Search Results (559)

Disability is frequently theorized through a polarized medical-versus-social binary that can obscure the developmental, relational, and sociocultural processes through which bodily difference becomes psychologically meaningful. This study examines how adults with congenital or early-onset physical disabilities narrate and negotiate disability in everyday life, using psychoanalytic concepts as a complementary heuristic lens within an explicitly interdisciplinary framework that integrates developmental resilience and disability theory. Thirty-five in-depth life-story interviews were conducted with seven adults (25–40 years) across approximately five sessions per participant over two months. Data was analyzed using thematic qualitative content analysis, combining systematic coding of manifest content with interpretive attention to symbolic and relational meanings, while cross-checking psychoanalytic interpretations against developmental and social-disability perspectives. Four recurring compensatory patterns were identified: (1) symbolic resignification and verbal normalization (discursive reframing and minimizing disability); (2) achievement-oriented self-positioning (performance and perfectionistic striving); (3) compensatory role assumption (caregiving/protector roles and mastery enactments); and (4) silent family dynamics (familial denial and narrative). Within the specific context of this study, these patterns appeared to function as regulatory efforts to sustain self-cohesion, agency, and belonging. However, the narratives suggest that when these strategies manifest as rigid ideals of ‘overcoming’ and hyper-competence, they may carry a significant subjective cost for participants. Compensatory behaviors are best understood as ecologically embedded regulatory processes shaped by relational resources (experienced as containing/“holding”) and by sociocultural devaluation linked to ableist norms. An integrated model is proposed in which body, self, and environment co-constitute disability across development, clarifying when compensatory strategies support creative adaptation versus defensive rigidity. Full article

This study evaluates the seismic performance and life-cycle economic implications of designing essential urban mid-rise reinforced concrete moment-resistant frame (MRF) buildings to maintain linear elastic behavior up to the Immediate Occupancy (IO) performance level. While most urban buildings are commonly designed to respond non-linearly in order to reduce initial construction costs, the current Mexico City Building Code (MCBC) permits that essential facilities, such as hospitals and schools, maintain linear behavior during moderate-to-strong earthquakes. This code establishes a maximum story drift ratio equal to 0.0075 for essential buildings constituted by MRF subjected to seismic events with a 250-year recurrence interval; in addition, it recommends ductile structural behavior to achieve Life Safety performance at a 450-year recurrence interval. Given the significant differences in occupancy, functionality, and contents of critical facilities, here it is analyzed whether the linear elastic design criterion is efficient for both secondary care hospitals and public schools. Two three-story and five-story MRF buildings, located on firm and transition soil, respectively, are analyzed. This study addresses the probability of brittle-type failure risk, the optimal allowable story drift at the IO performance level, the potential need for use-dependent drift limits, and the contribution of contents and nonstructural components to the total expected seismic losses. The seismic risk and economic performance are quantified through seismic hazard analysis, incremental dynamic analysis, fragility modeling, Monte Carlo simulation, and life-cycle cost evaluation. Full article

This study presents a methodology for determining the optimal placement of seismic sensors along the height of buildings to minimize the uncertainty in reconstructing structural responses at non-instrumented floors. Due to the extensive benefits of instrumentation—from model validation to damage detection and structural health monitoring—the number of instrumented structures is steadily increasing. However, to keep installation and maintenance costs within a reasonable range, structures are often instrumented sparsely. The response at non-instrumented locations is typically estimated using deterministic or probabilistic model-based, data-driven, or hybrid methods. Specifically, the authors recently proposed a method that combines a deterministic beam model with Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) to estimate responses at non-instrumented floors of an instrumented building. The present paper proposes a methodology to determine optimal sensor locations that minimize the uncertainty associated with this response estimation. This work is a sequel to a previous study that was limited to stationary excitation and extends the method to seismic excitations. The methodology is first verified through a numerical example and then applied to two real instrumented buildings. The results demonstrate that an average 40% reduction in uncertainty is achievable when sensors are positioned according to the proposed optimization approach, in comparison with a random distribution of sensors. Between the two real-life cases studied in this paper, the level of reduction in the response uncertainty is around 10% for the 52-story building because the existing sensors are almost uniformly distributed, while it is around 80% for the 73-story building because the existing sensors are distributed to measure the localized behavior of the building. Full article

This study examined temporal scalp electroencephalography (EEG) absolute power and brief self-reported psychological state measures before and after participation in a Life Story Program (LSP) in older adults. Five older women participated in the study. For each participant, pre- and post-assessments were scheduled at approximately the same time of day and included a brief four-item questionnaire and biosignal acquisition in a controlled seated environment. EEG was recorded at 500 Hz from T5 and T6 during an eyes-closed resting condition. For EEG analysis, only non-speaking segments were used; the initial 3–5 min stabilization period was excluded, and the subsequent 10 min of data were analyzed. One participant was excluded after outlier screening, resulting in a final EEG sample of four participants. EEG preprocessing included linear detrending, 60 Hz notch filtering, 0.5–50 Hz band-pass filtering, artifact rejection, and Welch-based estimation of absolute power in the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Given the small sample size, all analyses were treated as exploratory. Questionnaire responses remained generally stable across assessments. No statistically significant pre–post differences were observed after false discovery rate correction, although small reductions, particularly in the gamma band, were observed. These findings should be interpreted as preliminary observations requiring confirmation in larger controlled studies with broader multichannel EEG coverage and more robust recording configurations. Full article

The short career of the Philadelphia-built transatlantic steamship S.S. Lewis (1851–1853) offers an instructive look at speculation, financing, and operating a steamer in the mid-19th century United States. S.S. Lewis was built as an American entry into the highly competitive arena of the transatlantic steam packet service. An early propeller steamer, it was heralded as an exemplar of American technology and shipbuilding prowess. It was also cleverly marketed, and named for Samuel Shaw (S.S.) Lewis, the Boston-based agent for Cunard. Following the failure of the transatlantic partnership that operated S.S. Lewis, the vessel entered the isthmian service from Nicaragua to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. It wrecked, without loss of life, in April 1853 north of the Golden Gate. The wreck site, known to pioneering wreck divers for decades, is now archaeologically described and assessed for the first time. The post-wreck saga of the site is an important part of the story of the evolution of maritime archaeology in California. Full article

As Villanova University students navigate campus life, ghost stories tied to specific buildings, paths, and rituals circulate as grassroots spatial narratives. This article argues that these stories involving haunted halls, underground tunnels, and ritualized practices surrounding seals, arches, and fountains, function as forms of Radical Placemaking, through which students collectively reinterpret, appropriate, and sometimes resist the university’s officially sanctioned spatial order. Drawing on 162 student testimonies collected in 2019, translated into Spanish, and analyzed using topic modeling, co-occurrence mapping, and GIS visualization, the study demonstrates how vernacular stories encode lived experiences, informal knowledge, and alternative claims to campus space. Nine thematic clusters emerge, organized into three narrative domains: supernatural encounters anchored to institutional buildings (including Alumni Hall’s Civil War history, the St. Mary’s nun legend, and Tolentine Hall hauntings), ritual and tradition practices that reinscribe or subvert formal authority (the Corr Chapel arch, the Driscoll Hall seal ritual, and student ceremonies), and hidden-space narratives that imagine infrastructures beyond official visibility (such as underground tunnels linking campus buildings). Analysis of narrative transmission reveals uneven power relations: institutional channels circulate curated traditions aligned with university identity. Peer networks and personal experiences generate counter-mappings that privilege exploration, embodiment, and affect. Villanova’s ghost stories constitute spatial perceptions that enable students to assert belonging, contest institutional narratives, and produce place through collective storytelling within an evolving and hierarchically governed campus landscape. Full article

This study re-examines a previously undocumented mural panel in the second-story circumambulation corridor of Shalu Monastery, Tibet. Challenging conventional dating, it attributes the murals to the expansion under Grags pa rgyal mtshan (1306–1333) rather than a later period. Furthermore, their precise date likely falls after Butön Rinpoche assumed the role of abbort in 1320. The iconographic program, centered on Śākyamuni and Maitreya and flanked by the Thousand Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa, integrates narratives of the Buddha’s life and Maitreya’s descent. The inclusion of Cakravartin ideology reflects the politico-religious ideology of the Yuan era. The analysis argues that the mural design embodies the Buddhist vision of Butön Rinpoche, synthesizing doctrines of prophecy, the integration of the Thousand Buddhas into the Vajraśekhara Maṇḍala system, kingship, etc., and establishes these murals as an influential early paradigm in Tibetan medieval art. Full article

Accurate estimation of structural damping is essential for seismic performance assessment and design for earthquake-resistant buildings. From a sustainability perspective, reliable evaluation of dynamic properties is crucial in extending the service life of existing structures and reducing the need for material-intensive interventions. Ambient vibration measurements enable non-invasive identification of damping characteristics, supporting sustainable assessment of the built environment. This paper presents an analysis of the dynamic response of a four-story reinforced concrete structure. Ambient vibration recordings are obtained with Geodas Aquisition Station and one-second velocity sensors made by Butan Service And Tokio Soil Ltd., available from CERS (Seismic Risk Assessment Research Center) research center from TUCEB (Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest). The sensors were installed at the top level of the analyzed structure. The method used for estimating the damping ratio is the Random Decrement Technique (RDT). The influence of the several parameters involved in the method is investigated, such as the triggering value, the dimension of the time window sub-samples, and the number of cycles considered within a window relative to the natural period of the structure. For the analysis of the parameters specific to the RDT method, computational routines were developed using syntax compatible with OCTAVE/MATLAB R2019b. Filters were applied to isolate the natural vibration modes. The variability in the parameters demonstrates that the developed method is robust. Full article

Architecture, as a profession, discipline and practice, has played a vital role in designing, constructing and maintaining modern culture. The creative work of imagining and building places, infrastructure and dwellings for the complex activities of contemporary life has contributed to the global world we now inhabit. There are, however, indications that this edifice of modernity is cracking because of external and internal forces that undermine our global society. Climate change, species extinction, and worldwide threats to democracy and governance, along with new technologies, converge and reveal the uncomfortable possibility that modern industrial global culture and civilization may collapse. As a response, an expanding body of ‘stories of collapse’ has emerged to interpret causes, processes, and scenarios. This essay engages with key voices (Rees, Bendell, Lewis, Hagens, de Oliveira, and Macy), to describe in what ways architecture is complicit in this moment, and suggests what ethical and place-based responsibilities may be required of architects and placemakers as collapse unfolds. Full article

Saitama, the titular hero of ONE’s One Punch Man, is a man so absurdly powerful that nothing, and no one, can stand against him. This limitless ability, rather than acting to make a superhero idol of Saitama, has instead reduced his psychological state to that of extreme nihilistic apathy. It is not until Saitama begins to unlock other aspects of his life, including friendship and community, that he begins to see there is more to life than strength. Working within the satirical bounds of the text, which skewers everything from false fulfillment in accolades to false friends to just about every superhero and manga trope in between, Saitama eventually reengages with his life and becomes far more heroic because of it. In the Overview, the text discusses the manga’s origin and explains some of the satirical jabs. In the Heroic Journey, the article takes you through Saitama’s past and current mental state. In the Super Takeaway, the life lesson Saitama’s story can teach us is that even in the face of boredom and a world in which work itself feels obsolete, there remain ways to overcome apathy so long as we are willing to find them for ourselves. Full article

Escalating climate change and the increasing frequency of weather extremes pose a threat to the resilience of urban environments and human health, highlighting the urgent need for implementing energy-efficient interventions and reducing building cooling loads. This study investigates the passive building envelope retrofit technologies of external shading, electrochromic windows, and thermochromic windows through a multi-criteria evaluation analysis based on energy savings, economic performance, and indoor thermal comfort improvement. Thermochromic windows are discerned by a mean colour transition temperature of 34 °C and operate throughout the entire year, while electrochromic windows are activated only during cooling periods. Both technologies present total solar transmittance indices of 72.6% and 8.4% in the bleached and tinted state, respectively. External shading devices are either static or movable, applied with an inclination angle, and are either standalone interventions or combined with chromogenic glazing. Eight retrofit scenarios are investigated for a single-story, fully electrified residential building in Athens, Greece. The building features south- and east-oriented windows, which is an appropriate case to assess the effectiveness of these passive envelope cooling technologies in regulating solar heat gains. Thermal comfort is assessed using Fanger’s PMV (predicted mean vote) and PPD (Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied) indices. The combination of electrochromic windows and movable external shading yields the highest annual electricity savings at 22.2% and reduces the PPD by 15.8%. Local static shading, on the other hand, ranks as the optimal retrofit solution in terms of economic performance, with a life-cycle cost of €6378, a 9.3% improvement in thermal comfort, and a corresponding reduction of 626 thermal discomfort hours. While the proposed multi-criteria framework can be applied to other buildings and climates, the quantitative results reported here are linked to the specific case examined: a residential building with south- and east-facing glazing in Athens, Greece, representing Mediterranean climatic conditions. Full article

Based on the dual requirements of building energy efficiency and construction industrialization, along with the development of high-strength, high thermal resistance (low thermal conductivity) foamed concrete (HLFC), this study proposes a new prefabricated high-strength foamed concrete thermal self-insulating shear wall system (called HFSW shear wall) suitable for multi-story buildings, which could address the core shortcomings of existing organic insulation materials in buildings, such as poor fire resistance and short life cycles. Concerning the research gap in the flexural performance of this wall type, this study conducted seismic tests on two full-scale wall models and systematically analyzed the fundamental performance parameters under quasi-static loading, including bending failure phenomena, load-bearing capacity, stiffness degradation, energy dissipation capacity, and ductility. The results show that HFSW walls with large shear span ratios generally exhibit typical bending failure characteristics. However, due to the relatively low material strength, extensive development of shear and flexural–shear cracks occurs, leading to minimal differences in typical seismic performance indicators compared to shear-dominated failure scenarios in traditional shear walls (indicating significant flexural–shear coupling effects). Finally, a finite element model was used to simulate the wall capacity under various parameters, including axial compression ratio, wall thickness, and longitudinal reinforcement in edge columns. Based on the validated and calibrated finite element results, and in accordance with the wall failure mode as well as the load transfer mechanism, a calculation model for the flexural strength of HFSW shear walls was established to guide design and engineering application, achieving a theoretical calculation accuracy of 0.97. The research findings provide meaningful guidance for the design and application of this wall system. Full article

This article explores Katherine Sonderegger’s thesis that in Christian prayer, not only does the person pray, but God prays. Though such an idea runs contrary to the settled conviction in Christian spirituality that the human person prays to God, this paper enquires into the idea that God also prays in the person with a study of Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Diary. That record of his spiritual experiences suggests that not only did he listen to God’s prayer in him, but that this listening comprised a spiritual itinerary in which he was led into a deeper experience of God’s prayerful laboring in him. Following this itinerary, this article proceeds in three parts. First, a study of Ignatius’s prayer to the mediators reveals that in his petitions, he sought to hear the intercessory prayer of Mary and Jesus. Second, he found himself discovering a new way to name God as he celebrated the mass; that newness resided not in a new vocabulary but in his participation in the prayer of the Son to the Father. Finally, Ignatius experienced the grace of loqüela in which he heard a kind of celestial music whose tone and language moved him to a simple, contemplative admiration of God. More than the story of a mystic with an uncommon ability to listen to God, Ignatius’s journey into greater attention to God’s language within him is the story of grace, God’s life, which is always present, active, and audible in the believer’s prayer. Full article

This study examines the effectiveness of difference-education interventions as institutional strategies that support students’ coping during the transition to college. We tested an intervention with two components: a resource-focused approach that makes the hidden rules of higher education explicit, and a student-driven narrative approach featuring unscripted stories from peers describing how they navigated common academic- and life challenges. The study involved 716 first-year students at a Minority-Serving Institution who were randomly assigned by course section to one of the two intervention conditions, with a campus-wide comparison group (N = 2708) drawn from non-participating sections. Results showed significant improvements in Fall-semester GPA and first-year retention for students in both intervention conditions relative to the no-treatment comparison group. Contrary to prior work, first-generation students did not benefit more than their continuing-generation peers. These findings suggest that difference-education interventions may support coping by helping students make sense of academic challenges, anticipate institutional demands, and respond to setbacks with greater persistence. Resource-based and narrative-based approaches may therefore contribute to students’ ability to manage academic difficulty and remain engaged during the early stages of college, particularly in Minority-Serving Institutions. Full article

The Ugandan Asian expulsion of 1972 was a landmark moment in postcolonial politics, but the people at the centre of it have often been a footnote in Idi Amin’s story. This paper explores the strengths, if not essential nature, of bringing a critical family history and life-writing lens to this history of migration, within the boundaries of genealogy, as the family is central to both the experience of exodus and understanding the origins of South Asians in East Africa. Moving to a ‘history from below’ spotlighting underrepresented voices privileging gender, caste and class is a vital step in democratising this history. Through an examination of the methodologies of the author’s testimony and memoir-led history of the exodus, The Exiled: Empire, Immigration and the Ugandan Asian Exodus, this work reflects on personal scholarship, objectivity and positionality, showing the significance of an intimate and marginalised approach. It demonstrates how reclaiming this history among next-generation diaspora requires challenging revisionism, self-serving success narratives, and increasing politicisation in service of anti-immigration narratives, moving beyond the nostalgic view of empire invoked by some retellings towards a more nuanced living history of the expulsion. Full article