96 research outputs found
Social Processes: Self-supervised Meta-learning Over Conversational Groups for Forecasting Nonverbal Social Cues
No full textFree-standing social conversations constitute a yet underexplored setting for human behavior forecasting. While the task of predicting pedestrian trajectories has received much recent attention, an intrinsic difference between these settings is how groups form and disband. Evidence from social psychology suggests that group members in a conversation explicitly self-organize to sustain the interaction by adapting to one another’s behaviors. Crucially, the same individual is unlikely to adapt similarly across different groups; contextual factors such as perceived relationships, attraction, rapport, etc., influence the entire spectrum of participants’ behaviors. A question arises: how can we jointly forecast the mutually dependent futures of conversation partners by modeling the dynamics unique to every group? In this paper, we propose the Social Process (SP) models, taking a novel meta-learning and stochastic perspective of group dynamics. Training group-specific forecasting models hinders generalization to unseen groups and is challenging given limited conversation data. In contrast, our SP models treat interaction sequences from a single group as a meta-dataset: we condition forecasts for a sequence from a given group on other observed-future sequence pairs from the same group. In this way, an SP model learns to adapt its forecasts to the unique dynamics of the interacting partners, generalizing to unseen groups in a data-efficient manner. Additionally, we first rethink the task formulation itself, motivating task requirements from social science literature that prior formulations have overlooked. For our formulation of Social Cue Forecasting, we evaluate the empirical performance of our SP models against both non-meta-learning and meta-learning approaches with similar assumptions. The SP models yield improved performance on synthetic and real-world behavior datasets.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatic
Three Harlem Renaissance writers viewed by their black contemporaries-Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Jean Toomer, 1973
No full textThe primary Intent of this thesis is to present an analysis of the critical statements and opinions of the black contemporaries of Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Jean Tomer. These three literary artists of the twenties are referred to as the leading poetic voices of the Harlem Renaissance. The evaluations which have been made of Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Jean Tomer by their black contemporaries add greatly to the understanding of the meaning and importance of the Harlem Renaissance. Furthermore, these evaluations provide an extension of the meaning which readers of today may obtain from Hughes, McKay and Tomer. The major sources used for this paper were the two most important black periodicals published during the twenties, The Crisis, and Opportunity. Consideration was also given to selected books and articles of the period
A New Framework for the Citation Indexing Paradigm
No full textA new citation indexing paradigm is proposed: the cascading citation indexing framework (c2IF, for short). It improves the way research publications are assessed for their impact in promoting science and technology. Given a collection of articles and their citation graph, citations are considered at the (article, author) level. Each one article is uniquely identified by means of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI, http://www.doi.org). To identify each one author uniquely, a Universal Author Identifier (UAI) scheme is established. In addition to the citations directly made to a given (article, author) pair, citation paths that target each one citing article are also considered. The granularity of the paradigm is further increased by introducing the concept of the chord, whereby a citation path of length one co-exists with paths of length two or higher, involving the same source- and target- articles. The c2IF output emerges in the form
of a medal standings table, analogous to the one that ranks teams at athletic events: when two (article, author) pairs receive the same number of (direct) citations, the one that is cited by more popular articles (i.e. articles that comprise targets to a larger number of paths in the citation graph), is assigned a higher rank value
Continuous-discrete choices of control transitions and speed regulations in full-range adaptive cruise control
No full textDriving assistance systems such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and automated vehicles can contribute to mitigate traffic congestion, accidents, and levels of emissions. Automated vehicles may increase roadway capacity, improve traffic flow stability, and speed up the outflow from a queue (1). The functionalities of automated systems have been gradually introduced into the market, such as in the case of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). The ACC assists drivers in maintaining a desired speed and time headway, therefore influencing substantially the performance of the driving task. On-road studies have shown potential safety benefits of ACC systems that are inactive at low speeds when they are activated (2-5). In certain traffic situations, drivers may prefer to disengage ACC and resume manual control (6). These transitions between automation and manual driving are called control transitions (7) and may influence considerably traffic flow efficiency (8) and safety (9). Recently, full-range ACC systems that can operate in dense traffic have been introduced into the market. These ACC systems are more likely to be active in dense traffic conditions and have a positive impact on traffic flow efficiencyGreen Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport and PlanningTransport and Plannin
The healthy home: A pilot study on the effect of biobased insulation materials on human wellbeing
No full textThe Dutch government is aiming to transition towards a fully circular economy by 2050 to mitigate climate change. To comply with these standards, a transition team for the construction sector has identified biobased materials as a cornerstone for the sector to become circular, enabling a crucial shift because of the sector's large contribution to carbon emissions and environmental pollution. Principles on which this shift relies are focused on environmental health while neglecting human wellbeing, especially mental health as one of the building blocks of human wellbeing (the other being physical health), albeit of great importance due to the significant amount of time humans spend indoors. Mental health is defined by life satisfaction and happiness and is measured through perception and experience. A two-way path is identified: from mental and physical health to human wellbeing.This research aims at identifying the effect of biobased insulation materials on the wellbeing of residents through a pilot study in the Netherlands. Individuals' perceptions and experiences of their living environments—specifically, their homes—serve as the basis for measuring wellbeing in this context.A mixed method is used, combining quantitative and qualitative results from a discrete choice experiment in a virtual reality environment. Participants were presented with three sets of two predetermined configurations. For every set, participants were asked to make a discrete choice between the two alternatives.The results were analysed using a Cox proportional hazard model in SPSS. The quantitative and qualitative data showed several discrepancies, but both emphasised the importance of indoor comfort. It is concluded that biobased insulation materials that ensure good indoor comfort are preferred over materials that don’t. Additionally, the importance of low maintenance needs and a small wall diameter is emphasised to lead to a preferred living environment and thus increased wellbeing.Recommendations to move the model beyond a pilot include diversifying the sample population, materials, and attributes that are presented while aligning these with the target audience, including non-expert views throughout the development of the model, and revealing associations with the materials.Industrial Ecolog
Improving the Sustainability Assessment of the Olympic Games through Environmentally-Extended Input-Output Analysis
No full textMega sporting events like the Olympic Games have significant impacts on society, economy and the environment. This thesis aims to enhance the comprehensive sustainability assessment of the Olympic Games. Previous research showed that the sustainability of the Games is declining, which contradicts the International Olympic Committee’s ambitions to steadily improve sustainability, culminating in Paris 2024’s goal to be the first climate-positive Games. Moreover, some of the indicators used in this previous approach have validity deficiencies, leading to uncertainties of the analysis. Therefore, we investigated the development of sustainability of ten Olympic Games between 2000 and 2018 applying an environmentally-extended input-output analysis (EE-IOA). Along the way, we explored the general potential of EE-IOA, as one of the systems analysis approaches of Industrial Ecology. EE-IOA is a logical step, as input-output analysis (IOA) is already a common tool for analyzing the pure economic impact of the Olympic Games. We found stagnating sustainability for the Olympic Summer Games and decreasing sustainability of the Winter Games. We furthermore showed that expenditures in venue constructions are often the main driver of impacts. Moreover, this study revealed that displaced impacts are frequently displaced to developing nations. Overall, we showed that the development of the sustainability of the Olympic Games stands in contrast to the aspired ambitions. For Olympic Organizing Committees this assessment method is a feasible addition to provide valuable insights in order to reduce impacts caused by hosting the Games. The findings imply the necessity of initiating a societal dialogue concerning the trade-off between selecting sustainable countries as hosts for the Olympic Games or considering the inclusion of developing, less sustainable nations in hosting future Olympic Games, which lies within the Olympic motto.Industrial Ecolog
Navigating New Horizons: Mapping the Global Technical Potential and Exploring the Material Demand of Offshore Floating Urban Dwellings: A GIS-based Approach Integrating Technical and Motivational Perspectives to Provide Insights into the Global Technical Potential and Associated Material Demand of Modular Floating Structures and Circular Floating Breakwaters as a Proposed Alternative for Sustainable Coastal Communities
No full textModular Floating Structures (MFS) have emerged as an innovative alternative for sustainable offshore urban development, providing a response to the multifaceted challenges posed by coastal urban expansion: significant urban growth and coastal migration, increasing sea-level rise exposure and land scarcity. This thesis presents a geographically oriented exploration of the global technical and motivation potential of MFS – in maximum achievable suitable area, offshore population and material demand -, integrating technical, environmental, and demographic factors through a comprehensive GIS analysis. The methodology of this analysis involves the following key steps: 1) Establishing the Service Limit State (SLS) technical potential map by considering the natural constraints bathymetry, average wave energy, average wind speed, and hurricane risk; 2) establishing the Ultimate Limit State (ULS) technical potential map based on the SLS map and the extreme value constraints 100-year return significant wave height and 100-year return wind velocity; 3) establishing the ocean planning technical potential based on the ULS map and integrating the ocean planning constraints marine protected areas and shipping routes; 4) establishing the motivation potential maps, which are based on the outcomes of steps 1, 2, and 3 and the proximity to a coastal city as a key motivation factor; 5) evaluating additional motivation layers to reveal where potential driving forces are for floating urban development within local contexts. The maps lead to first estimates of maximum suitable area and offshore population, guiding calculations for required materials in floating breakwaters, proposed as reused end-of-life (EOL) ships, and MFS substructures. This thesis uncovers several insights. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in this field enables the exploration of the technical potential of offshore urban development, offering first estimations for total area, offshore population, and material use (specifically EOL ships and steel). On a global scale, about 84000 km2 are suitable for MFS implementation, potentially accommodating up to 1.6 billion people. These results demonstrate the potential to contribute significantly to climate-adaptive housing capacity. If the entire technical potential were to be realized the global demand for EOL ships would be approximately 261000, a demand significantly exceeding the current in-use global merchant fleet by nearly threefold. The global steel demand for the construction of the MFS substructures would be 26 billion tons, a vast amount that exceeds the annual global steel demand by about 20 times. These vast numbers may significantly impact the ship-breaking industry and global steel flows. These insights provide valuable perspectives on MFS implementation, holding the potential to significantly contribute to climate-adaptive housing capacity, however raising critical questions about sustainable material consumption and production. This research unfolds new possibilities in the field of sustainable offshore urban development and serves as a launchpad for further large scale exploration and analysis in this dynamic area of research. Future research could further assess the sustainability of offshore urban development, building upon the findings of this thesis. Potential areas of investigation include for example comparing material requirements for MFS substructures to those of land-based building substructures or conducting micro, meso or macro-scale scenario-based Material Flow Analysis (MFA) to evaluate the influence on the global steel flow and ship-breaking industry, using the technical potential estimates presented in this thesis on local and global scale as a foundational reference.Industrial Ecolog
Western Washington University’s Strategic Plan: Organizational Ethics and Intentional Ambiguity
No full textThis case study assesses the ethicality of Western Washington University’s 2018-2025 Strategic Plan as well as the ethics of its implementation. Through the theoretical perspectives outlined by Johannesen, Valde, and Whedbee (2008a, 2008b), and Bird (1996), the author employs the ethics of intentional ambiguity and vagueness in written work, and moral deafness, blindness, and silence in response to unethical behavior. Through close reading of the text (Strategic Plan) and its adjacent metatextual data (news articles and emails), the author was able to analyze said data within the scope of the aforementioned theoretical perspectives. Little research has been conducted on the discourse of strategic planning, providing a unique opportunity to the author to discuss potentially corrupt practices within educational policy making. Although the research reasserts previously held beliefs about public policy and strategic planning, it fails to claim any new findings. Rather, this research provides a possible guide to future strategic planning committees at Western Washington University, and at minimum, begs such a committee to further consider its ethical responsibility before creation of such a document
Peak Car and Beyond: The Fourth Era of Travel
No full textThere is emerging evidence that personal daily travel, particularly by car, has ceased to grow in the developed economies. This can be attributed to saturation of demand, given high levels of access and choice now widely available, together with constraints on higher speeds. We are therefore at a time of transition from an era of growth of per capita travel to an era of stability, in which the future factors determining the growth of total travel demand are demographic — population growth, increasing longevity, and urbanisation. The peak car phenomenon, which marks this transition, is seen in successful cities that attract a growing population whose travel needs are increasingly met by investment in rail-based transport, the revival of which is a characteristic of the new era
The Missing Stock: Exploring Concrete Use in Trondheim’s Residential Building Foundations
No full textConcrete is one of the most widely used materials in residential building construction. It contributes about 4% to 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. Thus, better understanding the material stocks and flows of concrete can support efforts to better manage this resource and its use. Concrete is especially popular for the construction of building foundations. Previous research has shown that foundations can account for 25% to 60% of residential housing mass. Despite this, no in-depth analysis of material requirements of foundations has been conducted. Foundation design depends on the housing type and soil type. Considering foundations’ substantial share of building mass, I analyze them in this thesis in the form of a case study of residential housing built in Trondheim between 2010 and 2020. To account for all emissions from cradle-to-construction site I also compare the concrete production emissions to the last-leg transport emissions. The residential building foundations’ material requirements were estimated with a model I specifically developed for this thesis. 507 000 tonnes of concrete were used from 2010 to 2020 to build residential building foundations in Trondheim. The results show that the concrete production emissions represent 99% and the last-leg transport emissions 1% of the total cradle-to-construction site emissions. The average material intensity coefficient across all buildings in Trondheim is 402 kg of concrete in the foundation per one m2 useful floor area. I disaggregated the buildings into five types: single family house, semi-detached house, rowhouse, apartment building, assisted & communal living. When disaggregated, the building types’ material intensities vary, on average, 8% around 402 kg/m2 useful floor area. The largest difference being 20% below the mean. As a result, there are no substantial differences of material requirements per m2 useful floor area between different building types. However, building on peat and bog soils increases the material requirements by 80% compared to all other soil types found in Trondheim. This is due to the low bearing capacity of peat and bog soils. Trondheim currently plans its residential zoning until 2034. 5% of the planned zones are located on peat and bog. A rough estimate suggests that up to 380 000 tonnes of carbon could be stored in the affected peat and bog areas, which could be released as construction on this land begins. Together with the 80% increased material requirements of foundations on peat and bog, this can cause a lot of emissions. As a result, my short-term recommendation is that these areas are either preserved as nature reserves or only light structures that do not need a foundation are constructed. In the long-term I recommend that new zoning types for city planning are developed that take soil types into account. Lastly, the effects of soil types should be taken into account in future studies of the material stock in residential housing. Feel free to contact the author for more information and the supporting information.Industrial Ecolog
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