Wir sind nicht auf der Welt, um zu schweigen

We are not in the world to mention is the title of a somewhat unconventional "introduction to rhetoric". It is not an introduction to its history or system, but exposes the specific question interest of rhetoric. Since antiquity, rhetoric has been asking for the conditions of convinced approval as the basis for survival cooperation. The notorious conflict of rhetoric with philosophy resulted from the different functionalization of this consent: Should it merely be condoned as a concession to the intellectual weakness of people in order to win them for the acceptance of truth claims (Plato), or must one in the convinced consent requirement rather see the actual reason for possible truthfulness (so the sophistry)? This conflict was only decided after Hans Blumenberg, when direct paths to the truth could no longer be philosophically promised seriously. As a result, the rhetorical principle of convinced approval could finally become philosophically an attractive validity principle under conditions of modernity. Therefore, if today something rhetoric makes current, then it is the modernity of this conviction or consent-dependent validity principle

Spatial Accessibility of Bakeries and Supermarkets in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

The recent events and constant global changes show the importance of rethinking city planning. In this context, the 15-Minute City concept got important as it brings people closer to activities and services, through short trips by active modes, being the key to a sustainable city. Based on this concept, this paper analysed the spatial accessibility of residents of Belo Horizonte (Brazil) to two establishments essential to the quality of life: bakeries and supermarkets. The analyses were made through the influence areas, spatial clusters, and the Local Indicators of Spatial Association. The results showed that bakeries are more accessible than supermarkets, which are not accessible to the entire population, especially in low-density and low-income regions. In addition, areas with potential for new projects were identified by the relationship between existing facilities (supermarkets or bakeries) and population density/income. Finally, the results highlight the challenges for developing sustainable cities considering the 15-Minute City concept throughout the territory of Belo Horizonte

Source points placement in the method of fundamental solutions for parabolic problems / Colocação de pontos de fonte no método de soluções fundamentais para problemas parabólicos

In this paper, the placement of the source points for Method of Fundamental Solutions in one-dimensional parabolic partial differential equations is evaluated for two different traditional benchmark problems one with Dirichlet condition and other with mixed boundary conditions. Four source points placement strategies are used. The approximate results from Method of Fundamental Solutions are sensitive to strategy used, and when the positive timed source points are used the approximate results are instable

Identifying critically important vascular access outcomes for trials in haemodialysis : an international survey with patients, caregivers and health professionals

BACKGROUND: Vascular access outcomes reported across haemodialysis (HD) trials are numerous, heterogeneous and not always relevant to patients and clinicians. This study aimed to identify critically important vascular access outcomes. METHOD: Outcomes derived from a systematic review, multi-disciplinary expert panel and patient input were included in a multilanguage online survey. Participants rated the absolute importance of outcomes using a 9-point Likert scale (7-9 being critically important). The relative importance was determined by a best-worst scale using multinomial logistic regression. Open text responses were analysed thematically. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 873 participants [224 (26%) patients/caregivers and 649 (74%) health professionals] from 58 countries. Vascular access function was considered the most important outcome (mean score 7.8 for patients and caregivers/8.5 for health professionals, with 85%/95% rating it critically important, and top ranked on best-worst scale), followed by infection (mean 7.4/8.2, 79%/92% rating it critically important, second rank on best-worst scale). Health professionals rated all outcomes of equal or higher importance than patients/caregivers, except for aneurysms. We identified six themes: necessity for HD, applicability across vascular access types, frequency and severity of debilitation, minimizing the risk of hospitalization and death, optimizing technical competence and adherence to best practice and direct impact on appearance and lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS: Vascular access function was the most critically important outcome among patients/caregivers and health professionals. Consistent reporting of this outcome across trials in HD will strengthen their value in supporting vascular access practice and shared decision making in patients requiring HD

Urban delivery, the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in land use: evidence of the territorial dynamics of the non-residential real estate sector in Belo Horizonte

In addition to the observed impacts on urban mobility, urban deliveries have changed the territorial dynamics of the non-residential real estate sector. This paper analyses land-use changes in the non-residential real estate sector caused by urban deliveries in 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belo Horizonte. Therefore, we used a spatial-temporal approach based on Local Indicators of Spatial Association and the estimation of a geographically weighted regression model. The results showed the decentralization of new businesses occurred and that there is an inverse relationship between traditional retail deliveries and online retail deliveries concerning the location of new businesses. Furthermore, the results indicated a change in the territorial dynamics of the non-residential real estate sector, encouraged by urban deliveries. Thus, the master plans must consider urban deliveries as a driving component in urban and transport planning

Estudo de métodos de minimização para um problema black box / Study of minimization methods for a black box problem

Este artigo realiza o estudo dos métodos de otimização determinístico, Steepest Descent, e heurístico, Differential Evolution e Particle Swarm, para um problema black box genérico com duas variáveis em sua função objetivo. O método determinístico apresentou forte dependência dos valores iniciais adotados, apresentando diversos mínimos locais, sendo necessário a adoção de múltiplos pontos iniciais. Os métodos Particle Swarm e Differential Evolution apresentam resultados razoáveis, porém o funcionamento dos algoritmos heurísticos impossibilita que o ponto encontrado seja certamente definido como mínimo global

Percepções conflitantes dos envolvidos no planejamento do transporte urbano de mercadorias em cidades brasileiras: o caso de Palmas (TO) e São Leopoldo (RS)

The urban freight transport plays an important role in economic development. However, the negative externalities of the activity can compromise urban mobility, and therefore, city planning needs to intervene with solutions to minimize these externalities. However, the assertiveness of the solutions is directly linked to the participation of the stakeholders involved in the activity. In this paper is compared the perceptions of carriers, retailers and public authorities about problems and solutions for the urban freight transport in two cities of similar size, but with different levels of regional polarization. The results indicated few parameters of agreement between the stakeholders of each city, confirming that they have conflicting objectives that end up generating different perceptions and, consequently, divergence in the solutions for the urban freight transport. This scenario reinforces the need for dialogue between those involved so that solutions can encompass the vision of all stakeholders, in search of solutions converging to the identified objectives and problems. In addition, the differences observed between the context of each city reinforce the complexity of urban freight transportation planning and formulating public policies that meet the needs of each municipality according to their needs.A distribuição urbana de mercadorias possui um papel importante para o desenvolvimento econômico. Porém, as externalidades negativas da atividade podem comprometer a mobilidade urbana, e com isso, o planejamento das cidades precisa intervir com soluções para minimizar essas externalidades. Entretanto, a assertividade das soluções está diretamente ligada à participação dos agentes envolvidos. Neste artigo são comparadas as percepções de transportadores, varejistas e do poder público sobre problemas e soluções para a distribuição urbana de mercadorias em duas cidades de porte semelhante, porém com diferentes níveis de polarização regional. Os resultados indicaram poucos parâmetros de concordância entre os agentes de cada cidade, confirmando que estes possuem objetivos conflitantes que acabam gerando diferentes percepções e, consequente, divergência nas soluções para a distribuição urbana de mercadorias. Este cenário reforça a necessidade do diálogo entre os envolvidos para que as soluções possam englobar a visão de todos os agentes, em busca de soluções convergentes aos objetivos e problemas identificados. Além disso, as diferenças observadas entre o contexto de cada cidade reforçam a complexidade do planejamento do transporte da carga urbana e da formulação de políticas que atendam as necessidades de cada município de acordo com suas necessidades