Software is neither material nor immaterial but durable, entrenched and scaffolded. In this article we suggest that services and software should be understood through the diverse forms of durability and temporality they take. We borrow concepts from evolution and development, but with a critical eye towards the diagnosis of value(s) and the need for constant maintenance. We look at examples from diverse cases—infrastructural software, military software, operating systems and file systems.
Trabajo presentado a la Conference on Durable Concrete for Infrastructure under Severe Conditions, celebrada en Ghent (Belgium) del 10 al 11 de septiembre de 2019. ; The aim of this work is to analyze the enhanced durability performance of an Ultra High Durability Concrete (UHDC) exposed to chemical attack (XA exposure conditions), with reference to an intended application into infrastructures serving geothermal plants. This study is based on a reference Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with steel fibers and crystalline admixtures (reference mix) and other two mixes that modify in some aspect the reference one: addition of alumina nanofibers (ANF) and addition of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). Accelerated and short-term tests, complemented with mineralogical and microstructural characterization, have been employed to measure critical durability indicators according to an XA environment. Based on the monitoring and damage evolution of the UHPC under the intended exposure conditions, a criterion for durability performance assessment is being defined in order to understand the differences due to the incorporation of nanoadditions. ; The research activity reported in this paper has been performed in the framework of the ReSHEALience project which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 760824.
Government durability is critically important, yet the supply of research devoted to its causes far exceeds the supply of research devoted to its consequences. We argue that short government durations in parliamentary democracies increase public spending by driving a political budget cycle. We present a revision of the standard political budget cycle model that relaxes the common (often implicit) assumption that election timing is fixed and known in advance. Instead, we allow cabinets to form expectations about their durability and use these expectations to inform their spending choices. The model predicts that 1) cabinets should spend more as their expected term in office draws to a close and 2) cabinets that outlive their expected duration should run higher deficits. Using data from 15 European democracies over several decades, we show that governments increase spending as their expected duration withers and run higher deficits as they surpass their forecasted life expectancy.
The influence of the addition of various types and various concentrations of expanded polystyrene foam (both commercial and recycled) on the durability of Portland cement mortars is studied. In particular, the microstructure is studied utilizing the following methods: capillary absorption of water, mercury intrusion porosimetry, impedance spectroscopy and open porosity. In addition, the effects of heat cycles and freeze–thaw cycles on compressive strength are examined. Scanning electron microscopy is used as a complementary technique. An air-entraining agent, water retainer additive and superplasticizer additive are used to improve the workability of mortars. The results show that the presence of expanded polystyrene in mortar results in a decrease in the capillary absorption coefficient. The mercury intrusion porosimetry technique and the equivalent circuits previously used by researchers to interpret impedance spectra of ordinary cementitious materials were found to be inadequate for interpreting the microstructure of mortars with expanded polystyrene. This is due to the polymeric nature as well as the internal porous structure of expanded polystyrene. A slight increase of compressive strength is observed in mortars with expanded polystyrene subjected to heat cycles. The compressive strength of mortars subjected to freeze–thaw cycles likely improves because expanded polystyrene particles absorb part of the pressure of ice crystallization. It is concluded that the durability of mortars improve with the presence of expanded polystyrene, making them viable for more sustainable usage in masonry, stucco and plaster mortars. ; The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and European Union (FEDER) for the BIA2007-61170 project funding, in the framework of which this work has been done, and the FPI scholarship (BES-2009-012166) award to Verónica Ferrándiz Mas which allows her to develop her doctoral thesis, which this present work is part.
Authoritarian regimes that have their origins in revolution boast a much higher survival rate than other brands of authoritarianism. What accounts for the durability of these revolutionary regimes (which the authors define—building on the work of Samuel Huntington and Theda Skocpol—as those which emerge out of sustained, ideological, and violent struggle from below, and whose establishment is accompanied by mass mobilization and significant efforts to transform state structures and the existing social order). Four variables emerge as decisive in explaining the durability of revolutionary regimes: The destruction of independent power centers, strong ruling parties, invulnerability to coups, and enhanced coercive capacity.
Why do imposed democracies endure and how do policy choices by imposing states affect durability? To study these questions, we formulate expectations linking durability to structural domestic conditions, the level of domestic security in the state into which a polity is imposed, the policies of imposing states, and the regional environment within which an imposed democracy is nested. We use event history to test our expectations on a sample of democracies imposed during the twentieth century. We find that relatively immutable, structural conditions, such as ethnic cleavages, economic development, and prior democratic experience strongly influence the durability of imposed democracies. While some policy choices made by imposing states can impact the survival of imposed democracy, they do so only modestly relative to the environment in which a democracy is imposed.(International Interactions (London)/FUB)
