Timber structures can be degraded during their life both by structural problems and by biological degradation factors like fungi and insects. The occurrence of those biodegradation agents could lead to a loss of their structural integrity, in the absence of appropriate maintenance. An early assessment of the decay is even more important when the wooden structures are part of historical buildings, in the interest of conservation of cultural heritage.
This article presents an application of microwave reflectometry for the in situ evaluation of timber structures. The measurement system allows detecting anomalies inside the material in a non-destructive and non-invasive manner.
The reflection coefficient is measured by means of a vector network analyzer (VNA) using a double-ridge antenna which transmits the continuous-wave (CW) microwave signal and receives the signal reflected by the material under investigation.
Measurements on laboratory models demonstrated the feasibility of the method. Results obtained on timber beam sections, compared with the findings of traditional investigation methodologies, demonstrate the potentiality of microwave reflectometry, suggesting its possible usefulness during the diagnostic phase as a non-invasive tool for preliminary screening. 相似文献
This study employs a brittle fracture-mechanics-based approach to explore the relationship between lithic fracture velocity and precursory loading rate in fine-grained lithic armatures. The data demonstrate that only high-speed dart and arrow armatures are subject to dynamic loading events, whereas spear and javelin armatures are limited to rapid (and quasi-static) loading. The data presented were derived from controlled experiments employing spears, javelins, spearthrower darts, and arrows. Armatures associated with both bow and spearthrower technologies are reliably identified and distinguished from those of low-speed technologies such as spears and javelins. Javelin armatures may also sustain higher velocity fractures than spear armatures, thus permitting the further differentiation of these technologies. The methodology offers a quantitative, non-subjective means to identify the delivery technology associated with a lithic armature. 相似文献
In the past 20 years, Hong Kong and Shanghai's total fertility rates (TFR) have undergone drastic changes: first declining and then rebounding. We use a decomposition method to assess changes in the TFRs of these two cities during the period 1990–2010. During the period of decline from 1990 to 2000, the decrease in marital fertility rate (MFR) was the major cause behind Shanghai's TFR decline; the decrease in nuptiality and MFR were equally responsible for the decline in Hong Kong's TFR. During the 2000–2010 period, although the decline in nuptiality exerted downward pressure on TFR, both cities experienced an increase in TFR mainly due to an increase in the MFR. Analysis of the difference in TFR between the two cities in 2010/2011, also reveals that Hong Kong's marriage delay has a negative impact on fertility and it is the higher MFR that leads to a higher TFR than Shanghai's TFR. It also shows that a reduction of first- and second-order births is equally responsible for Shanghai's lower MFR. Despite the one-child policy in Shanghai, some couples continue to postpone their first births, while others have even chosen to be childfree (a preferred term to ‘childless’). The tempo distortion is diminishing more prominently in Hong Kong, while the decline in fertility aspiration adds much uncertainty to future fertility trends in Shanghai. 相似文献
Abstract.Australian Bureau of Statistics Total Fertility Rate (TFR) statistics are available from 1921 for Australia, and for census years between 1947 and 1966 for the states, and then on an annual basis from 1971. Using historical, statistical publications, annual TFRs for Australia and the states dating back to federation in 1901 were calculated directly in years where data are available and estimated indirectly via the standardized fertility ratio in other years. For some periods where direct TFR estimation was applied, age-specific births used in the numerators of fertility rates must be estimated from partial data. Combined with Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the authors’ estimated TFRs contribute an uninterrupted time series of national and state TFRs for Australia from 1901 to 2011. 相似文献
Abstract Administrative practices, political initiatives, and budgetary concerns are eroding the ability of most universities to fulfill their mission as engines of meritocratic upward mobility. Colleges fulfilled this mission because they signaled that a student had acquired—or had always possessed—superior skills. Elite universities admit students who we know can succeed: Upward mobility occurred because other schools took chances on students whose backgrounds suggested that they might or might not succeed. Pushes to improve undergraduate retention and completion rates at these other universities result in a lowering of standards that threatens their signaling role, and with it, their ability to open doors for their students. 相似文献