Incremental Transformation Research Articles

The incremental transformation of the body through freediving: A biocultural approach to reflexive bodily practices

AbstractExpert freediving explores the limits of human endurance, with some divers staying underwater for over 10 min or reaching crushing depths on a single breath. This article explores the enskilment process, especially how freediving training involves a suite of reflexive bodily practices with psychological, neurological, and physiological consequences. Examined closely and over time, skill acquisition is a multi‐dimensional process involving self‐driven adaptations in a cumulative, uneven manner. Because skills combine biological, cultural, and psychological mechanisms, practices are ideal for biocultural analysis in psychological anthropology. This account of the behavioral‐development spiral in freediving enskilment suggests that transformative practices are inherently developmental, with neurological consequences. Theories of practice that ignore the temporal dimension or the variability of skill acquisition, that is, accounts that erase the slow and uncertain accumulation of expertise, fundamentally misrepresent how persistent practice blends biology and culture, and causes transformation, as well as the usefulness of ethnography for studying these processes.

Incremental housing as care infrastructure: transformations in low-income housing in Alto Hospicio, Chile

The discussion regarding the relationship between housing and care within the general field of housing studies has generated a broadening of the field in many ways. One of such is the reciprocal relationship between the numerous forms of housing transformation and care, particularly for low-income communities in the Global South. We suggest that the main drive to transform housing incrementally is care. Following the work of Power and Mee (2019), we consider housing as an infrastructure of care and therefore, the incremental transformation of housing as part of a set of practices, which produce a sociomaterial assemblage that is constitutive of care. Under these practices, not only does housing pattern care relations, but care relations also pattern housing and therefore housing transformations. This relational way of seeing housing and care is increasingly relevant in the implementation of housing transformation programmes and policies, as this would impact incremental housing design, programme, operation, funding, and implementations, particularly in the context of an increasing incorporation of multiple alternatives of housing transformation and improvement in public housing in the Global South. We show this through ethnographic work on housing transformation for care purposes in the city of Alto Hospicio, Chile.

Defect repair efficacy in ERP production systems

Over time, persistent change may have a considerable effect on the codebases of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Small changes, however, are not always expressions of intentional and incremental transformation. They may result from unplanned but necessary and urgent corrections for repairing undesired functionality that entered the ERP system via previously applied change. Every such repair will affect the performance and prioritization of operational processes and, by extension, influence the business that the system intends to support. We developed a change log data view to assess business impact by classifying repairs into one of two mutually exclusive classes. Repairs are either effective, meaning that the next change delivers the fix, or defective, meaning multiple successive attempts are required to satisfactorily correct the initial erroneous change. Investigating the extent to which both repair types on proprietary codebase customizations affect competence center operational performance, our view delivered two finds. First, change size is a poor indicator for repair resolution efficacy. Second, most repairs appear to be defective suggesting poor codebase change process control. Our data originated from 25 SAP landscapes, representing an average system age of around five years and an average landscape size of 57 ERP system instances.

Perspective: Professional Learning Communities as a Strategy for Enhancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Online Higher Education

In recent years, higher education enrollment has become increasingly diverse, particularly in online programs. Accordingly, institutions are increasingly aware of the importance of retaining these students and supporting them through successful degree/program completion. While there has been substantial declaration of the need for promoting improvement in equity and inclusion, the strategies for effectively achieving this are still lacking or, at best, are in experimental stages. The result is a gap between the acknowledgement of the need for serving diverse students and the culture shift necessary to effectively foster an environment that advances equity and inclusion. While truly achieving equity and inclusion requires a multi-faceted approach, we assert that an under-utilized strategy is the use of faculty-led Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), which aim for incremental transformation of teaching practices through ongoing, inquiry-based learning. Forming and implementing PLCs for cross-discipline faculty of all backgrounds to convene and collaborate on the development of enhanced curriculum and teaching strategies that leverage diversity and prompt equity and inclusion in the classroom can accelerate the culture shift required to truly serve diverse learners.

Taming the wicked problem of climate change with “virtuous challenges”: An integrated management heuristic

Climate change is widely regarded as a "wicked problem" due to its complexity, interconnectedness, and the numerous stakeholders involved in finding a solution. The wickedness of climate change is further compounded by effects which are often nonlinear and uncertain, making it difficult to predict and manage its impacts. This paper builds on the growing body of knowledge on wicked problems by proposing an integrated heuristic that facilitates management in diverse economic and sociopolitical contexts by capturing the origins and dynamics of contemporary global socioenvironmental wicked problems and their potential resolution. The heuristic can also serve as the basis for a holistic wicked problem macro-theory. It is recognised that wicked problems such as climate change amplify into crisis states due to poverty and rigidity traps embedded within a system panarchy, which impede effective action for adaptation and mitigation. The concept of the “virtuous challenge” is embedded within the heuristic as a vital link in governance to enable effective leadership in the management of contemporary wicked problems through focused incremental transformation and a shift to an “agrowth” imperative. It is acknowledged that collaboration between stakeholders in the Global North and Global South is necessary for successful responses to virtuous challenges.

The Field Belonging to Boaz: Creating Kinship through Land, Labor, Food, and Feeding

Abstract Ruth’s decision to glean in a field where she might find favor (Ruth 2:2) sets in motion a transformation of Ruth from Moabite outsider to Judean insider. When Ruth happens upon the “field belonging to Boaz,” a servant identifies her as a nameless foreigner: “a Moabite woman . . . from the fields of Moab” (2:6). By the end of the book, the village elders compare her to “Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel” (4:11). Crucial to Ruth’s incremental transformation are three directives that Boaz gives Ruth when he meets her in his field and greets her as “my daughter” (2:8): stay in my field; drink water from my vessels; and sit with my reapers and eat bread. Anthropological and archaeological studies of agriculture, foodways, and the materiality of food-related objects shed light on the kinship dimensions of each of these three directives. The back-and-forth interactions between Ruth, Boaz, the land, and its produce over two months of harvesting gradually lace Ruth into the “clan of Elimelech,” the father of her dead husband, and place her under the protective “cloak” of the Israelite god.

Victoria’s change-model to TAFE: building a framework for tertiary education

ABSTRACT This thesis presents the findings of research into institutional change and how structural re-modelling of TAFEs in Victoria may be assessed as fit-for-purpose for institutions operating in tertiary education. Technical and Further Education (‘TAFE’) in Australia developed a distinctive identity during the twentieth century, yet institutional arrangements were not static: this involved the reorientation of vocational education in Australia to be funded and regulated under the auspice of micro-economic reform national policy. This institutional change triggered incremental transformation across Australia’s complex federalism and shared institutional structures and ultimately impacted TAFEs as state organisations. The thesis applies gradual change theoretical modelling to these TAFE Institutes, adopting an empirical research method that records the insights and reflections of that leadership through this change. This intra-organisational analysis seeks to explore the challenges of organisational leaders through changing institutional dynamics and the extent (or otherwise) of strategic change modelling while also reviewing outcomes including suitability of TAFE governance. The research question is to explore if, or to what extent, does the conceptual framework of gradual institutional change assist to explain (and model) the policy changes at the Victorian TAFEs during this changing environment. The thesis contends that this may be a viable framework that may enable predictive modelling of change for TVET institutions, as public and private sector organisations manage their sustainability in a broader competitive tertiary education sector.

A configurational morphogenesis of incremental urbanism: A comparative study of the access network transformations in informal settlements

The morphologies of informal settlements constantly change as they undergo processes of incremental adaptations and transformations in relation to emerging circumstances. One of the ways to explore the underlying morphogenic processes governing such adaptations and transformations is to study the morphogenesis of informal settlement. Informal settlements can tell the story of how access networks evolve through incremental processes of change as they generally emerge and where possible become consolidated through forms of adaptations and transformations. Adopting a comparative case study research design approach, this paper explores the incremental transformations of access networks across three emerging settlements located in proximity to Abuja in Nigeria. These settlements are comparatively mapped using historic satellite images illustrating eight temporal stages between 2007 and 2021. Space Syntax is used as an analytical method to study the configurational morphogenesis of the access network with a focus on the measures of connectivity, betweenness, closeness, and intelligibility. The study shows how the flexibility of the early stages of development provides opportunities for the formation of what might be considered irregular elements in the access network. The research findings also suggest that the access network becomes less intelligible as it evolves. The locations of the main local cores of the access networks are found to remain relatively unchanged and somewhat fixed as emerging local cores come about in the newly developed areas. The spatial circumstances of the studied settlements are also found to have impacts on how the incremental adaptations and transformations generate new elements as part of the access networks. The findings of this study can inform the ways the built environment professions can engage with processes of incremental transformation by providing a better understanding of configurational morphogenesis in the context of informal urbanism.

Sitting in silence or standing in protests: endogenous dynamics behind Vietnam foreign policy and the 2014 oil rig crisis

China’s military rise and increased assertiveness in the South China Sea are thought to have incentivised smaller claimant states to balance against growing threats. Cited as a prime example of this development was the 2014 Sino-Vietnam oil rig crisis, in which Beijing’s provocation compelled Hanoi to adopt a tougher stance and reach out to other powers for leverage. From a broadly realist vantage, China’s provocation is seen as manifesting an exogenous shock to the balance of power, prompting Vietnam’s foreign policy adaptation. However, this view is lacking to the extent that it overrates how security incentives are self-evident without being shaped by domestic contestation. To redress these oversights, this article offers an agent-centred historical institutionalist account of the 2014 oil rig crisis, stressing the role of gradual endogenous developments in instigating foreign policy change. I argue that for Hanoi to endorse a strong position against Beijing during the 2014 oil rig crisis, the country’s foreign policy institution needed to go through a decade-long process of incremental transformation, advocated by the increasingly influential nationalist revisionist camp within the Party. Findings from this article demonstrate the need to engage with deeper socio-political contexts of small states to better understand developments in one of Asia’s most dangerous flashpoints.

The morphogenesis of villages-in-the-city: Mapping incremental urbanism in Hanoi city

Cities in the context of what is considered as the Global South are experiencing rapid urbanisation through which various villages have been incorporated into the city and became Villages-in-the-City (ViCs). While ViCs are here to stay, little is known about their morphogenesis as they have generally been considered as part of the negative image of the city and the related planning policies often tend to merely focus on eradication. Deploying urban mapping as a key method and using the Google Earth database, this study explores the morphogenesis of ViCs and maps the incremental transformations of building footprints and access networks across three case studies in Hanoi city, Vietnam. The findings of this paper can inform the ways in which the built environment professions can engage with the upgrading and integration of ViCs. The outcome of this study also challenges the conventional narratives and constructed images that simply consider ViCs as haphazard and disordered settlements.

Accounting for whom? The financialisation of the environmental economic transition

ABSTRACT Accounting standard-setters including the International Financial Reporting Foundation have recently begun to revisit the relationship between accounting and sustainability to address issues of environmental economic transition. How has sustainability become an issue of interest to accounting standard-setters? And how do accounting standards intend to contribute to the environmental economic transition? Scholars of international political economy and cognate fields have devoted little attention to the study of international accounting standards, particularly in relations to sustainability. Drawing on a set of qualitative data and an interdisciplinary literature on finance and financialisation, this article first argues that accounting standard-setters’ interest in sustainability is the result of the incremental transformation of environmental issues into meaningful information for investors’ decision-making. Secondly, it shows that these standards and their development are based on the premise that the environmental economic transition depends on the provision of information that primarily meets the needs of investors, contrasting starkly with the original underpinnings of sustainability accounting. Overall, both the fact that financial accounting standard-setters are becoming involved in sustainability, and the way that they are addressing this issue, are further evidence of a financialisation of the environmental economic transition.

Digital Transformations and Economic Standards: the Key Questions to Bulgaria Posed by National Economy’s Existing Potential

In this paper, we consider some of the major challenges that digital transformations (DTs) have posed to the economic management. Digital transformation is an imperative for modern companies to succeed. Other researchers identified some specific factors of companies’ DTs success, among them incremental transformations, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of organizational changes (BCG, 2021). This identification stemmed from the microeconomic viewpoint by examining the experience of large companies, which operate in global markets. We welcome this identification. However, we argue that DTs success and benefits could and should be examined from other viewpoints too, especially, from the position of society, in particular, the community at a national level. We state DTs have not the same scope and role by regions and countries, as economic standards raise some barriers against this process. In other words, the parameters of socio-economic environment are one of the significant factors of the success of companies’ DTs.

Facebook and the creation of the metaverse: radical business model innovation or incremental transformation?

PurposeIn a move characterized by ambiguity, Facebook changed its name to Meta in October 2021, announcing a new era of social interaction, enabled by the metaverse technology that appears poised to become the future center of gravity for online social interactions. At first glance, the communicated change signals a radically new business model (BM) based on an unprecedented configuration of the three following components: value creation, value proposition and value capture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Facebook’s announced changes in its BM to clarify whether the change is as radical as communicated or rather represents an incremental transformation of the current BM.Design/methodology/approachThis investigation adopted an in-depth case study research method. The process included using a structured approach to collect 153 data points, including academic studies and publicly available information, followed by qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe results of our analysis of Facebook’s entrepreneurial journey indicate that the communicated strategic refocusing does not correspond to a radical BM innovation pattern. Even though Facebook’s BM might evolve into the innovation phase, as the current changes appear very futuristic, the authors estimate that the core elements of the BM will change incrementally. The investigation indicates that the underlying logic of the straightforward communicative efforts primarily serves two purposes: to improve the external perception of the company and to disseminate an internal change signal within the organization.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study that takes an entrepreneurship and BM perspective in analyzing Facebook’s approach in rebranding to Meta and refocusing its strategy on building the metaverse. The academic and practical relevance, as well as the potential future impact on business and society, makes the investigation of this case an intriguing prospect. Additionally, the study illuminates the difference between the communicated vision and the real impact on the business, suggesting critical questions about future large-scale rebranding efforts and their effects.

MDReg-Net: Multi-resolution diffeomorphic image registration using fully convolutional networks with deep self-supervision.

We present a diffeomorphic image registration algorithm to learn spatial transformations between pairs of images to be registered using fully convolutional networks (FCNs) under a self‐supervised learning setting. Particularly, a deep neural network is trained to estimate diffeomorphic spatial transformations between pairs of images by maximizing an image‐wise similarity metric between fixed and warped moving images, similar to those adopted in conventional image registration algorithms. The network is implemented in a multi‐resolution image registration framework to optimize and learn spatial transformations at different image resolutions jointly and incrementally with deep self‐supervision in order to better handle large deformation between images. A spatial Gaussian smoothing kernel is integrated with the FCNs to yield sufficiently smooth deformation fields for diffeomorphic image registration. The spatial transformations learned at coarser resolutions are utilized to warp the moving image, which is subsequently used as input to the network for learning incremental transformations at finer resolutions. This procedure proceeds recursively to the full image resolution and the accumulated transformations serve as the final transformation to warp the moving image at the finest resolution. Experimental results for registering high‐resolution 3D structural brain magnetic resonance (MR) images have demonstrated that image registration networks trained by our method obtain robust, diffeomorphic image registration results within seconds with improved accuracy compared with state‐of‐the‐art image registration algorithms.

Reflections on Assets-Based Design: A Journey Towards A Collective of Assets-Based Thinkers

The field of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) has long recognized a socio-technical gap complicating the design of technologies that can sustainably meet social needs. In response, a growing body of research advocates for assets-based design, an approach that seeks to build upon what the individuals and community already have. The emphasis on positioning assets rather than needs at the center of the process can complicate designers' decisions on what activities to foster, how to conduct them, and what outcomes to expect. In this paper, we reflect on two different assets-based design endeavors with vulnerable populations. Our reflections present assets-based design as an ongoing process that prioritizes the formation and evolution of a collective of assets-based thinkers who continually learn about their assets and ways to use them to attain desirable change. From that reflection, we contribute three methodological commitments for assets-based design to the growing CSCW scholarship on supporting vulnerable communities to attain emancipatory transformations: (1) embedding trust-building elements throughout the journey; (2) facilitating the formation of an interdependent collective; and (3) making moves towards incremental transformations. Further, we contribute a discussion on the change of perspective that entails for researchers and designers interested in undertaking assets-based design. In particular, we underscore the need to recognize the value of work before the work, to see technology as an intermediary rather than an inevitable end, and embrace impact in the shape of slow incremental transformation.

Recent Advances in Dimensionality Reduction Modeling and Multistability Reconstitution of Memristive Circuit

Due to the introduction of memristors, the memristor-based nonlinear oscillator circuits readily present the state initial-dependent multistability (or extreme multistability), i.e., coexisting multiple attractors (or coexisting infinitely many attractors). The dimensionality reduction modeling for a memristive circuit is carried out to realize accurate prediction, quantitative analysis, and physical control of its multistability, which has become one of the hottest research topics in the field of information science. Based on these considerations, this paper briefly reviews the specific multistability phenomenon generating from the memristive circuit in the voltage-current domain and expounds the multistability control strategy. Then, this paper introduces the accurate flux-charge constitutive relation of memristors. Afterwards, the dimensionality reduction modeling method of the memristive circuits, i.e., the incremental flux-charge analysis method, is emphatically introduced, whose core idea is to implement the explicit expressions of the initial conditions in the flux-charge model and to discuss the feasibility and effectiveness of the multistability reconstitution of the memristive circuits using their flux-charge models. Furthermore, the incremental integral transformation method for modeling of the memristive system is reviewed by following the idea of the incremental flux-charge analysis method. The theory and application promotion of the dimensionality reduction modeling and multistability reconstitution are proceeded, and the application prospect is prospected by taking the synchronization application of the memristor-coupled system as an example.

Alternative = transformative? Investigating drivers of transformation in alternative food networks in Germany

AbstractIn the hope for more sustainable agriculture and a stronger connection to their food, an increasing number of consumers participate in alternative food networks (AFNs) characterised by short food supply chains. However, it cannot be assumed that AFNs inherently transform the prevailing system and its respective practices around food. Thus, we apply a social innovation perspective to enable a comprehensive analysis of changed values, social practices and relations in AFNs. This article presents whether drivers of transformation occur in three different AFN models (Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), food co‐operatives (food co‐ops) and self‐harvest gardens) and how participants describe and perceive them in each model. Therefore, we conducted interviews with AFN producers and consumers, before applying qualitative content analysis. Interviewees describe a broad variety of transformed values, practices and relations: Especially CSA and food co‐ops bear transformative potential as their members report a strong reconnection of producers and consumers expressed through social interaction and community‐building. Self‐harvest gardeners predominantly seek individual capacity building and to have access to their own garden. We conclude that AFN participation fosters incremental transformation towards more sustainable practices around food and a respective value system, which can be a part of a bigger movement aimed at food system transformation.

Morphogenesis of Emerging Settlements: Mapping Incremental Urbanism

Informal urbanism has become a widespread form of urbanisation, particularly in the context of the global South. While there is an emerging body of knowledge focusing on the morphologies of informal settlements, the incremental transformations of emerging settlements have remained underexplored. Drawing on a case study of an emerging settlement in Nigeria, we map the emergence and incremental transformation of access networks and buildings. This is an exploratory study focusing on the morphogenesis of emerging settlements to explore how the incremental production of space works. We adopt urban mapping and typology as key methods. Following the analysis of emerging access networks, this paper identifies three primary types of change, namely add, alter, and remove, and further develops a typology of emerging junctions by specifying four types of T, Y, X, and Mixed shape junctions. The incremental transformations of buildings primarily incorporate practices of addition and removal, among others. We also identify three forms of relation between the emerging access networks and buildings: access network first, building first, and co-production. We argue that moving towards developing adaptive design interventions relies on a sophisticated understanding of the process of morphogenesis in emerging settlements.

Housing growth: impacts on density, space consumption and urban morphology

How and why do houses densify over time? What is the impact of that growth and what kind of constraints affect their potential to change? This research explores built form change and densification, providing historical evidence from the incremental transformation of a 19th-century housing scheme, Cité Ouvrière, in Mulhouse, eastern France. This granular longitudinal morphological study uses historical planning applications and images to map the external volumetric transformations of 1253 single-family houses over a 165-year period. The research combines archival work with three-dimensional (3D) architectural modelling and an advanced density method to record, visualise, analyse and evaluate the densification process at the microlevel. Statistical computing traces the densification process and the Spacematrix tool analyses the impact on open space consumption for different building typologies and for the neighbourhood as a whole. The results highlight seven types of transformations, affected by seven drivers of physical change. Densification is manifested either through built intensification or plot union/subdivision, and its degree is determined by the extent to which non-built space is consumed. These depend on socioeconomic, legal and physical constraints imposed by the original design. <em><strong>Practice relevance</strong></em> This work informs architects and planners how the design of houses together with non-formal constraints affect buildings’ resilience and longevity and their capacity to accommodate growth over time. By tracing the successful transformation of a suburban settlement to a dense and morphologically diverse city quarter, the results support the slow and contained densification of existing housing through small changes—an approach which can benefit the sustainability and energy agendas of cities and settlements in Europe and abroad. This expands the current understanding of built density, advances our knowledge in the simulation and forecasting of dynamic change in the building stock, and contributes methodologically to the fields of urban morphology, geography and data computation.

3D Bioprinting and the Future of Surgery.

Introduction: The disciplines of 3D bioprinting and surgery have witnessed incremental transformations over the last century. 3D bioprinting is a convergence of biology and engineering technologies, mirroring the clinical need to produce viable biological tissue through advancements in printing, regenerative medicine and materials science. To outline the current and future challenges of 3D bioprinting technology in surgery.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was undertaken using the MEDLINE, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases between 2000 and 2019. A narrative synthesis of the resulting literature was produced to discuss 3D bioprinting, current and future challenges, the role in personalized medicine and transplantation surgery and the global 3D bioprinting market.Results: The next 20 years will see the advent of bioprinted implants for surgical use, however the path to clinical incorporation will be fraught with an array of ethical, regulatory and technical challenges of which each must be surmounted. Previous clinical cases where regulatory processes have been bypassed have led to poor outcomes and controversy. Speculated roles of 3D bioprinting in surgery include the production of de novo organs for transplantation and use of autologous cellular material for personalized medicine. The promise of these technologies has sparked an industrial revolution, leading to an exponential growth of the 3D bioprinting market worth billions of dollars.Conclusion: Effective translation requires the input of scientists, engineers, clinicians, and regulatory bodies: there is a need for a collaborative effort to translate this impactful technology into a real-world healthcare setting and potentially transform the future of surgery.