Enjeux Liés à la Traversée de la Frontière Bénino-Togolaise dans le Secteur Materi-Mandouri

Les zones frontalières sont des lieux spécifiques où s’effectuent des échanges des biens et des personnes. La présente recherche a pour objectif d’étudier les enjeux liés à la traversée de la frontière bénino-togolaise dans le secteur Materi-Mandouri. Pour atteindre cet objectif, des investigations ont été faites à partir de la collecte des données et informations aux moyens de la recherche documentaire, des observations directes sur le terrain, des entretiens et enquêtes auprès de 93 personnes du milieu de recherche choisies suivant la méthode de choix raisonné. Le traitement des données et l’analyse des résultats se sont focalisés sur l’analyse sociale et l’évaluation des gains auprès des populations cibles. Il ressort des résultats que le commerce (86,66 %), le transport (6,67 %) et la visite des parents (6,66 %) sont les principaux facteurs qui expliquent la présence d’un important flux de personnes dans le secteur de recherche. Aussi, les échanges transfrontaliers entre le Bénin et le Togo contribuent au développement de l’économie locale à travers le chargement, le transport de marchandise et les taxes perçues par les autorités locales. Cependant, les échanges transfrontaliers sont marqués par des contraintes d’ordre social, sécuritaire et infrastructurel. Il faut alors se poser la question de savoir si les actions actuelles permettent de tirer profit du potentiel économique de cette zone frontalière et de faciliter la traversée des populations. Border areas are specific places where people's goods are traded. The objective of this research is to study the issues related to the crossing of the Benin-Togolese border in the Materi-Mandouri sector. To achieve this objective, investigations were carried out from the collection of data and information by means of documentary research, direct observations in the field, interviews and surveys with 93 people from the research community chosen according to the method of reasoned choice. Data processing and outcome analysis focused on social analysis and evaluation of gains among target populations. The results show that trade (86.66%), transport (6.67%) and parental visits (6.66%) are the main factors explaining the presence of a large flow of people in the research sector. Also, cross-border trade between Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin contributes to the development of the local economy through loading, transport of goods and taxes collected by local authorities. However, cross-border trade is marked by social, security and infrastructural constraints. It is then necessary to ask the question of whether the current actions make it possible to take advantage of the economic potential of this border area and to facilitate the crossing of populations.

Classification of Imbalanced Travel Mode Choice to Work Data Using Adjustable SVM Model

The investigation of travel mode choice is an essential task in transport planning and policymaking for predicting travel demands. Typically, mode choice datasets are imbalanced and learning from such datasets is challenging. This study deals with imbalanced mode choice data by developing an algorithm (SVMAK) based on a support vector machine model and the theory of adjusting kernel scaling. The kernel function’s choice was evaluated by applying the likelihood-ratio chi-square and weighting measures. The empirical assessment was performed on the 2017 National Household Travel Survey–California dataset. The performance of the SVMAK model was compared with several other models, including neural networks, XGBoost, Bayesian Network, standard support vector machine model, and some SVM-based models that were previously developed to handle the imbalanced datasets. The SVMAK model outperformed these models, and in some cases improved the accuracy of the minority class classification. For the majority class, the accuracy improvement was substantial. This algorithm can be applied to other tasks in the transport planning domain that deal with uneven data distribution.

Factors influencing student’s specialty choices in Lomé faculty of medicine (Togo)

Background The choice of specialty in medicine is an important decision for the individual, but also for health system. This choice combined personals reasons, professional desires and needs of the health system. The number of specialists in the country depends of this choice. Very few studies have focused on factors influencing the choice of specialties among medical students in Africa. Also, in the absence of specialist needs planning in Togo. This study, aims to determine the factors influencing the choice of specialty among students at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Lomé (FSS-UL). Methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional study that took place from June 1 to June 30, 2019 with medical students of the doctoral cycle and doctors in specialization studies in the various Diploma of Special Study (DSS) available at the FSS-UL. Data collection was done at the surveyed’s training sites. Pre-established and pre-tested fact sheets were giving and explained to the students by data collection team. Data collection team return at the surveyed’s training sites 72 h after to collect pre-established fact sheets. Following variables study including: factors (individual; related to the medical curriculum); the advantages and attractiveness of the specialty that can influence students’ choice. Data analysis was carried out using Epi Info 6.0 software. The significance threshold was 5%. Results At the time of the survey, the FSS-UL had 147 doctoral students and 211 specialty students. A total of 251 participants responded to the questionnaires. These included 140 doctoral students and 111 specialty students. The choice of specialties requiring night work such as gynecology, surgery was significantly associated with the male sex (p = 0.001). There was significant association between having financial support (p = 0.001), remuneration related to the specialty (p = 0.0001) and the decision to beginning specialty studies immediately completing general medical studies. Interest in lectures (p = 0.003), teacher support as a mentor in the specialty (p = 0.01) and easy accessibility to teachers (p = 0.008) were medical curriculum factors significantly associated with specialty choice. Facility to work in public and private sector was mentioned by 55.3% of respondents who chose gynecology (p = 0.03). Interest in lectures (p = 0.003), was significantly associated with choice of fundamental sciences; and work in international fields was significantly associated with the choice of pediatric and public health (p = 0.0001). Conclusion Factors influencing the choice of certain specialty were balance between family and professional life; financial support to studies, the remuneration opportunities related to the specialty, access to university career. Intervention on these factors will allow a balance between the numbers of doctors trained in the different specialties.

Methodological issues with value-based decision-making (VBDM) tasks: does trial wording matter?

Objective: Most value-based decision-making (VBDM) tasks instruct people to make value judgements about stimuli using wording relating to consumption, however in some contexts this may be inappropriate. This study aims to explore whether variations of trial wording capture a common construct of value. Method: Pre-registered, within-subject design. Fifty-nine participants completed a two-alternative forced choice task where they chose between two food images. Participants completed three blocks of trials: one asked which they would rather consume (standard wording), one asked which image they like more, and one asked them to recall which image they rated higher during a previous block. We fitted a drift-diffusion model to the reaction time and choice data to estimate evidence accumulation (EA) processes during the different blocks. Results: There was a highly significant main effect of trial difficulty, but this was not modified by trial wording (F = 2.00, p = .11, np2 = .03, BF10 = .05). We also found highly significant positive correlations between EA rates across task blocks (rs > .44, ps < .001). Conclusions: Findings provide initial validation of substitute wording for VBDM tasks that can be used in contexts where it may be undesirable to ask participants to make consummatory judgements.

Entropy-based metrics for predicting choice behavior based on local response to reward

For decades, behavioral scientists have used the matching law to quantify how animals distribute their choices between multiple options in response to reinforcement they receive. More recently, many reinforcement learning (RL) models have been developed to explain choice by integrating reward feedback over time. Despite reasonable success of RL models in capturing choice on a trial-by-trial basis, these models cannot capture variability in matching behavior. To address this, we developed metrics based on information theory and applied them to choice data from dynamic learning tasks in mice and monkeys. We found that a single entropy-based metric can explain 50% and 41% of variance in matching in mice and monkeys, respectively. We then used limitations of existing RL models in capturing entropy-based metrics to construct more accurate models of choice. Together, our entropy-based metrics provide a model-free tool to predict adaptive choice behavior and reveal underlying neural mechanisms.

Making Way for the Car: Minimum Parking Requirements and Porirua City Centre

<p>Minimum parking requirements (MPRs) mandate that each new development provides enough parking to ensure ample provision at the time of peak demand. This approach tends to oversupply parking above the optimal level, and by bundling parking into the development costs, ensures that parking is free to the user. As a result, land-use and transport decisions are distorted. A case study of Porirua central business district (CBD) was undertaken to investigate the use of MPRs in the New Zealand context, and to assess their impacts on transport and land-use patterns. Findings indicate that MPRs tend to oversupply parking relative to weekly mean and peak occupancies. Land use mapping found that 24 percent of CBD land is allocated to car parking and MPRs were shown to contribute to dispersed development patterns. Stated choice data and a cost recovery model for car parking highlight how free and ample car parking provision favours car driving and has distortionary impacts on travel decisions.</p>

Making Way for the Car: Minimum Parking Requirements and Porirua City Centre

<p>Minimum parking requirements (MPRs) mandate that each new development provides enough parking to ensure ample provision at the time of peak demand. This approach tends to oversupply parking above the optimal level, and by bundling parking into the development costs, ensures that parking is free to the user. As a result, land-use and transport decisions are distorted. A case study of Porirua central business district (CBD) was undertaken to investigate the use of MPRs in the New Zealand context, and to assess their impacts on transport and land-use patterns. Findings indicate that MPRs tend to oversupply parking relative to weekly mean and peak occupancies. Land use mapping found that 24 percent of CBD land is allocated to car parking and MPRs were shown to contribute to dispersed development patterns. Stated choice data and a cost recovery model for car parking highlight how free and ample car parking provision favours car driving and has distortionary impacts on travel decisions.</p>