, quite contrary to conventional wisdom, the developmental state has continued to prevail as a core policy framework of the Korean administrations even after the crisis. There is no doubt that the continued structural and market reform after the crisis certainly undermined the Korean developmental state to a certain degree, but that does not mean the beginning of the end of the Korean developmental state at all. For much evidence strongly indicates that the Korean developmental state still remains intact and strong despite the structural reforms, on account of the successive Korean governments’ assiduous and deliberate efforts to maintain and reinforce it. Even after the crisis, the Kim Dae-Jung and post-Kim regimes have hardly abandoned many of their market interventionist policies. Such market interventionist policies, which were routinely practised under the military regime in the 1960s and 1970s, diametrically contravene the argument that the Korean developmental state has begun to dissolve as a result of structural reform after the 1997 crisis. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Korean developmental state persists as usual. All this information, then, suggests that path dependence is in action in the case of the Korean developmental state, and this suggests a further hypothesis that the Korean developmental state is very likely to persist in the future as well, despite increasing globalisation pressure, given the strong path dependence.     

Large-scale 2nd to 3rd century AD bloomery iron smelting in Korea

Iron production in Korea has traditionally been seen in the shadow of developments in cast iron technology in China, with limited indication for a northern influence via Russia’s Maritime Province. The possibility of the existence of bloomery iron production in ancient Korea has been little explored, and relevant discussion is fraught with speculations based primarily on the early use of cast iron. The recent excavation of a site in South Korea recovered substantial amounts of slag providing direct evidence of bloomery smelting. The accelerator mass spectrometric dating of burnt wood from inside one of the slag pieces showed that the site was in use in the early 3rd century AD or earlier, which is in agreement with the assessment based on ceramic typology. The traits of a bloomery process evident in the slags’ microstructure, shape, composition and excavation context are discussed along with the implications for historical iron technology in Korea, where cast iron and the influence from China have been overly emphasised.     

Successive Earthquake-Tsunami Analysis to Develop Collapse Fragilities

Over the last half century, scientists and engineers have developed methods to better understand and mitigate the damage caused by tsunamis. According to U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) P646, buildings in many regions, including the U.S. Pacific Northwest, will experience substantial ground shaking from an offshore earthquake that precedes a tsunami and then experience the tsunami forces themselves. Thus, both hazards should be considered in computing the damage and collapse risk to buildings. This article summarizes a basic approach to numerically consider the successive seismic and tsunami risk to buildings in near-field tsunami regions such as the U.S. Pacific Northwest.     

Full-Scale Experimental Verification of Soft-Story-Only Retrofits of Wood-Frame Buildings using Hybrid Testing

The FEMA P-807 Guidelines were developed for retrofitting soft-story wood-frame buildings based on existing data, and the method had not been verified through full-scale experimental testing. This article presents two different retrofit designs based directly on the FEMA P-807 Guidelines that were examined at several different seismic intensity levels. The effects of the retrofits on damage to the upper stories were investigated. The results from the hybrid testing verify that designs following the FEMA P-807 Guidelines meet specified performance levels and appear to successfully prevent collapse at significantly higher seismic intensity levels well beyond for which they were designed. Based on the test results presented in this article, it is recommended that the soft-story-only retrofit procedure can be followed when financial or other constraints limit the retrofit from bringing the soft-story building up to current code or applying performance-based procedures.     

The Takarazuka Girls’ Revue in the West: public–private relations in the cultural diplomacy of wartime Japan

This essay examines wartime Japan’s establishment of culture bureaus and its promotion of the Takarazuka Girls’ Revue in allied European nations and the United States in a moment of international crisis. This overseas cultural policy was part of a series of alternative strategies employed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to persuade the West to acknowledge Japan’s self‐appointed role as a leader in East Asia, capable of producing advanced cultural products on a par with those of western nations. Key features of this essay include the negotiation between state goals and private interests in the performance of cultural diplomacy, as well as the aesthetic articulation of a hybrid Japanese culture which was traditional yet fully modern, particularly as presented on stage through a display of the female body.     

Trace fossils on penguin bones from the Miocene of Chubut,southern Argentina

Several traces of biological interaction were found on penguin bones from the basal levels (Aquitanian) of the Miocene Gaiman Formation in the lower Chubut valley of the Provincia del Chubut, Argentina. The fossil-bearing beds were deposited in littoral to sublittoral environments within sediments of mostly pyroclastic origin. We interpret many traces to have been produced by predators and/or scavengers while the penguins were still in a breeding area. Many bones show cracking marks due to aerial exposure. The material is disarticulated as is usual in recent breeding areas. Potential predators were coeval terrestrial mammals, most probably marsupial carnivores. After a marine transgression, these bones were buried or exposed on the sea bottom where they could be colonized by algae, sponges, cnidarians, and other benthic organisms. We identified sponge borings in several bones. Other traces are interpreted to have been produced by echinoderms feeding on sponges or algae. No evidence of other invertebrate predators such as muricid or naticid gastropods, or decapods was found. Finally, other traces appear to have been generated by shark and possibly teleostean vertebrates feeding on epibionts. One coracoid is interpreted to have been marked by a shark that is common in the Gaiman Formation, the carcharhiniform Galeocerdo aduncus. From an ethological (Seilacherian) classification, traces on bones from the Gaiman Formation include Domichnia (sponge perforations), Praedichnia (terrestrial marsupials, sharks, teleosteans) and Pasichnia (echinoderms). Remarkably, remains of marine organisms with skeletons made of calcium carbonate are very poorly preserved in the Gaiman Formation. Only large oysters, sparse shell fragments, skeletal moulds, and bioturbation is evident. The fossil assemblage is mainly composed of phosphatic (e.g. teeth, bones, crustacean parts) and siliceous (sponge spicules, diatoms) remains.     

Design thinking for city dashboard development: Recommendations from a study of smart asset management in Sydney,Australia

The city dashboard has become an integral component of smart city asset management systems. It leverages data collected from multiple sources to monitor performance and enable evidence-based decision making. This article investigates the use of a design thinking framework to develop a functional and easy to understand city dashboard. The Smart Social Spaces project is used as a case study to illustrate how design thinking can be employed to develop an asset management dashboard, enabling efficient management of public space and infrastructure. The article profiles the unique collaboration between a local government, a multi-disciplinary team of university academics, and a street furniture designer and manufacturer, all located in Sydney, Australia. We unpack some of the design practice nuances that led this project to receive national awards and international recognition, and most importantly, created a user-friendly system to track and maintain public micro assets. We conclude with lessons learnt and recommendations for dashboard development through a design thinking process.