Building bridges--burning bridges

With the banks, the bridge brings to the stream the one and the other expanse of the landscape lying behind them. It brings stream and bank and land into each other's neighborhood. Martin Heidegger, 1951 buildings often carry symbolic messages. Probably the most obvious one is transported by bridges, transforming landscapes, countries, or people, which had been separated before, into neighbors. But, in contradiction to their constitutional idea of peace, bridges can also develop into symbols of a dangerous threat or domination. This is what happens especially in wartime. Shortly after coming into power in the summer of 1933 Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of the Reichsautobahnen, a vast motorway system for Germany. Work on one of the most extensive infrastructure projects of its times was started the same year under supervision of the Inspector General for German Roadways, Fritz Todt. Due to the concept of a street network avoiding intersections at the same level, bridges became a central constituent of the motorway project. Furthermore, besides their technical task, motorway bridges also developed into an important element for propaganda. In fact, even if many of the approximately 5000 motorway bridges built under the Nazi regime cannot be valued as outstanding constructions, the comprehensive quality of design in nearly all the structures--reaching from small culverts to gigantic viaducts--played a key role for the international enthusiasm towards the German motorways. Against many widespread beliefs, the aspect of war preparation only played a marginal role during the first years of motorway construction. But, as the war approached, this situation rapidly changed and especially the bridge builders got increasingly involved in the war machinery. In 1938 Todt was ordered to build a 400-mile-long line of defensive forts and tank traps. Works on this so-called Westwall were supervised by an extraordinarily effective branch office of the Inspectorate General, soon known under the name Organisation Todt (OT). At first only needed for their general engineering skills, many of the bridge builders soon returned to their original profession. Being distributed by the OT on bridge building brigades, they followed on the heels of the forward moving army, rebuilding bridges that had been damaged during the fighting. Surprisingly, the works on the motorways were not totally stopped when the war broke out, and the plans for the motorway network were even extended with every victory of the German army. Thus, also the architects involved in the motorway project had plenty of planning to do. But, the expression of their bridges underwent a decent change. From sober and harmonious engineering structures they developed into gigantic monuments of a conquering, militarized country. When the war tide finally turned, most of these projects still were nothing more than hypertrophic dreams--dreams that finally turned into the nightmare of the destruction of German bridges by the own retreating army. It is the aim of the author to discuss the involvement of German bridge builders in the war process through exemplary projects. Therefore, the paper would mainly focus on the works of some key figures for German bridge building of that time, such as the architects Paul Bonatz and Friedrich Tamms, and the engineers Karl Schaechterle, Gottwalt Schaper and Fritz Leonhardt.hry 2451/29945Conference co-sponsored by the Institute of Fine Arts; Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal; and Princeton University's School of Architecture

Building bridges--burning bridges

With the banks, the bridge brings to the stream the one and the other expanse of the landscape lying behind them. It brings stream and bank and land into each other's neighborhood. Martin Heidegger, 1951 buildings often carry symbolic messages. Probably the most obvious one is transported by bridges, transforming landscapes, countries, or people, which had been separated before, into neighbors. But, in contradiction to their constitutional idea of peace, bridges can also develop into symbols of a dangerous threat or domination. This is what happens especially in wartime. Shortly after coming into power in the summer of 1933 Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of the Reichsautobahnen, a vast motorway system for Germany. Work on one of the most extensive infrastructure projects of its times was started the same year under supervision of the Inspector General for German Roadways, Fritz Todt. Due to the concept of a street network avoiding intersections at the same level, bridges became a central constituent of the motorway project. Furthermore, besides their technical task, motorway bridges also developed into an important element for propaganda. In fact, even if many of the approximately 5000 motorway bridges built under the Nazi regime cannot be valued as outstanding constructions, the comprehensive quality of design in nearly all the structures--reaching from small culverts to gigantic viaducts--played a key role for the international enthusiasm towards the German motorways. Against many widespread beliefs, the aspect of war preparation only played a marginal role during the first years of motorway construction. But, as the war approached, this situation rapidly changed and especially the bridge builders got increasingly involved in the war machinery. In 1938 Todt was ordered to build a 400-mile-long line of defensive forts and tank traps. Works on this so-called Westwall were supervised by an extraordinarily effective branch office of the Inspectorate General, soon known under the name Organisation Todt (OT). At first only needed for their general engineering skills, many of the bridge builders soon returned to their original profession. Being distributed by the OT on bridge building brigades, they followed on the heels of the forward moving army, rebuilding bridges that had been damaged during the fighting. Surprisingly, the works on the motorways were not totally stopped when the war broke out, and the plans for the motorway network were even extended with every victory of the German army. Thus, also the architects involved in the motorway project had plenty of planning to do. But, the expression of their bridges underwent a decent change. From sober and harmonious engineering structures they developed into gigantic monuments of a conquering, militarized country. When the war tide finally turned, most of these projects still were nothing more than hypertrophic dreams--dreams that finally turned into the nightmare of the destruction of German bridges by the own retreating army. It is the aim of the author to discuss the involvement of German bridge builders in the war process through exemplary projects. Therefore, the paper would mainly focus on the works of some key figures for German bridge building of that time, such as the architects Paul Bonatz and Friedrich Tamms, and the engineers Karl Schaechterle, Gottwalt Schaper and Fritz Leonhardt.hry 2451/29945Conference co-sponsored by the Institute of Fine Arts; Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal; and Princeton University's School of Architecture

Recovery: What does this mean to patients with low back pain?

Copyright © 2009, American College of Rheumatology. This article is freely available through the publisher’s link below.Objective - To explore patients' perceptions of recovery from low back pain, about which little is known. Methods - A qualitative study was conducted in which 36 participants, either recovered or unrecovered from low back pain, participated in focus groups. Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Framework analysis was used to identify emergent themes and domains of recovery. Results - Patients' views of recovery encompassed a range of factors that can be broadly classified into the domains of symptom attenuation, improved capacity to perform a broad scope of self-defined functional activities, and achievement of an acceptable quality of life. An interactive model is proposed to describe the relationships between these domains, cognitive appraisal of the pain experience, and self-rated recovery. Pain attenuation alone was not a reliable indicator of recovery. Conclusion - The construct of recovery for typical back pain patients seeking primary care is more complex than previously recognized and is a highly individual construct, determined by appraisal of the impact of symptoms on daily functional activities as well as quality of life factors. These findings will be valuable for reassessing how to optimize measures of recovery from low back pain by addressing the spectrum of factors patients consider meaningful

Evolution of Poliovirus Type I during 5.5 Years of Prolonged Enteral Replication in an Immunodeficient Patient

AbstractPoliovirus type 1 was isolated from an immunodeficient patient 4 days after onset of paresis (IS1) and after 5.5 years of prolonged enteral virus replication (IS2). Antigenic characterization revealed that IS1 was Sabin 1-like, whereas IS2 reacted like poliovirus 1 Mahoney. Complete genomic sequencing demonstrated the phylogenetic relationship (94.9% identity) of IS1 and IS2, which differed from the most closely related Sabin 1 by 5.4 and 8.3%, respectively. Both isolates had revertant-like mutations at nucleotides 480 and 6203. Deduced amino acid sequences indicated significant changes between IS1 and IS2 at the neutralizing antigenic site 1. Prolonged enteral replication, evolution, and shedding of poliovirus by immunodeficient patients should be considered in the poliovirus eradication strategy

Are you a SCEPTIC? SoCial mEdia Precision and uTility in Conferences

We analysed Twitter feeds at an emergency medicine scientific conference to determine the (1) accuracy of disseminated educational messages and the (2) use in providing rapid feedback to speakers. Most speakers were happy for key messages to be tweeted, and the majority of tweets (34/37) represented these accurately. It is important that speakers and conference organisers consider Twitter use and its potential benefits and disadvantages

Summaries

Приведены рефераты статей данного номера на английском языке

Insight into Fucoidan-based PEGylated PLGA Nanoparticles Encapsulating Methyl Anthranilic Acid: In Vitro Evaluation and In Vivo Anti-inflammatory Study

A potential fucoidan-based PEGylated PLGA nanoparticles (NPs) offering a proper delivery of N-methyl anthranilic acid (MA, a model of hydrophobic anti-inflammatory drug) have been developed via the formation of fucoidan aqueous coating surrounding PEGylated PLGA NPs. The optimum formulation (FuP2) composed of fucoidan:m-PEG-PLGA (1:0.5 w/w) with particle size(365 ± 20.76 nm), zeta potential (-22.30 ± 2.56 mV), % entrapment efficiency (85.45 ± 7.41), drug loading (51.36 ± 4.75 µg/mg of NPs), % initial burst (47.91 ± 5.89), and % cumulative release (102.79 ± 6.89) has been further investigated for the anti-inflammatory in vivo study. This effect of FuP2 was assessed in rats’ carrageenan-induced acute inflammation model. The average weight of the paw edema was significantly lowered (p ≤ 0.05) by treatment with FuP2. Moreover, cyclooxygenase-2 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha immunostaining were decreased in FuP2 treated group compared to the other groups. The levels of prostaglandin E2, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde were significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.05) in the FuP2-treated group. A significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in the expression of interleukins (IL-1b and IL-6) with an improvement of the histological findings of the paw tissues was observed in the FuP2-treated group. Thus, fucoidan-based PEGylated PLGA–MA NPs are a promising anti-inflammatory delivery system that can be applied for other similar drugs potentiating their pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties

Imagerie numérique et conservation-restauration : état de l’art et perspectives

L’imagerie scientifique est un outil incontournable des sciences de la conservation-restauration. La modification du support de la photographie, devenu numérique, le développement du rendu tridimensionnel qualitatif et quantitatif de l’image ont transformé la photographie technique en un outil d’investigation non destructif à part entière, indispensable et complémentaire des approches physiques et physico-chimiques classiques et en un outil-support de documentation. L’ensemble des développements et travaux menés en imagerie scientifique et sur l’intégration dans des plateformes collaboratives d’annotation sémantique 3D permet, outre une production plus facile de documents, de mettre en synergie les résultats provenant de différentes techniques d’analyse. Elle va modifier, dans un futur proche, l’approche sur le terrain des acteurs de la conservation et conduire à une meilleure synergie interprofessionnelle. Ils auront ainsi la possibilité de mieux mettre en cohérence leurs observations, leurs conclusions quant aux analyses faites à différentes échelles, dans une dynamique temporelle qui intègre les données de la restauration, de son histoire passée. À terme, et par l’intégration des données environnementales, ces plateformes seront un outil de suivi de l’évolution de l’état matériel du bien culturel et aussi de transmission des connaissances vers un public large.Technical imaging has always been an essential tool in conservation science. Thanks to today’s digital photography and its quantitative and qualitative tridimensional aspects, this imaging has become an autonomous and vital nondestructive instrument that complements classic physical and chemical analyses. It is also an essential tool for documentation purposes. Results coming from different techniques of analysis can now be synthesized by means of new developments in technical imaging and their insertion into collaborative 3D semantic annotation platforms. Technical imaging can modify the infield approach of conservation professionals and will help lead to better interprofessional dialogue in the future. Conservation professionals will have the assurance of better consistency in their observations, which can cover different time frames for restoration projects and historical data and conclusions drawn from analyses made at different scales. In the long term and after integration of environmental data, these platforms will become monitoring tools dedicated to following the state of conservation of cultural heritage objects and a tool for transmitting knowledge about these objects to a wider audience