Sovereignty in Antarctica: The Anglo-Argentine Dispute

The purpose of this article is to examine the relevant arguments of Argentina and Great Britain and, in light of an analysis of the theories of territorial sovereignty and prior decisions, to suggest that, should the dispute be referred for decision to the International Court of Justice, Argentina has a formidable array of arguments at her disposal. It may be argued that the opportunity for decision by the Court is foreclosed by the existence of the Antarctic Treaty, that the issue of territorial sovereignty in Antarctica is moot. It is submitted, however, that the possibility of a Court determination is a substantial one for three significant reasons outlined in the paper

Durability design of reinforced concrete structures: a comparison of the use of durability indexes in the deemed-to-satisfy approach and the full-probabilistic approach

Abstract: To show the application of the chloride conductivity index test in service life prediction (SLP) using both the deemed-to-satisfy and probabilistic approaches to performance-based durability design. It is desirable to adopt a performance-based approach with respect to durability design of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This is based on the perception that the durability of RC is achieved when the limiting value from an established test method is met. In South Africa, the durability index (DI) approach has been developed, which permits performance-based specifications for durability of RC. This approach involves the application of a test method together with a SLP model. This integrated approach links material properties directly with the expected service life of RC structures and environmental conditions. Two DIs are relevant to degradation processes in RC: the chloride conductivity index which is related to chloride ingress, and the oxygen permeability index related to carbonation. The study presented here focuses on the application of the chloride conductivity index as the main input parameter of a SLP model concerned with chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion. The methodology and output of the SLP model as applied in the deemed-to-satisfy approach are compared with those of the probabilistic approach. Both approaches are exemplified using a concrete pier cast in situ in a marine environment. The performance-based durability specifications from the deemed-to-satisfy approach are found to be more conservative compared to those of the probabilistic approach

Citizen science for observing and understanding the Earth

Citizen Science, or the participation of non-professional scientists in a scientific project, has a long history—in many ways, the modern scientific revolution is thanks to the effort of citizen scientists. Like science itself, citizen science is influenced by technological and societal advances, such as the rapid increase in levels of education during the latter part of the twentieth century, or the very recent growth of the bidirectional social web (Web 2.0), cloud services and smartphones. These transitions have ushered in, over the past decade, a rapid growth in the involvement of many millions of people in data collection and analysis of information as part of scientific projects. This chapter provides an overview of the field of citizen science and its contribution to the observation of the Earth, often not through remote sensing but a much closer relationship with the local environment. The chapter suggests that, together with remote Earth Observations, citizen science can play a critical role in understanding and addressing local and global challenges

Durability of high volume glass powder self-compacting concrete

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The transport characteristics of waste glass powder incorporated self-compacting concrete (SCC) for a number of different durability indicators are reported in this paper. SCC mixes were cast at a water to binder ratio of 0.4 using glass powders with a mean particle size of 10, 20 and 40 µm and at cement replacement levels of 20, 30 and 40%. The oxygen permeability, electrical resistivity, porosity and chloride diffusivity were measured at different ages from 3 to 545 days of curing. The amount and particle size of the incorporated waste glass powder was found to influence the durability properties of SCC. The glass incorporated SCC mixes showed similar or better durability characteristics compared to general purpose (GP) and fly ash mixes at similar cement replacement level. A significant improvement in the transport properties of the glass SCC mixes was observed beyond 90 days