The exploration of mixed-use principle as an ingredient to improve the viability and vitality of town centres in Mauritius

This thesis has been realised through a scholarship offered by the Government of Canada to the Government of the Republic of Mauritius under the Programme Canadien de Bourses de la FrancophonieLa mixité d’usage est de plus en plus considérée comme un facteur essentiel au développement durable et à la prospérité des villes, tant par les professionnels en urbanisme, les décideurs politiques et les chercheurs que par tous ceux concernés par la qualité de vie de nos concitoyens. Présentement, on assiste au développement de stratégies et mécanismes en vue de faire cohabiter les diverses fonctions urbaines. Ainsi, cette recherche exploratoire porte sur la mixité d’usage et la possibilité de transférer cette approche, plus particulièrement, dans celui des villes de l’Île Maurice, petit état insulaire en développement. Le principal facteur à l’origine de ce choix est la volonté du gouvernement de mettre en place un métro léger reliant les centres des villes de la conurbation urbaine de l’Île, d’où l’opportunité de réhabiliter ces centres en déclin à travers une plus grande mixité d’usage. Ainsi, deux cas, Quatre Bornes et Rose-Hill sont analysés. La cueillette des données inclut des entrevues avec onze urbanistes locaux, lesquelles permettent de développer le volet public de la problématique et de bien contextualiser les avenues possibles de solution. Nous constatons qu’un laisser-faire, des politiques inappropriés et diverses interventions publiques ont favorisé la congestion routière et l’étalement urbain et entrainé une perte de diversité des usages dans le centre-ville. Nous identifions ainsi les défis et les opportunités relatifs à la mixité d’usage et proposons des stratégies, dans l’optique d’améliorer la viabilité et la vitalité des centres-villes.Mixed-use is increasingly considered as a key principle for sustainable development and prosperity of cities and towns by planners, decision-makers, researchers and many others concerned with the quality of life of our citizens. As such, we are witnessing new strategies and mechanisms to enable different uses to cohabit. Our thesis explores the transferability of the mixed-use concept in the context of the town centres in Mauritius, a small island developing state. The main reason explaining this choice is the government’s commitment in introducing a light rail transit system linking the town centres of the urban conurbation of the island. Indeed, the opportunity lies in improving the declining health of town centres through mixed-uses. In this context, we analyse two case study areas, Quatre Bornes and Rose-Hill. Our empirical researches include interviews with eleven planners in Mauritius, in an attempt to better grasp the institutional problematic and contextualise relevant solutions. We find out that the laisser-faire situation, unresponsiveness of policies and government interventions on transport and traffic congestion have favoured urban sprawl and led to the lack of diversity in the town centres. In contemplation, we identify the common challenges and opportunities with respect to mixed-use in the two case study areas and propose strategies in view of improving their viability and vitality

Doing cultural fit in job interviews: the challenge of diversity in recruitment practices

Previous studies have identified several factors that lead to unsuccessful job interviews amongst candidates of minority backgrounds in Britain and other parts of the west. These include: ideology-based prejudice, power, limited knowledge of institutional discourse and lack of linguistic capital (Gumperz 1999; Roberts 2011). There is an underlying assumption that there are certain norms that outsiders need to comply with. However, in superdiverse recruitment interview contexts, it is unclear whose cultural norms these are because interlocutors bring with them a “briefcase” (Gordon 2011) of: expectations, norms, values, and interpretations resulting in the negotiation of meaning-making processes and the co-construction of the interview outcome. Focusing on the under-researched context of recruitment, where recruitment agencies work with companies to find suitable candidates for their vacancies, this research aims to further understand how cultural fit is performed within a super diverse setting. It draws on the data collected from 30 real video-recorded recruitment interviews that took place in one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies. This study argues that recruitment interview success is heavily reliant on “cultural fit.” The analysis from this study contributes to the literature in the field by addressing how cultural fit is an interactional accomplishment, achieved collaboratively by aligning in the “9 areas of cultural fit. ”The nine areas that are drawn from the analysis of this study include: linguistic alignment, world views, power dynamics, performed identities, levels of formality, positioning, shared knowledge, similar backgrounds, and emotional connections. Recruiters enable the performance of cultural fit by facilitating a good rapport and providing an equal opportunity for candidates to demonstrate cultural fit in the interview. Candidates are invited to participate in a power game through the “faking friendship” dynamic. Candidates that are unable to play the power game are put at a disadvantage

Selective Affimers Recognise the BCL‐2 Family Proteins BCL‐xL and MCL‐1 through Noncanonical Structural Motifs

The BCL‐2 family is a challenging group of proteins to target selectively due to sequence and structural homologies across the family. Selective ligands for the BCL‐2 family regulators of apoptosis are useful as probes to understand cell biology and apoptotic signalling pathways, and as starting points for inhibitor design. We have used phage display to isolate Affimer reagents (non‐antibody‐binding proteins based on a conserved scaffold) to identify ligands for MCL‐1, BCL‐xL, BCL‐2, BAK and BAX, then used multiple biophysical characterisation methods to probe the interactions. We established that purified Affimers elicit selective recognition of their target BCL‐2 protein. For anti‐apoptotic targets BCL‐xL and MCL‐1, competitive inhibition of their canonical protein‐protein interactions is demonstrated. Co‐crystal structures reveal an unprecedented mode of molecular recognition; where a BH3 helix is normally bound, flexible loops from the Affimer dock into the BH3 binding cleft. Moreover, the Affimers induce a change in the target proteins towards a desirable drug‐bound‐like conformation. These proof‐of‐concept studies indicate that Affimers could be used as alternative templates to inspire the design of selective BCL‐2 family modulators and more generally other protein‐protein interaction inhibitors

Determinants of mortality in patients with cirrhosis and uncontrolled variceal bleeding

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Failure to control oesophago-gastric variceal bleeding (OGVB) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) are both important prognostic factors in liver cirrhosis. The aims of this study were to determine whether ACLF and its severity define the risk of death in OGVB and whether insertion of rescue transjugular intrahepatic stent-shunt (TIPSS) improves the survival of patients with failure to control OGVB and ACLF. METHODS: From a prospectively maintained ICU registry, data of 174 consecutive eligible patients with failure to control OGVB between 2005 and 2015, were included. Rescue TIPSS was defined as technically successful TIPSS within 72-hours of presentation with failure to control OGVB. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were applied to explore the impact of ACLF and TIPSS on survival in failure-to-control OGVB. RESULTS: ACLF patients (n=119) were significantly older, had organ failures and higher white cell count compared with patients with acute decompensation (AD, n=55). Mortality at 42-days and 1-year was significantly higher in ACLF (47.9% and 61.3%) as compared to AD patients (9.1% and 12.7%, p<0.001), whereas there was no difference in the number of endoscopies and transfusion requirements between these groups. TIPSS was inserted in 78 patients [AD: 21 (38.2%); ACLF: 57 (47.8%), p=0.41]. In ACLF, rescue TIPSS insertion was an independent favorable prognostic factor for 42-day mortality. In contrast, rescue TIPSS did not impact on the outcome of AD patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows for the first time that in patients with failure to control OGVB, the presence and severity of ACLF determines the risk of 42-day and 1-year mortality. Rescue TIPSS is associated with improved survival of ACLF patients