El proyecto de vivienda como laboratorio de estrategias para Sejima y Nishizawa de 1987 a 2010

Como indica el título, esta tesis plantea el estudio de la arquitectura doméstica elaborada por los arquitectos japoneses Kazuyo Sejima y Ryue Nishizawa. Más concretamente, la investigación se ciñe a un conjunto integrado por veinticinco casas que los arquitectos proyectaron entre 1987, momento en el que Sejima establece su propia oficina, y 2010, fecha en la que el reconocimiento del trabajo que ambos venían desarrollando queda certificado a nivel internacional, ya que ese año son galardonados con el premio Pritzker y comisarían la Bienal deVenecia. Del estudio conjunto y sistemático de estos proyectos, y de sus distintas versiones se espera poder obtener una serie de criterios exegéticos que permitan comprenderlos y explicarlos mejor, relacionándolos entre sí de manera coherente. A estos criterios es a lo que hemos denominado estrategias. En el momento en el que se inicia esta investigación se detectó un vacío editorial respecto al tema tratado, apenas había textos, propios o ajenos que abordaran esta faceta de la obra de Sejima y Nishizawa en profundidad. No en vano, algunos críticos han acuñado el apelativo de "arquitectos sin palabras" para referirse, tanto a ellos como a la generación de arquitectos que la pareja encabeza, dando a entender que se trata de una arquitectura carente de explicación.1 Sin embargo, esta investigación sostiene que el hecho de que los arquitectos no hablen en exceso de su obra y mantengan una actitud centrada en desarrollar de forma práctica su trabajo no quiere decir que prescindan de realizar operaciones compositivas altamente idealizadas y abstractas, refrendadas por un marco cultural y teórico que se pueda describir. Tras recopilar, ordenar y analizar un número lo suficientemente amplio como para ser significativo de las manifestaciones verbales que los arquitectos han realizado a lo largo del periodo estudiado, se ha observado que de entre todos los términos que los dos socios que integran SANAA emplean para describir sus proyectos, uno de los más relevantes y quizás también el más general resulta la palabra “sistema”.2 El modo en el que ambos describen los principios de su arquitectura, diferenciando entre los componentes del programa, y las relaciones que se establecen entre éstos, y entre ellos y el exterior permiten sostener que no se trata de un uso accidental término. Paralelamente, al mismo tiempo que se indaga sobre el corpus intelectual de esta teoría se intenta detallar las circunstancias que favorecieron tal trasvase de ideas entre Occidente y Japón y como acabaron llegando al ámbito de estos arquitectos. Al amparo de este marco teórico y tras redibujar las viviendas documentadas, se intentará describir los rasgos de la estructura material de las viviendas analizadas, así como cartografiar los patrones organizativos que las caracterizan. Para ello se empleará el rigor instrumental que aporta la teoría de grafos como método habitual para la representación, estudio y caracterización de sistemas. Los resultados de la investigación evidencian que hay una serie de estrategias — tanto materiales como organizativas— que enunciadas en sus primeros proyectos se van desarrollando en obras posteriores, conformado sistemas que están paulatinamente más organizados. Y que llegado un punto en la trayectoria de estos arquitectos, se observa que tales estrategias, se van superponiendo de distinta forma en diversos proyectos, por lo que es posible agruparlos y hablar de ellos atendiendo a características comunes. Finalmente, el estudio concluye que tanto a nivel material como reladonal, bien podría decirse que en el periodo estudiado, las estrategias empleadas por Sejima y Nishizawa para elaborar su arquitectura doméstica persiguen un objetivo común que se fundamenta en la elaboración de planteamientos sintéticos que les permiten explorar y responder creativamente ante las disyuntivas previamente establecidas, precisamente explotando el potencial de las paradojas que las originan. ABSTRACT As the title suggest itself, this thesis deals about the study of domestic architecture developed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. More specifically, research focus its attention on a group of twenty five houses that both architects projected from 1987, when Sejima establishes her own practice, and 2010, as the moment in which their work obtains international acknowledgment, since this year they are awarded the Pritzker prize and cúrate the Venice Biennale. From the combined and systematic study of all these projects, and their different versions are expected to obtain a series of exegetical criteria to relate to each other, understand and explain better. These criteria are what we cali strategies. By the time when this research began, an editorial emptiness about the treaty issue was detected; there were barely texts that addressed this aspect of the work of Sejima and Nishizawa in depth, neither the ones written by the architects themselves ñor by other authors. Some critics have coined the ñame "wordless generation" to refer to both them as to the generation of architects that the couple leads, implying that it is an architecture devoid of explanation.3 However, this study argües that the fact that architects do not speak too much about his work and keep themselves focused on developing practical work attitude does not mean that dispense perform highly idealized and abstract compositional operations, fueled by a frame cultural and theoretical that can be described. After collect, sort and analyze a large enough number of verbal statements done by the architects about their work as to be meaningful, it was observed that of all the terms that the two partners that intégrate SANAA used to describe their projects, one of the most important and, perhaps one of the most general, is the word "system".4 The way in which both describe the principies of their architecture distinguishing between program components and the relationships established between them, and between them and the outside allow us the view that it is not accidental use of a term. Similarly, while it investigates the intellectual corpus of this theory it attempts to explain some of the circumstances that favored such transfer of ideas between the West and Japan and how eventually reaching the scope of these architects. Under this framework and after redraw the documented houses we attempt to describe the characteristics of the material structure of the projects tested, as well as mapping the organizational patterns that characterize them. For this, we use the instrumental rigor that brings graph theory, as a regular method of representation, study and characterization of systems used. The research results show that there are a number of strategies -both material and organizational level- that once they are set out in its first projects are developed in later works. Bringing up systems that are gradually more and more organized. And at one point in the career of these architects, such strategies are observed, they are superimposed differently on various projects, making it possible to group them and discuss them according to common characteristics. Finally, the study condueles that both materially and organizational it could be said that in the period studied, the strategies employed by Sejima and Nishizawa to develop its domestic architecture pursue a common goal, which is based on the development of synthetic approaches that allow them explore and respond creatively to the previously established dilemmas precisely exploiting the paradoxical potential that originates them.

Fragilidade e qualidade de vida de idosos com doença renal crônica

Introdução: A expectativa de vida dos brasileiros cresce a cada ano; com isso, os idosos vivem mais, e fatores como, Hipertensão Arterial Sistêmica, Diabetes mellitus e o próprio processo de envelhecimento os tornam suscetíveis à doença renal crônica (DRC). Com a DRC, esses idosos têm maiores chances de desenvolverem a fragilidade e terem consequências desfavoráveis na Qualidade de Vida (QV). Objetivo geral: Analisar a relação entre as variáveis independentes (fragilidade, características sociodemográficas e clínicas) e a variável desfecho (QV) de idosos com DRC em tratamento conservador, hemodiálise (HD) e diálise peritoneal (DP). Material e método: Trata-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa, descritiva e transversal. Participaram idosos com 60 anos ou mais, com DRC em tratamento conservador, HD ou DP, que estavam, no mínimo, há seis meses em tratamento e em acompanhamento em um hospital público de Ribeirão Preto-SP. A coleta de dados ocorreu de outubro/14 a março/15, utilizando-se os seguintes instrumentos: de caracterização sociodemográfica, econômica e clínica adaptado; para avaliar a fragilidade, a Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS); para avaliar a QV, o WHOQOL-BREF e WHOQOL-OLD; para avaliar a cognição, o Mini-Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM). Foram realizadas análises estatísticas descritivas, teste de correlação de Spearman e análise de variância multivariada (MANOVA) para as variáveis de interesse. O nível de significância adotado foi de 5%. O projeto foi aprovado por um Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa com seres humanos com CAAE número 34923214.0.0000.5393; seguiu-se as recomendações da Resolução CNS 466/2012. Resultados: Participaram 77 idosos, sendo 35 em tratamento conservador, 14 em DP e 28 em HD. A maioria era homem (41; 53,2%) e tinha companheiro(a) (51; 66,2%). A média dos escores de fragilidade entre os tratamentos foi: tratamento conservador (7,71±3,10); DP (6,79±2,72) e HD (7,36±2,92). No WHOQOL-BREF, os domínios relações sociais e físico obtiveram maior e menor escores médios, respectivamente, (68,93±17,48) e (55,44±14,11). O WHOQOL-OLD apresentou a maior média na faceta Intimidade (68,67±16,45) e menor média na faceta Morte e morrer (37,66±22,76). Foram encontradas correlações inversas entre a idade e o escore do MEEM (p=0,001) e entre anos de estudo e fragilidade (p=0,016); por outro lado, houve correlações positivas entre os escores do MEEM e anos de estudo (p<0,001), entre número de complicações da DRC e fragilidade (p<0,001) e número de comorbidades e fragilidade (p<0,001). Em relação à QV, houve correlação positiva entre o escore global do WHOQOL-BREF e o escore da faceta global do WHOQOL-OLD, bem como correlação inversa entre os escores globais desses instrumentos com os escores de fragilidade (p<0,00; p=0,023). Na MANOVA, o tipo de tratamento e o número de complicações não influenciaram a QV, porém a fragilidade apresentou relação com o constructo, sendo que, para o aumento de um ponto na escala da fragilidade, a QV apresentou redução média de 1,38 no escore global do WHOQOL-BREF e 0,82 no escore global do WHOQOL-OLD, considerando pertencer ao mesmo tipo de tratamento. Conclusão: os pacientes com DRC apresentaram piores escores médios de QV mediante a maiores escores de fragilidade, independentemente do tipo de tratamento e considerando-se a mesma média de complicações

Double Reasonableness and the Fourth Amendment

Recently the Supreme Court has placed new limits on both the substance of the Fourth Amendment and the exclusionary that serves as the principal remedy for Fourth Amendment violations. In this Article we briefly summarize these limitations and then argue that the curtailment of the exclusionary rule has the potential to ameliorate substantive Fourth Amendment doctrine. The limited reach of the modern exclusionary rule provides the Court with license to develop an expansive new substantive framework free of the specter of a correspondingly expansive remedial framework. One point on which nearly all jurists and commentators agree is that current Fourth Amendment doctrine is a mess. We argue that the Court’s exclusionary rule cases, while frustrating and ill-conceived if viewed in isolation, provide the Court with an opportunity to revisit problematic Fourth Amendment doctrine that was born under a very different remedial regime. Such an approach would allow the Court to adhere to its current view of the exclusionary rule as a remedy of last resort while creating a Fourth Amendment with teeth. The goal is a Fourth Amendment right that is more substantial and clearly defined, but a remedy that remains limited to egregious violations of clear substantive rules. The time is now to lift the Fourth Amendment fog.

Propagation, structural similarity and image quality

Póster presentado en SPIE Photonics Europe, Brussels, 16-19 April 2012.

Profiling in sport using momentum and perturbations

Examining a team’s performance from a physical point of view their momentum might indicate unexpected turning points in defeat or success. Physicists describe this value as to require some effort to be started, but also that it is relatively easy to keep it going once a sufficient level is reached (Reed and Hughes, 2006). Unlike football, rugby, handball and many more sports, a regular volleyball match is not limited by time but by points that need to be gathered. Every minute more than one point is won by either one team or the other. That means a series of successive points enlarges the gap between the teams making it more and more difficult to catch up with the leading one. This concept of gathering momentum, or the reverse in a performance, can give the coaches, athletes and sports scientists further insights into winning and losing performances. Momentum investigations also contain dependencies between performances or questions if future performances are reliant upon past streaks. Squash and volleyball share the characteristic of being played up to a certain amount of points. Squash was examined according to the momentum of players by Hughes et al. (2006). The initial aim was to expand normative profiles of elite squash players using momentum graphs of winners and errors to explore ‘turning points’ in a performance. Dynamic systems theory has enabled the definition of perturbations in sports exhibiting rhythms (Hughes et al., 2000; McGarry et al., 2002; Murray et al., 2008), and how players and teams cause these disruptions of rhythm can inform on the way they play, these techniques also contribute to profiling methods. Together with the analysis of one’s own performance it is essential to have an understanding of your oppositions’ tactical strengths and weaknesses. By modelling the oppositions’ performance it is possible to predict certain outcomes and patterns, and therefore intervene or change tactics before the critical incident occurs. The modelling of competitive sport is an informative analytic technique as it directs the attention of the modeller to the critical aspects of data that delineate successful performance (McGarry & Franks, 1996). Using tactical performance profiles to pull out and visualise these critical aspects of performance, players can build justified and sophisticated tactical plans. The area is discussed and reviewed, critically appraising the research completed in this element of Performance Analysis.

La historia de enfermería: trascendencia del fenómeno cuidado y su relación con el tiempo

La historia es una disciplina que contribuye a la enfermería para dejar huella de la trascendencia de su quehacer profesional, el cuidado. La estrecha vinculación con el tiempo nos remite a Martin Heidegger como el filósofo que plantea una articulación inseparable entre el tiempo y el ser a través del cuidado. Por lo que se reflexiona sobre el contexto filosófico del cuidado y su relación con el tiempo, que permite identificar una paradoja en el quehacer profesional de enfermería, quienes se encuentran cumpliendo horarios, rutinas y actividades fuera de la cuestión ética de otorgar un momento para cada cosa, afectado por aceleradas dinámicas, sobrepoblación de pacientes en las instituciones de salud, haciendo imposible proporcionar el cuidado como tal, ya que su temporalidad consiste en satisfacer las necesidades para la existencia de la persona a partir de cuidados que permitan conceptualizarlo como un ser completo y en ese sentido, contar con los tiempos necesarios para poder realizar de manera satisfactoria un cuidado con calidad y fomentar el proceso de la construcción de la disciplina.

Patients' and professionals' views on managing fibromyalgia

BACKGROUND: Managing fibromyalgia is a challenge for both health care systems and the professionals caring for these patients, due, in part, to the fact that the etiology of this disease is unknown, its symptoms are not specific and there is no standardized treatment. OBJECTIVE: The present study examines three aspects of fibromyalgia management, namely diagnostic approach, therapeutic management and the health professional-patient relationship, to explore specific areas of the health care process that professionals and patients may consider unsatisfactory. METHODS: A qualitative study involving semistructured interviews with 12 fibromyalgia patients and nine health professionals was performed. RESULTS: The most commonly recurring theme was the dissatisfaction of both patients and professionals with the management process as a whole. Both groups expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in reaching a diagnosis and obtaining effective treatment. Patients reported the need for greater moral support from professionals, whereas the latter often felt frustrated and of little help to patients. Patients and professionals agreed on one point: the uncertainty surrounding the management of fibromyalgia and, especially, its etiology. CONCLUSION: The present study contributes to a better understanding regarding why current management of fibromyalgia is neither effective nor satisfactory. It also provides insight into how health professionals can support fibromyalgia patients to achieve beneficial results. Health care services should offer greater support for these patients in the form of specific resources such as fibromyalgia clinics and health professionals with increased awareness of the disease.

Two knees or not two knees? Patient costs and outcomes following bilateral and unilateral total knee joint replacement surgery for OA

Aims: This study aims to address medical and non-medical direct costs and health outcomes of bilateral and unilateral total knee replacement from the patients' perspective during the first year post-surgery. Methods: Osteoarthritis patients undergoing primary unilateral total knee or bilateral total knee replacement (TKR) surgery at three Sydney hospitals were eligible. Patients completed questionnaires pre-operatively to record expenses during the previous three months and health status immediately prior to surgery. Patients then maintained detailed prospective cost diaries and completed SF-36 and WOMAC Index each three months for the first post-operative year. Results: Pre-operatively, no significant differences in health status were found between patients undergoing unilateral TKR and bilateral TKR. Both unilateral and bilateral TKR patients showed improvements in pain, stiffness and function from pre-surgery to 12 months post-surgery. Patients who had bilateral TKR spent an average of 12.3 days in acute hospital and patients who had unilateral TKR 13.6 days. Totally uncemented prostheses were used in 6% of unilateral replacements and 48% of bilateral replacements. In hospital, patients who had bilateral TKR experienced significantly more complications, mainly thromboembolic, than patients who had unilateral TKR. Regression analysis showed that for every one point increase in the pre-operative SF-36 physical score (i.e. improving physical status) out-of-pocket costs decreased by 94%. Out-of-pocket costs for female patients were 3.3 times greater than for males. Conclusion: Patients undergoing bilateral TKR and unilateral TKR had a similar length of stay in hospital and similar out-of-pocket expenditures. Bilateral replacement patients reported better physical function and general health with fewer health care visits one year post procedure. Patients requiring bilateral TKR have some additional information to aid their decision making. While their risk of peri-operative complications is higher, they have an excellent chance of good health outcomes at 12 months and are not going to be doubly 'out-of-pocket' for the experience. (C) 2004 OsteoArthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Suppression of spurious intermediate frequency modes in under-integrated elements by combined stiffness/viscous stabilization

Solutions employing perturbation stiffness or viscous hourglass control with one-point quadrature finite elements often exhibit spurious modes in the intermediate frequency range. These spurious frequencies are demonstrated in several examples and their origin is explained. Then it is shown that by critically damping the hourglass modes, these spurious mid-range frequency modes can be suppressed. Estimates of the hourglass frequency and damping coefficients are provided for the plane 4-node quadrilateral and a 4-node shell element. Results are presented that show almost complete annihilation of spurious intermediate frequency modes for both linear and non-linear problems. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The development of chemical exposure limits for the workplace

The thesis examines and explains the development of occupational exposure limits (OELs) as a means of preventing work related disease and ill health. The research focuses on the USA and UK and sets the work within a certain historical and social context. A subsidiary aim of the thesis is to identify any short comings in OELs and the methods by which they are set and suggest alternatives. The research framework uses Thomas Kuhn's idea of science progressing by means of paradigms which he describes at one point, `lq ... universally recognised scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners. KUHN (1970). Once learned individuals in the community, `lq ... are committed to the same rules and standards for scientific practice. Ibid. Kuhn's ideas are adapted by combining them with a view of industrial hygiene as an applied science-based profession having many of the qualities of non-scientific professions. The great advantage of this approach to OELs is that it keeps the analysis grounded in the behaviour and priorities of the groups which have forged, propounded, used, benefited from, and defended, them. The development and use of OELs on a larger scale is shown to be connected to the growth of a new profession in the USA; industrial hygiene, with the assistance of another new profession; industrial toxicology. The origins of these professions, particularly industrial hygiene, are traced. By examining the growth of the professions and the writings of key individuals it is possible to show how technical, economic and social factors became embedded in the OEL paradigm which industrial hygienists and toxicologists forged. The origin, mission and needs of these professions and their clients made such influences almost inevitable. The use of the OEL paradigm in practice is examined by an analysis of the process of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Threshold Limit Value (ACGIH, TLV) Committee via the Minutes from 1962-1984. A similar approach is taken with the development of OELs in the UK. Although the form and definition of TLVs has encouraged the belief that they are health-based OELs the conclusion is that they, and most other OELs, are, and always have been, reasonably practicable limits: the degree of risk posed by a substance is weighed against the feasibility and cost of controlling exposure to that substance. The confusion over the status of TLVs and other OELs is seen to be a confusion at the heart of the OEL paradigm and the historical perspective explains why this should be. The paradigm has prevented the creation of truly health-based and, conversely, truly reasonably practicable OELs. In the final part of the thesis the analysis of the development of OELs is set in a contemporary context and a proposal for a two-stage, two-committee procedure for producing sets of OELs is put forward. This approach is set within an alternative OEL paradigm. The advantages, benefits and likely obstacles to these proposals are discussed.

Managerial job satisfaction:a longitudinal study

The study examines the job satisfaction of supervisors and managers in four organisations over time. It also considers the importance which they attached to different facets of their job. The major objectives were: To examine the constituent dimensions of job satisfaction at intervals over one year. To examine reasons for change inthe level of job satisfaction at intervals over one year. To provide information on job satisfaction for those concerned with job satisfaction policies. The sample consisted of one hundred and eight people. Each was interviewed on at least three occasions over the course of a year. Interviews took place at predetermined time intervals. The study shows that job satisfaction is dynamic over a relatively short period of time. The ratings which supervisors and managers gave to aspects of their job did not, however, all change by equal amounts or in the same direction. Changes in job satisfaction were associated with events experienced but it was the meaning of those events to correspondents which appeared to be particularly important. People tended to adopt a localised frame of reference when considering their work situation. Certain job variables, such as variety, were consistently and positively correlated with job satisfaction. With some other variables, the relationship varied across time. Frequently, age and job level moderated the association between independent variables and job satisfaction. Links were found between the quality of life and job satisfaction. There was a consistent positive association between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. However, the job was rarely considered to be the main factor contributing to a person's quality of life. The research highlights the difficulties and desirability of introducing standardised job satisfaction policies in the light of individual differences. In addition, it demonstrates that merely correlating variables with job satisfaction at one point in time may conceal complex relationships and meanings. A new measure of job satisfaction - whereby facets are assessed and rated relative to each other was also developed as part of this study.

Shaping strategic action through the rhetorical construction and exploitation of ambiguity

This paper extends existing understandings of how actors' constructions of ambiguity shape the emergent process of strategic action. We theoretically elaborate the role of rhetoric in exploiting strategic ambiguity, based on analysis of a longitudinal case study of an internationalization strategy within a business school. Our data show that actors use rhetoric to construct three types of strategic ambiguity: protective ambiguity that appeals to common values in order to protect particular interests, invitational ambiguity that appeals to common values in order to invite participation in particular actions, and adaptive ambiguity that enables the temporary adoption of specific values in order to appeal to a particular audience at one point in time. These rhetorical constructions of ambiguity follow a processual pattern that shapes the emergent process of strategic action. Our findings show that (1) the strategic actions that emerge are shaped by the way actors construct and exploit ambiguity, (2) the ambiguity intrinsic to the action is analytically distinct from ambiguity that is constructed and exploited by actors, and (3) ambiguity construction shifts over time to accommodate the emerging pattern of actions.

Expatriate-local interactions:an investigation in China

Purpose: This study aims to build on recent research, by investigating and examining how likely it is that Chinese locals (i.e. host country nationals (HCNs)) would offer support to expatriates from India and the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Data were gathered from 222 participants in Chinese organizations, asking them to respond to questions about their willingness to offer support to expatriates. Findings: As predicted, perceived values similarity was significantly related to higher dogmatism, which had a significant positive relationship with ethnocentrism. Further, ethnocentrism had a significant negative relationship with willingness to offer support. Research limitations/implications: All data were collected from the participants at one point in time, so the study's results are subject to common method bias. Also, it only included India and the USA, as the two countries of origin of the expatriates. Practical implications: Given HCNs do not automatically offer support to all expatriates, organizations might consider sending expatriates who are culturally similar to HCNs, as they are more likely to receive support, which will help their adjustment and thus organizational effectiveness. Originality/value: This study adds to the small, but growing, number of empirical investigations of HCN willingness to support expatriates. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Every N-Dimensional Separable Metric Space Contains a Totally Disconnected (n-1)-Dimensional Subset with no True Quasi-Components

Владимир Тодоров, Петър Стоев - Тази бележка съдържа елементарна конструкция на множество с указаните в заглавието свойства. Да отбележим в допълнение, че така полученото множество остава напълно несвързано дори и след като се допълни с краен брой елементи.

Calculating the derivative of piecewise functions

Exercises involving the calculation of the derivative of piecewise defined functions are common in calculus, with the aim of consolidating beginners’ knowledge of applying the definition of the derivative. In such exercises, the piecewise function is commonly made up of two smooth pieces joined together at one point. A strategy which avoids using the definition of the derivative is to find the derivative function of each smooth piece and check whether these functions agree at the chosen point. Showing that this strategy works together with investigating discontinuities of the derivative is usually beyond a calculus course. However, we shall show that elementary arguments can be used to clarify the calculation and behaviour of the derivative for piecewise functions.