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The design of a footbridge is typically controlled by serviceability criteria. The dynamic forces induced by pedestrians may result in high-amplitude vibrations that the users may feel as uncomfortable, or unsafe. As a consequence of the several cases of footbridge vibration problems that occurred over the last two decades, research has been conducted to improve design criteria that account for pedestrian loading, traffic density, and comfort levels. To date, there are no accepted design guidelines in the United States to assess vibration levels in footbridges. This paper offers a general overview of the current practice for the vibration analysis of footbridges.

Starting from phenomenological psychopathology, in particular from studies on the "delusional atmosphere" (Wahnstimmung) by K. Schneider and B. Callieri, and from Husserl's phenomenology, the author discusses the difficulty of change in psychotherapy due to the need of patient to find himself again in his own world. This condition can hinder a change in the world view, while a particular experience intervenes, comparable with "the end of the world experience" (Weltuntergangserlebins) and comparable to that of psychotic onset, however reversing the terms. The psychotherapeutic change for phenomenological studies occurs when the type of meeting (Begegnung) is realized, which, taking into account the experience and the vision of the other's world, manages to stem the experience of anxiety for the change that one intends to start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author focuses on the difficulties that exist in order to understand the experience (Erlebnis) when moving from psychopathology to psychotherapy. The relationship between the patient and the psychotherapist, the consideration of the patient's subjective experience and the relationship between the clinic, the epistemology and the ethics are fundamental in psychotherapy. For the understanding of the experience, the therapist's involvement is necessary, through the use of empathy, in the meaning of Edmund Husserl and Edith Stein. A clinical case is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author claims the hypothesis that, before an overt psychopathological event arises in the life of a subject, it may be a violent suffering condition such as to imprison a person and to suspend him/her in a situation where he/she cannot get out. The comparison with the Passion of Christ helps us to understand better the structure and the dynamics of this hard suffering and its possible overcoming. A clinical case, that highlights these processes, is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]