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Exploring Self-organized Commercial Streets: Towards a Participatory Design Approach through an Anthropological Study of Shekilango Commercial Street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
No full textIn sub-Saharan Africa, urban studies have primarily focused on planning, engineering, and sanitation. Research has also shown that state-driven interventions in urban environments do not address daily lived realities, thereby missing their aim and affecting the livelihoods of residents on one hand. On the other hand, since residents have the capacity to shape their environment through self-organization by employing tacit knowledge, this knowledge, which can be an inspiration for authorities and professionals, remains largely unanalyzed. This study is an attempt to unveil self-organized processes and resident-created qualities along Shekilango commercial street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. To connect this study with livelihoods, it employs the asset-based approach in which the qualities of the physical asset (the built environment) and the social asset (actors’ interrelations) are analysed and discussed. The study employed a design anthropological approach in which the researcher observed and interviewed respondents through coworking, and shadowing. Complexity theory was employed as the main lens for analyzing informal processes, actors’ interrelations and self-organized practices. Lefebvre’s Social Production of Space theory (1991) was used for analyzing space use and space generation. With the help of the concept of scarcity and literature on attributes of commercial streets in the west, mostly achieved by professionals, the study revealed residents’ contributions in Tanzania with similar qualities, suggesting that non-professionals positively contribute to urban built environments. The combination of design anthropology and complexity theory has revealed strong actors’ interdependencies and codesign processes for overcoming what is scarce in urban built environments. The study proposes timely and more active actor involvements to substitute self-organized participatory design, which is triggered by untimely and top-down spatial development approaches. The study also proposes closer interactions among authorities, professionals, and residents to address residents’ contributions and guide their daily decisions in generating and using space. As much as we would like these spaces and the efforts to be integrated in formal planning, they need to be “understood” rather than to be “solved” since their creation and use are too dynamic to be predicted. They remain to be “negotiated lived spaces” which continually evolve
Targeting visual-sensory and cognitive impairments following lateral ankle sprains: a practical framework for functional assessment across the return-to-sport continuum-Part 1. Sensory reweighting and cognitive impairments: what are we really talking about and why clinicians should consider central alterations in return to sport criteria
No full textLateral ankle sprain (LAS) is the most common traumatic injury, with a high recurrence rate and chronic ankle instability (CAI) developing in similar to 40% of cases. LAS leads to patho-mechanical, sensory-perceptual and motor-behavioral deficits. Poor management of the return-to-sport (RTS) is now considered a major cause of re-injury and development of CAI, particularly due to the lack of validated tests and the failure of existing ones to account for those central deficits. The first part of this topic aimed to clarify concepts of cognitive constructs and sensory reweighting and their association with CAI. We also aimed to identify objective RTS criteria and discuss their limits regarding their ability to encompass central impairments. Motor-cognitive deficits have been identified using computerized cognitive tasks and dual-task paradigms. More specifically, deficits in visual memory, processing speed or inhibitory control and attentional resource allocation have demonstrated reduced performance in CAI populations. In addition, altered sensory reweighting process towards visual input has also been observed. While objective criteria are crucial to prevent re-injury, current evaluations remain largely subjective and central impairments are unaccounted for in conventional RTS testing. The Ankle-GOTM score was recently developed to guide clinicians in decision making process. To date, it is the first validated score that could help to identify patients who will RTS at the same level, those at risk of recurrence and those who are more likely to become copers. Unfortunately, it does not target cognitive or sensory reweighting alterations, that are both relevant in sport to manage gameplay demands.The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article
The Double-Edged Sword of Post-Succession Predecessor Involvement in Family Firms: The Role of Predecessor- Successor Intergenerational Dynamics and Goal Congruence
No full textOm het Spaans benauwd van te krijgen? -De schending van het bestuursverbod vanuit een buitenlandse vennootschap
No full textDevelopment of an Explainable AI Model for Predicting Patient Outcomes in Radiotherapy for Cervical Cancer
No full textLokaal gevorderde baarmoederhalskanker is de vaakst vastgestelde kanker bij vrouwen van 40-50 jaar. In deze studie worden Bayesiaanse netwerken (BN's) geleerd en geëvalueerd als predictieve modellen voor behandelresultaten van deze groep patiënten. De compactheid en intuïtieve weergave van BN's maken ze geschikt voor Explainable AI – een kennisgebied gericht op methoden die AI-beslissingen begrijpelijk en controleerbaar maken – essentieel voor klinische besluitvorming. BN's werden geleerd met DBN-GOMEA, een zelfdiscretiserend BN-leeralgoritme voor discrete en continue data, gedreven door een evolutionair algoritme. Drie uitkomsten werden gemodelleerd: metastase-vrije overlevingstijd, totale overlevingstijd en metastase-vrije overleving na 12 maanden. Modellen werden geëvalueerd en vergeleken met klassieke modellen. Het BN voor metastase-vrije en totale overleving toonden wel enig predictief vermogen, maar presteerden vergelijkbaar met of slechter dan Cox-regressiemodellen. Het BN voor metastase-vrije overleving na 12 maanden toonde betere resultaten, met een geschatte ROC area under curve (AUC) van 0,79 (sd=0,14); hoger dan de Cox-regressie-AUC. Verder werd de relatie tussen dosis-volumehistogram (DVH)-metrieken en toxiciteit exploratief bestudeerd. DVH-metrieken kunnen worden gebruikt om ongewenste stralingsdoses in kritieke organen te kwantificeren. Contra-intuïtief kwam toxiciteit in de loop van de tijd vaker voor, terwijl DVH-metrieken juist beter werden, een trend die nog niet begrepen wordt en nader onderzoek vereist
Establishment of 3D Tooth Organoid Culture from Early-Postnatal Mouse Molar and Incisor
No full textOrganoid models are a powerful 3D stem cell technology to explore tissue (patho-)biology and development. Tissue-derived (i.e., from tissue biopsies) organoids are long-term and stably expandable while more closely recapitulating key phenotypical and functional characteristics of the tissue-of-origin than traditional 2D culture systems. Additionally, organoids can differentiate into tissue-specific cell types, for instance, following exposure to defined differentiation cues. Although prevailing in vitro cell models have deepened our understanding of mouse tooth development and biology, in vitro representations of the dental epithelium lack (the combination of) these benefits of tissue-derived organoids and are at most derived from one tooth type. Here, we describe the protocol to establish, propagate, and differentiate mouse tooth organoids from both early postnatal molar and incisor teeth. The established organoids display a dental epithelial stemness phenotype and acquire a maturation-stage ameloblast-like phenotype following differentiation.This work was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) Flanders (FWO grant G061819FWO to I.L.; FWO postdoctoral fellowship 1226325N to F.H.)
An Anselmian Case Against Libertarian Paternalism
No full textLibertarian paternalism is “the set of interventions aimed at overcoming the unavoidable cognitive biases and decisional inadequacies of an individual by exploiting them in such a way as to influence her decisions (in an easily reversible manner) towards choices that she herself would make if she had at her disposal unlimited time and information and the analytic abilities of a decision-maker.” Hence, the rationale behind libertarian paternalism is pragmatic rather than purely academic. Libertarian paternalism seemingly operates under the banner of freedom. However, it fails to make its (metaphysical) presuppositions explicit, some of which are problematic. Particular attention should be paid to libertarian paternalism’s endorsement of a “two selves” picture of human rationality. This picture is fundamentally mistaken and leads to a misconception of freedom. A non-dualist account of freedom that has been formulated by Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) could offer a way out of this conundrum
A Mathematical Model for Optimizing Construction Logistics in Urban Areas
No full textThis study investigates the integration of a Construction Consolidation Center (CCC) into urban construction logistics to enhance efficiency while reducing costs and social burdens. A CCC serves as a consolidation hub, facilitating material bundling and Just-In-Time (JIT) deliveries. We analyze multiple scenarios to assess its benefits for cities, construction companies, and suppliers.
Our problem considers multiple urban construction sites requiring materials from external suppliers. A CCC provides storage and operates a heterogeneous vehicle fleet. Suppliers can choose to deliver materials directly to construction sites or via the CCC.
We develop a mathematical model to optimize daily delivery plans, including vehicle assignment, scheduling, and routing for two delivery types: (1) supplier-to-site or CCC and (2) CCC-to-site. The objective is to minimize total costs, including transportation, inventory, and loading/unloading costs. A rolling horizon approach is implemented to dynamically adjust plans weekly, addressing uncertainties.
Experiments will evaluate the CCC’s impact under various urban policies, such as vehicle restrictions and delivery time windows. Additionally, key parameters will be analyzed to determine under what conditions a CCC is beneficial for cities and private stakeholders.This work is supported by VLAIO-Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (cSBO project STRAUSS, HBC.2023.0008)
