Sachsenhausen, “More of the Same”: The Transition of a Nazi Concentration Camp into a Soviet Special Camp

Abstract Totalitarian use of the concentration camp to subjugate and control its citizens was exemplified on a massive scale with the world’s most oppressive twentieth century regimes, Nazi Germany, and the USSR. While evolved from very different political origins, concentration camps were the primary instrument within each nation’s security services resulting in human misery and death on a massive scale. One camp, Sachsenhausen, near Berlin was especially prominent, designed and constructed in 1936 as a model camp with the IKL eventually housed adjacent to it. In May 1945 the Soviets invaded Germany, and within months Sachsenhausen was utilized by the Soviet NKVD and became the most prominent camp in the SOZ. This thesis demonstrates how Sachsenhausen was utilized by both regimes, undoubtedly differing in their politics, but demonstrating the concentration camps as their tool of choice. Any differences in camp administration were significantly outweighed by the human suffering and death experienced there

A rational use of laboratory tests in the diagnosis and management of hepatitis C virus infection

The prevalence of HCV infection is very diversified according to geographical areas and ranges from 1% in the Northern regions of the world to more than 20% as we move South. Due to the presence of HCVassociated liver diseases and the development of effective treatments, the diagnosis of HCV infection is a growing medical need. Several tests are available, from simple screening to identify the presence of antiHCV antibodies to the more sophisticated quantification of viral load and genotyping. However, these tests are to be used in a logical, consequential and cost-effective manner. This review article will report on the protocol in use in the North-Eastern part of Italy for the screening and diagnosis of HCV infection. The protocol is based on a consensus among several experts and may be the basis for a more rational approach in this rapidly growing field

TERREMOTI NELL’OMBRA: UN EVENTO CALABRESE NASCOSTO DAL GRANDE TERREMOTO DEL 1915

L’occorrenza di un terremoto distruttivo ha numerose implicazioni, sia di tipo fisico (modifica del campo di stress tettonico) che di tipo storico culturale. Nella storia sismica italiana l’occorrenza di forti terremoti ha generato spesso un aumento dell’attenzione verso questo fenomeno, ed è direttamente correlabile con alcune iniziative che hanno costituito la stessa tradizione storico-sismologica italiana, quali - ad esempio - la redazioni di importanti compilazioni sismologiche, (Giannozzo Manetti e Marcello Bonito, rispettivamente dopo i terremoti del 1456 e del 1688), o la nascita del servizio geodinamico italiano (all’indomani del terremoto ligure del 1887). Tuttavia i terremoti distruttivi hanno anche un effetto di ‘oscuramento’ nella tradizione storica di eventi meno forti, prossimi nello spazio (ma non necessariamente) e soprattutto nel tempo. Diversi casi storici sono stati segnalati da lavori recenti (Camassi e Castelli, 2005), e molti altri sono probabilmente ancora da ‘scoprire’. Nel presente lavoro si illustra un caso di questo genere, che ha la particolarità di verificarsi in tempi molto recenti, immediatamente a ridosso del grande terremoto della Marsica del 1915. Il terremoto colpisce la Calabria Settentrionale, a nord-ovest di Cosenza, e pur non modificando in modo significativo il quadro di conoscenze sulla sismicità dell’area, relativamente ‘ricco’, rappresenta comunque un caso significativo e uno spunto di riflessione importante sul tema della completezza storica delle informazioni sismologiche

Scattering of scalar perturbations with cosmological constant in low-energy and high-energy regimes

We study the absorption and scattering of massless scalar waves propagating in spherically symmetric spacetimes with dynamical cosmological constant both in low-energy and high-energy zones. In the former low-energy regime, we solve analytically the Regge-Wheeler wave equation and obtain an analytic absorption probability expression which varies with $M\sqrt{\Lambda}$, where $M$ is the central mass and $\Lambda$ is cosmological constant. The low-energy absorption probability, which is in the range of $[0, 0.986701]$, increases monotonically with increase in $\Lambda$. In the latter high-energy regime, the scalar particles adopt their geometric optics limit value. The trajectory equation with effective potential emerges and the analytic high-energy greybody factor, which is relevant with the area of classically accessible regime, also increases monotonically with increase in $\Lambda$, as long $\Lambda$ is less than or of the order of $10^4$. In this high-energy case, the null cosmological constant result reduces to the Schwarzschild value $27\pi r_g^2/4$.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

State transition and electrocaloric effect of BaZrx_{x}Ti1−x_{1-x}O3_3: simulation and experiment

The electrocaloric effect (ECE) of BaZr$_{x}$Ti$_{1-x}$O$_3$ (BZT) is closely related to the relaxor state transition of the materials. This work presents a systematic study on the ECE and the state transition of the BZT, using a combined canonical and microcanonical Monte Carlo simulations based a lattice-based on a Ginzburg-Landau-type Hamiltonian. For comparison and verification, experimental measurements have been carried on BTO and BZT ($x=0.12$ and $0.2$) samples, including the ECE at various temperatures, domain patterns by Piezoresponse Force Microscopy at room temperature, and the P-E loops at various temperatures. Results show that the dependency of BZT behavior of the Zr-concentration can be classified into three different stages. In the composition range of $0 \leq x \leq 0.2$, ferroelectric domains are visible, but ECE peak drops with increasing Zr-concentration harshly. In the range of $0.3 \leq x \leq 0.7$, relaxor features become prominent, and the decrease of ECE with Zr-concentration is moderate. In the high concentration range of $x \geq 0.8$, the material is almost nonpolar, and there is no ECE peak visible. Results suggest that BZT with certain low range of Zr-concentration around $x=0.12 \sim 0.3$ can be a good candidate with relatively high ECE and simutaneously wide temperature application range at rather low temperature

Social media and nurse education: an integrative reviewof the literature

Introduction. The exponential advance of social media has touched all areas of society, no exception for the professional and personal lives of healthcare people. The issue to be considered is not whether or not social media are being used, but how they are used. The line between proper and improper use, and even abuse, of social media is a subtle one. Thus, the key issue is to be aware of the tool that is being used and this should be supported with suitable training for healthcare professionals and, at an even earlier stage, for students at healthcare training institutions during their studies. Objective. To describe, through an integrative review of the literature, the use of social media by teachers and students during teaching activity and practical training courses. Materials and methods. An integrative review of the literature was conducted in October 2014. The literature search was performed by consulting the main biomedical databases: PubMed, CINAHL and Embase. Results. The literature search brought up a total of 854 citations. 804 abstracts were excluded as they were not relevant. Of the remaining 50, 31 were excluded for not meeting the general criteria and, hence, only 19 articles were included. Two aspects emerged from the works selected: the use and potential of social media in nursing education and the ethical and professional implications of their use. Conclusions. The analysis of the literature reveals two areas for further investigation: evaluating the level of moral awareness in nursing education with regards to the use of Web 2.0 communication tools and implementing teaching methods to promote the construction and development of moral reasoning in professionals

Time variable cosmological constant of holographic origin with interaction in Brans-Dicke theory

Time variable cosmological constant (TVCC) of holographic origin with interaction in Brans-Dicke theory is discussed in this paper. We investigate some characters for this model, and show the evolutions of deceleration parameter and equation of state (EOS) for dark energy. It is shown that in this scenario an accelerating universe can be obtained and the evolution of EOS for dark energy can cross over the boundary of phantom divide. In addition, a geometrical diagnostic method, jerk parameter is applied to this model to distinguish it with cosmological constant.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure