Modelling and Seismic Response Analysis of Italian Code-Conforming Base-Isolated Buildings

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on results of nonlinear analyses performed within the RINTC project on an RC building isolated with different systems (High Damping Rubber Bearings, High Damping Rubber Bearings and Flat Sliding Bearings, Friction Pendulum System) and designed according to the Italian design code. The seismic response has been evaluated under different seismic input levels of two sites with different hazard and by considering two Limit States: Global Collapse and Usability-Preventing Damage. The influence of seismic stoppers and modelling uncertainties is also evaluated. Results permit to compute the implicit collapse risk and to identify critical aspects of current design procedures.     

Evaluating the Temporal and Spatial Heterogeneity of the European Convergence Process, 1980–1999*

Abstract. In this paper, we suggest a framework that allows testing simultaneously for temporal heterogeneity, spatial heterogeneity, and spatial autocorrelation in β‐convergence models. Based on a sample of 145 European regions over the 1980–1999 period, we estimate a Seemingly Unrelated Regression Model with spatial regimes and spatial autocorrelation for two sub‐periods: 1980–1989 and 1989–1999. The assumption of temporal independence between the two periods is rejected, and the estimation results point to the presence of spatial error autocorrelation in both sub‐periods and spatial instability in the second sub‐period, indicating the formation of a convergence club between the peripheral regions of the European Union.     

Fishing for Fish and for Jaminyjarti in Northern Aboriginal Australia

Socio‐cultural and ecological literature about Australian Indigenous groups reveal that fishing is a vital part of everyday life for many groups who have customary and recreational fresh and salt‐water affiliations. This vitality exists and has meaning for families and communities in the Kimberley's Fitzroy Valley region of Northern Aboriginal Australia. Less well known, however, is the central part that fishing plays in jaminyjarti, a ritual that relies on close kin regularly catching, cooking and sharing fish for bereaved family members during the ‘sorry business’ time that emerges after the death of a loved one. What becomes evident is that while fishing is undoubtedly intertwined in the everydayness and sociality of life, it is also central to comforting the bereaved during and after the grieving process that accompanies death.     

Secrets, Lies, and Misremembering: Take II

In the editing of Sticking to the Union: An Oral History ofthe Life and Times of Julia Ruuttila, discrepancies emergedbetween what Ruuttila told author Sandy Polishuk and what others—inparticular her brother—had to say. Polishuk was forcedto figure out which version she believed and to understand whyRuuttilla had told her what she had when it did not appear accurate.It then became Polishuk's responsibility to inform readers whereRuuttila was embellishing, as well as why she did so. Ruuttilawrote fiction and poetry, and on at least one occasion the authorbelieves she used her fiction as the basis for a story she toldabout herself. The author feels it possible to honor her storyand to tell it and, when necessary, let readers know where Ruuttilaembroidered and where she just plain made it up.     

Modeling and Seismic Response Analysis of Italian Code-Conforming Single-Storey Steel Buildings

ABSTRACT

This article describes the structural design, nonlinear modeling, and seismic analysis of prototype single-storey non-residential steel buildings made of moment-resisting portal frames in the transverse direction and concentric braces in the longitudinal direction. Various design parameters (building geometry, seismic hazard, foundation soil category) and different modeling assumptions (bare frame model, model including cladding elements, ground motions including vertical accelerations, and modeling uncertainties) were considered to investigate their effects on the simulated seismic performance.     

Congressional Candidate Emergence

Biographical Directory of the American Congress. Washington, DC: CQ Staff Directories, 1997. Pp. xii, 2,108. $295, hardbound.

Metz, Allan, ed. National Service and AmeriCorps: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Pp. xi, 269. $69.50, hardbound.

Sharp, Michael, ed. Directory of Congressional Voting Scores and Interest Croups Ratings, 2nd ed., 1996. Washington, DC: CO Press. 2-volume set, 1,542 pages. $269, hardbound.

Dodd, Lawrence C, and Bruce I. Oppenheimer. Congress Reconsidered, 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1997. Pp. xix, 450. $32.95, softbound.

Foley, Michael, and John E. Owens. Congress and the Presidency: Institutional Politics in a Separated System. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, 1996. Pp. xiv, 432. $74.95, hardbound; $29.95 softbound.

Reischauer, Robert D., ed. Setting National Priorities: Budget Choices for the Next Century. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1997. Pp. xiii, 316. $42.95, hardbound; $14.95, softbound.

Sundquist, James L. Back to Gridlock? Governance in the Clinton Years. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1995. Pp. x, 115. $9.95, softbound.

Kettl, Donald. R, Patricia W. Ingraham, Ronald P. Sanders, and Constance Homer. Civil Service Reform: Building a Government that Works. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1997. Pp. ix, 110. $12.95, softbound.

Laham, Nicholas. A Lost Cause: Bill Clinton's Campaign for National Health Insurance. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. Pp. xiv, 251. $59.95, hardbound.

Nelson, Albert J. Democrats Under Siege in the Sunbelt Megastates: California, Florida, and Texas. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. Pp. xii, 120. $49.95, hardbound.

Rising, George. Clean for Gene: Eugene McCarthy's 1968 Presidential Campaign. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997. Pp. xv, 156. $55.00, hardbound.

Rozell, Mark J. The Press and the Bush Presidency. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997. Pp. viii, 189. $55.00, hardbound.     

EVIDENCE OF POLITICAL YARDSTICK COMPETITION IN FRANCE USING A TWO‐REGIME SPATIAL DURBIN MODEL WITH FIXED EFFECTS*

ABSTRACT This research proposes a two‐regime spatial Durbin model with spatial and time‐period fixed effects to test for political yardstick competition and exclude any other explanation that might produce spatial interaction effects among the dependent variable, the independent variables, or the error term. The study also derives the maximum likelihood estimator and variance–covariance matrix of the parameters of this model. Data pertaining to welfare spending by 93 departments in France during 1992–2000 provide significant empirical evidence in support of political yardstick competition. Departments governed by a small political majority mimic neighboring expenditures on welfare to a greater extent than do departments governed by a large political majority.