17 research outputs found
Congo, de missie en de literatuur: Over David van Reybrouck, J.G. Schoup en Amaat Vyncke
No full textCongo, the mission and the literature Missionaries played an important role in the colonisation of the Congo. They brought Christianity and “civilisation” to the new colony in central Africa, which was ruled over by the Belgian King Leopold II from 1885 to 1908 and by the Belgian government from 1908 to 1960. Missionaries were active in the field of education, but they also left their mark on colonial literature, both as authors and as protagonists. This article explores the traces of the missionaries in the literature on the Congo. Father Amaat Vyncke was an early example of a missionary and author, just as Father Garmijn and Father Constant de Deken. These missionaries provided a positive assessment on the colonial system in their writings. Writers like Ad. Verreet and J. G. Schoup used missionaries as protagonists in their novels. Schoup portrayed a sympathetic missionary who sharply criticised the colonial system. After the colonial period Jef Geeraerts painted a very negative image of the missionary in his Gangreen novels. However, the travel books written by Lieve Joris and Bart Castelein and the play Missie (Mission) written by David van Reybrouck (2007) sketched a positive and nostalgic image of the missionary
Editorial: RILEM Technical Letters – the new Open Access Journal of RILEM
No full textSince 1947, the mission of RILEM, the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, has been to advance scientific knowledge related to construction materials, systems and structures and to promote and encourage transfer and application of this knowledge worldwide. Since 1968, the peer review RILEM Journal MATERIALS & STRUCTURES has been RILEM’s flagship for disseminating the latest advances in construction materials research and structural behaviour.
With the present new scientific peer review journal, RILEM Technical Letters, RILEM seeks to venture into the new era of open access publishing by disseminating contributions breaking new ground in the field of construction materials science in the form of short letters. In particular, RILEM Technical Letters is focusing on the publication of short reports of major innovative research or strategic research needs in the field of construction materials and structures, specifically written to comply with the format of this new journal. By providing a fast publishing process, RILEM Technical Letters will constitute a new landmark among the publications devoted to construction materials science.
RILEM Technical Letters will be published as a Diamond Open Access journal available online free of charge. Publishing in open access format will allow a broad readership from all around the world to get unrestricted access to the latest knowledge in all subfields of RILEM. Moreover, RILEM will provide an additional benefit to its members by waiving publication costs if the corresponding author of the letter is a RILEM member.
On behalf of the whole RILEM community, we would like to thank the authors, reviewers and editors for their priceless contributions and wish the new journal all the success
Managing uncertainty:financial, actuarial and statistical modelling.
No full textpresent value; Value; Actuarial;
Interferometrical characterization of stress birefringence in germanium
No full textWe report on the characterisation of the refractive index homogeneity in large blanks of Czochralski-grown Germanium, for thermal imaging use. With a phase-measuring Twyman-Green interferometer working at 10.6 mu m, a map of the index of refraction with an accuracy better than 1 10(-5) can be obtained for blanks which do not exhibit high birefringence. Tn the other case, principal stresses in the disks can be determined through the effect of birefringence on the interferogram, if the stresses are distributed cylinder-symmetrically in the plane of the disk. Relations between stresses, transmittance, and electrical resistivity of the material are observed
Fifteen-year experience with the Ghent technique of penile inversion vaginoplasty
No full textBackground: Demand for male-to-female gender-affirmation surgery is rising. Creation of a vaginal vault and a feminine vulva remains challenging, especially in circumcised patients. The authors present the 15-year results of the technique developed by the senior author (S.M.).
Methods: A retrospective case review was performed of all penile inversion vaginoplasties carried out by the senior author between 2003 and 2017. Age, hormonal therapy time, body mass index, smoking, diabetes, circumcision, and the need for full-thickness skin grafts to lengthen the vaginal vault were investigated as potential risk factors for postoperative complications.
Results: A total of 384 penile inversion vaginoplasties were retained, with 85.7 percent of patients requiring a full-thickness skin graft to lengthen the vaginal vault. Rectum perforation occurred in six patients (1.6 percent). Early revisions were necessary in 8.4 percent of patients and late revision surgery was performed in 37.1 percent of cases. There was no independent risk factor for early complications. Diabetes was an independent risk factor for late revision surgery. After vaginoplasty, 97.2 percent of patients reported being able to engage in penetrative intercourse, and 83.4 percent of patients reported having orgasms.
Conclusions: Vaginoplasty is possible in all trans women, with most patients being able to engage in penetrative intercourse and reach an orgasm. To reach the desired depth of 14 cm, the neovaginal vault is usually lined with full-thickness skin grafts from the scrotum and/or abdomen. Diabetes was the only independent risk factor for revision surgery. Rectal tears are a rare complication and can usually be managed conservatively.
CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV
Building communities. Presenting a model of community formation and organizational complexity in southwestern Anatolia
No full textIn this paper, a model of community formation and organizational complexity is presented, focusing on the fundamental role of social interactions and information transmission for the development of complex social organisation. The model combines several approaches in complex systems thinking which has garnered increasing attention in archaeology. It is then outlined how this conceptual model can be applied in archaeology. In the absence of direct observations of constituent social interactions, archaeologists study the past through material remnants found in the archaeological record. People used their material surroundings to shape, structure and guide social interactions and practices in various ways. The presented framework shows how dynamics of social organisation and community formation can be inferred from these material remains. The model is applied on a case study of two communities, Sagalassos and Düzen Tepe, located in southwestern Anatolia during late Achaemenid to middle Hellenistic times (fifth to second centuries BCE). It is suggested that constituent interactions and practices can be linked to the markedly different forms of organizational structures and material surroundings attested in both communities. The case study illustrates how the presented model can help understand trajectories of socio-political structures and organizational complexity on a community level.sponsorship: The research for this paper was funded through a fellowship by the Research Foundation Flanders, and has further been supported by the Belgian Programme on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction, the Research Fund of the University of Leuven, and the Academic Foundation Leuven. The author has been part of the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project, originally directed by Marc Waelkens and since 2014 under directorship of Jeroen Poblome (both KU Leuven). The author wishes to thank Bas Beaujean for his help with some of the figures, Kim Vyncke and Hannelore Vanhaverbeke, who coordinated the excavations at the site of Diizen Tepe, and Peter Talloen who coordinated the excavations at the Upper Agora of Sagalassos. Gratitude is also due to Jeroen Poblome, John Bintliff, Sander van der Leeuw, Philip Van Peer, Christopher Ratte, and Katelijn Vandorpe for their comments and feedback on earlier versions of this text. (Research Foundation Flanders, Belgian Programme on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction, University of Leuven, Academic Foundation Leuven)status: Publishe
Influence of central command and ergoreceptors on the splanchnic circulation during isometric-exercise.
No full textStudy of the performance of optical-grade germanium infrared materials using various optical characterization techniques
No full text
