Numerical treatment of seismic accelerograms and of inelastic seismic structural responses using harmonic wavelets

The harmonic wavelet transform is employed to analyze various kinds of nonstationary signals common in aseismic design. The effectiveness of the harmonic wavelets for capturing the temporal evolution of the frequency content of strong ground motions is demonstrated. In this regard, a detailed study of important earthquake accelerograms is undertaken and smooth joint time-frequency spectra are provided for two near-field and two far-field records; inherent in this analysis is the concept of the mean instantaneous frequency. Furthermore, as a paradigm of usefulness for aseismic structural purposes, a similar analysis is conducted for the response of a 20-story steel frame benchmark building considering one of the four accelerograms scaled by appropriate factors as the excitation to simulate undamaged and severely damaged conditions for the structure. The resulting joint time-frequency representation of the response time histories captures the influence of nonlinearity on the variation of the effective natural frequencies of a structural system during the evolution of a seismic event. In this context, the potential of the harmonic wavelet transform as a detection tool for global structural damage is explored in conjunction with the concept of monitoring the mean instantaneous frequency of records of critical structural responses

Circular Migration and Human Development

This paper explores the human development implications of circular migration — both where it occurs naturally and where governments work to create it. The paper discusses various conceptions and definitions of circular migration, and concludes that circular migration is not intrinsically positive or negative in relation to human development; its impact depends upon the circumstances in which it occurs, the constraints that surround it and—above all—the degree of choice that individuals can exercise over their own mobility. The human-development lens distinguishes between de facto circular migration and circular migration that occurs within the parameters of government programs.Circular migration, dual citizenship, forced migrants, guest workers, labor markets, mobility, seasonal migration, temporary migration, visa regimes

Circular Migration and Human Development

This paper explores the human development implications of circular migration — both where it occurs naturally and where governments work to create it. The paper discusses various conceptions and definitions of circular migration, and concludes that circular migration is not intrinsically positive or negative in relation to human development; its impact depends upon the circumstances in which it occurs, the constraints that surround it and—above all—the degree of choice that individuals can exercise over their own mobility. The human-development lens distinguishes between de facto circular migration and circular migration that occurs within the parameters of government programs.Circular migration, dual citizenship, forced migrants, guest workers, labor markets, mobility, seasonal migration, temporary migration, visa regimes

Beyond Remittances: The Role of Diaspora in Poverty Reduction in Their Countries of Origin.

This paper analyzes the impact of established Diaspora on the reduction of poverty, and identifies ways in which policy interventions, especially from donors of official development assistance, might strengthen that impact. The new policy interest in Diasporas reflects a broader concern with globalization, and specifically the very recent appreciation of the volume of remittances to developing countries by emigrant workers and their descendents. Remittances, however, are far from being the only vehicle for Diaspora influence on the incidence of poverty in their home countries

From the microbiome to the central nervous system, an update on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis in childhood [version 1; referees: 3 approved]

In the past century, advances in antibiotics and vaccination have dramatically altered the incidence and clinical outcomes of bacterial meningitis. We review the shifting epidemiology of meningitis in children, including after the implementation of vaccines that target common meningitic pathogens and the introduction of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis offered to mothers colonized with Streptococcus agalactiae. We also discuss what is currently known about the pathogenesis of meningitis. Recent studies of the human microbiome have illustrated dynamic relationships of bacterial and viral populations with the host, which may potentiate the risk of bacterial meningitis

Human capital and other determinants in the life cycle of the price of a slave: The case of spanish america in the eighteenth century

This paper analizes the determinants of the price life cicle of a slave, dealing particularly with the impact of the human capital, both with respect to skills and health. The paper details the source of the sample -including more than two thousand Spanish American Slaves of the 18th Century-and discusses its reliability, moving on to a descriptive analysis in the geographic and historical context. Later on it looks at the factors influencing price in several types of economic activity, and ends by comparing the conclusions with those obtained in other studies

Redesigning Information Resources for Digital Natives

The influx of Digital Natives into higher education, combined with the introduction of virtual learning environments as the primary means of interaction between students and universities, will have a transformational effect on learning and on library services. This paper examines the e-book market-place and the main UK responses to it (the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium’s tender and the JISC E-Books Observatory project). Within this context the innovative measures already taken by Bournemouth University are discussed, as are plans to develop innovative pedagogic frameworks and an e-reading strategy through a Higher Education Academy-funded pathfinder project, Innovative E-Learning with E-Resources (eRes)

eRes: Innovative E-learning with E-resources

There has been an explosion in the use of electronic resources by students; this existing high usage of e-resources will be intensified as virtual learning environments (VLEs) become the primary means of interaction between students and universities. The challenge facing academic libraries is to provide appropriate resources in electronic form and through interfaces meeting the expectations of the Digital Natives. This paper examines the marketplace for e-books and reports on Bournemouth University’s innovative response to this challenge: leading a national tender not only for general collections of e-books, but also for bespoke subject collections; integrating existing resources into the VLE and creating new resources; exploiting the VLE and federated search technology. It also reports on Bournemouth’s current Higher Education Academy-funded pathfinder project, Innovative E-Learning with E-Resources (eRes), to develop innovative pedagogic frameworks and an e-reading strategy