Pathway towards sustainability or motorization?:A comparative study of e-bikes in China and the Netherlands

Faced with globally pressing sustainability challenges, the e-bike provides a potentially sustainable mobility alternative. Yet, a growing consensus among researchers is that the environmental and social impacts of e-bikes are context dependent. Previous studies indicate different e-bike pathways in two major e-bike markets. In China, e-bikes seem to be a stepping stone to further motorization. In the Netherlands, e-bike use partially substitutes car use, thereby advancing sustainability. However, little is known about why e-bikes serve different pathways. We address this research problem by employing social practice theory to unpack e-bike practices according to three interdependent elements of materials, competences, and meanings. In doing so, we shed light on the more complex and nuanced dynamics in everyday mobility practices around e-bikes. The findings suggest that in China hostile cycling conditions and positive cultural associations of automobility feed to a vicious circle toward car-based motorization. In the Netherlands, the e-bike provides a viable option for those locked into car practices. Despite these differences, evidence from the two countries indicates that dissatisfactions with elements of car practices may redirect people to e-bike practices. Policy needs to direct toward overcoming structural barriers in domains where individuals have limited agency. Furthermore, this comparative study illustrates that differentiated focus is needed when applying practice theory. Given that the average carbon footprint per capita is lower in the Global South than in the Global North, the focus should be on maintaining existing sustainable practices in the Global South while substituting unsustainable practices in the Global North

Histological markers in nasal mucosa of patients with Alzheimer's disease

Neuropathological changes such as dystrophic neurites and the presence of abnormal tau protein in the olfactory system, including primary sensory cells and nerve fibres have previously been demonstrated in nasal mucosa tissue of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). These changes were detected in autopsy-derived material from histopathologically confirmed AD cases as well as in biopsy tissue from clinical severely ill AD patients. To investigate the potential usefulness for the early diagnosis of AD, we obtained biopsy tissue from olfactory mucosa from 5 clinically mild to moderate AD patients and stained for the presence of tau or beta-amyloid by immunocytochemistry using a panel of specific antibodies. No positive staining was found in any of the cases. For comparison, post-mortem olfactory tissue from AD patients with severe neuropathological changes (widespread neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid in the brain) was investigated, in these severe cases, tau immunoreactivity was found in fine nerve fibres in the lamina propria and in a few olfactory epithelial cells. These results are consistent with other reports showing that cytoskeletal changes and tau pathology in the olfactory epithelium are not primary (or specific) features of AD and may occur predominantly in late stages of the disease

How to Balance Individual and Collective Values After COVID-19?:Ethical Reflections on Crowd Management at Dutch Train Stations

This chapter explores the shift in the balance of individual versus collective values instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The incredible viral spread rate among the population and its relatively high fatality rate has initially resulted in an assertion of the primacy of collective values (such as collective safety, collective responsibility, conformism). In contrast, individual rights and values (such as the individual counterparts of autonomy, freedom, responsibility, and privacy) took a ‘back seat’ for the good of the collective. However, as the pandemic extended over the months, there emerged a pressure to reject the primacy of collective values and restore the importance of individual values. If we are to return to a healthy and prosperous living within a well-functioning society, this balance shift between collective and individual values will have to be re-negotiated and resolved to reach a societally acceptable balance position. We conduct this ethical exploration, first, by following the ethico-philosophical discussion on the balance between individual and collective values generally, as well as in times of crisis, with special focus on the COVID-19 crisis. Second, we explore this topic through the lens of recent changes to how particular technologies were and are used before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. More precisely, we identify and explore broad trends we see relevant to ethics – with a particular focus on crowd management and nudging and on the balance shift between individual and collective values. Finally, by exploring findings from a sociophysics case study dealing with crowd management of people before and during the pandemic, we argue that some sociophysical phenomena can be used as proxies for ethical principles. Here, distance is used as a conceptual proxy for individual and collective responsibility, having in mind COVID-19 distancing rules and recommendation. With all the above, we identify several broad trends that have been instigated by the pandemic that are relevant to ethics. These changes relate to future crowd management, nudging, and control; individual (per-person) tracking; insistence on the importance of collective values in times of crisis, and the rejection of this infringement upon individual rights. In this regard, we assert that such value changes are an opportunity to rethink and (re)set balance points between individual and collective rights for each particular society.</p

Engineering Students as Co-creators in an Ethics of Technology Course

Research on the effectiveness of case studies in teaching engineering ethics in higher education is underdeveloped. To add to our knowledge, we have systematically compared the outcomes of two case approaches to an undergraduate course on the ethics of technology: a detached approach using real-life cases and a challenge-based learning (CBL) approach with students and stakeholders acting as co-creators (CC). We first developed a practical typology of case-study approaches and subsequently tested an evaluation method to assess the students’ learning experiences (basic needs and motivation) and outcomes (competence development) and staff interpretations and operationalizations, seeking to answer three questions: (1) Do students in the CBL approach report higher basic needs, motivation and competence development compared to their peers in the detached approach? (2) What is the relationship between student-perceived co-creation and their basic needs, motivation and competence development? And (3) what are the implications of CBL/CC for engineering-ethics teaching and learning? Our mixed methods analysis favored CBL as it best supported teaching and research goals while satisfying the students’ basic needs and promoting intrinsic motivation and communication competences. Competence progress in other areas did not differ between approaches, and motivation in terms of identified regulation was lower for CBL, with staff perceiving a higher workload. We propose that our case typology model is useful and that as a method to engage students as co-creators, CBL certainly merits further development and evaluation, as does our effectiveness analysis for engineering ethics instruction in general and for case-study approaches in particular

How reliable is MRI in diagnosing cartilaginous lesions in patients with first and recurrent lateral patellar dislocations?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lateral dislocation of the patella (LPD) leads to cartilaginous injuries, which have been reported to be associated with retropatellar complaints and the development of patellofemoral osteoarthritis. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of MRI for cartilage diagnostics after a first and recurrent LPD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After an average of 4.7 days following an acute LPD, 40 patients (21 with first LPDs and 19 with recurrent LPDs) underwent standardized 1.5 Tesla MRI (sagittal T1-TSE, coronal STIR-TSE, transversal fat-suppressed PD-TSE, sagittal fat-suppressed PD-TSE). MRI grading was compared to arthroscopic assessment of the cartilage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sensitivities and positive predictive values for grade 3 and 4 lesions were markedly higher in the patient group with first LPDs compared to the group with recurrent LPDs. Similarly, intra- and inter-observer agreement yielded higher kappa values in patients with first LPDs compared to those with recurrent LPDs. All grade 4 lesions affecting the subchondral bone (osteochondral defects), such as a fissuring or erosion, were correctly assessed on MRI.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study demonstrated a comparatively good diagnostic performance for MRI in the evaluation of first and recurrent LPDs, and we therefore recommend MRI for the cartilage assessment after a LPD.</p