Reconstruction Of Europe Research Articles

Current status of autologous breast reconstruction in Europe: how to reduce donor site morbidity.

Autologous reconstruction techniques for breast reconstruction have significantly evolved in the last few decades in Europe. In the search of reducing the donor site morbidity, surgeons explored the possibilities to preserve the rectus muscle and its function, and a transition to deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flaps was started in the nineties. Throughout the years, and especially in the last decade, we have increasingly implemented aesthetic refinements for donor site handling in DIEP flap breast reconstruction. In our practice, autologous breast reconstruction provides an opportunity to effectively remodel the donor site, minimising functional morbidity, and maximising aesthetic satisfaction. To achieve this, careful patient selection, pre-operative preparation, meticulous intra-operative dissection, and a clear post-operative protocol are essential. The main goal in autologous breast reconstruction, and its biggest advantage, is to offer the patient a natural look and feel of the reconstructed breast. A second goal is to minimize the number of procedures needed to reach the desired breast shape, size, and volume. In most patients, the number of operations ranges between one and three. The third main goal is to minimize the donor site morbidity, both functionally and aesthetically. Functionally, this implies preserving as much of the rectus abdominis muscle as possible, limiting the fascia incision, preserving the motor branches to the muscle, ensuring an adequate fascial closure, and repairing the rectus diastasis is present. Aesthetically, we aim to have a low position of the scar, an aesthetically pleasing location of the umbilicus, and limited or no lateral skin excess or so called "dogears". In this clinical practice review article, we provide an overview of current autologous reconstruction methods, with a focus on minimising donor site morbidity and enhancing the aesthetic result of the donor site. We discuss key concepts in autologous reconstruction and provide surgical pearls for performing the procedure effectively with optimal reconstructive and aesthetic result.

Evaluating the Quality of Online Patient Information for Prepectoral Breast Reconstruction Using Polyurethane-Coated Breast Implants

An increasing number of patients are using online information regarding medical issues; however, the Internet is not subject to content ratings or filters. Unreliable information found on the web can heavily influence patients to the extent that it can lead to wrong decisions in the choice of treatment. In our daily experience we meet more informed patients and given the increasing use of polyurethane-coated implants in breast reconstruction in Europe, we wondered about the level of information available online. Our study aims to assess the quality of information available online on breast reconstruction with polyurethane-coated implants. Assuming that the most used search engines are Google and Yahoo, we used a search strategy to identify online information regarding prepectoral breast reconstruction with polyurethane-coated implants. The selected websites were divided into 5 groups (practitioners, hospitals, healthcare portals, professional societies, and encyclopedias), and the quality of information was assessed by using an expanded version of the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) tool, which is a checklist applicable to all existing types of information. Fifty-six websites were selected and were categorized into 5 groups: 17 practitioners, 9 hospitals, 13 healthcare portals, 7 professional societies, 10 encyclopedias. The average score was 17 points (range: 12 - 25). We found 13 reliable websites with a score higher than 20 using the expanded version of the EQIP tool, whereas 43 were deemed unreliable, as they scored lower. Proper communication between surgeon and patient is crucial in the therapeutic choice, as the available online information presently is scarce and can lead to wrong decisions if not properly verified.

Twinned cities: reconciliation and reconstruction in Europe after 1945 – an introduction

AbstractWhile town twinning has played a crucial role in reconciliation and reconstruction processes in Europe after World War II, urban historians have not yet paid sufficient attention to it. This special issue thus addresses this historiographical neglect through a set of case-studies that examine the role of twinned cities in post-war reconciliation and reconstruction between former enemy nations and across the ideological fault lines of the Cold War. The framework that underpins all contributions rests on the use of ‘twinned cities’ as an umbrella term to denote various forms of inter-municipal links and builds on similarly broad definitions of ‘reconciliation’ and ‘reconstruction’.

The Promise of Participation: European Reconstruction Work in Early Weimar Germany’s Political Culture

Abstract Material reconstruction after the First World War was closely linked to German reparations, yet it is curiously underrepresented in the historiography of the Treaty of Versailles as well as in studies on interwar Germany. In the Weimar Republic, political leaders, economic actors and large parts of the population supported the idea of sending building material and even labourers to neighbouring countries. This far-reaching planning process began before and continued after the signing of the peace treaty, as the Allies remained hesitant but not fully hostile to the German proposals. Material reparation potentially mobilized a wide range of goods and labour, and it was thus particularly prone to expectation, but also to disappointment in a broad segment of the population. Against the backdrop of war destruction and the international peace negotiations in 1919, this article investigates the way in which European reconstruction was discussed formally and informally in Weimar Germany. By focusing on the communicative channels and media that promoted German participation in building work abroad, it discusses how expectations were raised, managed and disappointed at the intersection of foreign and domestic policies. While there had only been minor destruction in German territory between 1914 and 1918, the republic’s political culture proved to be deeply affected by the material reconstruction on the European continent, even though most of the far-reaching plans did not result in building sites on the ground.

The activity and influence of the American Red Cross in Italy during and after World War one (1917–1919)

ABSTRACT During the First World War, the Italian people became familiar with the American khaki uniform not from the presence of combat units, which hardly appeared in Italy, but rather from the American Red Cross (ARC) workers, who arrived immediately after the disastrous rout of Caporetto (October/November 1917). Throughout Italy, they were the most visible representatives of mythical America, its munificence, effectiveness and concern for the common man. Relief for wounded and sick soldiers was but a small part of ARC activity: more than two thirds of its total expenditure was upon civilians. In fact, its greatest mission was to put new heart into all components of Italian society. It was there not only to heal combatants’ wounds, but also to minister to the ‘wounds of the spirit’ of the population, in terms of demoralization, unrest and attraction towards revolutionary violence. Accordingly, it extended its activity over the entire country, from the Alps to the islands, dividing it into 16 districts, each under a Red Cross delegate. At the end of the war, the organization’s staff numbered 949 US employees, along with approximately 1000 Italian workers. In all, more than 7000 cities, towns and villages were reached by Red Cross representatives. Its substantial donations of material aid went to soldiers, hospitals, refugees, orphans and needy families. The Italian campaign was second only to the French in terms of budget and range. Besides emergency work, it comprised long-term projects, such as the construction of a village for refugees near Pisa, nursing schools and strategies for the prevention of tuberculosis, which in effect became pilot projects for European reconstruction and civilian aid in general in peacetime.

Hidden female figures in the organisation for European economic co-operation, and the reconstruction of Europe after WWII

The study of female economists during the post-World War II reconstruction of Western Europe is as yet unresearched. A small but substantial collection of publications discusses the role of male economists within the European institutions created after World War II. However, none of them analyzes contributions made by female economists. This paper aims to shed some light on female economists who participated in the reconstruction of Europe through their work in the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which was created by the Marshall Plan following the Conference of Sixteen (Conference for European Economic Co-operation). Firstly, we searched for names of female economists who served the institution, hoping that some relevant hidden female figures in the OEEC would resurface. Secondly, through oral history archives and personal documents, we reconstructed the biographies of three female economists who contributed, in different ways, to the activities of the OEEC: Miriam Camp, Florence Kirlin, and Vera Cao Pinna. By comparing these three figures, in terms of their educational and social backgrounds, their narrative, as well as their connections with international networks of experts, we defined their similarities and differences in order to identify the main characteristics that allowed them, even if at different levels and with different roles, to participate in international diplomacy and technical support deployed in the construction and diffusion of the idea of the peaceful, united, and prosperous Europe which we live in today. Tracing back the presence of women in OEEC, this article aims to bring some light on: what did being a woman economist entails in the after WWII in the newborn European institutions and what did it mean in terms of the kind of work and experience a woman could be doing within the process of professionalisation of the economics discipline in the international organisations. We are interested in describing the experiences and self-perceptions of women economists working in male dominated international institutions. Female international thinkers and experts, well known in their own time, were largely overlooked and neglected by scholars, politics, and international history later.

The British Program for the "Reconstruction in Europe" in 1922: Political and Diplomatic Aspects

The article examines the process of formation of the British program for the "reconstruction of Europe" and the diplomatic efforts of Prime Minister D. Lloyd George to promote it on the eve and during the Genoa Conference of 1922. The Conference was one of the key events of European diplomacy between the two world wars. In 1922, thirty four nations met to restore peace between victors and vanquished, reestablish ties between Soviet Russia and the West, and promote the economic reconstruction in Europe. The relevance of the problem under study is due to the controversial assessments of the Genoa Conference in modern foreign and domestic historiography. Considering the content of these discussions, the authors of the articles proceed from the fact that Lloyd George proposed to hold a major economic and political conference to re-energise the European economy and revive the flagging fortunes of his coalition government. He believed that if Russia was opened to world trade, this would enable Germany to prosper and pay reparations to Britain and France, who could then repay their American war debts. Germany's agreement with the new principles of relations with the winners would abate France’s security fears, thus contributing to the stabilization of the Versailles world order. However, the British program was not implemented, because Soviet Russia and Germany concluded the Treaty of Rapallo. Analyzing the reasons for the failure of D. Lloyd George, the authors come to the conclusion that they stem from the basic contradiction between the large-scale plan and the diplomatic miscalculations made by the British delegation on the eve and during the conference.

The Shôken Fund and the evolution of the Red Cross movement

ABSTRACT This article examines the creation of the Shôken Fund and its impact on the evolution of the Red Cross movement globally, with a focus on the first quarter of the twentieth century and post-First World War European reconstruction. The Shôken Fund was an initiation of the Japanese Red Cross Society in 1912 to support Red Cross activities in peacetime, administered by the International Committee of the Red Cross. It came into effect in 1920 and the first grants were allocated to Red Cross Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1921. The article contributes to the historiography of the Red Cross movement and twentieth century humanitarianism by arguing that the Japanese Red Cross Society, through its Shôken Fund, played an important but little known role in the transformation of the Red Cross within the first years of the post-First World War period, as it helped to facilitate a shift in focus for the ICRC from war only to one that included peacetime activities such as those advocated by the newly created League of Red Cross Societies.

CURRENT TRENDS IN DESIGN OF ELECTRIC SUBSTATIONS

The issue of using modern equipment in the construction and modernization of electrical substations is discussed in the article. 
 The current state of electrical substation equipment is analyzed. It is shown that more than half of the equipment has exhausted its technical resource. The percentage of refusals due to aging has increased significantly. 
 Modern trends in design and new concepts of construction and installation of electrical substations are described. The complete-block technology of construction of electrical substations is considered. 
 The experience of substation reconstruction in Europe is presented. ODD, MTS and GIS technologies are compared. 
 The main suppliers of equipment for electrical substations in Ukraine are characterized. 
 Variants of the use of electric and gas equipment are described.
 Concepts of closed modular construction and "hybrid modules" are given.
 Gradual changes to the traditional for the unified energy system of Ukraine scheme "two working bus systems with a bypass bus system" are presented, depending on the choice of switching devices.
 New schematic solutions for substations on desolderings are provided (the RP scheme of the TP supply voltage on desolderings with a jumper on separate equipment; a typical RP scheme of the TP supply voltage on desolderings on integrated power equipment, the RP scheme of the TP supply voltage on desolderings with a jumper on enlarged cells on an integral power equipment). The advantages and disadvantages of the presented schemes are analyzed. On the basis of a complex analysis, conclusions are made about the advantages and disadvantages of the presented schemes and the criteria for choosing one or another scheme and the corresponding equipment are presented.

EU Eastern Partnership, Ontological Security and EU- Ukraine/Russian warfare

ABSTRACT This article aims to analyse security within Europe’s Eastern Partnership as perceived from the outside – notably by Russia. It analyses the impact of Russia’s security on European security thinking in its Eastern Partnership through the lens of ontological security. Russia’s relationship with the West, based on its ontological security fears, is characterised by the collective trauma and stigma of USSR disintegration. Europe’s ontological security anxiety and fear in its relationship with Russia is caused by the wars in Georgia and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s hybrid warfare. The ontological security interaction in the Eastern Neighbourhood has had two effects: (1) it heightened Putin’s emphasis on the protection of spiritual, cultural and national identity and how the stigma of territorial loss plays a strategic role on the ability to build Russian collective identity reflexively; and (2) Russia has aimed at a re-construction of Europe along different geopolitical lines, whereby Dugin’s Eurasian views have shaped Putin’s discourse. This article analyses the EU’s policy and practices following the war in Ukraine (in two phases in 2014 and 2022) in the Eastern Neighbourhood.

Американська політико-економічна доктрина у повоєнній відбудові Європи (друга половина 1940-х – початок 1950-х років): історичні уроки для України

In the context of the current tasks facing Ukraine as a result of the ongoing armed aggression of the Russian Federation and growing human losses and destruction of economic potential, it is important to rethink the historical experience of reconstruction plans and foreign aid to European countries in the second half of the 1940s – early 1950s. The purpose of the article is to assess the possibilities and reservations regarding the provision of large-scale foreign aid to Ukraine based on a study of the setting and implementation of the goals of the US foreign economic policy during the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. General scientific approaches of interdisciplinarity, synergetics and evolutionism, methods of empirical history, hermeneutic analysis of historical documents, and a systemic approach to generalizing economic trends and determining cause-and-effect relationships are used. It was established that the prerequisites for the provision of foreign aid were strong mutual interest: the US economy needed market expansion, and European countries needed humanitarian aid and restoration of economic potential. The political determinants of the development of post-war reconstruction projects were opposition to Soviet expansion and socialist ideology, which was gaining popularity. The ideas of spreading the principles of democracy and free trade, promoting investments, and stabilizing economies for general security and development served as the doctrinal basis of the US foreign policy. The principles of American aid envisaged ensuring the growing self-sufficiency of the economic revival of Europe; receiving dividends from reconstruction assistance; stimulation of technological renewal of the US economy. The organizational, financial, and technological components of the post-war reconstruction plans ensured the achievement of the main goals – restoration of production, modernization of infrastructure, stabilization of finances and international settlements. The formed institutional structure of economic cooperation and management of post-war recovery contributed to the realization of the objective function of providing foreign aid - the return to self-sustaining economic development of Europe and the expansion of the area of the free market for the international movement of goods and capital. The criteria for achieving the goals of the United States, which were established during the development of plans for assistance in the post-war reconstruction of European countries, are defined as: creation of new markets for American goods, return of investments and receipt of income; ensuring high rates of economic growth both in the USA and in the countries of Western Europe; reduction of investment risks; technological renewal of production; reduction of trade barriers in international trade; institutional support for US global leadership; effective opposition to the Soviet bloc and the international communist movement. The effectiveness of American plans and measures of post-war reconstruction as a way of forming a new institutional order of the world economy has been confirmed. Based on the analysis of the historical experience of foreign aid in the post-war reconstruction of European countries, the main lessons for modern Ukraine are summarized: 1) donor countries should be economically interested in providing aid; 2) Ukraine must develop and implement institutional-legal and organizational-management mechanisms for realizing its own economic interests and defending national priorities.

Albert O. Hirschman, Europe, and the Postwar Economic Order, 1946–52

Abstract Between 1946 and 1952, Albert Hirschman worked as an economist in charge of the Western European desk of the research branch of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC. In this position he wrote extensively on patterns of European postwar reconstruction and the creation of a new world economic order. Given his deep knowledge and prewar experiences, Italy and France were his first areas of specialization, although Hirschman soon contributed to the analysis of the Marshall Plan, the shaping of the European Payments Union, and the problem of the dollar shortage. This article provides a comprehensive interpretation of this early stage of Hirschman's intellectual biography, including a discussion of an unpublished proposal for the creation of a new European Monetary Authority developed under the auspices of Paul Hoffman and the Economic Cooperation Administration. In addition to highlighting Hirschman's contributions to several technical aspects of European reconstruction and the restoration of multilateralism, the article shows that during the Fed years, he sharpened his ability to examine processes of policymaking in difficult times. In particular, he rejected prefabricated recipes, developing a sensitivity for inverted sequential processes, inducement mechanisms, and apparently paradoxical solutions in an uncertain environment. This sensitivity is at the basis of what has been described as a distinctively “Hirschmanesque” style of thought.

Wieder aufbauen nach dem Krieg. Alfred Roth und die in der Schweiz internierten polnischen Architekten

Abstract During the Second World War, more than 10,000 Polish soldiers were interned in Switzerland. Among them were prominent architects, including Marek Leykam and Bohdan Garliński, who upon returning to Poland, left their mark on postwar modernism. Leykam was later marginalized for his buildings that were allegedly too International in style. Garliński became one of the key ideologists of Socialist Realism in the First General Exhibition of Architecture of the People’s Republic of Poland. This article is the first to re-trace their years in Switzerland and their contacts with Alfred Roth, CIAM member and former employee of Le Corbusier. During the war, Roth pursued plans for the reconstruction of Europe, and it was he who supplied the internees with architectural literature and support. Their intersections exemplify the larger history of Switzerland’s insular role during the war, and Poland’s immensely complex architectural scene in the early 1950s.

Socialism across the Iron Curtain. Socialist Parties in East and West and the Reconstruction of Europe after 1945

Socialism across the Iron Curtain. Socialist Parties in East and West and the Reconstruction of Europe after 1945

Fiscal Integration in an Experimental Union: How Path-Breaking Was the EU's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Fiscal Integration in an Experimental Union: How Path-Breaking Was the EU's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Claiming the Countryside: Ekistics, Socio-Political Conflicts, and Emerging Cold-War Geopolitics During Greek Reconstruction

This article investigates the complex ties between planning, socio-political conflicts, and emerging Cold War geopolitics during the post-war reconstruction period in Greece, by focusing on the years between 1944 and 1947. In these crucial transitional years, transnational flows of expertise, interwar legacies, and political, scientific, and ideological contestations gave rise to novel planning ideas and antagonistic visions for the country’s reconstruction and its future development path. The article sheds light on how the architect-planner Constantinos Doxiadis formulated Ekistics as a spatial vision, a mode of central planning, and a technical guide, examining how Ekistics affected the shaping of reconstruction policies, particularly in the countryside. This analysis further exposes the way the Greek countryside became the locus of competing visions of spatial development, as well as contradictory state responses: from long-term housing policies and self-help practices all the way to ideological repression and population resettlement strategies, British interventionism, and Civil War conflicts (1946–49) that paved the ground to Greece’s subsequent US-led recovery programs under the Truman Doctrine (1947) and the Marshal Plan (1948–1952). By focusing on the paradigmatic case of Greece, this article advances an understanding of European reconstruction as an uneven, contested, and transitional process and highlights the implications of architecture and planning discourses and practices amid ideological, territorial, and geopolitical contestations.

Comparing Knee Laxity After Anatomic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using Quadriceps Tendon Versus Semitendinosus Tendon Graft.

Background:The choice of graft in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is still under discussion. The hamstrings are currently the most used grafts for primary ACL reconstruction in Europe. However, increased interest has arisen in the quadriceps tendon (QT) as an alternative autologous graft option for primary ACL reconstruction.Purpose:To evaluate knee stability and the subjective outcome after ACL reconstruction using either autologous QT graft in implant-free femoral press-fit fixation technique or semitendinosus tendon (ST) graft.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.Methods:We evaluated 50 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction, including 25 patients who received autologous ipsilateral QT graft (QT group) and 25 patients who received the ipsilateral ST graft (ST group). The follow-up for this prospective comparative study was at least 2 years after surgery, comprising KT-1000 arthrometer testing, pivot-shift test, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Lysholm score, and rerupture rate.Results:The mean patient age was 31.72 years (9 women, 16 men) in the QT group and 32.08 years (13 women, 12 men) in the ST group. The mean ± standard deviation postoperative side-to-side difference assessed using KT-1000 arthrometer was 1.56 ± 1.56 mm for the QT group and 1.64 ± 1.41 mm for the ST group, with no significant difference. No significant difference was found on any of the KOOS subscale scores (P = .694) or the Lysholm score (P = .682). No rerupture or positive pivot-shift test occurred during follow-up. No difference was found in donor-site morbidity between the study groups.Conclusion:Clinical outcomes were not significantly different between QT and ST grafts in the current study. Thus, the QT may serve as a good alternative graft for primary ACL reconstruction.

Reshaping Europe in complex Covid-19 times Need for cultural sensitivity in the European reconstruction process

The main aim of the article is to argue for a values-driven and cultural sensitivity approach in responding to the current challenges for a true European integration process, made even more necessary with the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, the paper proposes a number of reflections and policy suggestions on the need of reshaping Europe in the turbulent Covid-19 times. In doing so, a four-section approach is adopted. The first section puts the European future in perspective. It refers to the historical development of the integration process from a mainly economic project to a sui generis international organisation and briefly overviews the current challenges and opportunities faced by the European Union. The second section identifies two major fundamental guiding lines for the EU’s future: the strengthening of a values-oriented European future, and development of a true European citizenship. The third section emphasises European solidarity as one of the crucial aspects of a sustainable and values-driven European future. This is especially evident in the necessarily cross-border approach to the Corona pandemic. The final section argues for cultural sensitivity in the EU reconstruction process in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.

ESPRAS Survey on Breast Reconstruction in Europe

Abstract Background The European Leadership Forum (ELF) of the European Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (ESPRAS) previously identified the need for harmonisation of breast reconstruction standards in Europe, in order to strengthen the role of plastic surgeons. This study aims to survey the status, current trends and potential regional differences in the practice of breast reconstruction in Europe, with emphasis on equity and access. Materials and Methods A largescale web-based questionnaire was sent to consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeons, who are experienced in breast reconstruction and with understanding of the national situation in their country. Suitable participants were identified via the Executive Committee (ExCo) of ESPRAS and national delegates of ESPRAS. The results were evaluated and related to evidence-based literature. Results A total of 33 participants from 29 European countries participated in this study. Overall, the incidence of breast reconstruction was reported to be relatively low across Europe, comparable to other large geographic regions, such as North America. Equity of provision and access to breast reconstruction was distributed evenly within Europe, with geographic regions potentially affecting the type of reconstruction offered. Standard practices with regard to radiotherapy differed between countries and a clear demand for European guidelines on breast reconstruction was reported. Conclusion This study identified distinct lack of consistency in international practice patterns across European countries and a strong demand for consistent European guidance. Large-scale and multi-centre European clinical trials are required to further elucidate the presented areas of interest and to define European standard operating procedures.

Rethinking collective trauma in the 20th century: Memory, victimhood and the temporality of the Spanish Civil War

This paper aims to address the conceptual and ethical problems that arise when scholars of contemporary European history resort to the notion of collective trauma. Different historical works on the reconstruction of Europe in the second half of the 20th century have relied on the notion of trauma to grasp the evolution of the memory of violence. More specifically, however, this paper focuses on the problems that arise from defining the Spanish Civil War as a collective trauma by examining the antagonistic ways in which the traumas derived from this conflict have been embodied.