174 research outputs found
Adria Palace on Jungmann Square
No full textThe segment features the Rondocubist Adria Palace (palác Adria) on the corner of Národní and Jungmannova streets. The building was commissioned in 1924 by the Italian insurance company Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta and was designed by architects Josef Zasch and Pavel Janák. A shot of the palace and its surroundings with the Josef Jungmann monument by sculptor Václav Levý. Shots of the insurance company's administrative building on the other side of the street which was designed by Fritz Lehmann and built in 1930-32
Redesigning Adria Caravans for a Circular Economy
No full textThis project started with the following assignment: redesign the Adria Action caravan to fit in a circular economy and to have less CO2 emissions. However, the outcome of this project is not a redesign of a caravan but a framework for Adria to work towards (partial) circular As an example of the functioning of this framework, a redesign of the bathroom floor was done.To get to know the particular caravan and the caravan industry an analysis of the context was conducted. An eco-analysis on material basis of the Action caravan was done and visits to experts in the industry, repairmen and a caravan recycling company, were made. The main conclusions from the analysis were that the structural body has the most value, both economically as environmentally, and therefore needs to be used for a longer time. There already is an effort made but it is complicated due to components that are hard to repair and due to a lack of support and instructions and availability of spare parts. In the caravan industry and this company there is also little standardization which means there are a lot of unique parts. This makes it hard to find fitting components and to reuse perfectly good components in other vehicles. The successful business of repair and recycling companies shows that there is value after the sale of the caravan but it is made unnecessary complex to retain this value by the organization of the caravan companies.The framework shows that designing caravans for a circular economy involves more aspects than just redesigning the individual parts for reuse, repair and recycling possibilities. There are different levels on which actions can take place and to become completely circular, these levels must work together. First, analytical capabilities, such as LCA and hot spot mapping, are needed to assess the current condition of the caravans and evaluate improvements. To do this, a different way of documenting will be required within Adria. Next, with this objective way of assessing the caravan, focus points can be found and components can be redesigned using the circular economy ideals. Those adjustments can then again be evaluated.One of the focus points found is the bathroom floor. It is a critical part because it protects the frame from moisture, the bathroom is not functional without the floor and it is very difficult to disassemble and reassemble the floor. At the moment, the floor is being repaired with polyurethane, which restores the value of the caravan at that time, but the repair makes the component non-recyclable and therefore no longer part of the circular economy. It is more sustainable to replace the tray as a whole. So when redesigning the tray, it was looked at how this can be done easier. It requires minor adjustments to the part and larger adjustments at a company level. On a company level, some variables should be agreed on as a fixed standard. This makes future designs backward compatible and therefore makes it easy and cost-efficient to produce an extra part when a customer orders it, enabling the replacement of the tray.Integrated Product Desig
Is isotopic hetereogeneity in tree water pools linked to phenology? Inter species and seasonal variations
No full textInternational audienceIn both field and experimental studies, there is increasing evidence for an isotopic mismatch between bulk water from plant twigs or stems and the potential mixture of waters from sources such as rain, soil, stream and groundwater. This poses a significant challenge in the interpretation of where plants access water spatially within the critical zone and temporally over the season with stable water isotopes. To date, a considerable number of studies have confirmed the existence of isotopic heterogeneity in soil water composition in association with variations in soil porosity. However, few studies have investigated the role of stem isotopic heterogeneity caused by plant internal water transport and redistribution on this isotopic mismatch. Recent experiments conducted on woody stems of Fagus sylvatica L., Quercus robur L. and Pinus pinaster Ait. have revealed a generalised isotopic heterogeneity when applying a novel water extraction technique based on the flow-rotor method known as Cavitron used to induce and measure embolism in plants (Barbeta et al., in prep). With this method, stems are centrifuged at different rotor speeds to generate emboli in the center, that expands through the longitudinal axis causing the stepwise displacement of vessel water outside the stem where it can be collected for stable isotope analysis. In addition, the water that remains in the stem tissues after cavitation (tissue water) can be extracted using a cryogenic vacuum distillation approach. In this presentation, we will show data that demonstrate that tree phenology has an important role in explaining the physiological mechanisms underlying differences in the stable isotope composition of vessel and tissue water and its use over the season. In addition, we will expose different water isotope datasets collected over multiple growing seasons and experiments using this technique and describe the advances in our understanding of the isotopic mismatch between stem and soil water composition that help to reconcile the growing number of studies that have observed this discrepancy
Is isotopic hetereogeneity in tree water pools linked to phenology? Inter species and seasonal variations
No full textInternational audienceIn both field and experimental studies, there is increasing evidence for an isotopic mismatch between bulk water from plant twigs or stems and the potential mixture of waters from sources such as rain, soil, stream and groundwater. This poses a significant challenge in the interpretation of where plants access water spatially within the critical zone and temporally over the season with stable water isotopes. To date, a considerable number of studies have confirmed the existence of isotopic heterogeneity in soil water composition in association with variations in soil porosity. However, few studies have investigated the role of stem isotopic heterogeneity caused by plant internal water transport and redistribution on this isotopic mismatch. Recent experiments conducted on woody stems of Fagus sylvatica L., Quercus robur L. and Pinus pinaster Ait. have revealed a generalised isotopic heterogeneity when applying a novel water extraction technique based on the flow-rotor method known as Cavitron used to induce and measure embolism in plants (Barbeta et al., in prep). With this method, stems are centrifuged at different rotor speeds to generate emboli in the center, that expands through the longitudinal axis causing the stepwise displacement of vessel water outside the stem where it can be collected for stable isotope analysis. In addition, the water that remains in the stem tissues after cavitation (tissue water) can be extracted using a cryogenic vacuum distillation approach. In this presentation, we will show data that demonstrate that tree phenology has an important role in explaining the physiological mechanisms underlying differences in the stable isotope composition of vessel and tissue water and its use over the season. In addition, we will expose different water isotope datasets collected over multiple growing seasons and experiments using this technique and describe the advances in our understanding of the isotopic mismatch between stem and soil water composition that help to reconcile the growing number of studies that have observed this discrepancy
Obergefell v. Hodges and Support for Same-Sex Marriage: Changes in National and State Public Opinion
No full textTitle: Obergefell v. Hodges and Support for Same-Sex Marriage: Changes in National and State Public Opinion
Author: Adria Neal
Department: Political Science
Mentor: Laura Moyer, Ph.D
Abstract:
Many have argued that Supreme Court decisions on culture war issues, issues that cause conflict between conservative and liberal values, stifle public progression on the very problems they are meant to resolve. They often cite political and electoral backlash following a decision as evidence of this stagnation. However, this backlash may not be representative of widespread public opinion. In order to understand the relationship between Court decisions and public opinion, changes in opinion on culture war issues following a Supreme Court ruling must be measured. This study utilized national and state survey data in order to examine this relationship. It measured changes in support for same-sex marriage nationwide as well as in the state of Kentucky following the Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Changes in support for same-sex marriage among various racial groups and political parties are also assessed. Changes in nationwide support following Obergefell did not reach significance and changes in support on the state level, following the ruling, also could not be determined because of differences in survey question wording. However, findings showed that other significant same-sex marriage court decisions have preceded changes in overall support for same-sex marriage. Also, the gaps in support between racial groups and parties changed following these rulings, suggesting that groups have differing reactions to Court involvement. Research conducted after Kim Davis’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples suggested that Kentuckians are willing to acquiesce with the Court’s decision in Obergefell, despite widespread disapproval of same-sex marriage. Future research should utilize survey data with consistent questions before and after the Court’s ruling and should control for other variables in order to isolate the effect of Court decisions
The Cub, the Parson, the Doctor: James Boswell, Laurence Sterne, and Samuel Johnson in London
No full textSamuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the dominant literary figure of the later eighteenth century. He was most famed in his day as the author of the first comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, but he would be eventually celebrated in equal measure as a great moral sage, essayist, poet, critic, conversationalist, and the second most quoted person in the English language after Shakespeare. Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) was an Irish-born Anglican clergyman who achieved instant celebrity as the author of one of the most wildly innovative comic novels in English, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Though the novel is now considered a key work in the evolution of the novel and a precursor to postmodernist experiments in self-reflexive writing, not every reader has responded favourably to its dizzying novelties. Samuel Johnson, who likely never met Sterne, notoriously if incorrectly predicted that the novel‘s popularity would fade. James Boswell (1740-1795) also aimed to become a great literary author of the period but his reputation did not fare as well as Johnson‘s or Sterne‘s. A generation after his death, he had come to be seen as a buffoon who had needled his way into the company of the powerful and talented while displaying little talent or with himself. The 19th-century essayist Lord Macaulay pronounced him “one of the smallest men who ever lived [...] a man of the meanest and feeblest intellect [...] shallow and pedantic, a bigot and a sot [...] a common butt in the taverns of London.” Yet Boswell kept meticulous records of his conversations with the eminent writers and thinkers of his age, and from these records were produced not only a remarkable series of journals, unmatched in their detail and directness, but equally one indisputable masterpiece, his Life of Johnson, which is generally regarded as the greatest biography in English. In this ambitious and exhaustively researched paper, Adria Young gathers pretty much all evidence available (and there‘s not much of it) connecting Sterne to Johnson, with Boswell emerging as a go-between connecting these two very different personalities. But more than showing how their lives may have intersected, Young develops a lively and suggestive argument about how Boswell, always in search of a father-figure, ultimately shed the exuberant Sterne‘s early influence in favour of Johnson‘s sturdier guidance. -Dr. Trevor Ros
Reduced tree health and seedling production in fragmented Fagus sylvatica forest patches in the Montseny Mountains (NE Spain)
No full textHabitat fragmentation results in smaller and more isolated populations that may be at higher risk of extirpation or further decline in comparison with their more continuously distributed progenitors. Risks to fragmented populations have frequently been considered from the perspective of population genet- ics, however, disruption of normal plant demography may be an equal or greater threat to population persistence. We compared demographic performance and tree health in continuous and fragmented forest plots with similar tree size structure and local climatic and physiographic conditions in order to determine if fragments are characterized by poor health and reproduction. We found that beech forest fragments showed lower seedling density, more tree crown damage and also higher percentage of dead trees. However, mortality of juveniles in the youngest age class was substantially lower in fragments such that long-term population structure remained similar between the two forest types. If reduced mortality compensates for reduced seedling establishment, as our data suggest, then fragmented pop- ulations should show greater long-term persistence than would be predicted based on comparison of young age cohorts alone. However, despite such demographic compensation, the decreased health of adult trees may pose an increasing future threat to the fragmented populations. Our results demonstrate the importance of integrating demographic patterns over long time periods and not relying on single year or cohort comparisons and may partly explain population genetic differences previously reported for the same populations
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