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Sources and methods for detecting language change from above and below in Post-Classical Greek and Latin
No full textA
The power of peers : a spatial analysis of nationally determined contributions
No full textThe Paris Agreement's pledge and review process was designed to ramp up climate ambition through norm-setting and repeated interactions. Yet this peer influence dynamic remains underexplored in analyses of the determinants of climate ambition. To address this gap, this paper examines whether the climate ambition of peer countries can explain climate ambition in subsequent rounds of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This paper builds on and contributes to research on the Paris Agreement, the drivers of climate ambition, and the broader literature on soft governance. Using spatial regression models, the analysis incorporates peer pressure into spatial lags of first-round NDC ambition to assess patterns of convergence and divergence in the second round of NDCs. The results show that climate ambition for peer groups with high geopolitical affinity, similar levels of democracy, and regional similarity converges, while countries with similar income levels exhibit diverging ambition trends. These results underscore the interdependent nature of climate ambition and suggest that leveraging peer networks could enhance global climate cooperation under the Paris Agreement.The Paris Agreement's pledge and review process was designed to ramp up climate ambition through norm-setting and repeated interactions. Yet this peer influence dynamic remains underexplored in analyses of the determinants of climate ambition. To address this gap, this paper examines whether the climate ambition of peer countries can explain climate ambition in subsequent rounds of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This paper builds on and contributes to research on the Paris Agreement, the drivers of climate ambition, and the broader literature on soft governance. Using spatial regression models, the analysis incorporates peer pressure into spatial lags of first-round NDC ambition to assess patterns of convergence and divergence in the second round of NDCs. The results show that climate ambition for peer groups with high geopolitical affinity, similar levels of democracy, and regional similarity converges, while countries with similar income levels exhibit diverging ambition trends. These results underscore the interdependent nature of climate ambition and suggest that leveraging peer networks could enhance global climate cooperation under the Paris Agreement.A
The dynamic and diverse nature of parenchyma cells in the Arabidopsis root during secondary growth
No full textDuring secondary growth, the vascular cambium produces conductive xylem and phloem cells, while the phellogen (cork cambium) deposits phellem (cork) as the outermost protective barrier. Although most of the secondary tissues are made up of parenchyma cells, which are also produced by both cambia, their diversity and function are poorly understood. Here we combined single-cell RNA sequencing analysis with lineage tracing to recreate developmental trajectories of the cell types in the Arabidopsis root undergoing secondary growth. By analysing 93 reporter lines, we were able to identify 20 different cell types or cell states, many of which have not been described before. We additionally observed distinct transcriptome signatures of parenchyma cells depending on their maturation state and proximity to the conductive cell types. Our data show that both xylem and phloem parenchyma tissues are required for normal formation of conductive tissue cell types. Furthermore, we show that mature phloem parenchyma gradually obtains periderm identity, and this transformation can be accelerated by jasmonate treatment or wounding. Our study thus reveals the diversity of parenchyma cells and their capacity to undergo considerable identity changes during secondary growth.During secondary growth, the vascular cambium produces conductive xylem and phloem cells, while the phellogen (cork cambium) deposits phellem (cork) as the outermost protective barrier. Although most of the secondary tissues are made up of parenchyma cells, which are also produced by both cambia, their diversity and function are poorly understood. Here we combined single-cell RNA sequencing analysis with lineage tracing to recreate developmental trajectories of the cell types in the Arabidopsis root undergoing secondary growth. By analysing 93 reporter lines, we were able to identify 20 different cell types or cell states, many of which have not been described before. We additionally observed distinct transcriptome signatures of parenchyma cells depending on their maturation state and proximity to the conductive cell types. Our data show that both xylem and phloem parenchyma tissues are required for normal formation of conductive tissue cell types. Furthermore, we show that mature phloem parenchyma gradually obtains periderm identity, and this transformation can be accelerated by jasmonate treatment or wounding. Our study thus reveals the diversity of parenchyma cells and their capacity to undergo considerable identity changes during secondary growth.A
One Black Anthropocene: Nakuru’s Dumpsite as a Counter-Archive of Anthropocenic Memory
No full textThe dumpsite in Nakuru, Kenya functions as a subaltern Anthropocene archive, where waste layers act as alternative stratigraphic markers to document histories of industrial expansion, economic collapse, and environmental transformation. Unlike formal geological strata, the dump is an active site of Anthropocenic memory-making where waste pickers excavate and interpret the afterlives of Nakuru’s industrial boom in deeply embodied ways. This paper introduces the concept of an embodied stratigraphy to describe how waste pickers engage with the dump’s strata as lived, material histories, navigated through touch, labor, and memory. In doing so, they become insurgent geologists, reading discarded materials as historical texts that reveal the shifting materiality of Nakuru’s Anthropocene and its cycles of accumulation and abandonment. Their labor challenges dominant geological frameworks undergirding the Anthropocene debate by asserting that the true markers of this proposed geological era are not found in objectively designated scientific sites but in the toxic, localized and subjective ruins of racialized labor and urban discard, where environmental crisis is lived and endured on a daily basis. Excavation and stratigraphy serves here as both a practice of survival and an act of resistance, whereby waste pickers refuse exclusion from formal economies and assert value over the city’s waste. This stratigraphy is also fundamentally necropolitical; a ruined landscape of human disposability where waste pickers are exposed to toxins, structural abandonment, and environmental precarity and become as much a part of the landfill’s (social) strata as the objects they unearth. This paper argues that by thinking through an embodied stratigraphy, we can reframe the landfill as a counter-archive of planetary crisis, where capitalism’s wreckage is unearthed, actively reinterpreted, revalued, and reclaimed as a history that refuses erasure and objectification.The dumpsite in Nakuru, Kenya functions as a subaltern Anthropocene archive, where waste layers act as alternative stratigraphic markers to document histories of industrial expansion, economic collapse, and environmental transformation. Unlike formal geological strata, the dump is an active site of Anthropocenic memory-making where waste pickers excavate and interpret the afterlives of Nakuru’s industrial boom in deeply embodied ways. This paper introduces the concept of an embodied stratigraphy to describe how waste pickers engage with the dump’s strata as lived, material histories, navigated through touch, labor, and memory. In doing so, they become insurgent geologists, reading discarded materials as historical texts that reveal the shifting materiality of Nakuru’s Anthropocene and its cycles of accumulation and abandonment. Their labor challenges dominant geological frameworks undergirding the Anthropocene debate by asserting that the true markers of this proposed geological era are not found in objectively designated scientific sites but in the toxic, localized and subjective ruins of racialized labor and urban discard, where environmental crisis is lived and endured on a daily basis. Excavation and stratigraphy serves here as both a practice of survival and an act of resistance, whereby waste pickers refuse exclusion from formal economies and assert value over the city’s waste. This stratigraphy is also fundamentally necropolitical; a ruined landscape of human disposability where waste pickers are exposed to toxins, structural abandonment, and environmental precarity and become as much a part of the landfill’s (social) strata as the objects they unearth. This paper argues that by thinking through an embodied stratigraphy, we can reframe the landfill as a counter-archive of planetary crisis, where capitalism’s wreckage is unearthed, actively reinterpreted, revalued, and reclaimed as a history that refuses erasure and objectification.
Good modeling practice for calibration applied to ion exchange breakthrough prediction
No full textIon exchange (IX) is a key technology in resource recovery processes for demineralization and fit-for-purpose water production due to its inherent ion-selective recovery properties. A major bottleneck in the optimization of the IX process is the accurate prediction of ion breakthrough times, which has the potential to save on regeneration chemicals by maximizing resin utilization. However, the models used to predict ion breakthrough times are often unreliable due to poor calibration methods and significant uncertainty in parameter estimates. Consequently, we conducted local and global sensitivity analyses to identify the design and operational parameters that contribute most to the prediction of breakthrough curves. The global sensitivity analysis enabled the selection of a limited subset of parameters for calibration, demonstrating that only two parameters, namely the maximum adsorption capacity isotherm parameter and the resin bead particle size, require thorough calibration, resulting in a 76% improvement in the breakthrough prediction. We also showed that the calibration of additional, less sensitive or correlated parameters results in an insignificant improvement of the predictive power, with a 16% to 60% increased uncertainty in the breakthrough time prediction. The model was validated using three independent data sets, which showed a fairly accurate breakthrough time prediction, with a relative error ranging from 1% to 11%. Herein, we propose a robust calibration procedure, based on good modeling practice, that encompasses both sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and therefore provides a basis for process optimization. The framework is presented in a manner that allows for its application to analogous process settings.Ion exchange (IX) is a key technology in resource recovery processes for demineralization and fit-for-purpose water production due to its inherent ion-selective recovery properties. A major bottleneck in the optimization of the IX process is the accurate prediction of ion breakthrough times, which has the potential to save on regeneration chemicals by maximizing resin utilization. However, the models used to predict ion breakthrough times are often unreliable due to poor calibration methods and significant uncertainty in parameter estimates. Consequently, we conducted local and global sensitivity analyses to identify the design and operational parameters that contribute most to the prediction of breakthrough curves. The global sensitivity analysis enabled the selection of a limited subset of parameters for calibration, demonstrating that only two parameters, namely the maximum adsorption capacity isotherm parameter and the resin bead particle size, require thorough calibration, resulting in a 76% improvement in the breakthrough prediction. We also showed that the calibration of additional, less sensitive or correlated parameters results in an insignificant improvement of the predictive power, with a 16% to 60% increased uncertainty in the breakthrough time prediction. The model was validated using three independent data sets, which showed a fairly accurate breakthrough time prediction, with a relative error ranging from 1% to 11%. Herein, we propose a robust calibration procedure, based on good modeling practice, that encompasses both sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and therefore provides a basis for process optimization. The framework is presented in a manner that allows for its application to analogous process settings.A
Flexible methods for uncertainty estimation of digital PCR data
No full textDigital PCR (dPCR) is an accurate technique for quantifying nucleic acids, but variance estimation remains a challenge due to violations of the assumptions underlying many existing methods. To address this, we propose two generic approaches, NonPVar and BinomVar, for calculating variance in dPCR data. These methods are evaluated using simulated and empirical data, incorporating common sources of variability. Unlike classical methods, our approaches are flexible and applicable to complex functions of partition counts like copy number variation (CNV), fractional abundance, and DNA integrity. An R Shiny app is provided to facilitate method selection and implementation. Our findings demonstrate that these methods improve accuracy and adaptability, offering robust tools for uncertainty estimation in dPCR experiments.Digital PCR (dPCR) is an accurate technique for quantifying nucleic acids, but variance estimation remains a challenge due to violations of the assumptions underlying many existing methods. To address this, we propose two generic approaches, NonPVar and BinomVar, for calculating variance in dPCR data. These methods are evaluated using simulated and empirical data, incorporating common sources of variability. Unlike classical methods, our approaches are flexible and applicable to complex functions of partition counts like copy number variation (CNV), fractional abundance, and DNA integrity. An R Shiny app is provided to facilitate method selection and implementation. Our findings demonstrate that these methods improve accuracy and adaptability, offering robust tools for uncertainty estimation in dPCR experiments.A
The end or the revival of love? Ethnographic accounts of consensual non- monogamy in Belgium and the Netherlands
No full textDrawing on ethnographic methods, this paper investigates the cultural and emotional dynamics of contemporary Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) in relation to late-modern conditions of “the end of love”. It establishes a dialogue between the two fields of sociology of love and non-monogamies studies by asking whether emerging CNM represents the dissolution of romantic commitment in late modernity or an attempt to revive or reanimate love by seeking more of it. Based on multimethod ethnographic research, including interviews, participant observations, focus group discussions and on-line data analysis conducted in Belgium and the Netherlands, it argues that CNM narratives of freedom, sexual desire, consent, care and love simultaneously reflect, facilitate and remedy late-modern precarity and break down of social bonds.Drawing on ethnographic methods, this paper investigates the cultural and emotional dynamics of contemporary Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) in relation to late-modern conditions of “the end of love”. It establishes a dialogue between the two fields of sociology of love and non-monogamies studies by asking whether emerging CNM represents the dissolution of romantic commitment in late modernity or an attempt to revive or reanimate love by seeking more of it. Based on multimethod ethnographic research, including interviews, participant observations, focus group discussions and on-line data analysis conducted in Belgium and the Netherlands, it argues that CNM narratives of freedom, sexual desire, consent, care and love simultaneously reflect, facilitate and remedy late-modern precarity and break down of social bonds.A
CriticS : a resource criticality characterization method for life cycle assessment considering stakeholders’ perspectives
No full textPurpose: Assessing the supply risk of critical raw materials (CRMs) is crucial for supporting green transition strategies. Combining criticality assessment with life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) helps to link business actions to supply risks. However, these assessments are characterized by a variety in context, scope, and stakeholder influence, as well as a lack of method standardization. Currently, no operational quantitative method applied to LCSA includes diverse stakeholder perspectives.Methods: This study proposes a novel fit-for-purpose criticality assessment methodology leveraging existing criticality values from the study on CRMs from the European Commission (EC) while considering different stakeholder perspectives. In this research, several sets of characterization factors (CFs) are proposed, in which the values for supply risk and economic importance from the EC study on CRMs are combined in different ways, in some cases also with further parameters such as material prices. The methodology, called CriticS, guides stakeholders in defining the goal and scope, choosing sets of CFs, and operationalizing the assessment using a product’s bill of materials (BoM) or its life cycle inventory (LCI). Specific sets of CFs are tested in a proof-of-concept case study of a laptop by using its BoM and LCI.Results and discussion: Supply risk and economic importance values were used to create 19 different sets of CFs. All sets of CFs of the CriticS are organized in a decision tree framework, helping stakeholders to select the most appropriate set of CFs that meets their needs. The CFs are linked to elementary flows in the ecoinvent® database, creating an operationalized model. The results of the proof-of-concept study highlight the benefits and the challenges in applying the CriticS methodology. These challenges are discussed, and potential solutions are identified.Conclusions: The results demonstrated the usefulness of the CriticS method with regard to the selection of the set of CFs using the decision tree, taking into account a given stakeholder’s perspective. Future research should focus on refining the CF-elementary flow links, integrating CriticS into LCA software, and interpreting the results of the CriticS method together with those of life cycle sustainability assessment.Purpose: Assessing the supply risk of critical raw materials (CRMs) is crucial for supporting green transition strategies. Combining criticality assessment with life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) helps to link business actions to supply risks. However, these assessments are characterized by a variety in context, scope, and stakeholder influence, as well as a lack of method standardization. Currently, no operational quantitative method applied to LCSA includes diverse stakeholder perspectives.Methods: This study proposes a novel fit-for-purpose criticality assessment methodology leveraging existing criticality values from the study on CRMs from the European Commission (EC) while considering different stakeholder perspectives. In this research, several sets of characterization factors (CFs) are proposed, in which the values for supply risk and economic importance from the EC study on CRMs are combined in different ways, in some cases also with further parameters such as material prices. The methodology, called CriticS, guides stakeholders in defining the goal and scope, choosing sets of CFs, and operationalizing the assessment using a product’s bill of materials (BoM) or its life cycle inventory (LCI). Specific sets of CFs are tested in a proof-of-concept case study of a laptop by using its BoM and LCI.Results and discussion: Supply risk and economic importance values were used to create 19 different sets of CFs. All sets of CFs of the CriticS are organized in a decision tree framework, helping stakeholders to select the most appropriate set of CFs that meets their needs. The CFs are linked to elementary flows in the ecoinvent® database, creating an operationalized model. The results of the proof-of-concept study highlight the benefits and the challenges in applying the CriticS methodology. These challenges are discussed, and potential solutions are identified.Conclusions: The results demonstrated the usefulness of the CriticS method with regard to the selection of the set of CFs using the decision tree, taking into account a given stakeholder’s perspective. Future research should focus on refining the CF-elementary flow links, integrating CriticS into LCA software, and interpreting the results of the CriticS method together with those of life cycle sustainability assessment.A
Single and Multiple Experience with places: patterns of attachment and identity with their place
No full textElectromagnetic modeling for minimally invasive medical devices : in-body sensors and auricular vagus nerve stimulation
No full textDit onderzoek richt zich op de verbetering van minimaal invasieve medische technologieën die zorg comfortabeler, veiliger en effectiever maken. Traditionele medische apparaten kunnen vaak ongemakkelijk of ingrijpend zijn. Minimaal invasieve oplossingen, zoals kleine interne sensoren en externe stimulatieapparaten, bieden een toegankelijker alternatief.Drie belangrijke uitdagingen worden onderzocht. Het eerste deel richt zich op hoe interne sensoren aan de hand van magnetische inductie draadloos kunnen worden voorzien van energie. Dit maakt continue monitoring van bijvoorbeeld maag- en darmgezondheid mogelijk. Het tweede deel behandelt de lokalisatie van camera-capsules die het maagdarmkanaal onderzoeken. De ontvangen signaalsterkte van het communicatiesignaal wordt gebruikt om een nauwkeurigere lokalisatie te bekomen, wat artsen helpt bij een betere diagnose. Het derde deel bekijkt hoe externe stimulatie van de nervus vagus in de oorschelp kan worden verbeterd. Deze techniek wordt gebruikt voor pijnbestrijding en andere behandelingen, en de studie optimaliseert de effectiviteit van de techniek.De innovaties in dit proefschrift hebben als doel diagnostiek en therapie te verbeteren, met oog voor het comfort en de veiligheid van patiënten.The doctoral dissertation focuses on improving minimally invasive medical technologies that make healthcare more comfortable, safer, and more effective. Three key challenges are being investigated. The first part focuses on how internal sensors can be wirelessly powered using magnetic induction. This enables continuous monitoring of, for example, stomach and intestinal health. The second part addresses the localization of camera capsules that examine the gastrointestinal tract. The signal strength of the communication signal is used to achieve more accurate localization, assisting doctors in making better diagnoses. The third part explores how external stimulation of the vagus nerve in the auricle can be improved. This technique is used for pain relief and other treatments, and the study aims to optimize its effectiveness. The innovations in this dissertation aim to enhance diagnostics and therapy, with a focus on patient comfort and safety.Public defense: 2025-01-22Dit onderzoek richt zich op de verbetering van minimaal invasieve medische technologieën die zorg comfortabeler, veiliger en effectiever maken. Traditionele medische apparaten kunnen vaak ongemakkelijk of ingrijpend zijn. Minimaal invasieve oplossingen, zoals kleine interne sensoren en externe stimulatieapparaten, bieden een toegankelijker alternatief.Drie belangrijke uitdagingen worden onderzocht. Het eerste deel richt zich op hoe interne sensoren aan de hand van magnetische inductie draadloos kunnen worden voorzien van energie. Dit maakt continue monitoring van bijvoorbeeld maag- en darmgezondheid mogelijk. Het tweede deel behandelt de lokalisatie van camera-capsules die het maagdarmkanaal onderzoeken. De ontvangen signaalsterkte van het communicatiesignaal wordt gebruikt om een nauwkeurigere lokalisatie te bekomen, wat artsen helpt bij een betere diagnose. Het derde deel bekijkt hoe externe stimulatie van de nervus vagus in de oorschelp kan worden verbeterd. Deze techniek wordt gebruikt voor pijnbestrijding en andere behandelingen, en de studie optimaliseert de effectiviteit van de techniek.De innovaties in dit proefschrift hebben als doel diagnostiek en therapie te verbeteren, met oog voor het comfort en de veiligheid van patiënten.The doctoral dissertation focuses on improving minimally invasive medical technologies that make healthcare more comfortable, safer, and more effective. Three key challenges are being investigated. The first part focuses on how internal sensors can be wirelessly powered using magnetic induction. This enables continuous monitoring of, for example, stomach and intestinal health. The second part addresses the localization of camera capsules that examine the gastrointestinal tract. The signal strength of the communication signal is used to achieve more accurate localization, assisting doctors in making better diagnoses. The third part explores how external stimulation of the vagus nerve in the auricle can be improved. This technique is used for pain relief and other treatments, and the study aims to optimize its effectiveness. The innovations in this dissertation aim to enhance diagnostics and therapy, with a focus on patient comfort and safety.D