Reading Across Cultures: Global Narratives, Hotels and Railway Stations

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.This article takes its cue from the English critic, novelist and painter John Berger. He argues that what we know determines what we see. Hotels and railway stations, though they differ in size, design and appearance, are places of temporary national and international congress that are recognized by everyone. They become visible or even iconic once their history or their role is turned into at least part of a wider narrative—in literature, film or in other arts. This provides a representative focus by which we may read a city’s or a nation’s past. In exemplifying such connections I focus first on the long-term history of Friedrichstraße station and some of the surrounding hotels in the context of the history of Berlin, situating them within the national and, by implication, also the international context. Secondly, I will consider the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 as an event in which the role of railway stations generated both personal and collective memories across cultures and over several decades

Characterization of Spontaneous Bone Marrow Recovery after Sublethal Total Body Irradiation: Importance of the Osteoblastic/Adipocytic Balance

Many studies have already examined the hematopoietic recovery after irradiation but paid with very little attention to the bone marrow microenvironment. Nonetheless previous studies in a murine model of reversible radio-induced bone marrow aplasia have shown a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) prior to hematopoietic regeneration. This increase in ALP activity was not due to cell proliferation but could be attributed to modifications of the properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). We thus undertook a study to assess the kinetics of the evolution of MSC correlated to their hematopoietic supportive capacities in mice treated with sub lethal total body irradiation. In our study, colony-forming units – fibroblasts (CFU-Fs) assay showed a significant MSC rate increase in irradiated bone marrows. CFU-Fs colonies still possessed differentiation capacities of MSC but colonies from mice sacrificed 3 days after irradiation displayed high rates of ALP activity and a transient increase in osteoblastic markers expression while pparγ and neuropilin-1 decreased. Hematopoietic supportive capacities of CFU-Fs were also modified: as compared to controls, irradiated CFU-Fs significantly increased the proliferation rate of hematopoietic precursors and accelerated the differentiation toward the granulocytic lineage. Our data provide the first evidence of the key role exerted by the balance between osteoblasts and adipocytes in spontaneous bone marrow regeneration. First, (pre)osteoblast differentiation from MSC stimulated hematopoietic precursor's proliferation and granulopoietic regeneration. Then, in a second time (pre)osteoblasts progressively disappeared in favour of adipocytic cells which down regulated the proliferation and granulocytic differentiation and then contributed to a return to pre-irradiation conditions

SENSOR- AND SCENE-GUIDED INTEGRATION OF TLS AND PHOTOGRAMMETRIC POINT CLOUDS FOR LANDSLIDE MONITORING

Terrestrial and airborne 3D imaging sensors are well-suited data acquisition systems for the area-wide monitoring of landslide activity. State-of-the-art surveying techniques, such as terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and photogrammetry based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery or terrestrial acquisitions have advantages and limitations associated with their individual measurement principles. In this study we present an integration approach for 3D point clouds derived from these techniques, aiming at improving the topographic representation of landslide features while enabling a more accurate assessment of landslide-induced changes. Four expert-based rules involving local morphometric features computed from eigenvectors, elevation and the agreement of the individual point clouds, are used to choose within voxels of selectable size which sensor’s data to keep. Based on the integrated point clouds, digital surface models and shaded reliefs are computed. Using an image correlation technique, displacement vectors are finally derived from the multi-temporal shaded reliefs. All results show comparable patterns of landslide movement rates and directions. However, depending on the applied integration rule, differences in spatial coverage and correlation strength emerge

Sensor- and scene-guided integration of TLS and photogrammetric point clouds for landslide monitoring

open7siTerrestrial and airborne 3D imaging sensors are well-suited data acquisition systems for the area-wide monitoring of landslide activity. State-of-the-art surveying techniques, such as terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and photogrammetry based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery or terrestrial acquisitions have advantages and limitations associated with their individual measurement principles. In this study we present an integration approach for 3D point clouds derived from these techniques, aiming at improving the topographic representation of landslide features while enabling a more accurate assessment of landslide-induced changes. Four expert-based rules involving local morphometric features computed from eigenvectors, elevation and the agreement of the individual point clouds, are used to choose within voxels of selectable size which sensor’s data to keep. Based on the integrated point clouds, digital surface models and shaded reliefs are computed. Using an image correlation technique, displacement vectors are finally derived from the multi-temporal shaded reliefs. All results show comparable patterns of landslide movement rates and directions. However, depending on the applied integration rule, differences in spatial coverage and correlation strength emerge.openT. Zieher, I. Toschi, F. Remondino, M. Rutzinger, Ch. Kofler, A. Mejia-Aguilar, R. SchlögelZieher, T.; Toschi, I.; Remondino, F.; Rutzinger, M.; Kofler, Ch.; Mejia-Aguilar, A.; Schlögel, R

Genetic causes of lymphedema

For this chapter, an extensive review of the literature regarding the genes and clinical presentations associated with primary lymphedema is performed. All the signs that have been mentioned for the patients with a proven mutation are catalogued. The phenotypes are divided into two groups depending on whether lymphedema is a primary or a secondary key for diagnosis. This should help clinicians to identify more easily the best candidate gene. Yet, because of the high number of associated genes and the large phenotypic variability, a panel approach to screen all genes at once is likely the most efficient approach for diagnosis

Optimizing landslide susceptibility zonation: Effects of DEM spatial resolution and slope unit delineation on logistic regression models

International audienc