Testing of Superelastic Recentering Pre-Strained Braces for Seismic Resistant Design

Over the past decade, the use of shape memory alloys (SMAs) in passive control devices has been explored. Nevertheless, some aspects in regards to the cyclic behavior of SMAs and the effect of pre-straining need to be clarified. In this study, small-scale shake table tests have been performed to explore the effectiveness of SMA bracing systems as compared to steel bracing systems. The reduced-scale experimental results imply that SMAs used in braces are more effective in controlling the response of a steel frame compared with a traditional bracing system. A finite element model (FEM) of the frame is developed in order to compare the analytical results with the shake table tests. Further, the effect of pre-straining the SMA braces is evaluated through both experimental and analytical studies. The results show that pre-straining improves the performance of the frame compared to the nonpre-strained case. However, as the level of pre-straining increases above approximately 1.0% to 1.5%, the benefits of pre-straining decrease compared with low-to-moderate pre-strain levels.     

The Party and the State: Frelimo and Social Stratification in Post‐socialist Mozambique

This contribution examines the relationship between the ruling Frelimo party and the state it controls in post‐socialist Mozambique. It argues that while democratic reforms may have altered state structures since the end of single‐party socialism in 1992, power remains concentrated in Frelimo, which has actually increased its hold and become more deeply entrenched during the liberal period. The party is not only the dominant political force in the nation, but its structures provide a layered form of social stratification within the nation and also one of the major routes of social mobility available to many Mozambicans. Democratization has largely allowed the party to become one of the primary ‘arenas of negotiation’ in Mozambique by channelling various demands and interests through its internal structures.     

Perimortem mutilation of human remains in an early village in the American Southwest: A case for ethnic violence

Recent excavations at the Sacred Ridge Site, just south of the town of Durango, Colorado, have uncovered the single largest deposit (to date) of mutilated and processed human remains in the American Southwest. This deposit dates to the very late eighth or very early ninth century A.D. and therefore represents an incidence of large-scale violence and perimortem mutilation dating to the Pueblo I period (A.D. 700–900), when initial village formation occurred in the northern San Juan Region of the Southwest. Expectations for various interpretations for the Sacred Ridge assemblage are generated based on previous research and cross-cultural data on cannibalism, warfare, and human bone processing. Based on a lack of fit with previous models developed to account for extreme processing (EP) events, including starvation cannibalism, warfare and social intimidation, and witch-craft accusations, it is proposed that the Sacred Ridge massacre was the result of ethnic conflict during the Pueblo I period.     

Four models of the creative industries

What is the dynamic value of the creative industries from the economic perspective? This paper seeks to answer this question by proposing four models of the relationship between the creative industries and the whole economy, then examining the evidence for each. We find that growth models fit the data well, but not everywhere. We discuss the methodological and empirical basis for this finding and its implications for economic and cultural policy.     

Comment

On 23 July 2018, Saddle Dam D of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower plant in Laos collapsed, inundating farmlands and villages downstream. The author was in the capital, Vientiane, at the time. This article provides a first-hand account of some of the early relief efforts as the author joined the flood of everyday citizens in Laos interested in making a gesture of assistance.     

美国纳尔逊艺术博物馆收藏的东魏造像碑拓

2003年12月刚刚庆祝了建馆70周年的纳尔逊艺术博物馆(位于堪萨斯市,密苏里州),正在进行整修和增建新馆。基于未来规划,全部馆藏品正在清点之中。在过去数年中,纳尔逊艺术博物馆亚洲艺术部一直从事中国藏品的评估工作,为艺术馆的整修、重新布置和出版做准备。纳尔逊艺术博物馆的中国艺术品可能是中国以外最完善的收藏之一,特别是建筑(如北京智化寺藻井和天花板)[1]、绘画(如许道宁《渔父图》)及佛教造像(如龙门宾阳中洞皇后礼佛图)[2]。在清点和评估未展出的中国艺术品之时,有一件从未公开过的藏品值得与大家分享。这是三幅十分难得的东魏武…     

‘Becoming Beautiful in the Dance’: On the Formation of Ethical Modalities of Being in Yap,Federated States of Micronesia1

ABSTRACT This article examines how the ideals of self‐monitoring, self‐reflexivity, self‐restraint, and self‐governance, as well as assumptions pertaining to the mastery of the body, its movements, and forms of expressivity, lie at the heart of one of Yap's (Federated States of Micronesia) most important aesthetic institutions ‐ the dance. In so doing, it suggests that Yapese dancing and the forms of self‐vigilance that are associated with it can be understood as implicated in the formation of a distinctly Yapese moral modality of being. That is, Yapese dancing ‐ including its performance and appreciation ‐ plays a role in helping individuals craft particular forms of feeling, thinking, appreciating, judging, imagining, and behaving that are consonant with local understandings of the good person, the good life, and right action. A polite and agreeable exterior was maintained at all times to reveal nothing of internal mental states. Yapese frequently played games testing each other's abilities to keep their concentration and sense of restraint. Spectators at a Yapese dance who had forgotten themselves and had become enthralled by a particular dancer were singled out and reminded to chew their wad of betel (mu ko bu'), much to the delight of all present.     

The Spaces of Parking: Mapping the Politics of Mobility in San Francisco

Abstract:  Recently a "mobility turn" has entered critical geographic discourse. This mobility turn recognizes that mobility is at once physical movement and contains social meanings that are manifested in a politics of mobility. In this paper I contribute to this emerging line of inquiry by exploring how the politics of mobility is manifested in localized urban processes. Mobility, as with the broader localized urban process, is political and ideological, and this is particularly true with contemporary debates about automobiles and parking in cities. I explore parking as an example of the broader contestation of urban space, using a case study of San Francisco, California. There are three broad factions in San Francisco's parking debates—progressives that advocate for less parking, neoliberals that advocate that market-based pricing determine the amount of parking, and neoconservatives that advocate for more parking. Throughout the paper, I provide thoughts on the relationship between parking, space, ideology, and the broader urban process.     

Walls of history: the use of mythomoteurs in Northern Ireland murals

This study set out to discover in what way murals may possibly reflect the history of the Northern Ireland conflict. The findings suggest that each conflict group's usage of imagery reflects the reality and the very complicated nature of the Northern Ireland conflict which crosses religious, cultural, and political fault lines. It is also apparent that the symbolism of murals creates its own invented versions of history. This is evidenced by both protagonists' usage of myth-symbol complexes and mythomoteurs in order to legitimatise their ethnic origins, religious and political ideologies. It is also axiomatic that many nationalist murals reflect O'Brien's notion of sacral nationalism. The symbolisation used in some Protestant/loyalist murals reflects Old Testament themes, whereas some nationalist murals reflect New Testament themes. Moreover, there is a profusion of murals reflecting diabolical enemy imagery, sanctification/demonisation imagery, militaristic imagery, ethnic victimisation imagery, ego of victimisation and blood sacrifice imagery in chronicling historic victories, rebellions, massacres, suffering, and imprisonment.