562 research outputs found

    Independent Developers: The invisible urban regenerators

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    Most of today’s urban development and regeneration is being provided by the private sector. Cities are being regenerated and redeveloped by institutional developers with projects that can change entire neighbourhoods and city centres. The majority of these developers are interested primarily in institutional properties and other buildings that are large enough to generate the required returns and revenues without bearing too much risks. There are also areas and neighbourhoods that do not experience institutional development and investment because their developmental values and sites are not encouraging to them. Nevertheless, some of these areas gained economic growth and were regenerated without any institutional developers being involved. These kinds of regenerations are either a result of community development or they are the outcome of independent development. This type of development culture is not much studied yet. Independent developers are the invisibles working in the shadows of the big institutional property developers that are often covered in the media and literature. Hardly anybody notices and writes about these small and independent developers that, although developing smaller projects, still have an impact on and are important for urban regeneration. This analysis of independent developers and their projects will provide information on their approach to property development. The report will discuss the major differences between institutional and independent development and how they each address topics like location, market, intervention and funding. By drawing on examples from interviews, literature and other publications, the report will examine independent property developers in more detail and try to analyse their role and their contribution to urban regeneration

    Present and Future of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

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    Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common respiratory disorder among infants born extremely preterm. The pathogenesis of BPD involves multiple prenatal and postnatal mechanisms affecting the development of a very immature lung. Their combined effects alter the lung's morphogenesis, disrupt capillary gas exchange in the alveoli, and lead to the pathological and clinical features of BPD. The disorder is ultimately the result of an aberrant repair response to antenatal and postnatal injuries to the developing lungs. Neonatology has made huge advances in dealing with conditions related to prematurity, but efforts to prevent and treat BPD have so far been only partially effective. Seeing that BPD appears to have a role in the early origin of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, its prevention is pivotal also in long-term respiratory outcome of these patients. There is currently some evidence to support the use of antenatal glucocorticoids, surfactant therapy, protective noninvasive ventilation, targeted saturations, early caffeine treatment, vitamin A, and fluid restriction, but none of the existing strategies have had any significant impact in reducing the burden of BPD. New areas of research are raising novel therapeutic prospects, however. For instance, early topical (intratracheal or nebulized) steroids seem promising: they might help to limit BPD development without the side effects of systemic steroids. Evidence in favor of stem cell therapy has emerged from several preclinical trials, and from a couple of studies in humans. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) have revealed a reparatory capability, preventing the progression of BPD in animal models. Administering MSC-conditioned media containing extracellular vesicles (EVs) have also demonstrated a preventive action, without the potential risks associated with unwanted engraftment or the adverse effects of administering cells. In this paper, we explore these emerging treatments and take a look at the revolutionary changes in BPD and neonatology on the horizon

    The role of language typology on L2 acquisition and learning, Special Issue

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    This special issue of the I-LanD Journal aims to explore the role of language typology on second language acquisition (SLA) and learning. The contributions to this special issue address the question as to whether and in which ways typological contrasts of languages play a crucial role in how events are expressed in adult second language (L2). In this regard, Slobin (1996), by means of his Thinking for Speaking hypothesis, argues that differences across languages predispose native speakers to view and to talk about events differently and this seems to have important consequences in discourse conceptualisation and production even at very advanced levels of L2 proficiency. Research on typological variation across languages has been conducted for decades and important advances have been made in the domain. For instance, it is well known that Germanic vs Romance native speakers differ in the ways they conceptualise and verbalise events. Consequently, speakers diverge in the preferred perspective selected with respect to conceptual domains such as aspect, time, motion, modality, both at the sentence level (von Stutterheim 2003) and at discourse level (Klein/von Stutterheim 2002; Carroll/Lambert 2006) and this is partly due to the typological properties of languages. Most studies show the challenges adult L2 learners face in restructuring these patterns in the process of acquisition of another language with a different set of patterns. This hard task for learners implies full or partial crosslinguistic influence (CLI, cf. McManus 2022 for a more recent overview). The latter, often used interchangeably with transfer (cf. Odlin 1989, 2003, 2005), refers to the search for similarities/ differences between one’s prior linguistic knowledge (from the L1 or any other previously acquired languages) and learning, knowledge and use of the new language (Jarvis/Pavlenko 2010: 1). CLI is a key component of the L2 learning process, and it seems particularly relevant when learners try to map L2 words into the concepts of their L1. In this sense, SLA can be seen as cognitive restructuring (HijazoGascón 2021: 2), since learners can experience a cognitive dissonance between the L2 lexical items and the L1 notions. The question of whether L1 typological properties may be transferred or not in the L2 discourse has been largely explored for the cognitive domains of time (e.g. von Stutterheim 2003 for ongoingness vs boundness; McManus/ Marsden 2017, Giuliano/Anastasio 2021a for time and aspect) and Introduction: The Role of Language Typology on L2 Acquisition and Learning Simona Anastasio University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, France [email protected] Patrizia Giuliano University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Italy [email protected] DOI: 10.26379/IL2022002_000 4 I-LanD Journal. The role of language typology on L2 acquisiti on and learning · n. 2/2022 · eISSN 2532-764X Simona Anastasio - Patrizia Giuliano space (e.g. Cadierno/Ruiz 2006; Hendriks et al. 2008; Carroll et al. 2012; Hijazo-Gascón 2021) and, to a lesser extent, for syntax (e.g. Giuliano/Anastasio 2021b). More recently, research has also focused on the co-speech gestures in the expression of events. As such, the literature shows that the ways L2 learners’ gestures can reveal how they keep on gesturing as in their L1 rather than in the L2 native-like manner (e.g. Gullberg 2009; Stam 2018, 2023). In spite of the evident role of inter-typological contrasts during the process of SLA (along with other important variables such as the L2 input exposure, the L2 proficiency level, individual factors) in terms of CLI, there is little research that focuses on the impact of intratypological variation, i.e. typological differences or similarities between languages of the same type (except for Ibarretxe-Antuñano 2009, 2015; Anastasio 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022). Additionally, the impact of language typology is still far from being fully understood and this is due to several reasons: a) native speakers’ preferences go beyond the clear-cut typological classification when encoding the intended message (Slobin 2006; von Stutterheim et al. 2009; Beavers etal. 2010); b) most studies look at learners with an L1/L2 combination belonging to different genetic and typological families and very few consider the impact of the L1 when the learners’ languages in contact are typologically close (except for Benazzo/Andorno 2017; Anastasio 2019, 2021, 2022; Saturno 2020; Hijazo-Gascón 2021) and can, however, lack equivalent form-function categories. This special issue brings together recent empirical research on inter- and intratypological contrasts and their role on L2 acquisition and learning. Specifically, drawing upon a functional perspective, this special issue aims to add to the SLA field by offering recent empirical studies relying on original data, involving: different types of tasks; quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods approaches; learners at all stages of learning. The key themes under focus explore morphological, syntactic, and semantics differences between languages with their consequences for framing events in L1 as well as in L2. In particular, three main domains are investigated: a) affectedness; b) differential object marking; c) space (static and dynamic location events). The data collected represent a diversified selection of L1-L2 pairs: a) learners whose L1 and L2 are typologically and genetically closely-related (Isabel Repiso; Jacopo Saturno); b) learners with an L1-L2 combination considered as typologically distant (Christina Piot, Maria Hellerstedt); c) learners whose L1 and L2 belong to different typological types but present similarities in the linguistic devices for conveying events (Delia Airoldi). The first paper of this special issue deals with a still underexplored domain in SLA functional approach, i.e. affectedness within Romance languages. Specifically, Isabel Repiso examines the syntactic and morphological realisation of affected arguments across two typologically and genetically-related languages, French and Spanish, and in L2 French of Spanish learners (A2-B2 levels of CEFR). The crosslinguistic findings show different morpho-syntactic preferences in French and Spanish productions to mark affectedness. As to L2 I-LanD Journal. The role of language typology on L2 acquisiti on and learning · n. 2/2022 · eISSN 2532-764X 5 Introduction: The Role of Language Typology on L2 Acquisition and Learning results, CLI arises in terms of under/overuse of non-native like use of L2 structures especially at less advanced stage. The author hypothesises that, when confronting to the L2 verbalisation of a universal domain, learners tend to rely on L2 constructions similar to those of the L1 as a strategy to compensate lack of knowledge regarding TL uses. Jacopo Saturno’s contribution also explores the morphosyntax domain, by focusing on the differential object marking in nominal morphology in L2 Polish of East Slavic learners (L1: Belorussian, Russian, Ukrainian) of A1-B1 proficiency (CEFR). By means of a quantitative study, the author confirms that CLI and universal tendencies, such as markedness, may coexist as explanatory factors in the differential object marking in an intercomprehension situation. The subsequent three papers concern the role of typological diversity in the expression of space in language. Christina Piot focuses on multimodality in motion event construal. She first examines how native speakers (French vs Dutch) express the same motion events in their speech and co-speech gestures and then to what extent multimodal and inter-/intralinguistic differences impact performances of CLIL French learners of L2 Dutch (A1-B2 proficiency levels). Participants were recruited in Belgium, whose context is not particularly favourable for monolingual speakers, since it offers three official languages: Flemish/Dutch speaking; Walloon/French speaking; and, to a lesser extent, Ostbelgien German speaking. Analysis of language use and gesture by native speakers shows not only prototypical features of typological classifications, but also patterns which are less typical of their language-category. As for L2 performance, learners have their own thinking-for-speaking pattern which is inbetween the French and the Dutch tendencies. Moreover, the study also highlights that gestures give information on event conceptualisation. With respect to a different language combination, Delia Airoldi’s contribution also focuses on the expression of motion. Specifically, the author compares the productions of native speakers of Italian and German to the productions of German learners of L2 Italian (intermediate and advanced) by using different types of stimuli. The aim is to study inter- and intra-linguistic differences between German and Italian and to see whether learners’ productions are target-like in L2 motion event construal or still influenced by the L1 patterns. In the final paper, Maria Hellerstedt discusses two types of space: location and caused motion, as described by French and Swedish native speakers and by intermediate and advanced French learners of L2 Swedish. The larger goal is to investigate the semantic components selected to describe static and dynamic location in L2 Swedish, namely by means of posture verbs, and to identify learners’ strategies (avoidance, over-using) justifying learners’ linguistic choices. On the one hand, the paper shows the developmental trajectory of L2 Swedish learners in the use of posture verbs in spatial events. On the other hand, it highlights traces of CLI and other interlanguage strategies in producing idiomatic posture verbs. Taken together, the above contributions bring a timely update within the research field of typology and L2 acquisition and learning by 6 I-LanD Journal. The role of language typology on L2 acquisiti on and learning · n. 2/2022 · eISSN 2532-764X Simona Anastasio - Patrizia Giuliano building on and complementing previous literature on the subject. In particular, these papers provide empirical studies on different linguistic domains, while offering new avenues for future research on the issues under investigation in this special issue

    Exstrophy-Epispadias Complex in a Newborn: Case Report and Review of the Literature

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    Aim The aim of this report is to present a brief review of the current literature on the management of EEC. Case Report A term male neonate presented at birth with classic bladder exstrophy, a variant of the exstrophy-epispadias complex (EEC). The defect was covered with sterile silicon gauzes and waterproof dressing; at 72 hours of life, primary closure without osteotomy of bladder, pelvis, and abdominal wall was successfully performed. Discussion EEC incidence is approximately 2.15 per 1,00,000 live births; several urological, musculocutaneous, spinal, orthopedic, gastrointestinal, and gynecological anomalies may be associated to EEC. Initial medical management includes use of occlusive dressings to prevent air contact and dehydration of the open bladder template. Umbilical catheters should not be positioned. Surgical repair stages include initial closure of the bladder and abdominal wall with or without osteotomy, followed by epispadias repair at 6 to 12 months, and bladder neck repair around 5 years of life. Those who fail to attain continence eventually undergo bladder augmentation and placement of a catheterizable conduit. Conclusion Modern-staged repair of EEC guarantees socially acceptable urinary continence in up to 80% of cases; sexual function can be an issue in the long term, but overall quality of life can be good

    Fractal analysis of alveolarization in hyperoxia-induced rat models of bronchopulmonary dysplasia

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    No papers are available about potentiality of fractal analysis in quantitative assessment of alveolarization in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Thus, we here performed a comparative analysis between fractal [fractal dimension (D) and lacunarity] and stereological [mean linear intercept (Lm), total volume of alveolar air spaces, total number of alveoli, mean alveolar volume, total volume and surface area of alveolar septa, and mean alveolar septal thickness] parameters in experimental hyperoxia-induced models of BPD. At birth, rats were distributed between the following groups: 1) rats raised in ambient air for 2 wk; 2) rats exposed to 60% oxygen for 2 wk; 3) rats raised in normoxia for 6 wk; and 4) rats exposed to 60% hyperoxia for 2 wk and to room air for further 4 wk. Normoxic 6-wk rats showed increased D and decreased lacunarity with respect to normoxic 2-wk rats, together with changes in all stereological parameters except for mean alveolar volume. Hyperoxia-exposed 2-wk rats showed significant changes only in total number of alveoli, mean alveolar volume, and lacunarity with respect to equal-in-age normoxic rats. In the comparison between 6-wk rats, the hyperoxia-exposed group showed decreased D and increased lacunarity, together with changes in all stereological parameters except for septal thickness. Analysis of receiver operating characteristic curves showed a comparable discriminatory power of D, lacunarity, and total number of alveoli; Lm and mean alveolar volume were less discriminative. D and lacunarity did not show significant changes when different segmentation thresholds were applied, suggesting that the fractal approach may be fit to automatic image analysis

    Lipopolysaccharide-induced chorioamnionitis and postnatal lung injury: The beneficial effects of L-citrulline in newborn rats

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    The lung architecture of newborns appears to be affected by an inflammatory reaction to maternal choriodecidual layer infection. L-citrulline (L-Cit) was administered to pregnant rats exposed to intra-amniotic lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chorioamnionitis to investigate its effect on neonatal lung injury

    Post-Diversity, Precarious Work for All: Unmaking borders to govern labour in the Amazon warehouse

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    This paper investigates the (un)making of borders as a form of labour governmentality in one of Amazon's warehouses in Poland. Guided by a critical theory of borders as a form of labour governmentality under global capitalism, we identify organizational practices through which socio-demographic categories traditionally deployed as principles of organizing work (e.g., gender, age, ability) are unmade: the management of deskilled labour through an algorithmic system, the non-selective hiring of workers, the enforcement of social norms of interpersonal respect and a universal system of casualized employment. Together, these practices constitute workers as undifferentiated, interchangeable and equal labour, let them compete with each other under harshly exploitative conditions, and continuously dispose of the least productive among them, keeping all in structural uncertainty. The study contributes to the critical diversity literature by showing a 'post-diversity' governmentality that rests on equality, competition and precarization of labour as a whole, rather than segregation and marginalization through an 'ideal worker' norm. This labour governmentality operates by eliciting consent from historically subordinated workers and eliminating the advantage of historically relatively privileged ones. Unmaking borders within labour inside the organization, this governmentality at the same time crucially rests on borders outside it.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: We would like to acknowledge the funding Patrizia Zanoni received from the Flemish Research Fund (FWO), grant no. G085119N and Miłosz Miszczyński from the National Science Centre, Poland, grant no. 2019/35/B/HS4/04136. We would like to thank our respondents, the guest editors of the special issue, the anonymous reviewers, the members of the Chair Organization Studies of the Utrecht School of Governance, the members of SEIN - Identity, Diversity & Inequality Research at Hasselt University, the participants in EGOS Sub-theme ‘Diversity and intersectionality: Struggles for recognition and redistribution in organizations and (self-)entrepreneurship’ in 2021 in Amsterdam (online) and the EGOS sub-theme ‘Re-organizing imperfections at work: negotiating power and control in employment relations’ in 2022 in Vienna for their generous feedback on previous versions of the paper. Last but not least, we thank ERA-NET CHANSE for allowing us to further build on this line of research through the Humans in Digital Logistics (HuLog) project, grant no. 101004509 (2022-2025)
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