TIRANA. Architecture as Political Actor

This book on the architecture of Tirana contains findings of the interdisciplinary seminar “TIRANA. Architecture as Political Actor” at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. In photographs, texts and diagrams it shows the approach to an unknown city that was explored following the ideas of the Actor Network Theory (ANT). Thus, the book gives an insight into scientific as well as artistic works, both mirroring the attempt to grasp the role of architecture within political processes in the 20th century and today. In this compilation of the architectural-political networks, an image of the city of Tirana emerges that gives an idea of specific built structures as well as of the architecture as political actor on a meta-level. In doing so, the book itself becomes an actor in the discussion of the relationship of architecture and politics in Albania and an example for the use of ANT as scientific-artistic tool for the research on architectural “things” in the context of a city

Synergies between interstellar dust and heliospheric science with an Interstellar Probe

We discuss the synergies between heliospheric and dust science, the open science questions, the technological endeavors and programmatic aspects that are important to maintain or develop in the decade to come. In particular, we illustrate how we can use interstellar dust in the solar system as a tracer for the (dynamic) heliosphere properties, and emphasize the fairly unexplored, but potentially important science question of the role of cosmic dust in heliospheric and astrospheric physics. We show that an Interstellar Probe mission with a dedicated dust suite would bring unprecedented advances to interstellar dust research, and can also contribute-through measuring dust - to heliospheric science. This can, in particular, be done well if we work in synergy with other missions inside the solar system, thereby using multiple vantage points in space to measure the dust as it `rolls' into the heliosphere. Such synergies between missions inside the solar system and far out are crucial for disentangling the spatially and temporally varying dust flow. Finally, we highlight the relevant instrumentation and its suitability for contributing to finding answers to the research questions.Comment: 18 pages, 7 Figures, 5 Tables. Originally submitted as white paper for the National Academies Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics 2024-203

LISA Pathfinder: Understanding DWS noise performance for the LISA mission

ESA's L3 Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission contains a mechanism to compensate for out-of-plane angles between the received and emitted beams of the three satellites. Depending on the configuration of this Point-Ahead Angle Mechanism (PAAM) it is expected to contribute readout noise through Differential Wavefront Sensing (DWS). This was investigated with LISA Pathfinder (LPF) through a dedicated investigation. One of the two free-falling test masses was rotated via the on-board electrostatic actuators while the resulting angular noise in the differential interferometer between the two test masses was measured. For angles between −250 μrad to 250 μrad and corresponding contrast in the range of 59.4 % to 97.9 % an increased spectral density was found. The differential displacement noise remains almost unchanged for these misalignments.The Albert-Einstein-Institut acknowledges the support of the German Space Agency, DLR. The work is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy based on a resolution of the German Bundestag (FKZ 50OQ0501 and FKZ 50OQ1601)

Additional colloids have only a minor haemodilutive effect after surgery for aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Haemodilution is commonly used as prophylaxis, as well as treatment for cerebral ischaemia after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Thirty-six patients operated for aneurysmal SAH were evaluated retrospectively; 24 received haemodilutive therapy and 12 patients, as a control group, received no additional therapy. There was a 'spontaneous' drop in haematocrit by 22% in both groups, and a corresponding drop in haemoglobin by 23% in the treatment group and 19% in the non-haemodiluted group, during the first 4 days after the SAH. After the initial decrease the haematocrit remained stable between 0.28 and 0.33 until day 14 in both groups. The haemodilutive group had only a minor lower haematocrit level during days 8-12 as the additional fluid resulted in increased renal excretion. This minor difference was, however, significant (p < 0.02)

Prediction of death in patients with primary intracerebral hemorrhage: a prospective study of a defined population.

OBJECT: Predictors of early (30-day) and long-term (1-year) mortality rates after primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) were studied in a large population in southern Sweden. METHODS: All cases of primary ICH, verified using computerized tomography (CT) scanning or autopsy study, were prospectively registered at the 12 hospitals covering a defined population of 1.14 million during the calendar year 1996. Mortality was analyzed in relation to CT findings (hematoma location and volume and ventricular extension) and clinical parameters (patient age and sex, level of consciousness on admission, and history of preictal risk factors) by using univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Three hundred forty-one cases of primary ICH were detected. The overall mortality rate was 36% at the 30-day and 47% at the 1-year follow up. Multivariate analysis revealed that initial level of consciousness, hematoma volume, and a history of heart disease were independent predictors of death at 30 days postictus. One year after bleeding, independent predictors of mortality were the initial level of consciousness, patient age, and hematoma location. CONCLUSIONS: Primary ICH remains a stroke subtype associated with a high mortality rate and for which the level of consciousness on admission is the strongest predictor of fatal outcome both at 30 days and during the 1st year after bleeding. A preictal history of heart disease increased the 30-day mortality rate