STATISTICAL SEISMIC VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS IN TURKEY ON A REGIONAL SCALE

A statistical procedure, called discriminant analysis, is used to develop a model for the preliminary assessment of the seismic vulnerability of low- to medium-rise (2-7 storey) reinforced concrete buildings. The earthquake damage data compiled in Düzce province after the 12 November 1999 Düzce earthquake formed the damage database. Number of storeys, minimum normalised lateral stiffness index, minimum normalised lateral strength index, normalised redundancy score, soft storey index and overhang ratio are selected as the basic damage inducing variables. Two discriminant functions are derived in terms of these variables considering immediate occupancy and life safety performance levels. In the proposed preliminary seismic vulnerability assessment model, the discri-minant scores obtained from these two discriminant functions are combined in an optimal way and axe used to classify existing buildings as “safe”, “unsafe” and “requires further evaluation”. The optimality criterion imposed into the model is the minimisation of the misclassification rate of damage states causing collapse. The validity of the proposed model is checked by using the seismic damage data associated with recent earthquakes that occurred in Turkey. The consistency between the observed damage distribution and the predictions of the proposed model supports the effectiveness of the proposed model.     

ELASTIC EARTH PRESSURES ON RIGID WALLS UNDER EARTHQUAKE LOADING

Elastic dynamic earth pressures induced by earthquakes are computed by analyzing a wall-foundation-backfill system. Both foundation and backfill are considered viscoelastic; the foundation is a semi-infinite space and the backfill, a uniform layer of constant thickness. A simple analytical solution is developed by assuming an approximate backfill-foundation interface condition and adopting the least squares method. The response functions computed indicate the large influence of the various system parameters on earth pressure, including the foundation characteristics,as well as wall geometry and mass. The transient response of the system is also studied by obtaining spectra for base shear. A large number of seismic records are analyzed to obtain average spectra and a total of three correction functions are used to take into account the foundation stiffness and density as well as wall inertia. A simple design method is proposed to estimate the maximum base shear.     

SEISMIC DESIGN AND RESPONSE OF BARE AND MASONRY-INFILLED REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS. PART I: BARE STRUCTURES

Abstract

Eurocode 8 is applied for the complete design of 26 multi-storey reinforced concrete buildings to study its operationally and compare the implications of trading strength for ductility through designing the same structure for a different Ductility Class. The difference between the conventional full Capacity Design of columns in bending and the relaxed one allowed by Eurocode 8 is quantified, and the implications on the column capacities are examined. About half of the designed buildings, representative of the class of regular frames, are subjected to nonlinear dynamic response analyses to spectrum-compatible motions with intensities up to twice that of the design motion. Nonlinear modeling is very simple, but gives satisfactory agreement with available quasistatic or pseudodynamic test results on full scale structures. Results show that the three Ductility Classes of Eurocode 8 are essentially equivalent in terms of material quantities and seismic performance. Within the limitations of the nonlinear modelling, the response results suggest very satisfactory performance of structures designed to Eurocode 8, even under twice the design motion intensity. Softening of the structure due to concrete cracking and steel yielding significantly reduces the seismic force demands and contributes to the satisfactory performance, despite the increased P — 6 effects. Another important contributor to the good performance is the significant overstrength of the members considered in the analyses with their average as-built properties. Beam overstrength due to the contribution of the slab to flexural capacity is large enough to overcome the effects of the application of the relaxed Capacity Design rule to columns in bending. However, the resulting column plastic hinging does not lead to drift concentrations suggesting formation of storey-sway mechanisms.     

Cruise Passengers in a Homeport: A Market Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine cruise passengers' characteristics, preferences and their overall experience in a port of call. Based on 1,361 survey data collected from passengers in the port of call of Cartagena, during the third quarter of 2009, a three-step multivariate market segment analysis is employed. First, a correspondence analysis is run to reveal the underlying factors in the data; second, based on the correspondence analysis, a hierarchical cluster investigation is performed to segment the sample into homogeneous groups; third, a decision tree is computed to characterise each group. The cluster analysis identifies six distinct market segments differentiated by nationality, satisfaction, safety perception and expenditure. The findings imply several policy directions. In particular, institutions should enhance the perception of safety in Cartagena to guarantee repeated visits, an ad hoc marketing policy may encourage revisit by young South Americans, and managers should extend the inland visiting time that is likely to produce local multiplier effects.     

Depressions and elevations of the southern archipelagoes of chile

The post‐war employment changes on Clydeside: the continued decline of the traditional industries, the slow expansion of the new growth industries, and the relative lack of change in the employment .structure of the conurbation. The effect of the employment changes on the pattern of industrial distribution in the conurbation in the light of a number of factors such as the availability of land, the City of Glasgow's redevelopment and overspill policies, the immigration of new firms, the outward movement of population, ‘and the role of central government policy. The possibility of changing circumstances resulting from more recent increased levels of redevelopment and the availability in the “centre of the conurbation of larger amounts of developable land on privately operated industrial estates.     

French cosmographers and navigators in England and Scotland, 1542–1547

The term “social geography” was used by French sociologists of the Le Play School by 1884 and, perhaps independently, by the geographer Elisee Reclus in 1895. Neither Le Play's sociology nor Reclus’ geography was very influential in university circles, but they were adopted and modified by Patrick Geddes in Great Britain. The term “social geography” has had some popularity in Britain since 1930, but Americans did not readily adopt it, perhaps because their “cultural geography” had similar content. In the postwar period, the term has gained currency in Europe and North America, and the present‐day social geographers often espouse views that are reminiscent of; Reclus and the Le Playists even though the latter are little read today. This paper is an historical sketch of French and English usage, and it does not seek to define social geography or to suggest guidelines for future work.     

Russian Roundwood Exports: The Effects of Tariffs on the Finnish Border Economy

Two economic geographers based in Finland use time series analysis and an inputoutput model to evaluate the economic effects of tariffs imposed on Russian roundwood exports on the economy of a Finnish border region heavily dependent on Russian timber supplies. The authors demonstrate the serious economic consequences of the possible cessation of Finnish imports after 2009, by analyzing the depths of the impacts on the regional economy, and options for compensating for the loss of supplies through increased domestic timber harvesting. They place the impacts of the protectionist Russian policy in the broader context of the dynamics and vulnerabilities of border economies, particularly those dependent on imported raw materials. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F13, F14, L70, L73, O18, R10. 4 figures, 6 tables, 48 references.     

Early Processed Triticeae Food Remains in The Yanghai Tombs,Xinjiang, China

Visible food remains can provide evidence regarding ancient food processing, the spread of cereals and cultural communication. Some desiccated food remains were discovered in the Yanghai Tombs, Turpan district, in Xinjiang, China (2600–2900 bp ). These food remains were analysed by Fourier transform infrared (FT–IR) spectroscopy combined with plant microfossils, including starch grains and cross cells of pericarp from the cereal bran fragments. The results showed that these food remains were cooked dough food made from wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum spp.). The cross‐sections of these remains look very dense, not porous under a microscope, which suggests that no fermentation had happened, so these foodstuffs may be some kind of flatbread. Although wheat and barley had been introduced into China by at least the third millennium bc , these remains are still the earliest known direct evidence that wheat and barley were ground into flour and then processed as foodstuffs in north‐western China.     

青海互助丰台卡约文化遗址孢粉分析与人类活动研究——化石和现代表土花粉分析结果

采用相差分析方法,区分出禾本科植物中的农作物花粉;通过对青海互助丰台卡约文化遗址文化层和丰台村周围现代表土样品的孢粉分析,发现孢粉组合中有农作物花粉,反映人类农耕活动对聚落及其周围孢粉组合有明显的影响;文化层样品的孢粉组合显示,卡约文化早期阶段,禾本科植物花粉明显多于晚期阶段,可能反映了卡约文化时期(约公元前1200-800年)农业在社会经济中地位逐步下降的过程;孢粉组合还显示,与现代丰台村相比,卡约文化时期,聚落周围有更多的禾本科植物生长,人类可利用的植物资源比现代丰富。研究结果将有助于综合研究西北地区青铜时代环境与人类文化的关系。     

‘our children have only known war’: children's experiences and the uses of childhood in northern uganda

This article describes the situation of children forcibly abducted by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. The involvement of children complicates efforts to end rebellion, and particular notions of childhood circulate through government and aid agencies to affect children's ‘rehabilitation’. This paper examines national, ethnic, and generational causes of the conflict, discussing the ways in which normative and ideal concepts of childhood are employed by different players. Through a situated analysis of children's circumstances, I suggest the need for interlocutors to re-evaluate their goals and methods of assisting war-affected children.