Collapses of school or dormitory buildings experienced in recent earthquakes raise the issue of safety as a major challenge for decision makers. A school building is ‘just another structure’ technically speaking, however, the consequences of a collapse in an earthquake could lead to social reactions in the complex aftermath of a seismic tremor more than any other type of structure may possibly cause. In this paper a school building that collapsed during 2011 Tabanli, Van Earthquake in eastern Turkey, is analysed in order to identify the possible reasons that led to collapse. Apart from the inherent deficiencies of RC buildings built in Turkey in the 80's and 90's, its structural design exhibits a strikingly high asymmetry. In the analyses conducted, much attention has been given to the direction of the earthquake load and its coincidence with the bi-axial structural response parameters. The failure of the structure to comply with the 1975 Code, in vigor at the time of construction, has also been evaluated with respect to the structure’s collapse. Among the parameters that controlled the collapse, the high plan asymmetry and the coincidence of the vulnerable directions with the dominant shaking direction were critical, as well as the underestimation of the seismic hazard and the lateral design force level, specified by the then Turkish Earthquake Code.
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The current western agrifood system is highly successful in providing for human needs. However, the dominant agricultural approach of up-scaling and specialisation is put under pressure by a number of developments in the global landscape. Global developments such as population growth, pollution, soil degradation and climate change, in which agriculture plays a crucial role, make the need for a transition towards a paradigm with a broader range of values evident. Niche initiatives often develop as a reaction to needs not fulfilled by the regime. Therefore, certain niches may have the potential of driving a necessary transition. This research aims to determine if permaculture, being a niche, has this potential. The main question for this research was formulated as follows: How can a production system based on permaculture principles contribute to the agrifood transition? To answer this question, relevant current trends and global developments were used as a basis for developing a future scenario. Empirical qualitative data on permaculture businesses in the Netherlands was gathered as well, of which the results were used for a determination of permaculture’s performance in this future scenario. This was done by comparing a standardised permaculture system with a conventional potato system. As a result of this comparison, the Unique Selling Points of permaculture were identified, which determine the future potential of permaculture.
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This investigation explores relations between 1) a theory of human cognition, called Embodied Cognition, 2) the design of interactive systems and 3) the practice of ‘creative group meetings’ (of which the so-called ‘brainstorm’ is perhaps the best-known example). The investigation is one of Research-through-Design (Overbeeke et al., 2006). This means that, together with students and external stakeholders, I designed two interactive prototypes. Both systems contain a ‘mix’ of both physical and digital forms. Both are designed to be tools in creative meeting sessions, or brainstorms. The tools are meant to form a natural, element in the physical meeting space. The function of these devices is to support the formation of shared insight: that is, the tools should support the process by which participants together, during the activity, get a better grip on the design challenge that they are faced with. Over a series of iterations I reflected on the design process and outcome, and investigated how users interacted with the prototypes.
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The literature on responsive regulation argues that citizens should be involved in regulatory practices to avoid capture between regulator and regulatee. It also argues that including citizens can add an important perspective to regulatory practices. However, we know little about how citizens' perspectives are brought into regulatory practices. This paper draws on existing qualitative research to compare and analyze four cases of experimental participatory regulation in Dutch health care, focusing on the theoretical assumptions that citizen involvement (a) prevents capture, and (b) stimulates the inclusion of new perspectives. Our results show that involving citizens in regulation can increase transparency and trust in regulatory practices and familiarizes regulators with other perspectives. It is, however, up to the regulator to work on deriving benefits from that involvement—not only the practical work of organizing participatory regulation, but also the conceptual work of reflecting on their own assumptions and standards. We do find evidence for weak forms of capture and argue for the need to extend capture to involve multiple actors. We reflect on these results for theory development and regulatory practice.
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In dit artikel vertalen de auteurs vier liedjes uit het Antwerps Liedboek (1544) in rijmend hedendaags Engels.
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That expressive writing can be a beneficial response to trauma or grief is well-established in the literature. Grief research also shows that the majority of people are resilient in the face of the death of loved ones. That said, traditional rituals around loss are no longer ubiquitous, well-known phase models of bereavement are contested, and ‘unfinished business’ can create difficulties in the face of loss. Increasingly, bereavement scholars speak of a need for individuals in western society to make meaning of their own grief through narrative construction, though little is said about what constitutes a beneficial story. The author takes an autoethnographic approach to write and reflect on her spouse’s illness and death and explores through a multi-voiced expressive dialogue a personal issue around her bereavement. In an analysis of her writing, using Dialogical Self Theory, she identifies markers which may be indicative of the development of a beneficially constructed narrative. The model of writing-for-transformation is used to describe the overall intent of the process, while the dialogical markers show how progress may be identified. Reinekke Lengelle (2020) Writing the Self and Bereavement: Dialogical Means and Markers of Moving Through Grief, Life Writing, 17:1, 103-122, DOI: 10.1080/14484528.2020.1710796
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In this paper, I explored how to research a sensitive topic such as gossip in organizations and used a narrative approach to illustrate the methodological and ethical issues that come up when considering a variety of research methods. I first attempted to conduct an ethnographic research on a project group from a Dutch university undergoing a major change. At the very beginning of the project, as a participant observer, I struggled to remain an outsider, or a “fly on the wall.” But as issues of power came into play and access became increasingly problematic, I moved towards the role of an “observing participant.” Therefore, in order to research gossip and some of the hidden dimensions of organizational life, I turned to auto- and self-ethnography as a way to regain access and greater authenticity. While following this route presented its share of ethical and methodological issues, it also provided valuable insights that could be of value to researchers attempting to study sensitive topics such as gossip in organizations. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol23/iss7/18 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiquedarmon/
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In 1988 werden in Nederland de eerste islamitische basisscholen opgericht. Sindsdien liggen de scholen regelmatig onder vuur. Critici vrezen dat religieuze segregatie de sociale integratie van kinderen belemmert. Dit artikel laat daarentegen, op basis van de resultaten van eerder onderzoek, zien hoe islamitische scholen kunnen bijdragen aan het wederzijdse proces van sociale integratie in de Nederlandse pluriforme samenleving. Verschenen in Religions, 13: 849.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe whether and how groups of nursing home residents respond to the interactive device “the CRDL”. The CRDL can translate touches between people into sounds. It recognises the type of touch and adjusts the produced sound accordingly. Design/methodology/approach This was as an observational explorative study. Responses were coded and analysed using an existing theoretical framework. Findings – The CRDL creates an atmosphere of playfulness and curiosity. It lowers the threshold to touch, provides an incentive to touch and encourages to experiment with different types of touches on arms and hands. The sounds the CRDL produces sometimes trigger memories and provide themes to start and support conversation. Involving a (large) group of nursing home residents to interact with the CRDL is challenging. Research limitations/implications In order to more fully understand the potential of the CRDL, its use should be studied in different group and individual sessions and the effects of tailored content, adjusted to individual preferences and/or stages of cognition should be explored. Finally, the effects of using the CRDL on the general wellbeing of nursing home residents should be studied. Practical implications The CRDL can help caregivers to use touch to make contact with (groups of their) residents. A session should be guided by an experienced caregiver. Some familiarisation and practice with the CRDL are recommended and a quiet environment is advised. Originality/value This paper demonstrates the potential of interactive objects, such as the CRDL, in the nursing home.
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In response to globalisation and internationalisation of both higher education and the job market, The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) has seen a considerable increase in English-medium courses, i.e. non-language subjects taught through English. Internationally, the rise of English-medium instruction (EMI) has led to research on, and discussion about the possible side-effects of a change in instructional language. More specifically, whether using a foreign language as the medium of instruction has a negative impact on teaching and learning. This paper reports the findings of a pilot research project into the implications of English-medium instruction (EMI) as perceived by students and teachers of the bachelor program Commercial Economics at the Faculty of Business, Finance and Administration at THUAS. Research methods used to collect data include face-to-face interviews with both students and lecturers involved in EMI subject courses, a student questionnaire, and lesson observations. Despite regular exposure to English and an adequate self-perceived English proficiency, results show that a considerable number of students, as well as teaching staff are experiencing difficulties with English-medium instruction and that for many EMI is not as efficient in transferring academic content as instruction in the mother tongue.
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