2,783 research outputs found
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
- …