Characterization of lime mortar additivated with crystallization modifiers

Additivating mortars with crystallization modifiers is a novel approach to mitigate salt crystallization damage in historic masonry. Once verified the effectiveness of crystallization modifiers in bulk solution, the next step consists in verifying whether: (i) modifiers are still effective when mixed in mortar and going through the carbonation process and (ii) modifiers alter any mortar properties which might limit their application. This research addresses these issues for sodium ferrocyanide and borax, modifiers for sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate, respectively. Several experimental techniques have been applied to elucidate these questions. The results show that the selected modifiers are still able to alter the salt crystallization after going through the carbonation process of the mortar. Besides, no major effects of the modifiers on the fresh and hardened mortar properties were observed. It can therefore be concluded that there are no restraints for the future use of these crystallization modifiers in restoration mortars.     

清道光朝黄玉林私盐案研究

黄玉林私盐案是清代发生在两淮地区最大的盐枭案。盐业走私犯黄玉林虽然一度被清廷招安,但并未真心悔过,一有机会便想重操旧业。经过道光帝的坚持,黄玉林最终被两江总督陶澍处决。清代私盐案的屡禁不止,实由于清代盐业管理体制的弊端所引发。陶澍在淮北地区推行票盐改革,从根本上杜绝了原有盐商垄断的体制,两淮地区的私盐问题迅速消失。     

Territory and lithium extraction: The Great Land of Lipez and the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia

The Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia is a strategic location with a vast deposit of lithium; a key mineral for the production of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage. Over time, the Uyuni salt flat has become a space of contestation and grievances over its mineral resources, its territorial limits and for the most ambitious State-led project for lithium extraction and industrialization in Bolivian history. The paper aims to interrogate how notions of space ownership are intertwined with the governance of strategic resources such as lithium. Using qualitative primary data collected in Bolivia between 2014 and 2017, I explore the case of the Uyuni salt flat and the territorial arrangements of the nearby region (southwest region also known as the Land of Lipez). By examining the geo-spatial history, this case, I argue, illustrates geo-spatial delimitations are inherently political, contested and co-produced by the surrounding communities to define forms of access to and control of resources and the territory. The co-production of territory and the governance of its resources produces new spatial and political configurations in which there is a growing tension in terms of the recognition of indigenous land rights in spaces where the extractive frontier is expanding and the State maintains and perpetuates power imbalances in the sphere of decision-making. As this case shows, the history, the struggles over the governance of its resources and the land titling process behind reveal a territorial project in constant making and entangled in a political project to control mining of lithium in Bolivia.     

Paper 2: Climatic Study of the Underground Archaeological Site Coudenberg

Abstract

The excavation and valorization of subterranean archaeological remains, and eventually opening a site to the public, required a proper management and conservation strategy. This strategy was based on the evaluation of the delicate balance between the requirements for public health and safety, and the protection of the archaeological remains from future degradation. Controlling the climate can be essential for a preventive conservation strategy, which can be defined as an indirect action to increase the life expectancy of the archaeological remains, and by doing so keeping them in a preferred state of conservation to mitigate damage and/or deterioration.

Potential risks and possible interventions are outlined to avoid climatic conditions which are in conflict with the requirements for the visitors’ comfort while preventing damage phenomena to the materials.     

Paper 4: Mechanical Properties of Bricks of the Coudenberg Archaeological Site in View of a Proper Conservation Strategy

Abstract

Archaeological sites are essentially submitted to decay phenomena inherent on their history as well as the environment to which they are exposed after excavation. The history of such archaeological sites is particularly related to their long-term underground conservation conditions during which they were subject to salt migration into the architectural remains. This paper describes the results of drill resistance measurements using a drill resistance measurement (DRMS) device to evaluate the mechanical damage resulting from salt crystallization pressures. Further tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) was applied on powdered bricks of often moist archaeological remains. It was noticed that TEOS serves as potential nutrient for present moulds. The mechanical consolidation effect was evaluated by comparing the hardness profiles after treatment with the reference ones. Bricks used for the construction of the Aula Magna, situated underneath the Royal Square, are characterized by severe patterns of fissures for which the damage diagnosis was built up.     

鲁北地区考古发现与春秋时期齐国灭纪

进入春秋时期,西周形成的传统政治格局开始发生改变,社会开始出现一种比较宽松的发展局面.各诸侯国凭借当时宽松的政治环境竞相发展自己的实力.齐国成为首先发展起来的国家,在其发展过程中,它不断吞并周围的小国,其中纪国是第一个被吞并的国家,主要原因是齐国为了占有纪国丰富的海盐资源.     

From a White Desert to the Largest World Deposit of Lithium: Symbolic Meanings and Materialities of the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia

The Uyuni salt flat (Salar de Uyuni) in Bolivia possesses the largest lithium deposit in the world. Over the past 40 years, this location has been commodified and radically transformed. This paper examines how a landscape, understood from its material attributes and qualities, shapes and is shaped by social relations unfolding in a process of commodification and mining expansion. Based on primary qualitative data, the paper explores two elements: (1) how the symbolic meaning of this landscape has changed over time for the surrounding indigenous communities; and (2) how the different materialities of the salt flat as landscape, as ulexite and as lithium allow understanding of the drivers of socio‐environmental change and conflict in this region. The paper argues that social relations and governance frameworks are interlinked with changing symbolic meanings and the different materialities of the Uyuni salt flat.     

Corruption at the Border: Intersections between US Labour Demands,Border Control,and Human Smuggling Economies

Based on a qualitative methodology that includes in‐depth interviews conducted between 2008 and 2017 with 180 migrant smugglers from Mexico, the objective of this paper is to analyse the way US employers' interest in having access to cheap labour feeds migrant smuggling, and is connected to corruption in US border enforcement. We conclude that corruption on the US side of the border could be systematic and not a matter of a few bad apples. Corruption is manifested in selective enforcement, which is a pragmatic practice that justifies enhanced immigration enforcement, and benefits US immigration agents, US employers and Mexican smugglers, while undocumented border crossers suffer the monstrous effects of militarised border enforcement.     

山东寿光机械林场东周盐业遗址发掘简报

2017年,山东寿光机械林场遗址Ⅰ区、Ⅲ区共清理各类遗迹30余处,包括灰坑、盐井和盐灶等。出土器物有圜底瓮、鬲、豆、盆、罐、瓦等,绝大部分为残片,以圜底瓮残片为大宗,器物年代集中于战国早中期。初步判断该遗址为战国时期一处煮盐作坊。