Cats of the Pharaohs: Genetic Comparison of Egyptian Cat Mummies to their Feline Contemporaries

The ancient Egyptians mummified an abundance of cats during the Late Period (664 - 332 BC). The overlapping morphology and sizes of developing wildcats and domestic cats confounds the identity of mummified cat species. Genetic analyses should support mummy identification and was conducted on two long bones and a mandible of three cats that were mummified by the ancient Egyptians. The mummy DNA was extracted in a dedicated ancient DNA laboratory at the University of California - Davis, then directly sequencing between 246 and 402 bp of the mtDNA control region from each bone. When compared to a dataset of wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris, F. s. tristrami, and F. chaus) as well as a previously published worldwide dataset of modern domestic cat samples, including Egypt, the DNA evidence suggests the three mummies represent common contemporary domestic cat mitotypes prevalent in modern Egypt and the Middle East. Divergence estimates date the origin of the mummies' mitotypes to between two and 7.5 thousand years prior to their mummification, likely prior to or during Egyptian Predyanstic and Early Dynastic Periods. These data are the first genetic evidence supporting that the ancient Egyptians used domesticated cats, F. s. catus, for votive mummies, and likely implies cats were domesticated prior to extensive mummification of cats.     

The Bullock Report on Industrial Democracy and the Post-War Consensus

The post-war settlement among the policy elite is central to much historical literature. This article considers the rise and fall of the idea of ‘industrial democracy’, and its relationship to this settlement. The elite failed to respond coherently to claims for workplace democracy. The notion that politicians could work with ‘the unions’ and ‘industry’ was shown to be deficient. The unions contained numerous views, many hostile to industrial democracy in the form proposed by Bullock and the TUC. Industry was almost uniformly antagonistic. The notion of consensus ostensibly underpinned the attempts of Labour and Conservative politicians to progress this issue. In truth, this was a curious approach. The debate over Bullock was, at root, an argument over whether the owners of capital should cede some of their power in favour of organised labour. There was never likely to be agreement on this. The inconclusive debate over Bullock ultimately showed how fragile the consensus was. The political elite could not forever smooth over underlying disagreements between capital and labour, or between groups of workers with differing interests.     

A New Proposed Passive Mega-Sub Controlled Structure and Response Control

It is still a serious challenge for structural engineers to effectively reduce the seismic responses of tall and super tall buildings to further improve these structural safeties. In order to solve this problem, in this article a new kind of structural configuration, named passive mega-sub controlled structure (PMSCS), is presented, which is constructed by applying the structural control principle into structural configuration itself, to form a new structure with obvious response self-control ability, instead of employing the conventional method. In the analysis of PMSCS the equations of motion of the seismically excited system are developed, based on a realistic analytical model of the complete mega-structural system. Expressions of the displacement and acceleration response of the structure, resulting from simulated earthquake ground motions represented by stationary and nonstationary random processes, are derived. These responses are then determined for both the PMSCS and its conventional mega-sub structure (MSS) counterpart, whose configuration was modeled after the traditional mega-frame that was used in the construction of the Tokyo City Hall. A parametric study of the structural characteristics that influence the response control effectiveness of the PMSCS is presented and discussed. The region over which these structural characteristics yield the optimum seismic response control of the PMSCS is identified and serves as a very useful design tool for practitioners. The study illustrates that the proposed PMSCS offers an effective means of controlling the seismic displacement and acceleration response of tall/super-tall mega-systems. It also overcomes shortcomings exhibited in earlier proposed mega-sub controlled structural configurations.     

Optimal Control of Accelerations in a Base-Isolated Building using Magneto-Rheological Dampers and Genetic Algorithms

This article presents a numerical study aimed at improving effectiveness of the isolation system of an actual building by adding magneto-rheological (MR) dampers that act in parallel to the existing rubber bearings (RB). The building itself is modeled with uniaxial elastic elements. Additional elements that include the RBs and the MR dampers are added at the base of the building and two different genetic algorithms are used to optimize operation of the MR dampers. Maximum acceleration and relative displacement at the top of the building are taken as the variables to be minimized. Records of destructive earthquakes are used as input. A comparison is made between the building responses with RB and the one with the additional control system.     

Seismic Fragility Evaluation of RC Frame Structures Retrofitted with Controlled Concrete Rocking Column and Damping Technique

Acceleration response of simple yielding structure is proportional to its own weight, but it is limited by yield strength. Thus, using rocking columns that reduces global yield strength, a limited acceleration is achieved. However, the displacement becomes large due to lower strength and higher inelasticity, but it can be controlled by adding damping. Performing fragility analyses, the seismic response of R/C frame structures with rocking columns and viscous dampers is investigated. Near field MCEER ground motions are considered. The analyses show that the story accelerations are reduced by using rocking columns, while the story displacements are controlled by using viscous dampers.     

试论城镇群体空间的组织调控

在工业化、后工业化的催动及交通、信息条件的支撑下,城镇群体化发展已经成为全球化的现象。文章介绍了西方国家城镇群体空间的典型调控模式,分析了市场力量与规划调节力量在其空间组织调控中的作用,并提出城镇群体空间的组织调控是一个准市场行为的观念,以期对中国的相应研究与实践提供一定的借鉴。     

Single-Degree-of-Freedom Characterization of Multi-Phase Passive Control Systems

A Multi-phase Passive Control System (MPCS) combines two passive control devices in order to offset the individual weaknesses and enhance structural performance, allowing the structure to respond effectively to varying levels of loading. Previous work involving a nine-story frame demonstrated the effectiveness of MPCSs but the fundamental understanding of the system was lacking. In order to more clearly understand the behavior and identify important parameters and parameter interactions, a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) non-linear dynamic study was performed. The results offer significant insight towards developing structural systems adaptable to multi-objective performance-based design procedures that meet higher performance standards than for ductility-based design.     

Simplified Seismic Sidesway Collapse Capacity-Based Evaluation and Design of Frame Buildings with Linear Viscous Dampers

This article describes a simplified procedure for estimating the seismic sidesway collapse capacity of frame building structures incorporating linear viscous dampers. The proposed procedure is based on a robust database of seismic peak displacement responses of viscously damped nonlinear single-degree-of-freedom systems for various seismic intensities and uses nonlinear static (pushover) analysis without the need for nonlinear time history dynamic analysis. The proposed procedure is assessed by comparing its collapse capacity predictions on 272 different building models with those obtained from incremental dynamic analyses. A straightforward collapse capacity-based design procedure is also introduced for structures without extreme soft story irregularities.     

试谈过程论理念与文化遗产可持续发展——兼论文化遗产学思想与方法

过程论思想能够深化我们对于文化遗产之为过程的认识,过程控制有益于我们进行文化遗产保护与利用过程中的精细化管理,从而最大限度地维持文化遗产的健康生命,推进文化遗产的可持续发展,实现惠及广大民众、增进社会和谐的最终目标.与此同时,随着文化遗产学学科的逐步确立,学科性质、学科特色、研究对象等问题已达成基本共识,但其思想基础与研究方法仍悬而未决,过程论思想同样给我们提供了有益的启迪.     

Simple Iterative Use of Lyapunov's Solution for the Linear Optimal Seismic Design of Passive Devices in Framed Buildings

This article presents a Lyapunov-based analysis/redesign approach for the optimal seismic design of added viscous dampers in 3D framed structures. The optimal solution minimizes the total added damping while the mean squared drifts at the peripheral frames are constrained to allowable values under a white noise excitation. The proposed approach uses Lyapunov equation for analysis and an optimality criterion that dictates “fully stressedness” for redesign. Hence, the design process is actually comprised of an iterative solution of a set of algebraic equations. Three examples are solved so as to highlight the advantages of the proposed approach — a 3-story shear frame, an 8-story, 3-bay by 3-bay setback frame, and a 10-story industrial frame.