Journal articles on the topic 'Puits tubés'

Abstract. For decades, drop-freezing instruments have contributed to a better understanding of biological ice nucleation and its likely implications for cloud and precipitation development. Yet, current instruments have limitations. Drops analysed on a cold stage are subject to evaporation and potential contamination. The use of closed tubes provides a partial solution to these problems, but freezing events are still difficult to be clearly detected. Here, we present a new apparatus where freezing in closed tubes is detected automatically by a change in light transmission upon ice development, caused by the formation of air bubbles and crystal facets that scatter light. Risks of contamination and introduction of biases linked to detecting the freezing temperature of a sample are then minimized. To illustrate the performance of the new apparatus we show initial results of two assays with snow samples. In one, we repeatedly analysed the sample (208 tubes) over the course of a month with storage at +4 °C, during which evidence for biological ice nucleation activity emerged through an increase in the number of ice nucleators active around −4 °C. In the second assay, we indicate the possibility of increasingly isolating a single ice nucleator from a precipitation sample, potentially determining the nature of a particle responsible for a nucleation activity measured directly in the sample. These two seminal approaches highlight the relevance of this handy apparatus for providing new points of view in biological ice nucleation research.

Abstract. Since decades, drop-freezing instruments have contributed to a better understanding of biological ice nucleation and its likely implications on cloud and precipitation development. Yet, current instruments have limitations. Drops analysed on a cold stage are subject to evaporation and potential contamination. The use of closed tubes provides a partial solution to these problems, but freezing events are still difficult to be clearly detected. Here, we present a new apparatus where freezing in closed tubes is detected automatically by a change in light transmission upon ice development, caused by the formation of air bubbles and crystal facets that scatter light. Risks of contamination and introduction of biases linked to detecting the freezing temperature of a sample are then minimized. To illustrate the performance of the new apparatus we show initial results of two assays with snow samples. In one, we repeatedly analysed the sample (208 tubes) over the course of a month with storage at +4 °C, during which evidence for biological ice nucleation activity emerged through an increase in the number of ice nucleators active around −4 °C. In the second assay, we indicate the possibility to increasingly isolate a single ice nucleator from a precipitation sample, potentially determining the nature of a particle responsible for a nucleation activity measured directly in the sample. These two seminal approaches highlight the relevance of this handy apparatus to provide new points of view in biological ice nucleation research.

Le titrage des vaccins contre la péripneumonie contagieuse bovine se fait habituellement en tubes; on effectue tout d'abord une série de dilutions au dixième de la suspension à titrer puis on ensemence d'autres tubes à partir de chacune des dilutions. Cette méthode n'est pas très précise ou nécessite la manipulation d'une très grande quantité de tubes. La nouvelle technique proposée repose sur une première série de dilution au demi réalisées en parallèle dans une plaque de microtitration. La croissance des mycoplasmes peut être facilement appréciée, après 6 à 9 jours d'incubation, par le virage d'un indicateur coloré. Cette technique est plus rapide et précise et le résultat est alors obtenu par une moyenne, affectée d'une certaine précision, ce qui permet d'effectuer des comparaisons entre titrages qui soient statistiquement significatives.

Abstract The cracking failure accidents of austenitic stainless steel pipes of utility boilers often occur. The intergranular corrosion cracking caused by improper control of welding, heat treatment and cold working processes is an important reason for its failure. Through the analysis of typical cases, this paper expounds on the influence of welding, heat treatment and cold working processes on the service safety of austenitic stainless steel pipes and puts forward protective measures.

À la suite du décès par Ebola d’un parent, une famille accuse l’État guinéen d’être responsable de sa mort. Qu’est-ce qui a conduit à porter une telle accusation? À partir d’une enquête ethnographique en République de Guinée, cet article montre de quelle manière l’histoire politique guinéenne a influencé le déroulement de l’épidémie d’Ebola de 2014 à 2016 dans les pays du fleuve Mano. Pour comprendre comment les crises politiques du passé façonnent le rapport des Guinéens à la crise sanitaire provoquée par Ebola, je procéderai en trois temps. D’abord, je reviendrai sur les violences d’État qui ont jalonné l’histoire politique de la Guinée depuis son indépendance en 1958. Une des conséquences de ces violences se manifeste par un manque de confiance systémique vis-à-vis des élites et des actions gouvernementales. Puis, je montrerai comment les camps d’internement militaires de Sékou Touré réactivent un rapport à l’enfermement induisant des rumeurs et des comportements de peur face aux Centres de traitement d’Ebola (CTE). Enfin, pour me déprendre des approches fondées sur les « réticences » de la population guinéenne aux dispositifs sanitaires de lutte contre l’épidémie, j’analyserai des formes de résistance s’inscrivant plus largement dans l’histoire des contestations politiques en Guinée.

Reinforced concrete grid frame core-tube structure system is a new system. This article draws the conclusion that grid frame core-tube has high stiffness and obvious space affection, and that its basic mechanics properties is better than frame core-tube structure and similar to tube structure through the comparison of two tube structure systems, which the Inner tube is similar to grid frame core-tube and the outer tubes respectively are frame and high beam - column frame tube. It puts forward some reasonable suggestions for the future designation of this structural system.

In this paper, we study a kind of intelligent and high-accuracy flow measurement system, which is a type of venturi tube flowmeter that surpassed the international standard ISO5167. This paper analyzes the characteristics of the super-size flow measurement in the water transportation and industrial projects, and the choice for suitable flow meters. We study the practical compensation technology for discharging coefficient “C” of the international-standard-exceeding venturi tube, and puts forward water calibration method for venturi tube, and design the intelligent and high-accuracy flow metering system based on computer technology. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the calibration data of water flow, and propose the segment and compensation method for discharging coefficient “C” practically. We solved the limitations of the international-standard-exceeding venturi tubes, and effectively improved the accuracy and range of the flow measurement system.

The energy consumption in buildings for heating and cooling continues to increase from year to year, in order to meet people's increased demand for thermal comfort. A key energy issue for the buildings sector, the largest consumer of energy, requires the rational use of traditional resources and the application of non-polluting, inexhaustible renewable energy technologies that allow sustainable development. The public authorities are currently showing a clear desire to reduce energy consumption in the buildings sector through various legislated thermal regulations. In Algeria, law 99-09 and executive decree 2000-09, followed by other regulations, have as objectives the control of energy and the introduction of energy efficiency in buildings. In this paper, we focused on the effectiveness of the earth-to-air heat exchanger system for cooling buildings in three different climate regions in Algeria. The Earth to air heat exchanger device is a promising technology for reducing or avoiding the use of air conditioning systems. The Earth to air heat exchanger system which exploits the thermal inertia of the soil puts two different temperature sources in thermal contact, the air which circulates in the tubes, and the ground placed in contact with the tubes. This model was validated to show a good agreement between simulated results and other experimental data published. The simulation results confirmed that A maximum energy gain of 2221.15 kWh, 523.56 kWh and 300.27 kWh over a cooling season can be reached for Timimoun, Djelfa, and Jijel.

The spatial high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for ocean exploration puts forward higher requirement for output power and amplitude-phase consistency of the pulsed TWT amplifier. The kW class pulsed TWT amplifier based on broadband power combining is the key technology for space SAR applications. In this paper, the factors affecting the amplitude and phase consistency of MPM are studied, and a phase consistency compensation circuit was designed to improve the phase consistency of multiple sets of products. A microwave power model (MPM) with dual TWTs output integrated architecture was proposed which consists of two short travelling wave tubes (TWT), two solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA), and an electronic power conditioner (EPC). More than 45% efficiency is achieved in 15% duty cycle within 600 MHz bandwidth, and the phase consistency was less than ± 5 degrees.With the improvement of synthesis efficiency, higher synthesis power and higher sensitivity of ocean wide scanning and detection can be obtained

Ultra-precision measurement and manufacturing need high-precision machines, just as a photolithography machine needs air bearings. In gas lubrication, the use of compound restrictors with recesses has been widely proven to be an effective method to improve stiffness, which directly affects the accuracy of the machine. However, determination of the structural parameters of recesses is lacking in theoretical models. This paper has established a mechanical property model for a small-scale guideway, which can respond to the variation in force caused by micron-level changes in the recesses’ depth. To meet the requirements of high positioning accuracy and movement accuracy, this paper puts forward a high-stiffness guideway without an air tube. In order to improve rotational stiffness and determine the structural parameters of recesses, this paper found a guideway with the optimal gradient depth of recesses. Both AFVM (adaptive finite volume method) research and experimental results show that the gradient depth of recesses could significantly improve the rotational stiffness of guideways without air tubes.

In the world of energy storage devices, Supercapacitors occupy a very unique and pivotal position. Their rapid rate of discharge gives them high power density. They have high reversibility and are robust to a large number of charging and discharging cycles. Sustained research has revealed a certain set of properties and behaviour, that every prospective candidate supercapacitor material must possess. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with unique textural properties, excellent specific surface area, tuneable porous structure and distinctively advantageous electrochemical behaviour are prominent candidates for the use in energy storage applications. However pristine MOF based materials are handicapped due to their low conductivity and poor mechanical stability. These inherent deficiencies can be overcome by hybridizing pristine MOFs with other materials like carbon materials (Activated Carbon, Graphene and Carbon Nano Tubes), conducting polymers, metals, and small molecules through variety of methods. This review puts the spotlight on the utilization, growth and various forms of hybrid materials based on MOFs for supercapacitor applications. It also highlights the various surface engineering techniques on the materials for high potential applications.

Un veau d'un an de pure race Fulani (zébu) a été choisi aprés sélection sur ses anticorps humoraux contre Anaplasma marginale en utilisant les tests de fluorescence indirecte et d'agglutination par tubes capillaires. Il a été splénectomisé et expérimentallement infecté avec un stabilat de A. marginale. 0,2 ml du stabilat ont été inoculé par voie intraveineuse, puis on a observé les signes de manifestations chimiques et les changements hématologiques et biochimiques du sang. Bien que l'anémie n'ait pas été proportielle au degré de parasétémie, les deux facteurs étaient étroitement et négativement corrélés avec le pic de parasitémie se produisant deux jours avant l'anémie maximale. Les valeurs les plus basse de l'hématocrite et de l'hémoglobine, respectivement de 7 p. 100 et 1,8 g/100 ml, signes de l'anémie maximale, ont été enregistrées au 21ème jours de l'infection. Les numérotations de leucocytes totaux ont montré une augmentation marquée durant le pic de parasitémie. Le taux de glycémie est descendu de 80,0 g/dl, valeur moyenne lors de la pré-infection, au niveau minimal de 41 g/dl au 19e jours. Il n'y a pas eu d'augmentation ou de diminution significatives des proteines totales du sérum durant la période patente. Cependant les fractions de globulines et d'albumine ont été légèrement augmenté et diminué respectivement au début puis au maximum de l'anémie. Le taux de fer du sérum est passé de 46,54 mmol/l en moyenne lors de la pré-infection au maximun de 114,56 mmol/l au 19e jours, alors que, d'un autre côté, les niveaux de zinc et de cuivre ont baissé respectivment de 46,80 mmol/l et 14,6 mmol/l à 18,60 mmol/l et 7,95 mmol/l. Par ailleurs, il n'y a pas eu de changement marqué dans les taux de calcium, magnésium, sodium et potasium.

This thesis analyzes the amount carbon dioxide emissions from medical waste disposal as well as the sustainability of this method, by taking Shanghai as an example, which suffered from outbreak of Omicron mutant strain virus in 2022. This thesis involves three perspectives: the chemical reaction of the waste, the consumption of coal to burn the waste and the daily totally cost for treating medical waste. Conclusions were reached: Although it is not economical, high temperature incineration is probably the most environmentally friendly way of treatment. Medical waste, such as nucleic acid swabs and tubes, is mainly made of polyethylene, and only generated carbon dioxide and water when burned. After comparing the total amount of carbon dioxide daily produced in Shanghai with the amount from burning medical waste, it is found that the latter represents a limited percentage of the former. However, the daily cost of disposing of medical waste in Shanghai remains high, which puts pressure on the city's environmental department. The daily requirement of 11 dedicated incineration plants may be burden on both waste treatment and economic field in long run, so reducing the demand for medical plastics or increasing the combustion efficiency is necessary in the future.

Abstract Three-level inverters are among the best options for high voltage and high-power applications because of their high capacity, high rated voltage, low harmonic content of the output current, and minimal switching losses. However, the issue with mid-point voltage balancing is an inherent drawback of three-level inverters. The unbalanced mid-point voltage of a three-level inverter leads to low harmonics in the output voltage, causing voltage distortion and seriously reducing the power quality. The unbalanced mid-point voltage also puts more voltage strain on the DC bus side and power switching tubes. As a result, this paper analyzes the remedies for NPC-type three-level inverters’ fluctuating neutral potential and offers hardware and software solutions to regulate the potential neutral balance. It outlines the two primary mid-point potential control strategies depending on the SVPWM and SPWM strategies, provides a detailed study of the software approach, and briefly examines the DMWPWM strategy’s best solution. There are several potential applications for the mid-point potential balancing control method. It may significantly enhance the power quality of rectifiers and inverters and has considerable advantages for real-world uses like solar and wind energy production.

The present work is part of the research project NXCHROME led by IRT M2P. It concerns the chemical engineering of metallic hard chromium coatings on internal surface of large tubular parts. These parts are intended to be used in several sectors of activity (aeronautics, armament, energy...). Thus, taking into account severe specifications related to these applications, the parts will be very strongly solicited thermomechanically during their use, which requested high performances to increase substrate's life. In the current process, tubes are treated vertically, by electrodeposition from a hexavalent chromium salt based (chromic acid) electrolyte. These electrolytes have the advantage of being efficient, easy to use, with well known functions. However, they have a low faradic yield (<20%), leading to an important production of bubbles (cathodic and anodic).These bubbles create the fluid motion, and eventually govern hydrodynamic, liquid flow and mass transfer of the species in the tube. It is important to note that the use of CrVI salts has been prohibited since 2017 (except for authorizations for applications without alternatives) by the European regulation REACh (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals). Indeed, hexavalent chromium is classified in Appendix XIV among SVHC (substances of very high concern), due to its high toxicity (CMR compound : Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic) and the high danger it represents for coworkers using this compound. The objective of NXCHROME is to find a alternative process with a "REACh compatible" electrolyte based on an innovative trivalent chromium. The modus operandi and the electrochemical mechanisms involved are completely different and less well known, compared to the former electrolyte. Nevertheless, it keeps this low faradic yield and the liquid agitation mode in tubular parts will remains identical. Nevertheless, this change is a good opportunity for a deep investigation in the "bubble induced hydrodynamic" which occurs during plating time, and to collect all reliable information on fluids behavior. Then, two main research axis have been considered. The first one is done via the numerical simulation of the secondary current distribution, i.e. taking into account the electrical phenomena in the electrolyte (ohmic drop), the geometry of the system and the kinetics of the electrochemical reactions. This part is in collaboration with HIVELIX company. The second one trhought the design and elaboration of a large size experimental set-up in stainless steel and PMMA (φ = 40mm, L = 3000mm) Figure 1. This ste-up includes electrochemically active cathode parts (production of bubbles by hydrolysis), and transparent parts (windows of observations of the bubbles, according to the height of the tube). As it is the bubble production which puts in movement the fluid with their vertical displacement towards the surface, informations on their size and behavior are of primary importance. Their speed is determined by their size (depending on the distance covered and the coalescence) and the liquid physical properties. To mimic the chromium electrolyte, a transparent saline solution has been chosen and prepared by adjusting its parameters to be identical to the industrial electrolyte (viscosity, conductivity...), while allowing bubble production on the central electrode surface. Data collection and order of magnitude are done by various means, namely flow rate measurements, gas retention within the liquid and high frequency camera shots (bubble size, bubble velocity, coalescence...). Figure 1

The IoT Color-Based Product Sorting Machine is a cutting-edge automated system designed to revolutionize the manufacturing and packaging industries. This innovative solution employs Internet of Things (IoT) technology to enable efficient and precise sorting of products based on their color attributes. The system integrates advanced image recognition algorithms, sensor networks, and cloud computing to streamline the sorting process. Color Based Object Sorting has a wide usage in fruit sorting as well as candy sorting industries. This system puts forward a mechanism to detect color and sort items through image processing. Once identified a mechanism is used to sort the candies into particular bins baskets. We here demonstrate this mechanism using a camera with electronic circuitry along with sorting mechanism using 3 bins. The system uses raspberry pi connected to a controller circuit to achieve this task. The controller circuit consists of a camera attached to it that detects color of a small object in front of it. A motor is used to feed an object to the camera chamber. As soon is the color is detected a signal is sent to the sorter mechanism which uses a motor to position the sorting tube towards respective section. A feeder is then used to push the object towards the tubs so that it gets sorted and next object is pulled in by the feeder. The action details are sent to the IOT server using iotgecko platform to keep track of the number of objects sorted in each section. Thus we achieve a completely automated IOT based sorting system.Color based product sorting has a wide usagein fruits sorting as well as candy sorting industries. Now a day’s industrial area requires demand for automation. Due to automation human efforts are goes on decreasing day-byday. Since last decade .This system puts forward mechanism to detect color and sort item through image processing. This mechanism is used to sort the candies into particular bins or baskets Key Words: IoT, colour sensor, servo motor, node MCU,,

The development of gastrostomy placement has been an important technological advance in the enteral-access field. However, its rapid growth in popularity could be viewed as problematic. The endoscopist or intervention radiologist can no longer act as a technician but requires to follow-up this group of patients in order to determine outcomes that will inform future practice. There has been emphasis on the importance of the multidisciplinary team in informing and assessing patients referred for gastrostomy insertion. Communication between all the professionals caring for a patient and between the carers and the patient allows information to be collated that will determine the benefits and burdens of long-term gastrostomy feeding. At present much of the published experience is limited to the acute care setting. The incidence of complications varies, depending on the investigator's definition of complication and the diagnosis of the patient group. Many reported studies are retrospective, which puts limitations on documentation. Increasing numbers of patients with diverse needs are now being discharged into the community with gastrostomy tubes in place. Whilst the hospital should ensure that written protocols are provided and that all carers involved should have adequate training, it is not unusual for patients to receive mixed messages from the different care teams responsible for their care. In South Glasgow NHS Hospital Division key members of all teams caring for these patients (acute care, community district nurses, learning disabilities team, physical disabilities team and commercial homecare companies) meet regularly to discuss equipment and protocols. The members of this group feel that this approach has improved communication, standardised practice and reduced complications by providing a service that delivers artificial nutrition support but is primarily suited to the patient's disease process.

Cet article porte sur les manifestations, les émeutes, les comportements violents qui les accompagnent, le maintien de l’ordre lors de ces soulèvements et enfin les réponses des gouvernements aux revendications des manifestants. La première partie présente la problématique des rapports entre l’émeute, la sécurité, la liberté et la violence. On soutient que l’émeute est un drame à trois personnages : le manifestant, le casseur et le CRS. Et puis on pose les questions : comment assurer la sécurité d’une manifestation tout en respectant la liberté de manifester ? Comment contenir une émeute sans risquer de tuer un manifestant ? La deuxième partie de l’article s’étend sur les découvertes d’un historien français, Jean Nicolas, qui a analysé 8 500 rébellions dans la France de l’Ancien Régime. Les faits rapportés par Nicolas nous apprennent que les rébellions étaient, pour beaucoup, les résistances à l’État royal, à ses impôts et à son appareil répressif. Ces rébellions faisaient souvent des morts de part et d’autre. Les rebelles jugés étaient souvent envoyés aux galères. Il n’était pas rare que les autorités reculent devant une rébellion, notamment en s’abstenant de percevoir l’impôt honni. La troisième partie quitte la France pour faire un compte rendu des faits recueillis par Nabi Doumbia sur les manifestations, les émeutes et le maintien de l’ordre en Côte d’Ivoire entre 1990 et 2011. Dans cet ouvrage, nous apprenons comment se fait le maintien de l’ordre dans ce pays et comment une manifestation peut dégénérer en émeute faisant un grand nombre de tués. La quatrième partie de l’article passe aux manifestations dans la France contemporaine. Elles sont fréquentes : 10 000 manifestations par année. On décrit les tactiques de maintien de l’ordre des CRS et des gendarmes mobiles. En conclusion, l’article avance les raisons pour lesquelles les émeutes contemporaines se soldent par beaucoup moins de morts violentes qu’autrefois.

L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer l’effet de la BAP et de l’ANA sur les varaiations des teneurs en sucres solubles et acides aminés totaux dans les tiges des vitroplants du Manihot esculenta Crantz variété TMS 96/1762 au cours de la régénération in vitro. Pour ce faire, les bourgeons néoformés sur microboutures sont isolés sous la hotte à flux laminaire. Ils ont été ensuite repiqués dans des tubes de cultures contenant le milieu de régénération, constitué de MB auquel on a ajouté 0,05/0,05 et 0,1/0,1 mg.l-1 BAP/ANA. Les sucres solubles et les acides aminés totaux ont été extraits selon la méthode de Saha et Brewer (1994) modifiée. Le dosage des sucres solubles a été effectué selon la méthode de Saha et Brewer (1994). Les acides aminés ont été dosés à la ninhydrine selon la méthode de Yemm et Cocking (1995). Le milieu de culture favorable au microbouturage est le milieu MS + 0,1/0,1mg.l-1 BAP/ANA qui a permis d’obtenir un nombre moyen de feuilles maximal de 6,44 ± 1,89. L’addition de BAP/ANA (0,05/0,05mg.l-1) aux MB a entrainé une baisse de la teneur en sucres solubles. Elle est passée de 530,932 µg/g de PF au jour 7 à 507 µg/g de PF puis elle était devenue élevée jour 28 (684,152 µg/g de PF). L’utilisation de la combinaison BAP/ANA aux concentrations de 0,05/0,05 mg.l-1 et de 0,1/0,1mg.l-1 dans les MB a respectivement engendré des pics de la teneur en acides aminés totaux au jour 14 (101831,5 mg/g de PF) et au jour 28 (167948,7mg/g de PF). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of BAP and NAA on changes in soluble sugar and total amino acid contents in stems of Manihot esculenta Crantz variety TMS 96/1762 during in vitro regeneration. For this purpose, buds neoformed on microbuds were isolated under the laminar flow hood. They were then transplanted into culture tubes containing the regeneration medium, consisting of MB to which 0.05/0.05 and 0.1/0.1 mg.l-1 BAP/ANA were added. Soluble sugars and total amino acids were extracted according to the modified method of Saha and Brewer (1994). The determination of soluble sugars was performed according to the method of Saha and Brewer (1994). Amino acids were assayed with ninhydrin according to the method of Yemm and Cocking (1995). The culture medium favorable for micro bottling was MS + 0.1/0.1mg.l-1 BAP/ANA, which resulted in a maximum average leaf count of 6.44 ± 1.89. The addition of BAP/ANA (0.05/0.05mg.l-1) to MB resulted in a decrease in soluble sugar content. It went from 530.932 µg/g FP on day 7 to 507 µg/g FP and then became high on day 28 (684.152 µg/g FP). The use of BAP/ANA combination at the concentrations of 0.05/0.05 mg.l-1 and 0.1/0.1mg.l-1 in MB resulted in peaks in total amino acid content at day 14 (101831.5 mg/g FP) and day 28 (167948.7mg/g FP), respectively.

AbstractGuidance on indications for, and types of, feeding tubes recommended in Prader‐Willi syndrome (PWS) is needed. A Global PWS Registry survey was developed to investigate nasogastric (NG) and gastrostomy (G) tube use and associated complications. Of 346 participants, 242 (69.9%) had NG‐tubes, 17 (4.9%) had G‐tubes, and 87 (25.1%) had both NG‐ and G‐tubes. Primary indication for placement was “feeding difficulties and/or poor weight gain” for both NG‐ (90.2%) and G‐tubes (71.2%), while “aspiration/breathing difficulties” was the procedural indication for 6.4% of NG‐tubes and 23.1% of G‐tubes. NG‐tubes were generally removed by age 6 months (NG Only: 82.9%; NG/G: 98.8%), while G‐tubes were often removed by age 2 years (G Only: 85.7%; NG/G: 70.5%). The severe complication rate from G‐tubes was 31.7% and from NG‐tubes was 1.2%. Overall, caregivers indicated the presence of an NG‐ or G‐tube had a positive effect on quality of life. Feeding difficulties in PWS are largely managed by NG‐tube alone. The severe complication rate from G‐tubes was about 25 times higher than from NG‐tubes; yet, G‐tube placement rates have generally increased. G‐tube placement puts individuals with PWS at risk for anesthesia and surgery‐related complications and should be considered judiciously by a multidisciplinary team.

Introduction : Tabernaemontana appartient aux 415 genres de la famille des Apocynacées. Ce genre est distribué dans les zones tropicales et subtropicales du monde, il est connu comme ayant des propriétés cytotoxiques, antioxydantes et antimicrobiennes. Ce travail consistait à faire une étude phytochimique des extraits éthanoliques des feuilles, puis la formulation d’une pommade cicatrisante, après avoir vérifié l’activité cicatrisante. Méthodes : L’étude phytochimique qualitative a conduit à l’isolement et à la purification de plusieurs composés à l’aide des méthodes chromatographiques usuelles (CC, CCM et la chromatographie sous pression réduite), les composés isolés ont entièrement été caractérisés par les méthodes physicochimiques (point de fusion, pouvoir rotatoire) et spectroscopiques (SM, IR, UV, RMN 1D et 2D). L’activité cicatrisante a été faite sur les rats de souches wistars par évaluation de la régression de l’inflammation puis une pommade cicatrisante a été formulée selon les normes de la pharmacopée européenne Résultats : Les résultats phytochimiques ont montré que l’extrait éthanolique des feuilles de cette plante était riche en plusieurs métabolites parmi lesquels les terpènes, les flavonoïdes, les alcaloïdes majoritairement. Ces travaux ont également abouti à l’isolement d’un polyphénol nouveau nommé irisdichototine G. L’extrait brute éthanolique présentait une activité cicatrisante à partir de 200mg/kg/jour comparée à la trolamine prise comme référence à la même dose et au bout de 21 jours par contre cette activité de l’extrait était meilleure à la dose de 300mg/kg/jour et au bout de 14 jours. Des tubes de 100g de pommade d’aspect onctueux, homogène et de couleur verdâtre à base d’extrait brute des feuilles, a été formulée. Conclusion : Tabernaemontana Inconpiscua est donc une plante riche en polyphénols, alcaloïdes, et flavonoïdes qui justifieraient l’activité cicatrisantes de ses feuilles.

Pr. Rasmané Semdé, CEA-CFOREM, École doctorale sciences et santé (ED2S), UFR - Sciences de la santé (UFR/SDS), Université Joseph KI-ZERBO, 03 BP 7021 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Les brûlures cutanées figurent parmi les problèmes de santé majeurs en Afrique, avec plus de 17 millions de victimes chaque année. Au Burkina Faso, l’incidence est en croissance avec 13,7% des enfants de moins de 5 ans. La prise en charge précoce et appropriée aide à minimiser la douleur, à prévenir les complications et à favoriser une guérison rapide. Elle peut nécessiter une urgence médico-chirurgicale, une réanimation ou juste un traitement local utilisant des produits importés sont souvent financièrement inaccessibles aux populations africaines. MelaK@ crème est une émulsion Huile dans Eau constituée du miel et du beurre de karité, fournis à des prix abordables par des producteurs sélectionnés du Burkina Faso. Elle visait à créer un effet synergique entre les propriétés anti-inflammatoire, cicatrisante et antimicrobienne du miel et celles régénératrice et photoprotectrice du beurre de karité. Le travail de développement a permis d’obtenir un produit d’application aisée, homogène et stable sous certaines conditions de conservation. Après avoir démontré son efficacité comparée aux traitements modernes conventionnels par des tests in vivo sur des rats de laboratoire, puis confirmée par une étude clinique en 2020chez des brulés de 2nd degré, l’émulsion a été brevetée à l’Organisation Africaine de la Propriété intellectuelle (OAPI) le 13/07/2020, sous le N°19447. MelaK@ crème est présentée dans des tubes en aluminium verni de 45 g et de 75 g pour application locale destinés aux traitements des brûlures. Demandée comme préparation magistrale à travers les officines pharmaceutiques privées par les chirurgiens pédiatres des CHU du Burkina Faso, plus de 1500 tubes préparés à l’échelle du laboratoire ont déjà permis de traiter plus de 250 enfants brulés. Face à la demande croissante des praticiens hospitaliers et du grand public, un business plan démontre sa rentabilité, le dossier de demande d’AMM d’un médicament traditionnel amélioré (MTA) de catégorie II a déjà été déposé à l’ANRP du Burkina Faso.

Aims & Objective: Producing thin walled rotationally symmetrical parts of difficult-to-machine materials by electrical discharge machining is an evolving field of research. Poor heat transmissivity, high hot strength and in-process deflection of thin walled Inconel 600 parts puts great challenge for its processing by conventional machining methods. Methods: In this study a novel hybrid process called centreless electric discharge grinding(CEDG) is employed for machining of Inconel 600 tubes using rotating disc wheel electrode to improve process parameters. This paper details about the experimental findings of the influence of four process parameters viz. pulse on time, peak current, gap voltage, and duty cycle on the responses viz. average material removal rate (MRR) and average surface roughness(Ra). Response surface method’s (RSM) central composite design was implemented to determine the effects of parameters on responses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques were employed to establish the adequacy of the mathematical models and to analyse the significance of regression coefficients. RSM’s desirability approach was used to solve the multi-response optimization. Results: It was clearly noticed that the peak current and gap voltage were the most influential parameters to affect the MRR and surface roughness. Maximum average MRR of 473 mg per min. was achieved at pulse on time 60µs, peak current 25 amps, gap voltage 40 V, at duty cycle of 8 while minimum average surface roughness of 8.4 µm Ra was obtained at pulse on time 40µs, peak current 15 amps, gap voltage 40 V, and duty cycle 6. Conclusion: Confirmation run was conducted by adjusting the variables at optimal level within the selected range. It was concluded that optimum level of variables can be determined for optimized responses prior to conduct of experiment.

One of the nifty advent of technology in terms of neurobionics is the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). It will be no wrong to regard its principle somewhat likely to a real-time chip robot that deciphers human impulses, traversing on the nerve highways, into commands that modulate human actions which have been rendered paradoxical due to any physical or congenital nervous injuries. BCI technology has empowered the disabled, enabling them to operate cursors and smart home devices using their minds. The famous NeuraLink is emerging to be an advocate of the latest BCI technology, having performed a new brain implant successfully; but deep research puts forward the name of Synchron as an instigator of BCI industry. A tailed-electrode, with sixteen electric arrays, is pushed up-stream near to the brain’s motor cortex region via a small incision made in the jugular vein [1]. Upon reaching the destination it tubes out against the interior wall of the blood vessel, functioning as an antenna to detect the tissues’ electrical activity of the proximal cortex region such as moving a leg or scrolling through a screen. These signals are demodulated into muscle-translatable commands by a transmitter fitted in the chest, that disseminates the waves to an external digital device which performs the specified actions through a connected effector device. Primeval BCIs incorporated a mesh of protruding wires. Trials are underway to replace it with a home-based BCI setup. For now, fifty severely paralyzed people, including brain-stem stroke patients, have received these stents with a few Australians and Americans roaming around freely with implants in their blood vessels as part of BCI contemporary testing. Despite such bamboozling invention by Synchron, it has its limitations owing to the inferiority of brain signals espied across the curtains of membranes in way. A Synchron user can only scroll through the web pages. NeuraLink enters the competition by offering a 1024 electrodes’ matrix of ultrathin conducting bio-friendly fibers, integrated onto 1 centimeter’s cube film that can be inserted by a robot [1]. In January 2024 the first brain-film implant was performed on a brain-disabled patient which is showing signs of recovery. BCI current research revolves around inculcating the electrode bearing agent(s) directly into the brain regions without invasive procedures, which will be a breakthrough in neurosciences of the current era. Despite of its unprecedented utility, the BCI system also opens the gate for controversial scrutiny. For instance, there might be an undesired compulsion on BCI industry to escalate the amplitudes of cognition, memory, motor functions, and intellect even of normal individuals. Peculiarities like infrared vision and memory augmentation pose a danger towards informed consent and privacy. An environment of disparity, ascribable to the unequal approach of the interface, may be created that will lead to socio-political issues of genocide [2]. The anatomy of the human brain has this inherent tendency to reject any foreign agent playing with its natural traffic, thus for how long these electrodes can co-exist normally with human biology is a debate not yet started. In research a robot sensitive to empathy was generated and named ‘cobot’. With the use of an electroencephalographic (EEG) sensor worn by the human agent, its BCI was built. The cobot responds to the threat and passes it on to the recipient human agent, creating a virtuous cycle of caring and security. Consequently, when the patient was exposed to unsettling motion, an increase in the EEG signal was recorded [3]. The brain-computer interface fails to stamp out the placebo effect associated with the recovery. Is it really the chip or the unwavering willingness of the human mind to adapt and thrive ?

SANOGO Rokia1,2, DEMBELE Daouda L1, DOUMBIA Sékou1, Aichata B. A. MARIKO1, FOFANA Mohamed Yacine3, Introduction : Au Mali, le succès de la recherche du Département Médecine Traditionnelle (DMT), de l’ex-Institut National de Recherche en Santé Publique (INRSP) a permis la mise au point de 14 Médicaments Traditionnels Améliorés (MTA) qui ont eu une Autorisation de Mise sur le Marché (AMM) depuis 1983 dont 7 sont sur la Liste Nationale des Médicaments Essentiels (LNME) du Mali (1 sirop, de 5 tisanes, 1 pommade). Le DMT a mis au point de nouveaux MTA sous forme de pommade. L’objectif de cette communication, est de passer en revue les études précliniques, cliniques, la formulation et la production des MTA surs- efficaces-de qualité et accessibles. Matériel et méthodes : Différents échantillons de plantes ont été récoltés, séchés, pulvérisés. Le contrôle de qualité a été effectué, les extraits ont été préparés, les études phytochimiques, pharmacologiques et de toxicité ont été réalisées. Des extraits ont été utilisés pour formuler une pommade avec différents excipients notamment le beurre de karité. Dans certains cas, les pommades ont été soumises aux essais cliniques. Résultats et Discussion : Les principales pommades sont : i) MITRADERMINE pommade à base de Mitracarpus scaber utilisée dans la prise en charge de dermatoses ; ii) SECUDOL pommade à base de Securidaca longipedunculata, indiqué contre les manifestations douloureuses et inflammatoires articulaires ; iii) OPICICA pommade de base de Opilia celtidifolia, comme cicatrisante ; iv) LAFIA Pommades, à base de Fagara zanthoxyloides, Securidaca longepedunculata et de Capsicum annuum, utilisées dans la prise en charge de la douleur. Dans l’ensemble, les pommades de bonne qualité, ont présenté une consistance semi solide, une bonne homogénéité et de différentes couleurs et odeurs. Ces pommades doivent présenter les mêmes propriétés des extraits qui ont servis de principes actifs. En perspective, il faudra améliorer les pommades avec l’incorporation de la cire d’abeille et vérifier leur tolerabilité et l’efficacité, notamment mener une investigation clinique pour compléter le dossier de demande d’autorisation mise sur le marché des pommades. Elles peuvent être proposées pour la prise en charge médicale de la douleur notamment au niveau local. Expérience n°2 : Potentiel de développement de Phytomédicaments antipaludiques pour Phytomed CI. Professeur KOUAKOU SIRANSY, UFR Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques ; Côte d’Ivoire Contexte : Le développement de phytomédicaments ou médicaments traditionnels améliorés en Afrique sub-saharienne connait un succès grandissant. En Côte d’Ivoire, diverses unités artisanales de fabrication de phytomédicaments se développent mais restent peu évalués pour leur efficacité, innocuité et qualité. Justificatif : Parmi toutes les pathologies affectant la population subsaharienne, le paludisme occupe une place importante étant la première cause de maladie infectieuse parasitaire, et la 3ème cause de maladies infectieuses. Les produits de santé des tradithérapeutes restent peu évalués pour leur efficacité, innocuité et qualité. Les chercheurs et enseignants chercheurs au sein des universités ont emboîté le pas dans plusieurs pays. En Côte d’Ivoire aucune université n’a franchi le pas de la production à l’échelle d’unité industrielle pilote. Objectif : L’objectif de ce travail visait à sélectionner des plantes pour la mise au point de phytomédicaments antipaludiques de qualité de catégorie 2 OMS. Méthodologie : La sélection des plantes à l’essai a concerné celles ayant fait l’objet de travaux de recherche des Universités en Côte d’Ivoire. Parmi ces derniers, ceux évaluant l’effet sur des extraits aqueux de parties aériennes des plantes. De ces extraits ceux présentant les meilleures inhibitions de croissance du Plasmodium selon les critères de Wilcox, ont été retenues pour la mise au point de phytomédicaments de catégorie 2 OMS. Les essais de pré formulation er formulation galénique à l’échelle de laboratoire ont permis de mettre en œuvre le procédé de fabrication adéquat. Une transposition à l’échelle pilote a été ensuite réalisée pour démontrer la reproductibilité de la fabrication industrielle de la forme galénique mise au point. Résultats : Ces résultats issus des travaux de chercheurs des universités ivoiriennes ont permis de recenser 58 plantes médicinales étudiées pour leur activité antiplasmodiale depuis 1996. Parmi ces plantes 38 ont fait l’objet d’extraits aqueux, décoctés ou infusés. Sept extraits aqueux présentant de CI50 <5µg/ml ont été retenues entre autres. Cependant la majorité des études scientifiques portant sur les plantes médicinales potentiellement antipaludiques ont été réalisées dans des modèles in vitro, rare sont celle réalisés in vivo, dans des modèles murins. Les résultats des essais pharmacologiques, de formulation et de transposition à l’échelle pilote ont permis de disposer de gélules à base de granulés de plantes issus d’une granulation humide. Conclusion : Les travaux scientifiques des Universités de Côte d’Ivoire offre un large éventail de plantes médicinales à potentiel antimalarial pour la conception de phytomédicaments de qualité de catégorie 2 OMS. Des essais préliminaires réalisés in vivo ont permis d’obtenir un brevet d’invention. Expérience n°3 : Processus de Recherche-Développement (R&D) et production d’un phytomédicament destiné au traitement de la drépanocytose : FACA Dr Salfo OUEDRAOGO, PharmD, M.Sc. Pharma, PhD, Maître de Recherche en Pharmacie Galénique et Industrielle, Chef de service Production CNRST/IRSS/MEPHATRA/PH, Pharmacien chef de l’Unité de Production Pharmaceutique (U-PHARMA), Tel : (+226) 70 45 89 36/78 41 54 64 Résumé : Depuis l’antiquité, l’humanité a toujours recours aux plantes médicinales comme moyens de traitement adéquat, préventifs ou curatifs, plus ou moins efficaces qui sont perfectionnés sous le coup de recherches. Malgré les grands progrès observés dans la médecine moderne au cours des dernières décennies, les plantes médicinales jouent toujours un rôle clé dans la prise en charge des maladies. Certaines plantes utilisées au XVIIIe siècle sont toujours au cœur de la médecine et pharmacopée après que leur efficacité ait été scientifiquement démontrée. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs programmes sont développés par de nombreux centres pour la recherche de nouvelles molécules mais aussi pour la mise au point de médicaments à base de plantes. Ce travail repose sur un retour d’expérience d’un praticien de la médecine traditionnelle qui utilisait une combinaison de deux plantes médicinales ((Zanthoxylum Zanthoxyloïdes Lam. (Rutaceae) Calotropis procera Ait. (Asclepiadaceae)) pour traiter la drépanocytose. L’approche repose sur une démarche de la pharmacologie inverse. La première étape a consisté à réaliser une étude pharmacoclinique comparée à un traitement standard qui est la dihydroergotoxine (HYDERGINE®) chez des enfants en crise drépanocytaire. Les propriétés antifalciformantes ont été confirmés par des études in vitro. La deuxième étape a concerné les études chimiques et biologiques in vitro et in vivo qui ont permis la mise en évidence de la sécurité d’emploi ainsi que des propriétés (anti falciformantes, anti-œdémateuses, analgésiques, antipyrétiques, myorelaxantes, vaso-dilatatrices, etc.) liées à la physiopathologie de la maladie. La troisième étape a abouti à la formulation et à la standardisation suite à l’identification de molécules traceurs qui sont des dérivés d’acide vanillique (burkinabines » A, B et C). Des études de validation du procédé de fabrication suivi de stabilité ont été réalisées avant la production et la commercialisation après autorisation de mise sur le marché. Cette démarche a permis la mise au point d’un phytomédicament qui suscite un grand espoir pour le traitement de la drépanocytose au regard des résultats de l’étude de pharmacovigilance Expérience n°4 : The Role of Quality Management Systems in the Advancement of the Herbal Medicine Industry in Ghana Caleb Mawuli AGBALE Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Ghana Research and Development Department, Centre of Awareness Research and Manufacturing Company Limited (COA RMCL), Cape Coast, Ghana Plant Extracts Process Engineering Unit, McHammah Engineering Company Ltd, Accra Ghana Correspondence: Cell: +233 208 232 659 Email: magbale@ucc.edu.gh The herbal medicine industry holds great potential in the quest to transform the healthcare systems and economies within sub-Saharan Africa. Although the herbal medicine sector has made significant strides in Ghana over the last 3 decades there remain significant challenges to be addressed to achieve the expected benefit outlined in health policies and sustainable development strategies. This presentation will take a critical look at these challenges and how these could be addressed through the adoption of quality management systems and investment in research and development using the examples of COA- RMCL, Kantanka Herbal and Pharmaceutical Research Centre and startups like DaySpring Phytoceuticals. These examples demonstrate that the effective implementation of QMS ensures operational consistency, ease of traceability of products batches, continuous improvement and evidence- based decision making. Finally, strategies that could be adopted to ensure that herbal medicine plays a dominant role in the healthcare system across the sub region are discussed. Expérience n°5 : Développement de MelaK@ crème pour le traitement des brûlures chez l’enfant (Expérience du CEA-CFOREM) UNIVERSITE JOSEPH KI ZERBO (UJKZ) Centre de Formation, de Recherche et d’Expertises en sciences du Médicament (CEA-CFOREM) Tél. : (+226) 75 55 20 20 ; Email : cea.cforem.ujkz@gmail.com Pr. Rasmané Semdé, CEA-CFOREM, École doctorale sciences et santé (ED2S), UFR - Sciences de la santé (UFR/SDS), Université Joseph KI-ZERBO, 03 BP 7021 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Les brûlures cutanées figurent parmi les problèmes de santé majeurs en Afrique, avec plus de 17 millions de victimes chaque année. Au Burkina Faso, l’incidence est en croissance avec 13,7% des enfants de moins de 5 ans. La prise en charge précoce et appropriée aide à minimiser la douleur, à prévenir les complications et à favoriser une guérison rapide. Elle peut nécessiter une urgence médico-chirurgicale, une réanimation ou juste un traitement local utilisant des produits importés sont souvent financièrement inaccessibles aux populations africaines. MelaK@ crème est une émulsion Huile dans Eau constituée du miel et du beurre de karité, fournis à des prix abordables par des producteurs sélectionnés du Burkina Faso. Elle visait à créer un effet synergique entre les propriétés anti-inflammatoire, cicatrisante et antimicrobienne du miel et celles régénératrice et photoprotectrice du beurre de karité. Le travail de développement a permis d’obtenir un produit d’application aisée, homogène et stable sous certaines conditions de conservation. Après avoir démontré son efficacité comparée aux traitements modernes conventionnels par des tests in vivo sur des rats de laboratoire, puis confirmée par une étude clinique en 2020chez des brulés de 2nd degré, l’émulsion a été brevetée à l’Organisation Africaine de la Propriété intellectuelle (OAPI) le 13/07/2020, sous le N°19447. MelaK@ crème est présentée dans des tubes en aluminium verni de 45 g et de 75 g pour application locale destinés aux traitements des brûlures. Demandée comme préparation magistrale à travers les officines pharmaceutiques privées par les chirurgiens pédiatres des CHU du Burkina Faso, plus de 1500 tubes préparés à l’échelle du laboratoire ont déjà permis de traiter plus de 250 enfants brulés. Face à la demande croissante des praticiens hospitaliers et du grand public, un business plan démontre sa rentabilité, le dossier de demande d’AMM d’un médicament traditionnel amélioré (MTA) de catégorie II a déjà été déposé à l’ANRP du Burkina Faso.

'The vital experience of the glad animal sensibilities made doubts impossible on the question of our speed; we heard our speed, we saw it, we felt it as a thrilling; and this speed was not the product of blind insensate agencies, that had no sympathy to give, but was incarnated in the fiery eyeballs of the noblest amongst brutes, in his dilated nostril, spasmodic muscles, and thunder-beating hoofs.' -- Thomas de Quincey (1849), "The English Mail-Coach" For Thomas de Quincey, the thrust of speed is intimately linked with the thrust of the body. Subjectivity is formed by and through a corporeal experience of acceleration. In this way, De Quincey has the jump on those other lovers of automated speed: the Italian Futurists. That heady clash of bodies, speed and information, or the technological sublime, we characteristically associate with the development of twentieth-century communication is already articulated some sixty years before Marinetti imagines the 'divine fusion' of body and machine. Thomas de Quincey's 1849 ode to the postal service -- "The English Mail Coach" -- functions as a significant text in modernity's velocity culture. Specifically, de Quincey allows us to historicise the critical terms of 'speed', 'body' and 'circulation'. This paper makes some preliminary historical observations about the acceleration of communication and transport systems and how this rapidity might give rise to new forms of subjectivity or the emergence of what Jeffrey T. Schnapp calls 'the kinematic subject'. The perceptual reconfiguration of time and space is central to an understanding of modernity's preoccupation with speed. Rapid data circulation through digital information systems means that distance appears to shrink and time seems to collapse. Manuel Castells calls this a 'new time regime' (429). Temporality now functions according to a double logic: a simultaneous binary of 'the eternal and of the ephemeral'. The contemporary 'manipulation of time' turns on 'instantaneity and eternity: me and the universe, the self and the net' (462-3). For David Harvey the defining feature of postmodernity is 'time-space compression'. Capitalism is 'characterised by speed-up in the pace of life, while so overcoming spatial barriers that the world sometimes seems to collapse inwards upon us' (241). Castells and Harvey are not, of course, the first to notice the degree to which the changing rhythms of a communication vehicle might impact upon perceptions of time and space. In 1909 Marinetti announces its demise: 'Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed'. Yet this death is prefigured some 120 years before by the 18th century author Hannah More in a letter where, quoting Alexander Pope, she illustrates her reaction to the introduction of the mail coach: I have just been thinking that if the amorous poet, who modestly wished to annihilate time and space had lived to see our fortunate days, he would have seen his prophetic visions realised... cards having well-nigh accomplished the first, and mail-coaches the last. (Qtd. in Lewis 264) This letter is dated 1788, only four years after the establishment of the mail coach system. Initially the service ran between London and Bristol so that Hannah More writing from Somerset would complain of being bypassed by this new mode of information circulation: Of the other blessing, the annihilation of space, I cannot partake; mail-coaches, which come to others, come not to me. Letters and newspapers, now that they travel in coaches like gentlemen and ladies, come not within ten miles of my hermitage. (265) More here identifies an important historical factor in the transformation of information networks. It concerns the coupling of transportation and communication: information travels 'in coaches like gentlemen and ladies'. In More's 18th century account the two remain connected while, as James Carey has noted, the significance of the 19th century's invention of the telegraph is that it splits the two processes. The telegraph 'allowed symbols to move independently of geography and independently of and faster than transport' (213). For de Quincey, a pivotal feature of the mail coach is the way in which communication and transportation function coextensively. Recounting his travels on the coach as it distributes news from the Napoleonic wars he notes that 'the grandest chapter of our experience, within the whole mail-coach service, was on those occasions when we went down from London with the news of victory' (290). For de Quincey, as for other commentators, the mail coach is a political instrument. Through the increasing efficiency of its communication infrastructure, it 'binds the nation together' (Austen 361). As de Quincey puts it 'the mail-coach, as the national organ for publishing these mighty events, thus diffusively influential, became itself a spiritualised and glorified object to an impassioned heart' (272). What impresses de Quincey most, however, is the speed of this vehicle. Or perhaps, more accurately, it is a particular relation between the self and speed, which confers on the mail coach a 'glory of motion' (270). By the time he publishes his essay, postal and newspaper circulation by mail-coach is nearly at an end. The last mail coach ceases action in London in 1846 (Daunton 123) and postal distribution begins to be carried out by rail. De Quincey clearly mourns the loss of this form of communication. And his regret depends on the self's perception of speed. That is, to qualify as an authentic act of transportation (of the body, of the post or of language), one must, to some degree, be aware of the systems of circulation, the modes of delivery and the vehicle of communication. One ought to be able to experience the speed at which one travels or the mail is delivered. The body must remain in contact with the message. In de Quincey's view the railway communication system fails for these sorts of reasons: The modern modes of travelling cannot compare with the mail-coach system in grandeur and power. They boast of more velocity, not however as a consciousness, but as a fact of our lifeless knowledge, resting upon alien evidence; as, for instance, because somebody says that we have gone fifty miles in the hour though we are far from feeling it as a personal experience ... . Apart from such an assertion, or such a result, I myself am little aware of the pace. But, seated on the old mail-coach, we needed no evidence out of ourselves to indicate the velocity. (283, emphasis in the original) Perched atop the careening mail coach, the self needs no secondary evidence to confirm its propulsion: 'we heard our speed, we saw it, we felt it as a thrilling'. But with the emergence of railway systems, the self somehow becomes cut off or distanced from the mode of transport: 'But now, on the new system of travelling, iron tubes and boilers have disconnected man's heart from the ministers of his locomotion' (284). To be sure, rail is faster. But that fails to impress de Quincey for the rail cannot offer him the same sublime effect. The mail coach is drawn by 'royal horses like cheetahs' (282) while the train lacks the power to raise even 'an extra bubble in a steam-kettle' (284). The sublimity of speed is also aural. But once again the railroad fails to inspire awe: 'the trumpet that once announced from afar the laurelled mail; heartshaking, when heard screaming on the wind ... has now given way for ever to the pot-wallopings of the boiler' (284). In Burke's formulation of the sublime there is danger and terror but there must also be a certain distance from this threat. It is 'simply painful' when we are aroused by causes that 'immediately affect us' but it is sublime when 'we have an idea of pain and danger, without being actually in such circumstances' (51) . For de Quincey sitting inside the carriage seems to offer too much safety and distance, the interior reserved as it is for the 'porcelain variety of the human race' (273). Instead, he travels aloft near the driver because of 'the air, the freedom of prospect, the proximity to the horses, the elevation of seat' (275). And he has the possibility of reining them in himself: 'the certain anticipation of purchasing occasional opportunities of driving' (275)1. The closer he is to the ministers of his locomotion, the better de Quincey likes it. The more he becomes the agent of his own speed, the more immediate, authentic and sublime seems his journey. For de Quincey, then, the superiority of the mail coach over the railroad lies not in terms of absolute speed but rather it concerns issues about the body's experience of and relation to that speed. As Matthew Schneider (1995) puts it 'the difference between the two with respect to their speed, privileges mail coaches by virtue of their violent immediacy, their ability to transmit the actual or living sensations rather than one that is intermediate or representational' (152)2. In a fascinating paper about the correlation between speed and subjectivity Jeffrey T. Schnapp identifies the mail coach in general and de Quincey in particular as emblematic of an 'inaugural moment' in the development of an 'anthropology of speed' (3). With a quick side swipe at the ahistorical and apocalyptic underpinning of Paul Virilio's Speed and Politics, Schnapp argues that although speed has always been 'an agent of individuation' it is with modernity that it begins to depend on the relation between self and vehicle: ... the mere experience of riding on horseback was not enough to establish a modern culture of velocity. Speed's rise as a cultural thematic, its move into an everyday realm of perceptibility, its adoption as sacrament of modern individualism, became possible only with the development of mechanical buffers between rider, horse, and roadway: buffers that enable new fantasies of attachment, first, between rider and engine, and, then, according to a more complex logic, between rider, engine, vehicle, and/or landscape. (10-1) What is particularly productive about Schnapp's account is that he schematises the history of transportation in terms of the relation between speed, body and vehicle. For Schnapp this is a pivotal dynamic. De Quincey's equestrian desire and his disdain for railroad travel, is part of a historical process where individuality comes to be 'identified with administration of one's own speed' (14). In Schnapp's model, there are 'two concurrent yet distinct experiences of velocity', one that he calls 'thrill-based' and the other 'commodity-based'. The first is experienced in modes such as on top of the mail-coach and later, cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes. 'Commodity-based' refers to train and bus travel. The difference between the two is that thrill-based transportation occurs when the passenger 'can envisage himself as the author of his velocity' while in 'commodity-based' forms the traveller is 'shielded from the natural environment and the engine, and passively submits himself to velocity' (18-9). De Quincey's essay is a valuable resource for communications historiography. Like Jacques Derrida, he recognises how the rhythms of the postal service function to construct identity. As a system of circulation and exchange, the post office institutionalises modes of correspondence, producing and regulating particular subjectivities. And like Postman Pat, de Quincey knows the corporeal pleasures of delivering the mail. Footnotes There are also issues of class at work here. Tickets were more expensive to sit inside the carriage which de Quincey, then a student at Oxford, could not afford. He attempts to reverse these class distinctions by arguing that 'inside which had been traditionally regarded as the only room tenantable by gentlemen, was, in fact, the coal-cellar in disguise' (187). The secondary material on de Quincey is quite extensive. In the last 15 years his work has been investigated from a number of different angles including poststructuralist approaches to language and his transitional status as a figure between Romanticism and Modernism. As well as Schneider, see Clej and Snyder. References Austen, Brian. British Mail-Coach Services 1784-1850. New York and London: Garland, 1986. Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Ed. James T. Boulton. 2nd ed. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987. Carey, James W. Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1988. Castells, Manuel. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Volume 1: The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1996. Clej, Alina. A Genealogy of the Modern Self: Thomas De Quincey and the Intoxication of Writing. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1995. Daunton, M.J. Royal Mail: The Post Office since 1840. London: The Athlone Press, 1985. De Quincey, Thomas. "The English Mail-Coach." The Collected Writings of Thomas De Quincey. Ed. David Masson. Vol. 13. Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1890. Derrida, Jacques. The Postcard: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond. Trans. Alan Bass. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1987. Harvey, David. The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1990. Lewis, W.S., ed. Horace Walpole's Correspondence. Vol 31. New Haven: Yale UP, 1961. Marinetti, FT. "The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism." First published 1909. Futurist Manifestos. London: Thames and Hudson, 1973. Schnapp, Jeffrey T. "Crash (Speed as Engine of Individuation)." Modernism/Modernity 6.1 (1999): 1-49. Schneider, Matthew. Original Ambivalence: Autobiography and Violence in Thomas De Quincey. New York: Peter Lang, 1995. Snyder, Robert Lance, ed. Thomas De Quincey Bicentenary Studies. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1985. Virilio, Paul. Speed and Politics: An Essay on Dromology. Trans. Mark Polizzotti. New York: Semiotexte, 1986. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Ester Milne. "'The Ministers of Locomotion': Some Historical Speculations on Velocity Culture." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3.3 (2000). [your date of access] <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0006/ministers.php>. Chicago style: Ester Milne, "'The Ministers of Locomotion': Some Historical Speculations on Velocity Culture," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3, no. 3 (2000), <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0006/ministers.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Ester Milne. (2000) 'The ministers of locomotion': some historical speculations on velocity culture. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3(3). <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0006/ministers.php> ([your date of access]).

IntroductionPeople say, “don’t you ever want to come off?” I don’t know. The thought of me getting up without taking something is totally... to me that’s normal. If I haven’t taken anything then I’m not normal. And for me to even, I can’t contemplate not taking something, you know. I’m not a lost cause. I know what my problem is. It’s other people that want me to stop. I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to. Does that make sense to you? (Mya)This extract is taken from an interview that formed part of my doctoral research looking at people’s experiences of injecting drug use and treatment services in London, UK. Here I consider one of the ways participants described their use of drugs through a concept of becoming “normal.” I pay particular attention to Mya’s account and explore the very sense-making that her question (above) demands. Mya uses the concept of normality not only to reflect how drugs have become part of her everyday routines, or part of feeling normal, but actually in materially becoming herself—in embodying a “normal body.” As she puts it, “if I haven’t taken anything then I am not normal.” In this sense, Mya’s problem is not the drugs, but the people who want her to stop taking them. This understanding is important for challenging recent policy shifts towards reducing opiate replacement/substitution services in the UK (HM Government; Home Office).Methods The study took place from January to September 2014, and included participant observation at a drug treatment service, interviews with service providers, and “creative” interviews with people who inject drugs. The project was granted ethical approval by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Ethics Committee and the NHS Regional Ethics Committee. All participants were given pseudonyms.The creative interview is a term coined by Jennifer Mason to describe an in-depth semi-structured interview which produces additional types of data beyond the spoken word. The method was employed to explore participants’ feelings of embodiment as enacted in the drug-using “event.” I used a body mapping (drawing) task in these interviews to aid the communication of hard-to-articulate visceral experiences and depict the many actors, human and nonhuman, involved. (For a fuller explanation of the “events” perspective and methods taken in this study, please see Dennis 2016.) Below, I draw both from Mya’s narrative and her pictorial account.Becoming “Normal” with DiamorphineMya is a 52-year-old woman who was recruited to the study through word of mouth. She attended a supervised injecting clinic where another participant informed her about the study. The purpose of this clinic is to prescribe injectable diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) for clients to administer under supervised conditions. This unique service is specifically targeted at people who have previously struggled with the more orthodox opiate substitution treatments, such as methadone and buprenorphine. Mya explained that she had a long history of using street heroin, but in the last ten years has been injecting legally and has also illegally sought diamorphine. Mya’s drug use had become very hard to sustain financially, both in paying for private prescriptions and in the illegal drugs market, and therefore she wanted a prescription through the National Health Service. She was told that this was only possible through this clinic. However, the clinic’s intention was always to reduce this consumption, which Mya did not want to accept. This is because, as she explained, without drugs she is “not normal.”A rhetoric of “normality,” as deployed in the drug field, has taken two dominant paths. The first is in Parker et al.’s “normalisation thesis,” which documents a move during the 1990s when drug use, albeit “recreational drug use,” became increasingly common. A concept of “normalisation” is used to explain this social shift in acceptability towards drug taking. The second lies in a Foucauldian-influenced embodied idea of performing normality in line with dominant neoliberal discourses. For example, Nettleton et al.’s study with recovering heroin users employs a concept of “normalisation” to explore the ways in which people talk about regaining certain bodily practices to fit in with “the norm.” Using the work of Michel Foucault, and his concept of governmentality more specifically, Nettleton et al. argue that “normalisation” is “a crucial aspect of neo-liberal societies, where individuals are encouraged through [decentralised] political projects to become normal: ‘the judges of normality are everywhere’ (Foucault, 1977)” (175). Although there are vast differences, both these accounts seem to share an understanding of normality as a socially or discursively produced set of practices.However, Mya’s narrative of becoming normal seems to be doing something different. She highlights how she becomes normal with drugs in a way that suggests that without drugs she is not normal. This highlights the material work involved in achieving this “normal” state. It is clear that being normal is something we do (both theories above consider normal behaviour as performative) rather than it being pre-defined. But for Mya this is enacted in an ontological rather than learnt way as she connects with drugs. To know normality—“to me that’s normal”—and to be normal—“if I haven’t taken anything then I’m not normal”—are conflated. Karen Barad, in her theory of agential realism, would call this an intra-action rather than an inter-action, where what we know (epistemology) and what is (ontology) collide, or rather elide. It is in these entanglements of matter and meaning that Mya becomes normal. Mya’s narrative highlights the human body as an assemblage (Deleuze and Guattari) in which drugs have become a part. In this sense, drugs can be seen as part of this embodied self rather than separate. Consequently, Mya’s account is about more than how her body interacts with drugs, but rather how they become together. Drawing from Deleuze’s ontology of becoming, this is the idea that life does not start with any given entities or organisms, but that these forms are brought into being through the forces of life, and as such they are in a constant state of flux, becoming something else.This can challenge ideas of “recovery” (e.g. Home Office) where people are expected to remove themselves from drugs in order to regain their “normal” self. If one’s “normal” includes drugs this calls into question the very attempt to de-couple an entangled relationship that, as another participant put it, “has been a long time in the making” (my emphasis). Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that Mya explains with a heavy heart that she is feeling substantial pressure to reduce her prescription. She feels the clinic staff fail to understand how drugs are part of her and what constitutes her “normal.” Thus, as she sees it, her “problem” is not the drugs themselves, but the people who want her to stop taking them. Mya’s frustrations start to make more sense—to return to the question in the epigraph—when we think about the body as something we do, involved in a constant task of keeping oneself together.Keeping Oneself TogetherOne does not hang together as a matter of course: keeping oneself together is something the embodied person needs to do. The person who fails to do so dies. (Mol and Law 43)Mol and Law argue that bodies are not something we have but something we do, and that bodies are actively held together through a series of practices. For instance, in their example of hypoglycaemia, a pin prick of blood needs to be taken for the condition to be known, and then counteracted by eating a sugary substance (49). Thinking about Mya’s account of becoming normal in these terms, drugs, instead of being seen as “evil” objects of misuse, can, for Mya at least, be part of this vital (life) project of keeping oneself together. This thoroughly blurs the distinctions between “good” medicine (life sustaining/enhancing) and “bad” drugs of abuse (life destroying). Following a Deleuzian understanding of the human body as an assemblage, making the body “actualise” as one is a process of life: “‘A’ or ‘a’ (one) is always the index of a multiplicity: an event, a singularity, a life...” (Deleuze 388). As such, making bodily boundaries becomes essential. For Mya, drugs are part of this individualisation process in quite overt ways. For example, in her body map (Figure 1) she drew a picture of herself inside a cloud, with voices shouting inwards, penetrating the barrier from outside. About these she said, they are “shouting at me,” “telling me what to do,” and “what’s best for me.” But she was at pains to point out that the depicted cloud is not about representing a pleasurable or disassociated feeling, but more to do with blocking out these intruding voices telling her how to live her life so that they “can’t get to me”:Mya: That makes it sound like the drug makes me feel like I’m in a cloud, it doesn’t, cos I just feel normal, it just helps me to, to deal with things better, it helps me to get less stressful, does that make sense?Author: Normal?Mya: YeahAuthor: So if you haven’t had it, you feel more on edge?Mya: I’m a complete nervous wreck. I’ll be jumping everywhere, you know, if someone opens the window of a bus and I’m jumping.Figure 1: Mya’s Body MapFor Mya, then, her drug use is not about pleasure, or pain for that matter, but about something altogether more vital: it is about keeping together in a stressful, invasive world, to “deal with things better.” It seems that Mya’s drawing—through which she was asked to depict her feelings when using drugs—is about trying to hold the permeable, leaky body together. For the injecting body, which regularly incorporates and excorporates drugs, is an active/metabolic body:The active body has semi-permeable boundaries [...] inside and outside are not so stable. Metabolism, after all, is about eating, drinking and breathing; about defecating, urinating and sweating. For a metabolic body incorporation and excorporation are essential. (Mol and Law 54)A similar argument is made by Vitellone, citing Keane:Heroin is not separate from but becomes central to the body, selfhood, and processes of individualization. Thus according to Keane “a drug is something external that becomes internalized, blurring the distinction between not only inside/outside but also self/other”. (166; see also Keane)In Mya’s drawing and account, drugs are intimately involved in the task of individuating—in making clear boundaries between her and the world. In this sense, her drawing of a cloud can be seen almost like an extra layer of skin.This also occurs in the accounts of two other participants. One female participant commented on how, without drugs, she does not feel herself, to the point that she said, “I don’t want to be in my own skin.” And a male participant also used similar language to note that without heroin (even though he is prescribed methadone, an opiate substitute) he can feel “disembodied”:Everything is all “oh oh” [he makes sounds and body movements to show a fear of things getting too close] like that, everything is like right, like if you’re trying to walk around the streets and it’s just like you can’t handle busy high streets and you know busy like tubes and ...In these accounts, drugs are playing a key role in this boundary work, that is, in enacting the body as One. This resonates strongly with Donna Haraway’s idea of individualisation as “a strategic defense problem” (212). This is the idea that the individual body is not something we are born with, but something we strive towards. Haraway argues that “bodies have become cyborgs,” where “the cyborg is text, machine, body, and metaphor” (212). Mya takes great care in making sure that I have understood this process of boundary-making, which is essential to the cyborg, and on several occasions checks back with me to confirm that she is making sense. She gives the impression that she has been explaining these feelings for years, but still does not feel fully understood. This is perhaps why she seems so thrilled when she feels I have finally got a handle on the dynamic:Mya: But the methadone makes me feel heavy, lethargic, with the diamorphine I can get on with being normal, more better, and not so sleepy, does that make sense? [...] It just helps me cope with everything. You know what I mean, everything. Even ...Author: Like taking the edge off things?Mya: That’s it, the edge off things, you’ve got it! I’ve never thought of that before, that’s a good way of putting it.Author: No cos I was thinking about what you were saying about how you can feel anxious and stuff, and I can imagine it just ...Mya: You’re right, you’ve done it in a nut shell there. Cos people have asked me that before and I haven’t been able to answer. That is a good answer. It takes the edge of things. Yeah.At the end of the interview, and long past this initial reference, Mya shows appreciation of this phrase once more, as an expression which she feels could help in her bid to be better understood:Author: Anyway, I’ll end the interview there.Mya: Was that alright?Author: Yeah, perfect. Is there anything else that you think is important that I’ve missed out?Mya: No not at all. I think you’ve just helped me there by saying it takes the edge off things, I’ve been trying to put that into words for a long time, I didn’t know how to say it ...Although these experiences are of course linked to withdrawal symptoms as a particular arrangement of bodily connections, when I ask about this, it is evident that it is also about something more. For example, in trying to get at why Mya feels she needs diamorphine rather than methadone, she talks about it being “cleaner,” “purer,” “less groggy.” And even though I prompt her on the potential enjoyment, she links “the buzz” to being able to get on with “normal things,” saying “I can act more normal with the heroin”:Mya: Definitely it’s less groggy.Author: And does it give you a slight buzz also?Mya: Sometimes it does yeah. Like I can get on with my housework better and things like that, day to day things, I can act more normal with the heroin. With just the methadone, things just slip.With an interesting use of the term, Mya says that with methadone (which would be the more usual opiate prescribed in heroin treatment) “things just slip.” Again, there is a sense of diamorphine holding her together, in a way that without it she would “slip.” This perhaps highlights the slipperiness of connections that are only ever “partial” (Haraway 181). Rather than becoming too porous, with methadone she becomes too shut off or “groggy,” and again her body becomes unable to do things. This is perhaps why she is so insistent that diamorphine stays put in her life: “I’m not going to lie, even if I don’t get it, I’m still going to use the diamorphine.” Or, in Haraway’s words, she “would rather be a cyborg than a goddess”(181) —she would rather endure the political and potentially criminal consequences of requiring this “outside” substance than pretend to live apart from/above the material world.ConclusionWhen we consider bodies as something we do, rather than have, we see that rather than Mya’s account of normality reflecting a social change (Parker et al.) or solely discursive embodiment (Nettleton et al.), it actually refers to how she becomes her “normal self” in more material ways. Mya’s account thoroughly disrupts a separation of object/subject, as well as several other binaries that underpin contemporary ideas of psychoactive drug use and the body, including drug/medicine, inner/outer, self/other, and of course, normal/pathological. Instead, and in trying to do justice to Mya’s question which opened the essay, her body is seen connecting with drugs in a way that holds her together (as One) in becoming “normal.” Consequently, her fears over having these drugs stopped are very real concerns over a disruption to her corporeality, which demand to be taken seriously. This calls for urgent questions to be asked over current UK policy trends toward eliminating diamorphine prescribing services (see O’Mara) and reducing opiate substitution more generally.References Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke UP, 2007.Deleuze, Gilles. “Immanence: A Life.” Two Regimes of Madness: Texts and Interviews 1975–1995. Ed. David Lapoujade. New York: Semiotext(e), 2006. 384­–91.Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. London: Continuum, 2004.Dennis, Fay. “Encountering ‘Triggers:’ Drug-Body-World Entanglements of Injecting Drug Use.” Contemporary Drug Problems (2016). <http://cdx.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/03/14/0091450916636379.full.pdf?ijkey=6yYSsmgMiHATwe6&keytype=finite>.Haraway, Donna. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. London: Free Association Books, 1991. HM Government. “Drug Strategy 2010: Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery: Supporting People to Live a Drug Free Life.” Home Office, 2010. 1 Jan. 2011 <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/98026/drug-strategy-2010.pdf>.Home Office. “Putting Full Recovery First.” Home Office, 2012. 5 Feb. 2013 <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/98010/recovery-roadmap.pdf>.Keane, Helen. What’s Wrong with Addiction? Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2002.Mason, Jennifer. “What Is Creative Interviewing?” 2010. 10 May 2013 <http://www.method s.manchester.ac.uk/methods/creativeinterviewing/>.Mol, Annemarie, and John Law. “Embodied Action, Enacted Bodies. The Example of Hypoglycaemia.” Body & Society 10.2 (2004): 43-62.Nettleton, Sarah, Joanne Neale, and Lucy Pickering. “‘I Just Want to Be Normal’: An Analysis of Discourses of Normality among Recovering Heroin Users.” Health 17.2 (2013): 174–190.O’Mara, Erin. “The State We’re In: Heroin Prescribing in the UK.” Drink and Drug News (Dec. 2015). 20 Jan. 2016 <https://drinkanddrugsnews.com/the-state-were-in-2/>.Parker, Howard, Judith Aldridge, and Fiona Measham. Illegal Leisure: The Normalization of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use. Hove: Routledge, 1998.Vitellone, Nicole. “The Rush: Needle Fixation or Technical Materialization?” Journal for Cultural Research 7.2 (2003): 165–177.

0. IntroductionIf we follow the line of much literature surrounding airports and urban mobility, the emphasis often falls on the fact that these spaces are designed to handle the mega-scale and super-human pace of mass transit. Airports have rightly been associated with velocity, as zones of rapid movement managed by enormous processing systems that guide bodies and things in transit (Pascoe; Pearman; Koolhaas; Gordon; Fuller & Harley). Yet this emphasis tends to ignore the spectrum of tempos and flows that are at play in airport terminals — from stillness to the much exalted hyper-rapidity of mobilized publics in the go-go world of commercial aviation.In this photo essay I'd like to pull a different thread and ask whether it's possible to think of aeromobility in terms of “uneven, differential mobility” (Bissell 280). What would it mean to consider waiting and stillness as forms of bodily engagement operating over a number of different scales and temporalities of movement and anticipation, without privileging speed over stillness? Instead of thinking mobility and stillness as diametrically opposed, can we instead conceive of them as occupying a number of different spatio-temporal registers in a dynamic range of mobility? The following is a provisional "visual ethnography" constructed from photographs of air terminal light boxes I have taken over the last five years (in Amsterdam, London, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Miami). Arranged into a "taxonomy of differentiality", each of these images comes from a slightly different angle, mode or directionality. Each view of these still images displayed in billboard-scale light-emitting devices suggests that there are multiple dimensions of visuality and bodily experience at play in these image-objects. The airport is characterized by an abundance of what appears to be empty space. This may be due to the sheer scale of mass transport, but it also arises from a system of active and non-active zones located throughout contemporary terminals. This photo series emphasises the "emptiness" of these overlooked left-over spaces that result from demands of circulation and construction.1. We Move the WorldTo many travellers, airport gate lounges and their surrounding facilities are loaded with a variety of contradictory associations and affects. Their open warehouse banality and hard industrial sterility tune our bodies to the vast technical and commercial systems that are imbricated through almost every aspect of contemporary everyday life.Here at the departure gate the traveller's body comes to a moment's rest. They are granted a short respite from the anxious routines of check in, body scans, security, information processing, passport scanning, itineraries, boarding procedures and wayfaring the terminal. The landside processing system deposits them at this penultimate point before final propulsion into the invisible airways that pipe them into their destination. We hear the broadcasting of boarding times, check-in times, name's of people that break them away from stillness, forcing people to move, to re-arrange themselves, or to hurry up. Along the way the passenger encounters a variety of techno-spatial experiences that sit at odds with the overriding discourse of velocity, speed and efficiency that lie at the centre of our social understanding of air travel. The airline's phantasmagorical projections of itself as guarantor and enabler of mass mobilities coincides uncomfortably with the passenger's own wish-fulfilment of escape and freedom.In this we can agree with the designer Bruce Mau when he suggests that these projection systems, comprised of "openings of every sort — in schedules, in urban space, on clothes, in events, on objects, in sightlines — are all inscribed with the logic of the market” (Mau 7). The advertising slogans and images everywhere communicate the dual concept that the aviation industry can deliver the world to us on time while simultaneously porting us to any part of the world still willing to accept Diners, VISA or American Express. At each point along the way these openings exhort us to stop, to wait in line, to sit still or to be patient. The weird geographies depicted by the light boxes appear like interpenetrating holes in space and time. These travel portals are strangely still, and only activated by the impending promise of movement.Be still and relax. Your destination is on its way. 2. Attentive AttentionAlongside the panoramic widescreen windows that frame the choreography of the tarmac and flight paths outside, appear luminous advertising light boxes. Snapped tightly to grid and locked into strategic sightlines and thoroughfares, these wall pieces are filled with a rotating menu of contemporary airport haiku and ersatz Swiss graphic design.Mechanically conditioned air pumped out of massive tubes creates the atmosphere for a very particular amalgam of daylight, tungsten, and fluorescent light waves. Low-oxygen-emitting indoor plants are no match for the diesel-powered plant rooms that maintain the constant flow of air to every nook and cranny of this massive processing machine. As Rem Koolhaas puts it, "air conditioning has launched the endless building. If architecture separates buildings, air conditioning unites them" (Koolhaas). In Koolhaas's lingo, these are complex "junkspaces" unifying, colliding and coalescing a number of different circulatory systems, temporalities and mobilities.Gillian Fuller reminds us there is a lot of stopping and going and stopping in the global circulatory system typified by air-terminal-space.From the packing of clothes in fixed containers to strapping your belt – tight and low – stillness and all its requisite activities, technologies and behaviours are fundamental to the ‘flow’ architectures that organize the motion of the globalizing multitudes of today (Fuller, "Store" 63). It is precisely this functional stillness organised around the protocols of store and forward that typifies digital systems, the packet switching of network cultures and the junkspace of airports alike.In these zones of transparency where everything is on view, the illuminated windows so proudly brought to us by J C Decaux flash forward to some idealized moment in the future. In this anticipatory moment, the passenger's every fantasy of in-flight service is attended to. The ultimate in attentiveness (think dimmed lights, soft pillows and comfy blankets), this still image is captured from an improbable future suspended behind the plywood and steel seating available in the moment —more reminiscent of park benches in public parks than the silver-service imagined for the discerning traveller.3. We Know ChicagoSelf-motion is itself a demonstration against the earth-binding weight of gravity. If we climb or fly, our defiance is greater (Appleyard 180).The commercial universe of phones, cameras, computer network software, financial instruments, and an array of fancy new gadgets floating in the middle of semi-forgotten transit spaces constitutes a singular interconnected commercial organism. The immense singularity of these claims to knowledge and power loom solemnly before us asserting their rights in the Esperanto of "exclusive rollover minutes", "nationwide long distance", "no roaming charges" and insider local knowledge. The connective tissue that joins one part of the terminal to a commercial centre in downtown Chicago is peeled away, revealing techno-veins and tendrils reaching to the sky. It's a graphic view that offers none of the spectacular openness and flights of fancy associated with the transit lounges located on the departure piers and satellites. Along these circulatory ribbons we experience the still photography and the designer's arrangement of type to attract the eye and lure the body. The blobby diagonals of the telco's logo blend seamlessly with the skyscraper's ribbons of steel, structural exoskeleton and wireless telecommunication cloud.In this plastinated anatomy, the various layers of commercially available techno-space stretch out before the traveller. Here we have no access to the two-way vistas made possible by the gigantic transparent tube structures of the contemporary air terminal. Waiting within the less travelled zones of the circulatory system we find ourselves suspended within the animating system itself. In these arteries and capillaries the flow is spread out and comes close to a halt in the figure of the graphic logo. We know Chicago is connected to us.In the digital logic of packet switching and network effects, there is no reason to privilege the go over the stop, the moving over the waiting. These light box portals do not mirror our bodies, almost at a complete standstill now. Instead they echo the commercial product world that they seek to transfuse us into. What emerges is a new kind of relational aesthetics that speaks to the complex corporeal, temporal, and architectural dimensions of stillness and movement in transit zones: like "a game, whose forms, patterns and functions develop and evolve according to periods and social contexts” (Bourriaud 11). 4. Machine in the CaféIs there a possible line of investigation suggested by the fact that sound waves become visible on the fuselage of jet planes just before they break the sound barrier? Does this suggest that the various human senses are translatable one into the other at various intensities (McLuhan 180)?Here, the technological imaginary contrasts itself with the techno alfresco dining area enclosed safely behind plate glass. Inside the cafes and bars, the best businesses in the world roll out their biggest guns to demonstrate the power, speed and scale of their network coverage (Remmele). The glass windows and light boxes "have the power to arrest a crowd around a commodity, corralling them in chic bars overlooking the runway as they wait for their call, but also guiding them where to go next" (Fuller, "Welcome" 164). The big bulbous plane sits plump in its hangar — no sound barriers broken here. It reassures us that our vehicle is somewhere there in the network, resting at its STOP before its GO. Peeking through the glass wall and sharing a meal with us, this interpenetrative transparency simultaneously joins and separates two planar dimensions — machinic perfection on one hand, organic growth and death on the other (Rowe and Slutsky; Fuller, "Welcome").Bruce Mau is typical in suggesting that the commanding problem of the twentieth century was speed, represented by the infamous image of a US Navy Hornet fighter breaking the sound barrier in a puff of smoke and cloud. It has worked its way into every aspect of the design experience, manufacturing, computation and transport.But speed masks more than it reveals. The most pressing problem facing designers and citizens alike is growth — from the unsustainable logic of infinite growth in GDP to the relentless application of Moore's Law to the digital networks and devices that define contemporary society in the first world. The shift of emphasis from speed to growth as a time-based event with breaking points and moments of rupture has generated new possibilities. "Growth is nonlinear and unpredictable ... Few of us are ready to admit that growth is constantly shadowed by its constitutive opposite, that is equal partners with death” (Mau 497).If speed in part represents a flight from death (Virilio), growth invokes its biological necessity. In his classic study of the persistence of the pastoral imagination in technological America, The Machine in the Garden, Leo Marx charted the urge to idealize rural environments at the advent of an urban industrialised America. The very idea of "the flight from the city" can be understood as a response to the onslaught of technological society and it's deathly shadow. Against the murderous capacity of technological society stood the pastoral ideal, "incorporated in a powerful metaphor of contradiction — a way of ordering meaning and value that clarifies our situation today" (Marx 4). 5. Windows at 35,000 FeetIf waiting and stillness are active forms of bodily engagement, we need to consider the different layers of motion and anticipation embedded in the apprehension of these luminous black-box windows. In The Virtual Window, Anne Friedberg notes that the Old Norse derivation of the word window “emphasizes the etymological root of the eye, open to the wind. The window aperture provides ventilation for the eye” (103).The virtual windows we are considering here evoke notions of view and shelter, open air and sealed protection, both separation from and connection to the outside. These windows to nowhere allow two distinct visual/spatial dimensions to interface, immediately making the visual field more complex and fragmented. Always simultaneously operating on at least two distinct fields, windows-within-windows provide a specialized mode of spatial and temporal navigation. As Gyorgy Kepes suggested in the 1940s, the transparency of windows "implies more than an optical characteristic; it implies a broader spatial order. Transparency means a simultaneous perception of different spatial locations" (Kepes 77).The first windows in the world were openings in walls, without glass and designed to allow air and light to fill the architectural structure. Shutters were fitted to control air flow, moderate light and to enclose the space completely. It was not until the emergence of glass technologies (especially in Holland, home of plate glass for the display of commercial products) that shielding and protection also allowed for unhindered views (by way of transparent glass). This gives rise to the thesis that windows are part of a longstanding architectural/technological system that moderates the dual functions of transparency and separation. With windows, multi-dimensional planes and temporalities can exist in the same time and space — hence a singular point of experience is layered with many other dimensions. Transparency and luminosity "ceases to be that which is perfectly clear and becomes instead that which is clearly ambiguous" (Rowe and Slutsky 45). The light box air-portals necessitate a constant fluctuation and remediation that is at once multi-planar, transparent and "hard to read". They are informatic.From holes in the wall to power lunch at 35,000 feet, windows shape the manner in which light, information, sights, smells, temperature and so on are modulated in society. "By allowing the outside in and the inside out, [they] enable cosmos and construction to innocently, transparently, converge" (Fuller, "Welcome" 163). Laptop, phone, PDA and light box point to the differential mobilities within a matrix that traverses multiple modes of transparency and separation, rest and flight, stillness and speed.6. Can You Feel It?Increasingly the whole world has come to smell alike: gasoline, detergents, plumbing, and junk foods coalesce into the catholic smog of our age (Illich 47).In these forlorn corners of mobile consumption, the dynamic of circulation simultaneously slows and opens out. The surfaces of inscription implore us to see them at precisely the moment we feel unseen, unguided and off-camera. Can you see it, can you feel it, can you imagine the unimaginable, all available to us on demand? Expectation and anticipation give us something to look forward to, but we're not sure we want what's on offer.Air travel radicalizes the separation of the air traveller from ground at one instance and from the atmosphere at another. Air, light, temperature and smell are all screened out or technologically created by the terminal plant and infrastructure. The closer the traveller moves towards stillness, the greater the engagement with senses that may have been ignored by the primacy of the visual in so much of this circulatory space. Smell, hunger, tiredness, cold and hardness cannot be screened out.In this sense, the airplanes we board are terminal extensions, flying air-conditioned towers or groundscrapers jet-propelled into highways of the air. Floating above the horizon, immersed in a set of logistically ordained trajectories and pressurized bubbles, we look out the window and don't see much at all. Whatever we do see, it's probably on the screen in front of us which disconnects us from one space-time-velocity at the same time that it plugs us into another set of relations. As Koolhaas says, junkspace is "held together not by structure, but by skin, like a bubble" (Koolhaas). In these distended bubbles, the traveler momentarily occupies an uncommon transit space where stillness is privileged and velocity is minimized. The traveler's body itself is "engaged in and enacting a whole kaleidoscope of different everyday practices and forms" during the course of this less-harried navigation (Bissell 282).7. Elevator MusicsThe imaginary wheel of the kaleidoscope spins to reveal a waiting body-double occupying the projected territory of what appears to be a fashionable Miami. She's just beyond our reach, but beside her lies a portal to another dimension of the terminal's vascular system.Elevators and the networks of shafts and vents that house them, are to our buildings like veins and arteries to the body — conduits that permeate and structure the spaces of our lives while still remaining separate from the fixity of the happenings around them (Garfinkel 175). The terminal space contains a number of apparent cul-de-sacs and escape routes. Though there's no background music piped in here, another soundtrack can be heard. The Muzak corporation may douse the interior of the elevator with its own proprietary aural cologne, but at this juncture the soundscape is more "open". This functional shifting of sound from figure to ground encourages peripheral hearing, providing "an illusion of distended time", sonically separated from the continuous hum of "generators, ventilation systems and low-frequency electrical lighting" (Lanza 43).There is another dimension to this acoustic realm: “The mobile ecouteur contracts the flows of information that are supposed to keep bodies usefully and efficiently moving around ... and that turn them into functions of information flows — the speedy courier, the networking executive on a mobile phone, the scanning eyes of the consumer” (Munster 18).An elevator is a grave says an old inspector's maxim, and according to others, a mechanism to cross from one world to another. Even the quintessential near death experience with its movement down a long illuminated tunnel, Garfinkel reminds us, “is not unlike the sensation of movement we experience, or imagine, in a long swift elevator ride” (Garfinkel 191).8. States of SuspensionThe suspended figure on the screen occupies an impossible pose in an impossible space: half falling, half resting, an anti-angel for today's weary air traveller. But it's the same impossible space revealed by the airport and bundled up in the experience of flight. After all, the dimension this figures exists in — witness the amount of activity in his suspension — is almost like a black hole with the surrounding universe collapsing into it. The figure is crammed into the light box uncomfortably like passengers in the plane, and yet occupies a position that does not exist in the Cartesian universe.We return to the glossy language of advertising, its promise of the external world of places and products delivered to us by the image and the network of travel. (Remmele) Here we can go beyond Virilio's vanishing point, that radical reversibility where inside and outside coincide. Since everybody has already reached their destination, for Virilio it has become completely pointless to leave: "the inertia that undermines your corporeity also undermines the GLOBAL and the LOCAL; but also, just as much, the MOBILE and the IMMOBILE” (Virilio 123; emphasis in original).In this clinical corner of stainless steel, glass bricks and exit signs hangs an animated suspension that articulates the convergence of a multitude of differentials in one image. 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