Time and Technology: The Temporalities of Care

Author(s):  
Gabriele Schabacher

By focusing the temporalities of care, the chapter analyzes a special relation between time and technology that underlies the making and persisting of media and infrastructures. I propose to differentiate between four types of care practices with corresponding different temporal patterns that are highly relevant for the functioning of technological systems in the past and present. First, the retrospective response to unforeseen interruptions (repair); second, the prospective routine procedure to prevent all forms of disorder (maintenance); third, a neglect of care that leads to devaluating infrastructure (abandonment) as well as—fourth—forms of revaluation in changing contexts (repurposing). Taking the new Berlin airport BER as an example, it will be shown that infrastructures exhibit different layers of temporality formed by these cyclic and repetitive processes of care and their transforming effects. Thus, even the performance of the most “hardwired,” late modern technology systems is crisscrossed by temporal regimes that stem from older, non-modern temporalities of care.

2021 ◽  
pp. 007542422098206
Author(s):  
Claudia Claridge ◽  
Ewa Jonsson ◽  
Merja Kytö

Even though intensifiers have received a good deal of attention over the past few decades, downtoners, comprising diminishers and minimizers, have remained by and large a neglected category (but cf. Brinton, this issue). Among downtoners, the adverb little or a little stands out as the most frequent item. It is multifunctional and serves as a diminishing and minimizing intensifier and also in non-degree uses as a quantifier, frequentative, and durative. Therefore, the present paper is devoted to the structural and functional profile of ( a) little in Late Modern English speech-related data. The data source is the socio-pragmatically annotated Old Bailey Corpus (OBC, version 2.0), which allows, among other things, the investigation of the usage of the item among different speaker groups. Our research charts the semantic and formal uses of adverbial little. Downtoner uses outnumber non-degree uses in the data, and diminishing uses are more common than minimizing uses. The formal realization is predominantly a little, with very rare determinerless or modified instances, such as very little. Little modifies a wide range of “targets,” but most frequently adjectives and prepositional phrases, focusing on human states and circumstantial detail. With regard to variation and change, adverbial little declines in use over the 200 years and is used more commonly by speakers from the lower social ranks and by the lay, non-professional participants in the courtroom.


2009 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHIEN-JU LIN ◽  
PO-CHOU LIN ◽  
FONG-CHIN SU ◽  
KAI-NAN AN

With progress of modern technology, manually-propelled wheelchairs are still of importance for individuals with mobility impairments. The repeated wheelchair propulsion and strenuous daily activities cause high loads and thus injuries on the upper extremity joints. Over the past few years, a considerable number of studies have been made on biomechanical analysis of wheelchair propulsion and wheelchair-related activities. Thorough investigation of biomechanics during wheelchair propulsion enhances comprehension of mechanism of injuries and provides information to improve wheelchair design and fitting. Numerous investigations have been made to demonstrate factors which cause low effectiveness of force application and inefficiency of movements. Emphasis was also placed on developing analytical models to simulate wheelchair propulsion.


2022 ◽  
pp. 175069802110665
Author(s):  
Paul O’Connor

Memory invariably involves sifting and sorting historical traces and reassembling them into societal representations of the past. Usually this has been done by social groups of different kinds or the cultural institutions associated with them, and has provided materials for the construction and maintenance of group identity. In what I term “spectacular memory,” however, the sifting and sorting of memory traces is performed by commercial and media institutions within a globalized cultural framework to create spectacles for mass consumption. Spectacular memory is enabled by the progressive breakdown of Halbwach’s “social frameworks of memory”—the association of memory with face-to-face relations within social groups. In late modern societies, “memory” as a coherent body of representations which is the property of more-or-less bounded social groups has largely devolved into a globalized store of representations curated and diffused through the media, advertising, tourism and entertainment industries. This article uses the example of the history-themed shopping malls of Dubai to characterize this form of memory.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Chi Yang ◽  
Ping-Chun Wu ◽  
Chia-Chun Wei ◽  
Qilan Zhong ◽  
Sheng-Zhu Ho ◽  
...  

Abstract Epitaxial growth is of significant importance over the past decades, given it has been the key process of modern technology for delivering high-quality thin films. For conventional heteroepitaxy, the selection of proper single crystal substrates not only facilitates the integration of different materials but also fulfills interface and strain engineering upon a wide spectrum of functionalities. Nevertheless, the lattice structures, regularity and crystalline orientation are determined once a specific substrate is chosen. In this work, we reveal the growth of twisted oxide lateral homostructures with multiple conjunction degree of freedom. The twisted lateral homostructures with atomically sharp interfaces can be composed of epitaxial “blocks” with different crystalline orientations, ferroic orders and phases. We further demonstrate that this approach is universal for fabricating various complex systems. Our results establish an efficient pathway towards twisted lateral homostructures, allowing epitaxial films to be arbitrarily tailored at designated positions with unbounded in-plane conjunction tunability.


1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Rohkrämer

The article looks critically at attempts to explain the rise of National Socialism in Germany by trying to identify a peculiarly German tradition of antimodernism or reactionary modernism (by, among others, Jeffrey Herf). By looking at different critiques of civilisation in imperial Germany, it tries to show that most of them accepted the necessity of modern technology. What was new about the so-called ‘reactionary modernists’ in the Weimar Republic was not their willingness to use modern technology, but the full acceptance of the fact that modern technology could only exist on the basis of large technological systems, industrial production and fundamental social and cultural changes. They demanded that Germans unreservedly embrace all aspects of modernity, though without giving up their conservative political ideals.While the ‘reactionary modernists’ tried to arrange the whole of society in accordance with an alleged technological functionality, National Socialism was politically more successful, exactly because its attitude towards technology and modernity was less coherent. As National Socialism had a purely pragmatic and open attitude towards technology, it could accept without hesitation that its goals were only achievable through the use of modern means, but that the cultural and private sphere should compensate for the deficits of a public life characterised by hardship and instrumental reason.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-Chun Che ◽  
Han-Yi Lin ◽  
Hung-Chin Jang ◽  
Yao-Nan Lien ◽  
Tzu-Chieh Tsai

The pervasive popularity of the Internet in the past decade has changed the way many students live and learn, in part, because modern technology has made it possible for learners to access Real-Time Multimedia information on the Internet, or research any topic of interest to them from virtually any computer anywhere in the world. Students can also receive immediate feedback from their peers and/or their teachers when involved in collaborative projects. As a result, teachers of all disciplines need to incorporate the Internet and the concept of mobile learning into today’s classrooms to take advantage of this technology. This research investigated the response of English majors to a mobile learning platform (NCCU-MLP) developed at National Chengchi University (NCCU) in which they were involved as participants. The goal of the NCCU-MLP is to improve the students’ English ability as well as to update the teachers’ understanding of how to use the technology. The purpose of this research was to investigate the responses of students to a mobile learning environment. The research involved 18 participants in a pilot study and 37 participants in a follow-up study who participated in a group activity involving mobile learning activities. The students were asked to complete the activity following which they completed a brief survey of their response to the mobile learning activity. The findings indicate a positive response from the participants regarding the content and procedures involved in the activity. Technical support for the project was found to need enhancement for future projects of this nature.


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-101
Author(s):  
J. Francois Gabriel

Conventional structural and building systems could not in the past bring into existence medium-rise buildings based on polyhedra. Modern technology makes it now possible to conceive and erect such buildings. One good reason to do so is that clusters of polyhedra can satisfy an essential need of architecture: the need for visual order. Too many contemporary buildings rely on a simplistic rectangular grid. The effect is, indeed, orderly, but it is also usually boring and non-hierarchical. The configuration selected here is the 12-connected network considered as a habitable three-way, multi-layer space frame. It is presented along with two variations. One is an infinite structure of three polyhedra also derived from the 12-connected network, the truncated octahedron, the cuboctahedron and the truncated tetrahedron. The other configuration is the honeycomb pattern resulting from the absorption of tetrahedron by adjacent octahedra, to which I have given the name Hexmod. Similarities and differences are identified and advantages and disadvantages of the three patterns are examined. Finally, combinations between patterns are introduced.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
S. Raja ◽  
Dr. V. Peruvalluthi

Any society and every society is a continuation of the past, but a range of continuity is maintained even in the midst of change coming into the same society from time to time. This is how the identity of a society is maintained over a period of time. Even otherwise some continuity is essential because human nature is immutable. The notions of ascribed status, hierarchy, ritual purity and impurity have been the basic ingredients of Tamil social structure. These have been attacked from time to time by social and religious reform movements, secularization process and host of others. But the system seems to have a remarkable resilience. It yields some ground but returns again. For instance, when caste is sought to be dislodged from the religious (ritual) domain, it enters into the political process and caste consciousness comes back with a vengeance through urbanization. In the face of scientific temper, religiosity and ritualism also increased and a substantial segment of the modern educated class shows latent and sometime overt acceptance of the religious phenomenon sometimes steeped in irrationality and superstition. The joint family norms instead of fading away in the face of urbanization and industrialization may still be retained by adapting to the process of democratization and acceptance of dissent. The joint family today is more democratic and the traditional autocratic authority head of the joint family has become a thing of the past. All these examples point to the past.      Another dimension of continuity in Tamil society may be explained through the continuity of Traditions. Even among the modern, educated urban people, during sickness in the family, a modern physician visits the patient in the morning. Tamilnadu’s village is the puja for the tractor bought by a farmer, invoking the blessings of the local deity, performing aarti and applying pottu to the tractor, a product of modern technology. Not only the continuity between the Traditions and also in everything, even two different Traditions may go together or get fused into one another. Praying in a temple in nor unusual or mutually contradictory. It does not dilute their beliefs. It tells us that there is something inherent in Tamil tradition which facilitates the cultural continuity. “Kameshwara iyer had offered a lot of dowry and gifts at the wedding. Rukmani’s in-laws were very satisfied. After the marriage, her mother in law would often take Rukmani away to her house” (“Peepul by the Tank” P.7 ) In the story of peepul by the tank by va ve su iyer portrayed marriage ceremony and dowry system. Still it is exist in our society.  


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olusola Olawoye ◽  
Olufunmilayo Fawole ◽  
Adeyinka Ashaye

Abstract Purpose: To assess the eye care practices, knowledge and attitudes of glaucoma patients identified at community eye outreaches (CEO) in Nigeria. Methodology: This was a mixed method study. The quantitative component was a cross sectional survey of patients with suspected glaucoma identified at routine CEO in South West Nigeria. Surveys were administered by trained personnel and gathered information on knowledge and attitudes toward glaucoma. The qualitative component consisted of structured interviews with providers to assess their knowledge and perspectives of glaucoma patients’ attitudes and behaviors. Results: A total of 1881 patients were screened at 24 outreaches in South West Nigeria, among which 120 glaucoma cases/suspects were identified. Fifty-six (46.7%) of the glaucoma patients were aware of glaucoma and only 39 (32.5%) patients could answer at least one knowledge question correctly. Predictors of awareness of glaucoma were minimum of secondary school education (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 9.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.18-29-92) and having had an eye check-up in the past (adjusted OR 6.22; 95% CI 1.96 – 19.78). More than half 55.8% had attended an eye outreach in the past and 34.2% did not follow up at the main hospital. Patients said cost and ‘not knowing the disease was serious’ were reasons for not following up at the main hospital. Health workers interviewed said cost and poor knowledge were the main reasons glaucoma patients frequently attended free screening outreach events rather than seeking definitive care.Conclusion: Although community eye outreaches improves access to eye care, provision of appropriate health education programs and strengthening of the health insurance scheme are needed to improve its impact in glaucoma care.


2006 ◽  
pp. 321-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Boatca

This paper claims that, since many of the concepts relevant to our analysis of systemic change were coined in and about the core, the potential with which solutions to world-systemic crisis are credited in the long run should be assessed differently depending on the structural location of their origin. In the periphery, such concepts as conservatism, socialism and even liberalism took forms that often retained nothing of the original model but the name, such that strategies of applying them to (semi)peripheral situations ranged from “stretching the ideology” to “discarding the (liberal) myth” altogether. In a first step, “the hypothesis of semiperipheral development” (Chase-Dunn and Hall), according to which the semiperiphery represents the most likely locus of political, economical, and institutional change, is amended to say that, at least for the late modern world-system, the strength of the semiperiphery resides primarily in the cultural and epistemic sphere. In a second step, this contention is illustrated with the help of major challenges that the Eastern European and Latin American (semi)peripheries have posed to the world-system’s political fields and institutional settings both in the past and to date—with different degrees of success corresponding to their respective structural position. In light of these examples, it is argued that a comparative analysis of continuities among political epistemologies developed in the semiperiphery can help us understand the ways in which similar attempts can become antisystemic today.


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