Sonic Tomography for Masonry Walls Characterization

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, Sonic Pulse Velocity tests (SPV tests) are widely applied for detecting the morphology, hidden defects, and voids within structural elements. This technique, largely applied because non invasive and easy to perform, reveals particularly adapt in the case of ancient buildings, where usually any damage is not tolerated due to the historical preservation requirements. Moreover, recently the SPV tests have been also applied with tomography technology to obtain images of sonic speeds from which it is possible to rapidly reconstruct the internal elements morphology.

In this article, the results of some SPV tomographies regarding masonry elements are presented. The tests are carried out with the aim of establishing consistency and accuracy of this technique in determining the morphology of the investigated elements. The influence of investigation points number and noise smoothing is taken into account, too. At first, the results of a tomography derived from synthetic data of an ideal section are shown. Then, the SPV tomographies of some masonry specimens and of elements sections of a real case study are illustrated and compared among them.     

Indigenous biocultural rights and the Blue Mountains: Local and international policy challenges

Indigenous knowledges play a critical role in addressing the environmental crisis, and the United Nations system has adopted a suite of international treaties to protect and strengthen Indigenous peoples’ rights, which are often described as biocultural rights. Because World Heritage Areas are nominated and monitored by UNESCO, an initial hypothesis in this study was that such areas would be subject to higher than normal standards in regard to Indigenous people’s biocultural rights. By reference to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia, this research examined how the international legislative framework influences conservation practices. We held semi-structured interviews with conservation and Indigenous local experts and compared park management practices in the Area against those used in an Indigenous Protected Area. Findings align with the literature and suggest that Indigenous and scientific knowledge systems can generate new insights for the Area and other sites. Yet, Indigenous knowledges are only marginally applied in practice. Some barriers to full participation of Indigenous people are specific to the colonial history of the area. Yet, findings point to a lack of action by Australian governments and UNESCO, and that needs to be redressed. The study calls attention to the need to support and resource Indigenous people to enable collaborative partnerships to yield significant benefits for biodiversity and protection of Country.     

Adaptation in cultural industry under conservation pressure: case study of two Chinese embroidery clusters

Abstract

In this study, we explore how tension between ‘culture’ and ‘industry’ can be effectively dealt with in promoting cultural industry, taking the Chinese embroidery sector as an example. The diverging performance of two leading centers of Chinese embroidery production suggests that local adaptive and networking capabilities are essential in creating a new path out of the tension, and these capabilities are largely determined by local openness/flexibility, entrepreneurship, and linkage capacity. In Changsha, cultural conservatism prevails, and the local embroidery sector largely maintains traditional product styles and target customers, sticking to the historic path. It is in question, however, whether such a strong bias toward the high-culture segment of the industry is good for cultural heritage protection in the long run, given that the industry at standstill has faced increasing challenges in sustaining a solid local pool of skilled labor. In contrast, Suzhou’s local embroidery sector has actively responded to the changing market environment, through increased product segmentation and customization as well as intra/cross-industry collaboration. Such a flexible, scale-up strategy has helped the industry attract local talent and meet the market demand, while maintaining space for high-end artistic products.     

基于明胶微球的新型彩绘文物保护材料的可行性分析与预实验研究

彩绘类文物的彩绘研究和提取保护是考古工作的重点。但彩绘类文物因其自身的脆弱性而难以保存，需要进行一定的修复加固保护。现有加固保护材料由于大多与文物本体材质存在差异，致使加固保护长时间后，会与本体形成开裂，甚至剥离，宏观表现为“保护性破坏”。本研究着眼于使用彩绘类文物中传统的胶结材料，即动物明胶，但因明胶特有的溶胶-凝胶性，难以直接在文物上使用。因此，本研究首次提出将明胶微米化、纳米化，以“先渗透，再交联”的方式，有效回避明胶的溶胶-凝胶性，实现原材料保护修复。实验使用条件温和的乳化交联法，制备出尺寸为2～4μm的明胶微球，使用扫描电镜、红外光谱对其进行表征，并在模拟彩绘样块上进行透气性以及大红染色观察渗透性等的实验，初步证明作为加固剂的明胶微球新材料基本符合文物保护材料的标准要求。在今后更多的实验测试下，明胶微球有望投入使用。