Persisting challenges for performance-based building assessment

Intense research and refinement of the tools used in performance-based seismic engineering have been made,but the maturity and accuracy of these methods have not been adequately confirmed with actual data from the field. The gap between the assumed characteristics of actual building systems and their idealized counterparts used for analysis is wide. When the randomly distributed flaws in buildings as they exist in urban areas and the extreme variability of ground motion patterns combine,the conventional procedures used for pushover or dynamic response history analyses seem to fall short of reconciling the differences between calculated and observed damage. For emergency planning and loss modeling purposes,such discrepancies are factors that must be borne in mind. Two relevant examples are provided herein. These examples demonstrate that consensus-based analytical guidelines also require well-idealized building models that do not lend themselves to reasonably manageable representations from field data. As a corollary,loss modeling techniques,e.g.,used for insurance purposes,must undergo further development and improvement.     

第四纪:它的地位、时限、定义和存在的必要性

文章由刘东生先生提议、韩家懋译自“Episodes”,2005,Vol.28,No.2,118～121。     

Setting priorities for land management to mitigate climate change

Background

No consensus has been reached how to measure the effectiveness of climate change mitigation in the land-use sector and how to prioritize land use accordingly. We used the long-term cumulative and average sectorial C stocks in biomass, soil and products, C stock changes, the substitution of fossil energy and of energy-intensive products, and net present value (NPV) as evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of a hectare of productive land to mitigate climate change and produce economic returns. We evaluated land management options using real-life data of Thuringia, a region representative for central-western European conditions, and input from life cycle assessment, with a carbon-tracking model. We focused on solid biomass use for energy production.

Results

In forestry, the traditional timber production was most economically viable and most climate-friendly due to an assumed recycling rate of 80% of wood products for bioenergy. Intensification towards "pure bioenergy production" would reduce the average sectorial C stocks and the C substitution and would turn NPV negative. In the forest conservation (non-use) option, the sectorial C stocks increased by 52% against timber production, which was not compensated by foregone wood products and C substitution. Among the cropland options wheat for food with straw use for energy, whole cereals for energy, and short rotation coppice for bioenergy the latter was most climate-friendly. However, specific subsidies or incentives for perennials would be needed to favour this option.

Conclusions

When using the harvested products as materials prior to energy use there is no climate argument to support intensification by switching from sawn-wood timber production towards energy-wood in forestry systems. A legal framework would be needed to ensure that harvested products are first used for raw materials prior to energy use. Only an effective recycling of biomaterials frees land for long-term sustained C sequestration by conservation. Reuse cascades avoid additional emissions from shifting production or intensification.     

Origin and geochemistry of Pan-African granitoid rocks in the Gabal Um Shomer area,Southwestern Sinai,Egypt

Geological, petrological and geochemical studies indicated that there are two distinct types of granitoid rocks: older quartz diorites to granodiorite assemblage and younger granitoids, the latter occurring in two phases. The older granitoids have a meta-aluminous chemistry and a calc-alkaline character, with high MgO, Fe2O3, TiO2, CaO, P2O5, Sr and low SiO2, K2O, and Rb. Their major and trace elements data, together with low 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios (0.7029±0.0008) are indicative of I-type affinities. The second-...     

双层高岭黏土中沉桩特性模型试验

为了揭示黏土中静压沉桩的宏观力学特性,采用西澳大学的梁式离心机压桩系统,通过在双层高岭黏土中进行一系列1g重力场情况下的T-bar触探测试试验、静压沉桩试验、桩拉伸试验和压缩试验,对比分析了T-bar分别在均质软质黏土和双层黏土中随贯入深度变化测得的不排水剪切强度的特性;研究了桩体在贯入过程中沉桩阻力、桩端阻力以及桩侧摩阻力的发展规律;并对桩身径向总应力在沉桩过程中的变化规律进行了探讨;此外,还揭示了不同桩型沉桩终压力与桩承载力之间的关系。结果表明：在黏土中沉桩时,桩侧摩阻力在整个沉桩阻力中发挥主要的作用;对于同一土层而言,当桩超过土层分界面以下2D（D为桩径）范围后,桩端阻力并不受相邻土层性质的影响;随着压桩后时间的推移,桩侧摩阻力对承载力的时效影响较桩端阻力大。     

非潮汐海洋运动对地球动力学扁率变化的贡献

通过考察全球海洋环流数值模型以及TOPEX/Poseidon海洋测高数据,得到结论：1997/1998年后的部分J2异常变化可能来自海洋环流变化导致的质量重新分布,具体地说是太平洋环流变化导致的从高纬地区向低纬地区的质量迁移. 本工作表明来自于海洋内部温盐效应的变化对J2异常变化有重要贡献,进一步证实了卫星激光测距资料所得结果的可靠性.     

Mikrotax:Developing a Genuinely Effective Platform for Palaeontological Geoinformatics

正Planktonic microfossils have played an enormously important role in modem earth science,notably including industrial hydrocarbon exploration and academic Deep Sea Drilling,providing essential data for age models and rich suites of palaeoceanographic data.Conversely this broad application has resulted in the development of detailed knowledge of planktonic microfossils and in stimulating study of them.Over 50 years of     

苏联科学院地理研究所1953年的工作

地理研究所1953年的科学研究工作计划,是在苏联共产党第19次代表大会的决议的基础上,遵循着集中科学力量于研究苏联地理科学最重要的理论和实践问题的方向制订起来的。在1953年底该所的科学活动里,也找到了苏联共产党中央9月全会的同样决议以及党和政府随后的一系列关于发展农业问题的决议的反映。     

矿石建造

建造分析在金属矿床研究中的应用建造分析是认识地质现象的重要方法之一.研究地质建造,能够发现和解释一系列普遍的地质规律,进而解决最复杂的地质理论问题.建造分析,对研究各种矿床的赋存规律以及探索矿床的找矿科学原理,都具有很重要的意义.建造研究方法的基础是地质造建的分类,即划分相互密切共生,而且形成年代和地质条件相近的岩石、矿物和矿石的自然组合.地质建造的特点,首先是它具有一定的岩石组合或矿物共生组合,即固定的物质成分特征.划分具体的地质建造并确定其建造类型时,最重要的标志应当是它的物质成