’EXTENDED ESSAY’ PRESENTATIONS I (Wed, June 14, 15:05 – 16:40): WARM-UP TEXTSAnna Ambühl, Toxic Plants in DavosAcute plant poisoning: Analysis of clinical features and circumstances of exposure

JOAN FUCHS1, CHRISTINE RAUBER-LÜTHY1, HUGO KUPFERSCHMIDT1, JACQUELINE KUPPER1,2, GERD-ACHIM KULLAK-UBLICK3, and ALESSANDRO CESCHI1

1Swiss Toxicological Information Centre, Zurich, Switzerland2Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland3Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Introduction. Human contact with potentially toxic plants, which may occur through abuse or by accident or attempted suicide, is frequent and sometimes results in clinically significant toxicity. Objective. The aim of the present study was to identify which plants may lead to severe poisoning, and to define the clinical relevance of plant toxicity for humans in Switzerland. Methods. We analyzed 42 193 cases of human plant exposure and 255 acute moderate, severe, and lethal poisonings, which were reported to the Swiss Toxicological Information Centre between January 1995 and December 2009. Results. Plant contact was rarely responsible for serious poisonings. Lethal intoxications were extremely rare and were caused by plants with cardiotoxic (Taxus baccata) or mitosis-inhibiting (Colchicum autumnale) properties. Conclusions. Most often, plant contact was accidental and patients remained asymptomatic or developed mild symptoms, which fully resolved within a short time.

Keywords Poisoning; Toxicity; Accidental; Abuse; Suicidal

IntroductionHuman oral, dermal, or ocular contact with potentially harm- ful plants is frequent. Plant exposures rank tenth in children and sixteenth in adults in the list of the exposures most commonly reported to poison control centers in the United States,1 thirteenth (no age distinction) in Taiwan,2 second in children and sixth in adults in Germany (in combination with mushroom exposures),3 and third in children and sixth in adults in Switzerland.4Most plants are harmless to humans, but there are a few that can cause toxicity. There are three possible circum- stantial settings leading to exposure to plants: accidental or intentional through abuse or attempted suicide. An abun- dance of literature has been published on accidental expo- sure to plants,5–10 and on abuse by ingestion of plants,11,12 while literature on suicidal exposure is limited,13,14 although this doesn’t apply to South Asia.15–18 Most of these Euro- pean articles are case reports or small case series. There are only a few studies investigating the epidemiology of human exposure to plants,19–25 and these publications indicate that accidental exposure is the most frequent cir- cumstance of poisoning, closely followed by abuse. There- fore, we performed a retrospective study to investigate theepidemiology of plant exposures in Switzerland with a focus on the three settings listed above, and to elucidate the plants mainly responsible for cases of moderate, severe, and fatal poisoning.We analyzed all cases of acute human exposure to potentially toxic plants reported to the Swiss Toxicologi- cal Information Centre (STIC) by the general public and healthcare professionals in a first part, and, in a second part, all well-documented cases of acute mono-intoxications with plants reported by physicians. The study period was between January 1995 and December 2009. The aim of this study was to define the clinical relevance of plant toxicity for humans in Switzerland and to identify which plants may actually lead to severe poisoning, with a view to improv- ing prediction of the expected clinical course of acutely intoxicated patients and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.

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Jan Bergbauer, The Decline of the Roman Empire – The Decline of the US as a World Power?

Noel Malcolm reviews The New Rome: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America by Cullen MurphyThe American edition of this book, which came out a few months ago, bore the title Are We Rome? Apparently that was the sort of question for which ancient Romans would have used the word 'nonne', expecting the answer 'yes'; for the British edition is baldly entitled The New Rome.Sidney and Beatrice Webb did something similar when they dropped the question mark from their Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation? - but at least they waited a couple of years before they did so.Cullen Murphy, an author of stylish think-pieces in Atlantic Monthly and Vanity Fair, has become obsessed with the resemblances between the present-day US and ancient Rome.The big similarity, of course, is in geopolitics: at its height, the Roman Empire was a military superpower which dominated much of what is tendentiously called 'the known world' (known by whom? - answer: by people in the Roman Empire).Rome's imprint on that large part of the world was not just military. The material culture of Roman life - art and architecture, clothes and food, even including the Romans' disgusting fermented fish sauce - had an overwhelming allure for almost everyone who became part of the empire, or was in regular contact with it.And for those brought into the empire, Roman law and Roman moral values were powerful influences, often superseding the value-systems they had lived by before. For fish sauce, read McDonald's; for Roman values, liberal democracy (or neo-con dogma, according to taste).Most of these broad-brush comparisons are obvious and familiar; they are the bread and butter of highbrow op-ed pieces about the 'imperial' status of America today. But Cullen Murphy goes further, using his Roman analogy to make points both about the blinkered mentality of the imperial elite, and about the short-sighted way in which it is now undermining the foundations of its own power.Where the elite is concerned, he has fun comparing the huge travelling circus of officials that accompanies the American President with the similar entourage of a Roman emperor. Both surround a leader so coddled and cocooned that he has little real contact with the outside world.And just as Rome was said to contain the omphalos or navel of the world, so the Washington elite are inclined to suppose that everything revolves around them.Murphy's most original comparison, however, is between the policies of modern American governments and the fatal errors made by Roman emperors in the Empire's final period.Previously, in the good old days, barbarian tribes that moved into the Empire were accommodated on the basis that they turned themselves into ordinary Roman subjects or citizens. The fatal mistake was to let them settle as blocs, maintaining their separate identities in great chunks of Gaul, Spain or Africa. These were the alien bodies that became the embryos of non-Roman breakaway states.At first, you might guess that this comparison would be used to warn the US about the dangers of letting southern California become a Spanish-speaking enclave. Cullen Murphy does have some things to say about mass immigration into America, and the Rio Grande border is the main counterpart he offers to the Roman limes or frontier - a frontier which, he emphasises, was always a porous membrane, not an impenetrable barrier.But instead he turns the comparison in a very different direction.Fixated on the dangers of privatisation, he says that the real equivalents to the Visigoths and Ostrogoths of the late Roman Empire are the giant corporations such as Halliburton, which are taking over key government services.Like the Roman emperors, it seems, the American government now depends on alien armies which it cannot control.… Notes:

Lotta Bergfeld, Composition of an Art Song

Art Songs - the perfect combination a music and literature What is Art Song?The human voice is a natural instrument with unique capabilities. Speech and music have been combined since the earliest times, so that Song is probably one of the oldest musical forms. Simple definitions for song might be "a piece of music performed by voice, with or without instrumental accompaniment," or "a poem set to music." The German word for such classical song is Lied (singular) and Lieder (plural), so that you will hear the terms "art song," "lied" and "lieder" used interchangeably. In France the term is Melodie, and in Italy, Romanza.But more than this simple definition denotes, an art song strives to be the perfect combination of music and literature, based on four elements: poet, composer, singer and accompanist. The composer uses the full resources of the art form to embellish the poet's text, sometimes even realizing potential interpretations that were not explicit in the poet's words. In well-realized Art Song, the composer creates a duet between the accompanist and the vocalist. That is, the art song paints for us a picture of what the poet might have envisioned. The performance of an art song literally breathes life into this picture through a complementary, coordinated partnership among the four significant elements. Art Song Today Art Song performance persisted as a popular pastime in cultured society before the advent of automated media such as radio, movies, MTV and the internet began to dull our senses to the excitement of live musical performance. Art Song interpretation became a rarely practiced craft in our "modern," pre-packaged and mechanized society. Perhaps because of this there has been a resurgence of interest in Art Song composition and performance. Listeners who are exposed to this genre do come to feel it is an important musical form that needs to be preserved. We feel that the spontaneous beauty of Art Song can help listeners re-connect with authentic experience.What to Listen for in Art Song We mentioned above a quartet aspect of Art Song: the poet inspires the composer, and the resulting musical product is interpreted by the singer and the accompanist. The goal of Art Song performance is direct and simultaneous communication of tone and word, with the word-painting and feelings of the poet and composer both touching and palpable. The accompanist should provide the harmonic significance of the sung melody, and is not merely background to support the singer! The interplay between accompanist and singer is on many levels. Dynamics should be applied carefully to focus attention on dramatic or intimate moments.The singer's diction should be keen, with appropriate dynamics and shadings of words regardless of whether the song is in his or her native language. He or she should project joy in singing, and possess sufficient charisma to convince the audience of complete technical mastery and emotional identification with every song. Just as a good song should progress harmonically, build in intensity and change emotionally throughout its performance, the overall program should be constructed with a variety of well-known and lesser-known songs, and it should engage the audience through contrasting scenes and emotions whenever possible. Humor is often a welcome dramatic relief.

"Artsong is one of our most vital and communicative musical genres – it flows and carries with it the language of our changing times." Composer Libby Larsen. Notes:

Patric Carigiet, Constructing a Cupola Based on Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Bridge Principle’

Leonardo Da Vinci’s self-supporting bridge

Leonardo designed this bridge while he was under the patronage of Cesare Borgia. Borgia employed Leonardo as his military engineer, in turn, Leonardo would design and build magnificent machines of war. One such machine was this bridge. Its simplicity and genius cannot be underestimated. It requires no specific skills to manufacture the parts, apart from a few men that are handy with an Axe. It can also be carried by a handful of men into any battlefield. It requires no nails or ropes to hold it together – the bridge is self-supporting and would be capable of holding a substantial amount of weight.  Our miniature model of this bridge can easily hold half a liter of water, it’s full scale version would support hundreds of troops and their weaponry passing over.

Source: http://www.leonardodavincisinventions.com/leonardo-da-vinci-models/leonardo-da-vincis-self-supporting-bridge/

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Chi Fong Chon, Cryptography with Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics - Concept

Innovative approaches of teaching quantum physics based on experiments is the main focus of our research group. This web page provides interactive representations of the experiments in our laboratory. We can demonstrate fundamental phenomena of quantum physics such as quantum particles, randomness and entanglement as well as prospective applications like quantum random number generation and quantum cryptography. Our target group are students of physics in secondary schools, colleges and universities, and their teachers. The web page will be supplemented frequently.

Photon – an examplary quantum object

Foundations of quantum physics can be demonstrated with different types of microscopic objects, such as electrons, neutrons, atoms, molecules and Bose-Einstein-condensates. We have chosen photons, because they are easy to handle. In the field of experimental quantum physics, many effects are first shown with photons and then extended to more advanced techniques. Photon based systems for quantum cryptography are now commercially available [IdQ08].

 Demonstration experiments in physics education

Photons have been discussed in virtually every curriculum of quantum physics for a long time. Canonical demonstration experiments such as the photoelectric effect [Mil16] and Compton-effect [Com22] are shown for their importance in the development of nonrelativistic quantum physics. However, after completion of the theory, it was discovered that these ground-breaking experiments can perfectly be explained with a model of quantized atoms interacting with a classical electromagnetic wave [Man64], [Lam69]. Only recently, experiments on the quantum nature of light have been introduced to physics education [Tho04], [Gal05].

Today, there still is a high potential to include non-classical behaviour of light, i.e. non-trivial properties of the photon, into physics curricula ranging from advanced high school to undergraduate university level. 

Our approach

We would like to extend the range of quantum optics experiments for educational purposes and eventually develop a curriculum based on experimental observation rather than historic development or formal structures. Applications of modern quantum optics such as quantum cryptography are included for motivation. Students gain insight to methods and equipment of modern research laboratories at an early stage of education. Our laboratory will be used by students of the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen / Germany and local high schools. For preparing a visit, we provide interactive screen experiments. We hope that these screen experiments are also useful for interested students who live too far away for a visit.

The experiments with single photons normally need complete darkness. We use narrow bandpassfilters (810±10nm) in front of every detector. With the filters we can illuminate our laboratory with white LED lamps (<750nm) and work in a bright laboratory while measurements are made. 

Interactive screen experiments

Interactive screen experiments or ISE [Kir07] are based on a large set of photographs of an experiment in different configurations. The user can interactively change the setting of a component and will see how the experiment reacts. Due to the relative complexity of our experiments compared to earlier ISE, we had to limit the number of interactive components. Typically, one can alter the settings of components critical to the experiment, while the optical alignment remains fixed. The data shown in the interactive experiments are not calculated! They are generated with the setup under the conditions available to the user, and stored on the server. All data include measurement errors, which are not filtered out.

Source: http://www.didaktik.physik.uni-erlangen.de/quantumlab/english/index.html

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Alisha Hager, The Influence of Stress on the Skin

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Erena HiliMissing

Ramona KühnisDavos HealedBy Nilmini Gunaratne Rubin

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland was an amazing whirlwind of conversation with incredibly magnetic people about brain science breakthroughs, the Internet explosion, the gender divide, the catalytic role of transparency, and the path to peace in the Middle East. The final soiree was up a very steep mountain at the Hotel Schatzalp — a former prestigious sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. It was a poignant moment for me because I knew that the sanatoriums of Davos saved my college roommate’s father — Stephan Gaertner.

In 1937, as a nine-year-old in Hamburg, Germany, Stephan caught tuberculosis. His mother took him to a children’s sanatorium in Davos to spend time outside in the high-altitude air because antibiotics to cure tuberculosis were not yet available. He had to lie still, to not to stress the holes in his lungs, lying out on a terrace in a bear skin sleeping bag, looking out at the sanatoriums scattered all over the valley.

In winter, the main street of Davos — the Promenade — saw a curious mix of rugged ski tourists and pale-faced tuberculosis patients. The sanatoriums of Davos inspired Nobel Prize Winner for Literature Thomas Mann to write the 1924 novel The Magic Mountain. Professor Klaus Schwab called Davos “a place of seclusion, contemplation, recreation and relaxation, the crisp, clean mountain air vital to restoring health and clear thinking.”

In 1938, Stephan was declared healthy but he was unable to return with his mother to Germany because they were Jewish and the Jews in Germany were being deported to concentration camps. The Swiss kindly allowed him, together with a few other refugee kids, to attend the local school.

World War II was raging and all Swiss men age 16-60 were in the army, ready to fight a Nazi invasion. Stephan’s boy scout troop became an army auxiliary and he proudly sported an arm band labeled “Schweizer Armee.” The boy scout troop received rifles and guarded the railway station, carried reports, and served on the Mountain Patrol. Stephan recalls his troop being called to find a group of low land soldiers that had triggered an avalanche due to their ignorance of the rules of the mountain. The troop dug out two alive and one dead — his head had hit a rock.

One day in 1943, Stephan, on his way from school, read a newspaper posted outside the paper’s office. It read, “Before the retreat from Minsk, the advancing Soviet troops, the Germans machine gunned 5,000

Jews every day into mass graves.” When he came home to mother, she asked what was new. He just said, “We had a great hockey game.”

Stephan’s father and brother had remained in Hamburg and could not escape from the Nazis. Though they could have have left Germany before 1939, no country — including the United States — would grant them entry visas. After Stephan’s father was deported to Minsk in 1941, they never heard from him again. In 1942, Stephan’s brother Hans was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic and emerged in 1945 having survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. At the age of 86, he now lives in Prague.Stephan later became a chemical engineer. He moved to France, followed his mother to Czechoslovakia, and escaped through Austria to the United States where he went on to have two amazing children and four delightful grandchildren. Now 83 years old, he lives in California and is an avid skier.

Davos, despite becoming quieter after antibiotics became widely used to cure tuberculosis in the late in 1940s, is now solidly established as ski resort destination.

With the healing history of Davos, the WEF picked the right location. Today’s world could use a cure.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nilmini-gunaratne-rubin/davos- healed_b_2583358.html

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Lena-Maria Pritzi, Spectroscopy and Astro-Photography with our School TelescopeMilky Way, ArizonaContributing editor Jim Richardson is a photojournalist recognized for his exploration of environmental issues and advocacy for the night sky. His photos appear frequently in National Geographic magazine.Something wonderful has happened in photography: Ordinary people can now photograph the universe. Standing beneath the Milky Way has always been a beautiful sight, if you were lucky enough to find dark skies on a dark night. But the revelation of recent advances in digital photography is that the dim ribbon of silvery light we see with our naked eyes is actually a glorious, stupendous galaxy. For me the revelation came the first time I took a photograph of that galaxy and realized that just because the visible universe is so far away didn’t mean I needed a big telescope to photograph it. No, what I needed was a wide-angle lens because it is so huge—and we live in the middle of it. When I show young people my first published picture of the Milky Way I like to point out that this is their home. Earth lies about a third of the way out on one of those vast spiral arms of stars and dust clouds. Being able to take a snapshot of that universe is something new under the sun. And it’s great fun too.Shoot for the StarsGo for great images of the night sky. We’re living in a golden age of photographic technology. Ten years ago this simple picture would have been impossible. Five years ago it was cutting-edge. Now it is within the reach of any amateur photographer willing to go after it.But don’t stop at just capturing the moon, a few stars, or the Milky Way. Put our world squarely in the middle of the universe that we can see with our naked eyes (it’s out there every night). Include the landscape—and look for opportunities to capture something unique.For instance, Arizona Sky Village in Portal, Arizona, is a dark-sky housing development. Every house has a telescope built in, and one of the streets really is named Milky Way, which I wanted to show. A little pop of flash did the trick. I don’t know where else in the world you can get this picture. —Jim RichardsonNotes:

Silja Vögele, The Introduction of new surgical techniques for bone fractures and their effect on the development of the Davos Hospital 1970 – 80Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1998 Feb;

History of the AO and its global effect on operative fracture treatment. Matter P1.

Abstract

In 1958 a group of Swiss general and orthopaedic surgeons established the AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen) or the Association of the Study of Internal Fixation (ASIF) to strive to transform the contemporary treatment of fractures in Switzerland. This association was revolutionary in development of instruments and implants for operative fracture treatment. The first instructional course for teaching the use of these instruments and implants occurred in Davos, Switzerland, in the newly founded Laboratory of Experimental Surgery in 1960. Through a process of internal quality control (AO documentation) the clinical success of these new techniques and implants became evident. Operative fracture treatment gained acceptance throughout Europe and finally worldwide. AO/International (AOI) was founded in 1972 to expand education and the teaching programs for surgeons and operating personnel on an international basis. In 1984, the AO/ASIF Foundation was created with an AO Board of Trustees comprising 90 leading trauma surgeons from throughout the world. Continuous research, implant and instrument development, clinical documentation, and multifaceted educational opportunities are coordinated by the AO/ASIF Foundation to maintain its position as the international authority in the treatment of trauma. The medical community recognizes today the enormous positive global effect that this respected and ever changing organization has had by continually improving operative fracture treatment.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9520870

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PRESENTATIONS ‘Extended Essay’NAME + TOPIC:A) CONTENTStructure(see 1)Quality of inforelevant,complete, coherentlevel appropriate for audience

Intro Focus Aims/Challenges Methods

B) PRESENTATION 1) ClarityVocabulary helpUse of visualsSignposting …

2) Presentation techniquesattitude, pace,eye contact …

3) Interaction with audienceInvolving audience (text)

4) Time management accurate timing

LANGUAGE1) Fluency2)Pronunciation

Notes only:

3) Accuracy

4) Range

Mistakes Bad/basic mistakes!

Vocabulary Structures

’PRESENTATION’ ASSESSMENT G5b IGive a mark out of 10 for ’Content’, ’Presentation’ and ’Language’. Note a strong / a weak point of the presentation

Name Content Presentation

Language Strength / Weakness

Anna

Jan

Lotta

Patric

Chi Fong

Alisha

Erena

Ramona

Lena

Silja