Shared Symbols

Despite the trend of secularization, pilgrimages to sacred sites flourish. Most of the pilgrims are women and the reasons for their visits often have to do with the dynamics of women's lives. Some of the pilgrims to sites dedicated to St Mary are Muslims. This is interesting in the present political context in which lines are being redrawn between Christians and Muslims and their respective religious identities. Why would Muslims go to Marian shrines and how do they negotiate their relationship to the figure of the Virgin Mary and thereby define their gender and religious position? This article describes the experiences of Muslim pilgrims at Marian sites in Germany, Portugal and Turkey, and analyses these in terms of gender and religious identity

Where does public funding for HIV prevention go to? The case of condoms versus microbicides and vaccines

This study analyses the priorities of public donors in funding HIV prevention by either integrated condom programming or HIV preventive microbicides and vaccines in the period between 2000 and 2008. It further compares the public funding investments of the USA government and European governments, including the EU, as we expect the two groups to invest differently in HIV prevention options, because their policies on sexual and reproductive health and rights are different. We use two existing officially UN endorsed databases to compare the public donor funding streams for HIV prevention of these two distinct contributors. In the period 2000-2008, the relative share of public funding for integrated condom programming dropped significantly, while that for research on vaccines and microbicides increased. The European public donors gave a larger share to condom programming than the United States, but exhibited a similar downward trend in favour of funding research on vaccines and microbicides. Both public donor parties invested progressively more in research on vaccines and microbicides rather than addressing the shortage of condoms and improving access to integrated condom programming in developing countries

Influence of human impact and bedrock differences on the vegetational history of the Insubrian Southern Alps

Vegetation history for the study region is reconstructed on the basis of pollen, charcoal and AMS14C investigations of lake sediments from Lago del Segrino (calcareous bedrock) and Lago di Muzzano (siliceous bedrock). Late-glacial forests were characterised byBetula andPinus sylvestris. At the beginning of the Holocene they were replaced by temperate continental forest and shrub communities. A special type of temperate lowland forest, withAbies alba as the most important tree, was present in the period 8300 to 4500 B.P. Subsequently,Fagus, Quercus andAlnus glutinosa were the main forest components andA. alba ceased to be of importance.Castanea sativa andJuglans regia were probably introduced after forest clearance by fire during the first century A.D. On soils derived from siliceous bedrock,C. sativa was already dominant at ca. A.D. 200 (A.D. dates are in calendar years). In limestone areas, however,C. sativa failed to achieve a dominant role. After the introduction ofC. sativa, the main trees were initially oak (Quercus spp.) and later the walnut (Juglans regia). Ostrya carpinifolia became the dominant tree around Lago del Segrino only in the last 100–200 years though it had spread into the area at ca. 5000 cal. B.C. This recent expansion ofOstrya is confirmed at other sites and appears to be controlled by human disturbances involving especially clearance. It is argued that these forests should not be regarded as climax communities. It is suggested that under undisturbed succession they would develop into mixed deciduous forests consisting ofFraxinus excelsior, Tilia, Ulmus, Quercus and Acer

Direct intra-abdominal pressure monitoring via piezoresistive pressure measurement: a technical note

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Piezoresistive pressure measurement technique (PRM) has previously been applied for direct IAP measurement in a porcine model using two different devices. Aim of this clinical study was to assess both devices regarding complications, reliability and agreement with IVP in patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective cohort study was performed in 20 patients randomly scheduled to receive PRM either by a Coach^®-probe or an Accurate++^®-probe (both MIPM, Mammendorf, Germany). Probes were placed on the greater omentum and passed through the abdominal wall paralleling routine drainages. PRM was compared with IVP measurement by t-testing and by calculating mean difference as well as limits of agreement (LA).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no probe related complications. Due to technical limitations, data could be collected in 3/10 patients with Coach^®and in 7/10 patients with Accurate++^®. Analysis was carried out only for Accurate++^®. Mean values did not differ to mean IVP values. Mean difference to IVP was 0.1 ± 2.8 mmHg (LA: -5.5 to 5.6 mmHg).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Direct IAP measurement was clinically uneventful. Although results of Accurate++^®were comparable to IVP, the device might be too fragile for IAP measurements in the clinical setting. Local ethical committee trial registration: EK2024</p

SUGAR-DIP trial: Oral medication strategy versus insulin for diabetes in pregnancy, study protocol for a multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial

Introduction In women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) requiring pharmacotherapy, insulin was the established first-line treatment. More recently, oral glucose lowering drugs (OGLDs) have gained popularity as a patient-friendly, less expensive and safe alternative. Monotherapy with metformin or glibenclamide (glyburide) is incorporated in several international guidelines. In women who do not reach sufficient glucose control with OGLD monotherapy, usually insulin is added, either with or without continuation of OGLDs. No reliable data from clinical trials, however, are available on the effectiveness of a treatment strategy using all three agents, metformin, glibenclamide and insulin, in a stepwise approach, compared with insulin-only therapy for improving pregnancy outcomes. In this trial, we aim to assess the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and patient experience of a stepwise combined OGLD treatment protocol, compared with conventional insulin-based therapy for GDM. Methods The SUGAR-DIP trial is an open-label, multicentre randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. Participants are women with GDM who do not reach target glycaemic control with modification of diet, between 16 and 34 weeks of gestation. Participants will be randomised to either treatment with OGLDs, starting with metformin and supplemented as needed with glibenclamide, or randomised to treatment with insulin. In women who do not reach target glycaemic control with combined metformin and glibenclamide, glibenclamide will be substituted with insulin, while continuing metformin. The primary outcome will be the incidence of large-for-gestational-age infants (birth weight >90th percentile). Secondary outcome measures are maternal diabetes-related endpoints, obstetric complications, neonatal complications and cost-effectiveness analysis. Outcomes will be analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Utrecht University Medical Centre. Approval by the boards of management for all participating hospitals will be obtained. Trial results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals

Showing the cultures of the East

In 1915 the Biblical Museum near Nijmegen, the Netherlands, opened its doors to the public. Its artistic advisor was Piet Gerrits, an all-round artist and craftsman. This article discusses how the experience-based knowledge gathered by Gerrits through the Latin missions in the Middle East from 1906 to 1911 was reproduced, materialized, transmitted and transformed in the museum and the churches he decorated in the Netherlands. It also shows how his artwork was recently re-appropriated by Jordanians to restore their damaged local cultural heritage and Christian identity. In the analysis of Gerrits’s visualizations of the East in paintings, statues and architecture, three types of experience-based knowledge are distinguished and illustrated: embodied knowledge, material heritage and religious coexistence. Such an approach was not easily assimilated in Europe, as representations of intimate knowledge of everyday life in the Levant clashed with Catholic iconographic norms and the assumptions, dominant representations, and religious aims of other authorities involved.En 1915, le musée Biblique près de Nimègue, aux Pays-Bas, ouvre ses portes au public. Son conseiller artistique est Piet Gerrits, un artiste et artisan accompli. Cet article traite de la façon dont les connaissances fondées sur l’expérience recueillies par Gerrits, au travers des missions latines au Moyen-Orient de 1906 à 1911, ont été reproduites, matérialisées, transmises et transformées dans le musée et les églises qu’il a décorés aux Pays-Bas ; et comment les Jordaniens se sont réapproprié l’œuvre de Gerrits pour restaurer leur patrimoine culturel local endommagé et identité chrétienne. Dans l’analyse des visualisations de l’Orient dans les peintures, statues et architecture de Gerrits, on distingue trois types d’approches basées sur l’expérience et démontrées ici : la connaissance incarnée, le patrimoine matériel et la coexistence religieuse. Cette démarche n’est pas facilement assimilée en Europe, où les représentations de la connaissance intime de la vie quotidienne au Levant se heurtent aux normes iconographiques catholiques et aux assomptions, représentations dominantes et objectifs religieux des autres autorités impliquées

Augsburger Volkskundliche Nachrichten: 01/2013

Inhalt: Leidler, Ines: Griechenland – finanzielles gleich kulturelles Sorgenkind Europas? - Einsiedler, Marion; Herrmann, Leonie: "In Vielfalt geeint"? Deutsche und Schweizer Studenten zwischen nationaler und europäischer Identität - Interview - Rezensionen - Veranstaltunge

La radiothérapie des cancers urologiques : cours d'introduction pour l'ensemble des intervénants médicaux et non-médicaux.

Une introduction concernant la radiothérapie des néoplasies urologiques : tumeurs rénales, de l'ureter, de la vessie, de l'urèthre, de la verge, de la prostate, et des testicules