Displacement-Based Seismic Design Approach for Prestressed Precast Concrete Shear Walls and its Application

ABSTRACT

Prestressed precast concrete shear wall (PPCW) is a new kind of shear wall utilizing a combination of unbonded post-tensioning steel and mild steel for flexural resistance across horizontal joints. A simple procedure of direct displacement-based design approach for PPCW based on concept of inelastic design spectra is proposed. Section design is then carried out according to base overturning moment. A detailed design example demonstrating a step-by-step application of the design procedure is also provided. Nonlinear time-history analysis verified that this approach is applicable to control the target displacement to the performance acceptable limit.     

Political Theology as Liberative Theology

ABSTRACT

Challenging the widespread assumption that “political theology” as a discipline began with Carl Schmitt in the 20th century, this essay explores the biblical theme of God’s preferential option for the poor and oppressed first articulated as a modern political theology by Latin American theologians, but organically and independently manifest in US black liberation theology, and First World feminist theologies. At the heart of this movement is a commitment to speak truth to power at the risk of personal loss and even martyrdom.     

Implementing political agreement in Northern Ireland: Planning issues for Irish language policy

This paper examines the place of the Irish language in the context of the political agreement recently reached in Northern Ireland. Language planning issues are seen to turn on critical relationships between the emergent legislative framework and local Irish-speaking communities in the region. A model for community-based language planning initiatives is proposed as a means of ensuring the effective engagement of language policy with Irish-speakers. It is suggested that the issue of language rights is likely to become much more pressing as the new institutions of state seek to reflect the socio-political diversity of the region.     

Power,ideology and economy cultural policy in China

Abstract: Relying on the institutionalist framework, much literature conflating the structures of public action in the field of culture has been produced (e.g. papers concerning the targets of cultural administrations, levels of action, ways of financing cultural policies). In this context, cultural institutions have been considered as something given, but the question of their origins and shape has hardly ever been at stake. In other words, institutionalist theories make comparisons possible, but they deny any form of inner life to cultural administrations. It allows one to make static comparisons, but it fails to explain why national cultural administrations differ from each other. Hermeneutic philosophy mixed with historical institutionalism could then be used to refine traditional models. My point will be made with references to the French and American case-studies.     

南水北调工程文物保护规划的编制与实施及其主要收获

南水北调工程是我国继长江三峡水利枢纽工程之后,又一项大型水利工程.它是一项合理配置大江大河水资源,缓解北方地区水资源严重短缺的惠民工程,是一项宏伟的战略性工程.南水北调工程中的文物保护工作是工程的重要组成部分,2002年初文物保护工作开始启动.经历了勘察规划阶段和实施阶段取得了重要收获.     

Polanyi's Magnum Opus? Assessing the Application of the Counter-Movement in International Political Economy

The concept of the ‘counter-movement’ has had a significant impact within studies in International Political Economy (IPE). In the light of the credit crisis and the growth of growing resentment to the notion of the free market, the idea of the counter-movement has been utilised to understand social reaction to neoliberalism. This article argues that whilst the counter-movement has been used in unique and innovated ways, Karl Polanyi himself used the term largely to refer to a specific period in nineteenth-century British history. This article argues that whilst the counter-movement remains interesting, its application remains open to scrutiny. It questions whether the concept was indeed central to Polanyian economic thought and how much can be given to it in today's contemporary era of neoliberalism. It also suggests that by focusing merely on the counter-movement, Polanyian accounts within IPE are in danger of ignoring much of his wider critique of market economics.     

Do Richer Media Mean Better Learning? A Framework for Evaluating Learning Experiences in Museum Web Site Design

Museums and other cultural and heritage institutions have important roles to play in both formal and informal education. This paper argues that, while museum Web sites tend to showcase increasingly sophisticated multimedia content, rich multimedia do not necessarily mean better learning design and that, in the absence of actual learner performance data, it is necessary to look beyond the types of media used and consider the kinds of learning outcomes implied or explicit in order to assess the learning effectiveness of the design. Using models and theories from education, the paper analyses two sites and discusses how these models can be applied to create learning experiences that go beyond simple comprehension and recall of information.     

Selling Conflict Heritage through Tourism in Peacetime Northern Ireland: Transforming Conflict or Exacerbating Difference?

The paramilitary ceasefires in 1994 and the ensuing peace negotiations brought to a close some three decades of ethno‐nationalist violence in Northern Ireland. The conflict, colloquially termed the Troubles, cost almost 3,700 lives, and bequeathed both a tangible and intangible heritage of division and hurt. This paper considers the commodification of physical conflict ‘heritage’ such as military installations, memorials and street murals through an examination of various tourism initiatives. Such initiatives have been employed by a number of agents ranging from local councils and tourist boards to small community groups and ex‐prisoner organisations. While ‘official’ agencies recognise the economic potential of this form of heritage, community‐based groups often view the sites and symbols of the conflict as vehicles through which to propagate political perspectives. Those sold by the latter, in particular, are often supported by government bodies that fund such forms of tourism under the auspices of ‘conflict transformation’, a strategy that is aimed at transforming the nature of the conflict through fostering self‐understanding within disputant communities. I participated in a number of these tours over the course of six months in 2005/2006.     

The political culture of the Alleanza nazionale: an analysis of the party's programmatic documents (1995-2002)

The birth of the Alleanza nazionale and its rise to power in Berlusconi's 1994 and 2001 cabinets have attracted great interest. The evolution of the AN's political culture from 1995 to the present has received far less attention. The interest of scholars is dominated by concern over the number of fascist chromosomes inherited by the AN, and the way these influence its policy choices. The weight of history overlays the problems faced by the party in its attempt to establish an original identity. This article investigates the formation of the AN's political culture through an analysis of the official programmatic documents produced thus far by the party, putting each in the Italian political context at the time of its issue. The documents show that the AN is no longer a neofascist, extreme right or populist radical-right party, but its values and beliefs have not found a stable form.     

西南军政委员会的建立与运作

新中国成立初期,在中央与省之间曾设立大行政区一级地方政府,代表中央人民政府具体管理和处理所辖省、市的民主政权建设、医治战争创伤、恢复正常的社会秩序和经济生活秩序等工作。大行政区政府既是比所辖省市高一级的地方政权机关,又是中央人民政府政务院领导地方政府工作的代表机关。在当时各地区革命发展极不平衡、中央政府直接管理省以及省以下地方政府的条件尚不具备的背景下,实行过渡性的大行政区建制,因地制宜地制定政策和实行管理是符合当时政治经济形势要求的,有利于新生政权的巩固和国民经济的恢复。