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From Chechnya to Ukraine: Russian military adaptation in a comparative perspective
Item type: Journal Article
Knubel, Roman; Berni, Marcel; Kueng, Moritz Nepomuk (2026)
This article examines various processes of military adaptation in the Russian Armed Forces from a historical perspective. Drawing comparisons with the Chechen Wars, it focuses on strategy and doctrine, organisation, equipment, training and recruitment. In Chechnya, the Russian forces were equipped for a war of attrition, but found themselves fighting a guerrilla war. In Ukraine, Russian troops were equipped for a rapid breakthrough, not for a war of attrition. In both wars the Russian Armed Forces were forced to adapt. We argue that a strategic paradigm based on mass and endurance is central to the military adaptation in Ukraine.
From urban planning to urban design: the 1893 Zurich Building Act and its impact on land use, ownership structures and urban form
Item type: Journal Article
Kattenbeck, Sanna (2025)
This paper examines Zurich’s urban development through the legislative transition from the 1863 Building Act to the 1893 Building Act, which introduced the Quartierplan (i.e. neighbourhood plan) as a new planning instrument. This shift marked a significant change in land ownership relations, land use patterns, and the integration of public spaces into urban development. The paper explores the socio-political forces within these processes that enabled Zurich’s city authorities to transition from urban planning to urban design and to develop cohesive neighbourhoods with public spaces. It highlights these transformation mechanisms through the case study of Quartierplan 15/16 in Zurich-Wiedikon, which facilitated the conversion of agricultural lands into a dense working-class neighbourhood. Through detailed analysis of legislative texts, municipal records, and historical maps, the study reveals the interplay between economic interests, public health concerns, and urban design principles in shaping the city’s growth. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical context of Zurich’s urban development and the enduring impact of the 1893 Building Act on the city’s spatial and social fabric.
Erhöhung der Gleisvorfeldkapazität durch das dynamische mechanische Abkuppeln während der Fahrt
Item type: Other Conference Item
Nold, Michael (2025)
Dynamic compensation in spinopelvic alignment and its relation to symptom severity in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis
Item type: Journal Article
Koch, David; Büttiker, Nicola; Nüesch, Corina; et al. (2026)
Background Context: Patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (sLSS) often experience more pain when standing and walking than when sitting or lying, suggesting a functional link between symptoms and spinopelvic alignment. However, standing radiography, which is the current standard for assessing alignment, only captures static parameters and does not account for dynamic compensatory mechanisms during movement. To address this limitation, a method was developed to transfer static radiological parameters into dynamic motion analysis and investigate changes in posture between stance and gait using the concept of dynamic compensation.
Purpose: First, this study aimed to investigate associations between spinopelvic alignment parameters in stance and their respective dynamic compensation. Secondly, this study aimed to assess the associations between spinopelvic alignment parameters in stance, gait, dynamic compensation and symptom severity. Finally, the incidence of segmental instability was determined, and potential effects on the association between spinopelvic alignment in stance, dynamic compensation and symptom severity were explored.
Study Design/Setting: Cross-sectional single center observational study
Patient Sample: Patients with sLSS scheduled for decompression surgery
Outcome Measures: Self-report measures: Oswestry disability index (ODI) total score, Swiss spinal stenosis questionnaire function/symptom sub score, core outcome measure index score, EQ-5D index, Tampa scale of kinesiophobia score, numeric pain ratings at rest and daily activities
Physiologic measures: radiologic spinopelvic alignment assessed using EOS radiography; severity of central canal stenosis (Schizas) and foraminal stenosis (Lee) rated using magnetic resonance imaging
Functional measures: static and dynamic spinopelvic alignment derived from offset-corrected motion-capture marker data
Methods: All patients underwent EOS radiography, magnetic resonance imaging and motion analysis and completed the patient-reported outcome questionnaires. T9 inclination, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, spine inclination and spinosacral angle derived from marker-based motion capture were offset-corrected using EOS radiography to reflect the true anatomical spinopelvic alignment. The dynamic compensation of a given parameter was defined as the difference between the average angle over six left gait cycles and the angle during stance. Relationships between spinopelvic alignment in stance, average during gait, range of motion, dynamic compensation and symptom severity were assessed using Spearman’s rho (ρ) and ρ adjusted for age and body mass index (BMI, ρ adj.).
Results:119 patients with sLSS (59M/60F; median age 72 years [interquartile range (IQR) 65–78]; median BMI 26.5 kg/m² [IQR 24–30]) were included in this study. Significant weak to moderate relationships between static and dynamically compensated alignment parameters were found for T9 inclination (ρ adj. = -0.49, p < 0.001), pelvic tilt (ρ adj. = -0.25, p = 0.007) and spine inclination (ρ adj. = -0.38, p < 0.001). There were no correlations between ODI and the absolute values of alignment parameters during stance or gait. However, weak but significant positive and negative relationships between dynamic compensation and ODI were found for pelvic tilt (ρ adj. = 0.19, p= 0.044) and spinosacral angle (ρ adj. = -0.20, p = 0.034), respectively.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that dynamic compensation in spinopelvic alignment in patients with sLSS is moderated by the alignment during stance. While none of the parameters during stance or gait showed associations with patient-reported outcome, dynamic compensation involving the pelvis was associated with symptom severity. Notably, patients with more pelvic retroversion in gait compared to stance had greater disability. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the high clinical relevance of the pelvic region in patients with sLSS and illustrate the value of dynamic compensation as an objective method capable of linking kinematic information to patient-reported outcome measures.
The role of the steel-concrete interface on chloride-induced corrosion of steel in concrete investigated through X-ray computed tomography
Item type: Other Conference Item
Governo, Susanna; Rossi, Emanuele; Shakoorioskooie, Mahdieh; et al. (2025)
The present study reports the application of X-ray computed tomography (XCT) to understand the factors governing the onset of chloride-induced corrosion of steel in concrete to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of steel corrosion. The importance of the features at the steel-concrete interface (SCI) in taking part in the complex and interrelated processes responsible for corrosion onset on steel embedded in concrete has not been understood, yet. In this study, the internal conditions of reinforced concrete specimens exposed to realistic accelerated corrosive environment with chloride have been monitored over time. Moreover, the potential of this methodology is optimized and applied to characterize the micro-scale features at the SCI, mainly the interfacial entrained air voids, to assess the saturation degree and air-moisture configuration of these air voids, and to analyze the relation between the occurrence of corrosion attacks and the presence of interfacial defects and of moisture in the same region. This study also includes the analysis of the development of the morphology and dimensions of the corrosion attacks over time.