Mobility Management in small and medium cities: The case of Serres

Mobility Management refers to the policies and soft measures for the achievement of a more sustainable and efficient transportation system. During the last few years, many cities and even regions have started implementing transportation policies based on Mobility Management for the modification of the transportation system and the benefits from the use of the alternative means of transport (alternately: in order to modify their transportation system and to benefit from alternative means of transport). Serres is a small city in the northern part of Greece that has also undertaken Mobility Management measures, aiming to promote cycling and hence modify the travel behavior of its citizens and the image of the city. To this purpose, Serres took part in the EU program PIMMS TRANSFER. This program intends to promote cooperation between European cities and the exchange of good practices in the transportation system. To pursue the program's objective, the city of Serres built new infrastructure, set special storage places for bicycles, distributed bicycles for one year to the employees of the Municipality and the entrepreneurs of the city, developed educational events for the right usage and the proper maintenance of the bicycles and, promoted the usage of bicycles through brochures and leaflets to the entrepreneurs of the city and the employees working in the city centre. In this paper, I analyze the above quoted measures as well as complementary actions such as school events and, educational programs. Consequently, the current situation and in particular the transportation system in the city is analyzed by examining policy documents and interviews of key policy makers. Additionally, I will present future plans and strategies for further promotion of cycling and the bicycle: cycling paths, pedestrianization and parking outside the city. Finally, I will present a comparison to other European cities with similar demographic, geographic and mobility characteristics as Serres. I found that the participation of the city in the PIMMS TRANSFER program played a crucial role for the promotion of cycling. Among policy makers' actions, those with the highest impacts were from soft measures which had been taken under the guidance of the other participants, in order to let the citizens know the benefits of cycling. New infrastructure and promotional measures were quite effective, too, as the willingness of the citizens to use bicycles increased, as well as cycling for leisure activities and sports. However, cycling as a mean of commuting for daily activities is not very popular yet, because of the lack of infrastructure

Re-Evaluating “Authenticity” In Holocaust Literature – Memory And Trauma In Recent Holocaust Fiction

This thesis provides a structural and para-textual analysis of recent Holocaust fiction. Challenging the assumption of the superiority of “authentic” representations of the psychological effects of this historic event, I will highlight the cultural and pedagogical effects of fictionalized accounts of the Holocaust. A short analysis of the terms “memory,” “trauma,” and “history” as understood in the research field of Holocaust studies, will be substantial in debunking the failures of memory as perfect ways to recreate historical “truths.” Theories about trauma and memory by scholars such as Cathy Caruth and Dominick LaCapra will serve as reference points in the validation of fictional accounts of the Holocaust as important alternatives to first-hand accounts. I will demonstrate the writers’ awareness of a realistic representation of traumatic experiences without claiming that they represent the truth. The authors need to be aware of their positioning in the Holocaust discourse as writers of fictional accounts and make this aspect visible in their writings so that the texts cannot be classified as fraud or representations of appropriation of victimhood. Analyzed texts will include Maus by Art Spiegelman, Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald, Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, and The Canvas (Die Leinwand) by Benjamin Stein. These texts diverge from previous representations of the topic in terms of narrative technique and various literary methods that are combined into hybrid forms. In doing so, they emphasize the constructivist nature of narratives as such, and offer essential new ways of representation that do not focus on historical “truths,” but on ways in which memory tricks people into presumably false identifications of identity and history. They thus represent poignantly the inner lives of traumatized persons and the people they are in contact with

Magnetic properties of a new molecular-based spin-ladder system: (5IAP)2CuBr4*2H2O

We have synthesized and characterized a new spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic ladder: bis 5-iodo-2-aminopyridinium tetrabromocuprate(II) dihydrate. X-ray diffraction studies show the structure of the compound to consist of well isolated stacked ladders and the interaction between the Cu(2+) atoms to be due to direct Br...Br contacts. Magnetic susceptibility and magnetization studies show the compound to be in the strong-coupling limit, with the interaction along the rungs (J' ~ 13 K) much greater than the interaction along the rails (J ~ 1 K). Magnetic critical fields are observed near 8.3 T and 10.4 T, respectively, establishing the existence of the energy gap.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B Figure 4 did not print. *.eps files replaced with figures.ps fil

Bis(2-amino-3-carb­oxy­pyridinium) sulfate trihydrate

In the title compound, 2C6H7N2O2 +·SO4 2−·3H2O, there are two independent cations which are connected into N—H⋯O hydrogen-bonded dimers. In the crystal, O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonded sulfate–water sheets run parallel to (001) and are linked into a three-dimensional network via inter­molecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds through the 2-amino­nicotinium dimers. Further stabilization is provided by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. R 4 3(10) and R 2 2(8) graph-set rings are observed. The crystal studied was an inversion twin with refined components of 0.45 (6) and 0.55 (6)