Broken Heart Strings - Psychological Stress in Cardiac Patients after Chordae Tendineae Rupture

Chordae tendineae rupture is a potentially life-threatening cardiac event often resulting in acute mitral regurgitation with significant haemodynamic dysfunctions that require immediate medical intervention. However, to date, the psychological burden of cardiac patients with chordae tendineae rupture has been starkly neglected. Despite its potentially devastating effects on affected patients' physical health, the potential psychological effects have yet to be described. Moreover, while traumatic conditions within the spectrum of acute coronary syndrome and potentially traumatic cardiological treatment procedures (e.g., defibrillator implantation) have been at the centre of research efforts, neither the relationship of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, nor anxiety and chordae tendineae rupture has received any attention so far. Hence, although psycho-emotional comorbidities of heart disease have received much attention, little is known about patients’ psychological burden after acute severe mitral regurgitation due to chordae tendineae rupture. This pilot study aimed to assess affected cardiological patients’ psychological burden after acute severe mitral regurgitation due to chordae tendineae rupture in a mixed-method approach. For the monocentric, cross-sectional, non-interventional study presented in this thesis clinical and psychometric data was systematically collected in two cardiological samples (chordae tendineae rupture case study patients and myocardial infraction control study patients) after hospitalisation for a chordae tendineae rupture event or myocardial infraction

Are you sitting comfortably? The political economy of the body

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the mass production of furniture in modern industrial societies and lower back pain (LBP). The latter has proven to be a major cost to health services and private industry throughout the industrialised world and now represents a global health issue as recent WHO reports on obesity and LBP reveal. Thus far there have been few co-ordinated attempts to deal with the causes of the problem through public policy. Drawing upon a range of sources in anthropology, health studies, politics and economics, the paper argues that this a modern social problem rooted in the contingent conjuncture of natural and social causal mechanisms. The key question it raises is: what are the appropriate mechanisms for addressing this problem? This paper develops an analysis rooted in libertarian social theory and argues that both the state and the capitalist market are flawed mechanisms for resolving this problem. There remains a fundamental dilemma for libertarians, however. Whilst the state and the market may well be flawed mechanisms, they are the dominant ones shaping global political economy. To what extent can libertarians work within these structures and remain committed to libertarian goals

Dynamic response and robustness of tall buildings under blast loading

Recently, extensive research has been focused on the progressive collapse analysis of the multi-storey buildings. However, most of the research is based on the Alternative Path Method (APM) with sudden removal of the columns, ignoring the duration of the blast load working on the structures. In this paper, a 3-D numerical model with the direct simulation of blast load is proposed to study the real behaviour of a 20 storey tall building under the blast loading. A typical package bomb charge of 15 kg was detonated on the 12th floor. The corresponding dynamic response of structure was studied in details. The robustness of the building under blast load was assessed. Comparison between the proposed method and the APM was also made. It is found that, due to the uplift and downw ard pressure working on the slab, the column force under the direct blast simulation method is smaller than that of the alternative path method. The method to enhance the robustness of the buildings is also recommended

Post Occupancy Evaluation in Architectural Education and Practice

Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is a research method that examines how buildings function; when the functions include social life, social science methods must be employed. This paper advocates using POE social research both in architectural practice and in architectural education to promote evidence‐based design. Based on four decades of experience teaching POE to undergraduates at the University of California Berkeley, we show how POE can be conducted and taught: gather the research questions, set up teams to collect data using different data collection techniques, and analyze the results by comparing and contrasting the findings of each team. We discuss the importance of POE research to architectural practice, education, and accumulated institutional knowledge

Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration Publication: Connecticut College 1911-1961

Publication of addresses by Rosemary Park, Connecticut College President, F. Edward Cranz, Professor of History, and Mary Foulke Morrisson, secretary of the Board of Trustees, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Connecticut College.https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/ccbooks/1004/thumbnail.jp

The Impact of a Father and Son on Texas: Isaac Van Zandt and Khleber Miller Van Zandt

Isaac Van Zandt and his son Khleber Miller Van Zandt were instrumental figures in the growth of Texas and the development of the town of Fort Worth, Texas. Isaac Van Zandt was one of the main members of the delegation from Texas to the United States who negotiated for annexation. He also played a major part in the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1845 and made a run for governor before his death in 1847. His son, Khleber Miller Van Zandt was a Confederate soldier and businessman who saw something in the outpost of Fort Worth that was worth developing. Along with an influential group of other businessmen he was a part of every major development that occurred in Fort Worth until his death in 1930. Both Van Zandts' roles are discussed and the importance of their actions is brought to light

School toilets : queer, disabled bodies and gendered lessons of embodiment

In this paper we argue that school toilets function as one civilising site (Elias, 1978) in which children learn that disabled and queer bodies are out of place. This paper is the first to offer queer and crip perspectives on school toilets. The small body of existing school toilet literature generally works from a normative position which implicitly perpetuates dominant and oppressive ideals. We draw on data from Around the Toilet, a collaborative research project with queer, trans and disabled people (aroundthetoilet.wordpress.com) to critically interrogate this work. In doing this we consider ‘toilet training’ as a form of ‘civilisation’, that teaches lessons around identity, embodiment and ab/normal ways of being in the world. Furthermore, we show that ‘toilet training’ continues into adulthood, albeit in ways that are less easily identifiable than in the early years. We therefore call for a more critical, inclusive, and transformative approach to school toilet research

Mechanochemical basis of protein degradation by a double-ring AAA+ machine

Molecular machines containing double or single AAA+ rings power energy-dependent protein degradation and other critical cellular processes, including disaggregation and remodeling of macromolecular complexes. How the mechanical activities of double-ring and single-ring AAA+ enzymes differ is unknown. Using single-molecule optical trapping, we determine how the double-ring ​ClpA enzyme from Escherichia coli, in complex with the ​ClpP peptidase, mechanically degrades proteins. We demonstrate that ​ClpA unfolds some protein substrates substantially faster than does the single-ring ​ClpX enzyme, which also degrades substrates in collaboration with ​ClpP. We find that ​ClpA is a slower polypeptide translocase and that it moves in physical steps that are smaller and more regular than steps taken by ​ClpX. These direct measurements of protein unfolding and translocation define the core mechanochemical behavior of a double-ring AAA+ machine and provide insight into the degradation of proteins that unfold via metastable intermediates.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant AI-16892

Ethnographic understandings of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods to inform urban design practice

The aim of this paper is to inform urban design practice through deeper understanding and analysis of the social dynamics of public outdoor space in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. We hypothesise that findings from ethnographic research can provide a resource that improves cultural literacy and supports social justice in professional practice. The primary method is a meta-synthesis literature review of 24 ethnographic research papers, all of which explore some dimensions of public open space use and values in UK urban contexts characterised by ethnic and racial diversity. We summarise thematic understandings and significance of neighbourhood places of shared activity, parks, spaces of passing-by and of retreat. We evaluate the implications for intercultural social dynamics, exploring the spatial and temporal dimensions of conviviality and racism in public open space. We then argue that it is possible to develop principles for urban design practice informed by this work, and propose four for discussion: maximising straightforward participation, legitimising diversity of activity, designing in micro-retreats of nearby quietness and addressing structural inequalities of open space provision. We conclude that ethnographic research can provide detailed insights into the use of the public realm and also inform a more nuanced understanding of outdoor sociality relevant for an increasingly diverse society. The challenge is two-fold: for ethnographers to become less cautious in engaging with decisions and priorities regarding how cities change, and for urban designers to explicitly embed informed understandings of difference into their broad desire for inclusive public space

Teaching through Doing: Post Occupancy Evaluation of Berkeley’s New David Brower Center

This paper offers a pedagogy for teaching post-occupancy evaluation (POE) research, which emphasizes learning by doing and offers an efficient division of labor. One of the two major assignments of a primary human factors course, the POE is assigned to 150 students in a single semester. Research is divided into six researchable questions to be answered by sections, of 25 students each. Each section is then broken into 5 teams, and each team is assigned one of the following 5 social science data collection techniques: (1) direct and indirect observation, (2) interviews, (3) questionnaires, (4) photo elicitation, or (5) archival analysis. This results in a matrix of questions and answers; each question is answered by 5 different data collection techniques, providing a comprehensive analysis with minimal effort from each student. This paper outlines class planning, student survey results, and the strengths and limitations faced in such assignments. The research project gives students hands-on experience, allows comparison and contrast for each data collection technique, and gives insights regarding user response to various building designs. At the same time, students are engaged in a public service as they are collecting data about a local building