263134 research outputs found
Sort by
Decoupling Geometry from Optimization in 2D Irregular Cutting and Packing Problems: an Open-Source Collision Detection Engine
No full textAddressing irregular cutting and packing (C&P) optimization problems poses two distinct challenges: the geometric challenge of determining whether or not an item can be placed feasibly at a certain position, and the optimization challenge of finding a good solution according to some objective function. Until now, those tackling such problems have had to address both challenges simultaneously, requiring two distinct sets of expertise and a lot of research & development effort. One way to lower this barrier is to decouple the two challenges. In this paper we introduce a powerful collision detection engine (CDE) for 2D irregular C&P problems which assumes full responsibility for the geometric challenge. The CDE (i) allows users to focus with full confidence on their optimization challenge by abstracting geometry away and (ii) enables independent advances to propagate to all optimization algorithms built atop it. We present a set of core principles and design philosophies to model a general and adaptable CDE focused on maximizing performance, accuracy and robustness. These principles are accompanied by a concrete open-source implementation called -. This paper together with its implementation serves as a catalyst for future advances in irregular C&P problems by providing a solid foundation which can either be used as it currently exists or be further improved upon.sponsorship: Funding: This work was supported by Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) [Grants 1S71222N and K804824N] . (Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO)|1S71222N, Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO)|K804824N)status: Accepte
Provisional permanence: The architecture of NATO’s successive seats
No full textOver the course of the twentieth century, national regimes have increasingly become subordinate to international or intergovernmental organizations. The seats of such bodies have always given rise to high architectural expectations for they play an important role in their self-legitimation; indeed, they visually associate the organization with legitimate and noble pursuits and values such as peace, cooperation and solidarity. More often than not, however, this longing for solemnity and splendour is tempered by the need to house a gigantic bureaucratic machinery or the imperative to proceed quickly. Hence, there is an often ill-resolved tension between representation and efficiency; aspirational statements and political reality; and between intended meaning and public or professional reception. This chapter examines how such oppositions manifested themselves in the successive headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), one of the most prominent international bodies to date. As NATO historian Ian Q.R. Thomas has observed, in the context of the Cold War, words and metaphors were crucial weapons and rhetoric always formed a substantial factor in NATO’s internal cohesion, as a mechanism or instrument of unity. Indeed, throughout its history, a bewildering array of divergent and often conflicting ‘conceptions’ of the Alliance has co-existed:
a vehicle for Atlantic Partnership, a linchpin of containment, an agent of U.S. leadership (or hegemony) in Europe, a force for human rights, etc.
In this chapter, we examine if, at all, architecture – in its capacity of materializing concepts, communicating ideas and fostering identities through built form – has had a role to play in this permanent re-conceptualization of NATO. To this effect, we examine the successive seats the alliance occupied in London, Paris and Brussels respectively, and look at them from a triple viewpoint: (1) Temporal: how do the various seats speak to the future the organization held for itself at that moment? Did the construction of a new seat mark or engender a ‘new beginning’ or a change of course and, if so, how was this expressed in architectural terms – both in the literal and metaphorical sense of the word, i.e., through a new building or an alternative structure of the organization? (2) Geographical and cultural: given its almost nomadic character during the first 20 years of its existence, we ask how the move from country to country symbolized or affected the reimagining of the organization and the architectural expression of its seat; (3) Finally, we also address the recurrent tension between intended and received meaning in built form: how were the intended symbolism or architectural metaphors (if any) in the various NATO seats interpreted in the professional and popular press? By doing so, we intend to show how the buildings used and produced by international organizations not only reflect their evolution but may also contribute to shaping their (visual) identities and culture of consultation.status: Accepte
Geïntegreerde evaluatie van de ecologische en economische duurzaamheid van staalslakmineralen voor gebruik in de landbouw als carbonatatie-technologie, binnen het kader van opkomende methoden voor koolstofafvang, -gebruik en -opslag
No full textThe growing demand for raw materials, driven by industrial and population growth, has significantly increased steel production, making it a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and steel slag waste. While some slags are used in construction, concerns over environmental contamination limit their widespread reuse. This highlights the need for sustainable methods to valorize both CO₂ emissions and steel slags. Mineral carbonation offers a solution by converting steel slags and captured CO₂ into stable carbonates, enabling long-term CO₂ sequestration while repurposing waste slags, particularly when applied in sectors such as construction or agriculture. Mineral carbonation functions as a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) process. This process is enhanced by its ability to use low-purity CO₂ streams like industrial flue gases. However, due to the energy and resource requirements of CCUS technologies, they must demonstrate net-negative GHG emissions to be considered viable. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) are useful tools for quantifying environmental and economic performance, respectively. Evaluating CCUS technologies requires balancing environmental and economic trade-offs, which often conflict. In addition to this, because many CCUS technologies are still in early development stages, industrial-scale data is limited which can hamper early stage LCA and scenario formulations. Moreover, temporal modeling is also a critical requirement for the evaluation of long-term carbon performance.
The dissertation proposes, modifies and applies an integrated methodological assessment combining LCA, LCC, D-LCA, pLCA, and MCDA to assess the viability of steel slag mineral carbonation as a CCUS technology for agriculture. The integrated approach addresses the research question of whether the process is environmentally and economically viable, while offering a flexible decision-support tool for optimizing trade-offs. The findings indicate that mineral carbonation of steel slags has the potential to be both environmentally and economically viable, with net-negative global warming potential (GWP) demonstrated under specific conditions. However, this potential is dependent on multiple variables such as slag composition, carbonation duration, energy sources, and geographical agricultural conditions. Economically, the feasibility is influenced by factors including capital and operational expenditures, project type, and location. Through the use of MCDA/MCOA, optimal trade-off scenarios were identified, providing insights for stakeholders based on their environmental and economic priorities. The pLCA analysis highlighted future development pathways to improve environmental outcomes. This proactive approach to technology evaluation is crucial for guiding early-stage CCUS innovations, especially when empirical data are scarce. D-LCA also helped confirmed the necessity to perform active carbonation prior to the agricultural application in order to enhance passive carbonation in the agricultural fields.
The methodological approach introduced in this study serves as a valuable decision-support tool for technology developers, offering a structured method to assess and optimize emerging CCUS technologies without prescribing fixed value judgments. Although limitations exist—such as reliance on AgriCarb-specific data and model uncertainties—the dissertation outlines future improvements including expanded indicators, scenario generation, and automation using AI. Moreover, the study emphasizes the critical role of industrial symbiosis and supportive policy in scaling mineral carbonation. Industrial clusters can facilitate shared infrastructure for CO₂ capture and slag processing, enhancing cost efficiency and promoting circularity by distributing carbonated slags across sectors such as agriculture, construction, and chemicals. Policy instruments like carbon pricing and subsidies under schemes like the EU-ETS can further incentivize adoption. Ultimately, while mineral carbonation presents significant technical promise, its success relies on coordinated advancements across technological, economic, and policy domains.status: Publishe
Vaticanum II en de Afrikaanse strijd voor gerechtigheid (GS 63-72): Een historische studie van de bijdrage van de Afrikaanse bisschoppen aan Gaudium et Spes en de receptie ervan in Afrika (Bisdommen Awka en Yaounde)
No full textThe early 1960s saw a heightened attention to world poverty, perceived as a problem militating against socioeconomic development, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The United Nations' First Development Decade (1960-1970) was one such attempt at combatting the poverty problem. Announced, prepared, and held during this era, the Second Vatican Council addressed this problem, notably proffering international solidarity as a key solution to help tackle it. This project set out with the goal of tracing the historical account of the Council's response to the poverty question, with particular attention to African agency and the contributions of the poverty groups at the Council in shaping that response. Through the study of the antepreparatory (1959-1960), preparatory (1960-1962), conciliar (1962-1965), and immediate postconciliar (1965-1967) phases of the Council, the dissertation presents a chronological and narrative account of how poverty was problematised and treated, as well the postconciliar reception that resulted in the creation of a poverty secretariat under the name Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace in 1967.
Data for this dissertation were primarily drawn from archival resources and the three series of the conciliar acts. Structurally, the dissertation comprises a general introduction, five chapters, a general conclusion, and an epilogue. The general introduction inter alia outlines the reality of poverty as a pressing world problem in the period in question, establishing the broader historical and social context for the research. The first chapter focuses on the antepreparatory and preparatory phases. Its main conclusion is that, although some antepreparatory vota and preparatory schemata proposed the poverty problem for inclusion in the Council's agenda, the topic remained largely peripheral during these two preliminary phases. However, shortly before and during the Council, the issue gradually gained prominence, thanks to the speeches and gestures of John XXIII and Paul VI, those of certain concerned Council Fathers, and the pressure mounted by the Church of the Poor group and the conspirators, the two main poverty groups at Vatican II. The Council eventually regarded and dealt with this poverty problem as though it were integral to its aggiornamento project. Chapters two through five respectively trace the evolution of the poverty discourse across each of the Council's four sessions, while the epilogue discusses the follow-up efforts that birthed the aforementioned poverty secretariat.status: Publishe
Within 'Our European Family'? The Role of the Local EU Delegation as an Intermediary in EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Relations
No full textsponsorship: This work was supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology [CA17119]; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [11H3120N]. (European Cooperation in Science and Technology|CA17119, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|11H3120N)status: Published onlin
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and the Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Childhood
No full textOBJECTIVE: To explore the association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in children. METHOD: We conducted a comprehensive search of major bibliographic databases and gray literature to identify human studies evaluating the association between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and the risk of NDDs in offspring. Pooled odds ratios (ORpooled) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated in random-effects meta-analysis by type of NDD. We performed sensitivity analysis including a bounding method (E-value) and probabilistic bias analysis. RESULTS: Of 2,002 studies retrieved, 16 studies met eligibility criteria, and were included in the meta-analysis. The majority of studies assessing the risk of NDDs associated with gestational exposure to acetaminophen were on attention-deficit disorders with or without hyperactivity (ADHD, 6 studies, N = 2,668,689), followed by language disorders (5 studies, N = 31,104) and psychomotor developmental disorders/delay (3 studies, N = 30,824). Acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of ADHD, when ADHD was assessed with a physician-based diagnosis or psychometric tests (ORpooled = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.08-1.27). The estimated E-value of 1.61 suggests that the observed association may be partly due to unmeasured confounders. Non-differential exposure misclassification biased results toward the null and differential misclassification potentially biased them away from the null. Similar results were observed when assessing outcome misclassification. Acetaminophen use during pregnancy was not associated with the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when considering physician-based diagnoses (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.98, 1.24; 2 studies; ASD 69,611, n exposed 222,096, E-value = 1.43). No significant increase in the risk of other NDDs was observed. CONCLUSION: Gestational exposure to acetaminophen was associated with a small increased risk of ADHD, which was attenuated in sensitivity analyses. Further studies are needed to examine this association more robustly. STUDY REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Acetaminophen use during pregnancy and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in childhood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024566964; https://osf.io/7rcqe DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT: One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. We actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our author group. We actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our author group. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our reference list. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our reference list.sponsorship: Center for Truth in Sciencestatus: Published onlin
Comparing beyond (just) the state? Examining patterns of policy advice externalization across policy domains
No full textsponsorship: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|11J4121Nstatus: Published onlin
Geavanceerde Cryptografie voor Moderne Gegevensbeveiliging: Bewijsbaar Veilige en Efficiënte Symmetrische-Sleutel Modi van Uitbreidende Primitieven
No full textThis thesis explores and advances symmetric-key cryptography for modern data security by systematically investigating the design and application of expanding primitives -- cryptographic functions such as forkciphers, multi-forkciphers, and expanding pseudorandom functions that map fixed-length inputs to larger, structured outputs. We demonstrate that these primitives, when integrated into tailored modes of operation, enable enhanced security guarantees, including beyond-birthday-bound (BBB) security and improved robustness against nonce misuse and the release of unverified plaintexts (RUP), coupled with significant performance benefits.
The core contributions include: 1. The formalization of the multiforkcipher and its use in the BBB-secure GCTR encryption family; 2. the introduction of the xor-related-tweakey security model and the Sonikku family of fast, BBB-secure message authentication codes; 3. the definition of the strong OAE-RUP security notion for online authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) schemes and the validation of SAEF mode under this notion; 4. the conceptualization of a secure IoT-to-Cloud computation framework (where IoT stands for Internet-of-Things) and the design of the Eevee AEAD family optimized for this transciphering scenario; and 5. the development of the DExt_f extended randomness extractor and the high-performance Skye key derivation function for source-aware key derivation in protocols such as end-to-end encrypted Signal messaging service.
Through rigorous provable security analyses, often in the standard model, and concrete performance evaluations, this work provides a suite of novel, efficient, and provably secure cryptographic tools. These contributions deliver significant improvements for a wide range of applications, from secure messaging and IoT security to high-volume data encryption and secure multi-party computation, highlighting the transformative potential of expanding primitives in addressing contemporary cryptographic challenges.status: Publishe