Characterization of timber masonry walls with dynamic tests

Timber-framed wall buildings are seen all over Europe, especially in seismic regions, given its adequacy to resist earthquakes. The “Pombalino” buildings, developed after the great 1755 earthquake that destroyed Lisbon, constitute one of the best examples of historic seismic-resistant structures based on timber-framed masonry walls. The research presented in this article aimed at experimentally evaluating the seismic behavior of the “Pombalino” buildings. The experimental program was based on extensive dynamic testing on sub-structures of typical “Frontal” walls (the timber masonry walls), carried out at the LNEC (the Portuguese National Laboratory of Civil Engineering) shaking table. The tests comprised (a) seismic tests, in which the seismic action was applied with increasing amplitude in one direction; and (b) dynamic identification tests, aiming at evaluating the dynamic properties of the sub-structures and their evolution with damage accumulation.     

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.     

Lesbian collaborative web mapping: disrupting heteronormativity in Portugal

Public spaces are constructed around hidden, subtle, non-verbalized and implicit codes of behaviour. These hidden and implicit codes of behaviour are pervasive heteronormative expressions that inscribe socio-spatial landscapes. As a consequence, same-sex public displays of affection are modified, or entirely absent. In the Portuguese sociocultural context public displays of heterosexual and familial affection are common, which prompted us to research how lesbians and bisexual women negotiate same-sex displays of affection in public spaces. The article begins by examining: the co-production of space, gender and sexualities; the pervasive invisibility of lesbian sexualities in public spaces; and the potentialities of participatory geospatial web that connects geographic location to photographs, text and other media shared online. The second half of the article presents the research project ‘Creating Landscapes’. It is argued that a collaboratively created web map by lesbians with positive public space experiences may promote agency and empowerment for lesbian and bisexual women. The article concludes by arguing that creating and sharing collaborative web maps of positive experiences of same-sex public displays of affection can disrupt heteronormativity and create public spaces that are empowering for lesbians and bisexual women.     

The Poor Law of old England: institutional innovation and demographic regimes

The striking improvement in life expectancy that took place in England between the Middle Ages and the seventeenth century cannot be explained either by an increase in real wages or by better climatic conditions. The decrease in the risk of utter destitution or of death from famine that was evident on the eve of the Industrial Revolution stemmed, in part, from institutional changes in the old poor law, which began to take shape and become effective early in the seventeenth century.     

Investigation of chemical changes in bone material from South African fossil hominid deposits

The bone fragments of the Australopithecus Africanus from the dolomitic cave in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa have been studied by the use of several spectral techniques. The aim was to establish their degree of preservation and possibilities of inferring the life conditions from them. X-ray diffraction studies revealed the transformation of the mineral components partially into fluoroapatite form with addition of goethite, birnessite and quartz phases and with surprisingly well preserved collagen remains. Several important chemical elements were detected by using the electron (EPMA) and synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microprobes. Among them, Sr and Zn were distributed in a way following the distribution of Ca, the main element of the bones. We suspect the immanent crystallographic substitution of Ca in this case in native bone. Iron followed the distribution of Sr but while Sr is distributed in a continuous way in more rigid locations, iron occurs mainly in the edge zones of the bones and in spot-like inclusions inside. Some part of the spots located in a very edge of bone is also filled with Mn and Cu. It suggests that the porosity and fracture of bones plays a more significant role in the localization of Fe, Mn and Cu. They also form a rigid thin layer (100–250 μm) avoiding further penetration. As (as AsO₄³⁻?) distribution pattern is unique and seems to occur in those locations where the concentrations of Sr are small. The conditions for bone penetration as determined from Eh-pH diagrams suggest that is rather impossible to preserve the organic matter in locations of Mn and also that Mn and Fe hardly can meet in the same spots.     

Best practices for measuring community resources across Canada: A comparison of coding classifications

Social scientists, geographers, criminologists, and health scientists are often tasked with finding data to best capture the impact of “community context” on individual outcomes, including residential services, physical resources, and social institutions. One outlet for such data in Canada is Digital Map Technologies Inc. (DMTI) Spatial, which offers a national repository of over one million businesses and recreational points of interest. The database is generated through CanMap Streetfiles, which includes geocodes of each point's precise location. These data are available to researchers from their university data library and Esri Canada, but primarily available to private sector and government markets. That said, the goal of the current paper is to encourage researchers to access this rich yet under-utilized data source. Each service, business, or resource in the DMTI Spatial database is assigned to a respective category using Standard Industrial Classification codes and North American Industrial Classification System codes. It is not clear, however, which is the more reliable coding criteria. We provide an overview of our review of DMTI Spatial data and take-away suggestions for using this valuable resource for future research on meso-level residential markers.