FEMALE FLÂNERIE BETWEEN MODERNITY AND POSTMODERNITY. THE CASES OF DOROTHY RICHARDSON’S PILGRIMAGE AND RÉGINE ROBIN’S MÉGAPOLIS. LES DERNIERS PAS DU FLÂNEUR

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a revival of critical debates around, on the one hand, Walter Benjamin’s understanding offlânerie, the practice of street walking in the nineteenth-century metropolis, and on the other hand the existence of a female counterpart for the (usually male)flâneur. Most of the analyses, coming from Janet Wolff, Elizabeth Wilson, Susan Buck-Morss, and Anne Friedberg, but also the contributors to Keith Tester’s critical anthology The Flâneur (1994) returned to Baudelairian and Benjaminian depictions offlânerie and revealed ways in which the practice and its participants (male and female alike) were still significant for understanding a highly commodified urban existence. My thesis is founded on Wilson’s and Deborah Parson’s argument that we can rightfully consider theflâneuse as an important participant in the life in the metropolis even if this implies a reading of the city that is more metaphorical than purely sociological. While most arguments focus on the image of the flâneuse as prostitute or shopper, my thesis proposes the image of the middle-class female intellectual ■.\ (ethnographer, artist, sociologist) as a more fitting counterpart to the flâneur. Miriam Henderson, the protagonist in Dorothy Richardson’s series Pilgrimage, and Régine Robin’s narrator in Mégapolis. Les derniers pas duflâneur, illustrate the concepts of modem and postmodem flâneuse respectively and constitute useful instruments for interrogating modem and postmodem urban life seen from the perspective of a woman flâneuring on the streets of the big cities

Kvinnojourers samverkan med socialtjänsten kring våldsutsatta kvinnor Samverkans betydelse för jourernas legitimitet

The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze the domestic violence shelters workers experience of collaboration with social service and how this influence theirs legitimacy. The study was based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with three shelters workers and three social workers on social service. This study was done in southern Sweden. The theoretical approach being used was: new institutional theory and theory about collaboration and professions. The study result shows that the legitimacy is nothing static or stabile when it´s depends of change required and need, shelters profession and behavior but also in the skill to handle such problems like domestic violence. Furthermore the result also shows that the collaborations are very important for victims of domestic violence to benefit a good treatment. This legitimacy is product of how the shelter are been charged of people, victims and others social service organization. Considering the circumstances that shelter are depending material to others organization they make a good struggle for their survival

Insights into the hepatocellular carcinoma patient journey: results of the first global quality of life survey

Aim: To better understand the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patient journey, we conducted a patient survey across 13 countries. Methods: The survey included closed- and open-ended questions developed using an iterative process to gather information on demographics, diagnosis and treatment. Patients self-selected or were directed to the online survey by their doctor. Results: A total of 256 patients completed the survey. More than two-thirds (68%) felt they did not receive enough information about HCC at diagnosis. Treatments included oral anticancer therapy, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), and selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT). A total of 81% receiving sorafenib, 45% receiving SIRT and 32% receiving TACE reported impaired quality-of-life (QoL). A total of 42, 19 and 0% of patients using sorafenib rated their current QoL as ‘poor’, ‘good’ and ‘excellent’, respectively; compared with SIRT (22, 33 and 6%) or TACE (11, 37 and 13%). Conclusion: Most patients with HCC require additional accessible information. People with incurable HCC require treatments that preserve QoL

HCC patient voices survey

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most commonly-diagnosed cancer globally, and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths annually. To better understand the patient journey we conducted the first global survey of patients with HCC in 13 countries.The survey was live from November 2016 to April 2017 and gathered data from 256 respondents

Plasticity of lifelong calorie-restricted C57BL/6J mice in adapting to a medium-fat diet intervention at old age

Calorie restriction (CR) is a dietary regimen that supports healthy aging. In this study we investigated the systemic and liver-specific responses caused by a diet switch to a medium-fat (MF) diet in 24-month-old life-long, CR-exposed mice. This study aimed to increase the knowledge base on dietary alterations of gerontological relevance. Nine-week-old C57BL/6J mice were exposed either to a control, CR or MF diet. At the age of 24 months, a subset of mice of the CR group was transferred to ad libitum MF feeding (CR-MF). The mice were sacrificed at the age of 28 months, then biochemical and molecular analyses were performed. Our results showed that, despite the long-term exposure to the CR regimen, mice in the CR-MF group displayed hyperphagia, rapid weight gain, and hepatic steatosis. However, no hepatic fibrosis/injury or alteration in CR-improved survival was observed in the diet switch group. The liver transcriptomic profile of CR-MF mice largely shifted to a profile similar to the MF-fed animals but leaving ~22% of the 1578 differentially regulated genes between the CR and MF diet groups comparable with the expression of the life-long CR group. Therefore, although the diet switch was performed at an old age, the CR-MF-exposed mice showed plasticity in coping with the challenge of a MF diet without developing severe liver pathologies

New Polyphenols Identified in Artemisiae abrotani herba Extract

Artemisia abrotanum L. (“southernwood”) belongs to the Artemisia genus and it is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of illnesses. Scarce data is available on the chemical composition of this medicinal plant, most research being focused on the quantitative and qualitative analyses of its essential oil. Our aim was to investigate the content and profile of polyphenols, flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic derivatives present in the Artemisiae abrotani herba extract. We conducted LC/MS analysis and we screened for 19 polyphenols, flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic derivatives. We determined the total content of these compounds and we screened for antioxidant activity. Most polyphenol acids, hydroxycinnamic derivatives and flavonoids were identified and quantified for the first time in this study. We found an original polyphenol distribution profile with high concentration of sinapic acid, rutin, quercetol, ferulic acid and patuletin. We measured the antioxidant activity, the ethanolic extract presenting a modest radical scavenging activity. The value of this study consists in its novelty as it adds new data on the chemical composition of A. abrotanum L. and it opens novel perspectives for medical and nutritional applications of this plant

Parametric simulation study for green roof retrofit over high performance solar house prototype “EFdeN Signature”

The advantages of green roofs are well documented, ranging from heat island reduction, thermal comfort, air quality, stormwater management and energy savings for buildings. However, it has been shown that green roof retrofits are more effective in old, low efficiency buildings. This paper studies the possibility of retrofitting a high efficiency solar house with a green roof system being partially shaded, optimising its characteristics by means of parametric simulation. The input variables of the green roof system are: growth medium thickness, LAI (leaf area index) and height of plants. The output variables by which the different green roof systems are compared are: annual energy demand for heating and for cooling. The study concluded that the average reductions of energy consumption when retrofitting an efficient building with an extensive green roof are of 1.01% for heating and 4.61% for cooling, but optimising parameters (low LAI in winter, high LAI and height of plants in summer) can get reductions to 1.55% for cooling and 5.95% for cooling

Effects of considering the existence of clearance at revolute joints on the response of mechanical systems

The main objective of this work is to present a general methodology for modelling and analysis of planar mechanical systems with clearance revolute joints. When a clearance exists in a revolute joint, impacts between journal and bearing elements will take place, resulting in schoks, vibrations, wear and consequently the degradation of system performance. The present study is developed under the framework of multibody systems in the geometric and dynamics conditions will be established to treat the clearance joints. Numerical results for a four-bar mechanism with revolute joints between coupler and follower are presented and discussed. In addition, a comparison between the obtained results for ideal and clearance joints are compared and analyzed. The numerical results show that the existence of dry joint clearances causes high peaks on the kinematic and dynamic system’s characteristics due to the intrajoint contact forces developed.European standard-EURODO

Study of the contact force model on the dynamic response of a four-bar mechanism with clearance joints

Series: Mechanisms and Machine Science, Vol. 7The collision is an obvious phenomenon in many mechanical systems such as mechanisms with intermittent motion, kinematic discontinuities and clearance joints. As a result of an impact, the values of the system state variables change, eventually looking like discontinuities in the system velocities and accelerations. The impact is characterized by large forces that are applied and are removed in a short time period. The numerical description of the collision phenomenon is strongly dependent on the contact-impact force model used to represent interaction between the system components. The model for the contact-impact force must consider the material and geometric properties of the colliding surfaces, information on the impact velocity contributes to an efficient integration, and account for some level of energy dissipation. These characteristics are ensured with a continuous contact force model, in which the deformation and contact forces are considered as continuous functions. Thus, the main purpose of this work is to present a study of the contact force model on the dynamic response of mechanical systems. Impacts within a revolute clearance joint in a four-bar mechanism are used as an example to compare different contact force models.European Stan- dard – EURODOC’’ project financed by the European Social Found and Roma- nian Governmen