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In this study, the isolation and identification of bacteria that form biofilms on various food products sold on open-air market stalls in Aydın Province were aimed. Bacteria were isolated from food surfaces in aseptic conditions and isolated after incubation in the Tryptic Soy Agar medium at 37°C for 24-48 hours. DNA isolations of the isolated bacteria were performed and the PCR products obtained were used for sequencing. The Congo Red Agar method was used to qualitatively analyze biofilm formation. According to this method, bacteria forming black colonies were evaluated as biofilm-positive and were subjected to quantitative analysis using the Microplate method. A total of 67 bacteria were isolated from the sampled food items, of which 7 were strong and 2 were moderate biofilm producers, showing that more importance should be given to food hygiene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing deployment of autonomous taxis in different cities around the world, recent studies have stressed the importance of developing new methods, models and tools for intuitive human–autonomous taxis interactions (HATIs). Street hailing is one example, where passengers would hail an autonomous taxi by simply waving a hand, exactly like they do for manned taxis. However, automated taxi street-hailing recognition has been explored to a very limited extent. In order to address this gap, in this paper, we propose a new method for the detection of taxi street hailing based on computer vision techniques. Our method is inspired by a quantitative study that we conducted with 50 experienced taxi drivers in the city of Tunis (Tunisia) in order to understand how they recognize street-hailing cases. Based on the interviews with taxi drivers, we distinguish between explicit and implicit street-hailing cases. Given a traffic scene, explicit street hailing is detected using three elements of visual information: the hailing gesture, the person's relative position to the road and the person's head orientation. Any person who is standing close to the road, looking towards the taxi and making a hailing gesture is automatically recognized as a taxi-hailing passenger. If some elements of the visual information are not detected, we use contextual information (such as space, time and weather) in order to evaluate the existence of implicit street-hailing cases. For example, a person who is standing on the roadside in the heat, looking towards the taxi but not waving his hand is still considered a potential passenger. Hence, the new method that we propose integrates both visual and contextual information in a computer-vision pipeline that we designed to detect taxi street-hailing cases from video streams collected by capturing devices mounted on moving taxis. We tested our pipeline using a dataset that we collected with a taxi on the roads of Tunis. Considering both explicit and implicit hailing scenarios, our method yields satisfactory results in relatively realistic settings, with an accuracy of 80%, a precision of 84% and a recall of 84%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article used Kusaka's moral politics framework in examining the struggle between the city authorities and the sidewalk vendors of the City of Manila. It explained the development of sidewalk vending from the perspectives of the authorities and the sidewalk vendors from the time of Mayor Gemeliano Lopez Jr. (1986–1992) to the time of Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada (2013–2019). It showed the moralization of the perceived problem of sidewalk vending in the city and the approach of the authorities in eradicating sidewalk vendors. This qualitative study is a product of interviews with city officials, employees, and the different types of sidewalk vendors. It revealed that authorities perceived the vendors as undisciplined and undesirable illegals, while the vendors see the authorities as corrupt and dishonest extortionists. This moral opposition remains a contributing factor to the unresolved problem of sidewalk vending in Manila. The approach of the authorities to the problem evaded the social injustices experienced by the vendors whose welfare is a mandated responsibility of local officials based on the Local Government Code of 1991. The article suggests the creation of a mechanism of engagement between the authorities and the vendors that will serve as an opportunity for sidewalk vendors' participation in policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objetive this study was to identify the importance of the buñuelo as a traditional product in street food outlets in the Santo Domingo Savio neighborhood of Medellín, and the changes from the traditional recipe to the commercial one. Interviews were conducted with buñuelos vendors from sector, and possible variations in the product recipe were identified. The results obtained showed that the buñuelo is present in a significant way in the points of sale in the public thoroughfare of the sector; In addition, the traditional recipe presents changes concerning the commercial recipe. Finally, it concluded that this traditional product can presente as an alternative to generating income for the population of the Santo Domingo Savio neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on longitudinal ethnographic research carried out over two-and-a-half decades in barrio Luis Fanor Hernández, a poor neighborhood in Managua, Nicaragua, this article explores how legal and illegal economic activities are socially legitimized, and more specifically, how certain illegal economic activities can end up being seen as legitimate, and certain legal ones perceived as illegitimate. The first part of the article explores the variable morality surrounding different types of criminal activities that local gang members engaged in during the 1990s and 2000s. The second part considers my experiences running a local market stall, describing the contrasting reactions I faced when I resorted to first legal, and then illegal, strategies to boost my revenue levels. Taken together, these examples showcase how the social legitimization of an economic activity has less to do with whether it is legal or illegal, but rather the future aspirations it embodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street food has been promoted by the City of Helsinki as a new urban culture that is believed to enhance the image of the city. While fixed stall vending in market squares is as old as the city itself, food truck vending is a new phenomenon in Helsinki. In lieu of celebrating the emergence of this new urban culture, this article aims to make visible the struggles that food truck vendors are encountering and at the same time, explore factors that determine how these vendors operate and exist. In particular, it considers the types and effects of land tenure; the regulatory framework; the elements of urban form; and the environment and the demographics of the area, including who the vendors are and the types of food that they sell, as key factors. The results demonstrate that the struggles of food truck vendors in Helsinki stem from the permit system that grants the vendors the right to use designated municipal land for vending but does not guarantee them secured vending space. Also, the vendors must obtain water and electricity by themselves. The City of Helsinki neither places a ceiling on the number of permits given to food truck vendors nor requires a mix of food types sold in each vending area. Therefore, food truck vendors must compete for vending space and customers. This article argues that the City of Helsinki overlooks the diverse interests and needs of street food vendors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes on-driving experience sharing algorithms at junctions in infrastructure-assisted vehicles-to-everything networks. For the purpose, a millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology is used because it provides multi-Gbps data rates which is helpful for handling users’ short stay times at junctions and spatial reuse due to high beam directionality which is helpful for interference-avoidance among densely deployed vehicles at junctions. To realize on-driving experience sharing, the proposed algorithms focus on joint resource allocation and scheduling for 3GPP-compliant multiple unicast vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications where the vehicles are group leaders (GLs) in 3GPP Mode 4(d). The resource allocation stands for the roadside unit (RSU) allocation to scheduled V2V GL links where RSU is essentially required for overcoming blockage by establishing two-hop relaying. Because vehicles stay for short times at junctions, this paper designs two algorithms without or with delay considerations. Without delay considerations, the joint optimization of RSU allocation and scheduling was originally formulated as mixed 0-1 non-convex optimization. However our proposed algorithm reformulates the problem into mixed 0-1 convex optimization, which is computationally easier to solve. With delay considerations, our proposed algorithm dynamically controls video contents frame rates for time-average on-driving video sharing quality maximization subject to delay constraints, inspired by Lyapunov optimization. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that our algorithms can significantly outperform in a variety of scenarios. Furthermore, we conduct the cost analysis for the proposed algorithms in terms of capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The aim of the research is to investigate the relationship between formal education and female entrepreneurship in Uganda. This research hopes to contribute to the literature on education and women's entrepreneurship in this country. Methods. Data is collected from 109 women through semi structured interviews. These are participants from the agribusiness sector and own businesses ranging from market stalls, retail shops to street businesses. Through the iterative process, emerging themes are analysed and discussed. Results. The research finds that formal education programmes and macroeconomic policies negatively impact formal education and female entrepreneurship. Macroeconomic policies such as privatisation and the programmes of universal formal education do not incentivise students (specifically female ones) to pursue a full formal education, influencing them to leave schools early for necessity entrepreneurship to meet immediate needs. Conclusions. Even though the study indicates that a formal education demonstrates high outcomes in terms of economic growth and development, the education level attained by women entrepreneurs is insufficient to meet true entrepreneurial success. Furthermore, the macroeconomic environment adds to the challenge of successful women entrepreneurship. Originality. Various economic initiatives have been implemented in the quest for gender parity in education and women empowerment in Uganda since its independence. Statistics have demonstrated an increase in women's education and empowerment through entrepreneurship, however, such data do not necessarily reflect economic development. The results suggest that the relationship between formal education and women entrepreneurship is more complex and nuanced than previously believed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most open markets, the hygienic conditions for marketing food products are unsatisfactory, constituting a form of food-borne contamination. Therefore, knowing the forms of manipulation in open markets is of great importance for guaranteeing the quality of products, as well as reducing the possibility of generating food waste. Faced with this problem, the work aimed to assess the hygienic quality of stalls in the open market in the cities of Cachoeira and Muritiba, BA. A questionnaire and a checklist were applied to the fairground vendors in the cities of Cachoeira and Muritiba - Bahia. During the research it was found unsatisfactory hygienic conditions for the commercialization of products and vendors, with the need for physical adaptation of the place of sale and training of handlers regarding hygiene measures. There was a high waste of products sold, mainly tomatoes and peppers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pork in the informal market significantly contributes to food, nutrition and income security in low-income countries' urban areas but is a safety concern to value chain actors and public authorities due to potential contamination by pathogens. To evaluate the physicochemical quality, microbial and oxidative profiles of pork sold from the informal urban street market, 50 samples were collected from 40 street vendors and 10 supermarkets in five different low-income, high-density suburbs in the Cape Metropole District, South Africa. Results showed no differences (P > 0.05) in pH, colour, proximate attributes (except for lipid content), antioxidant activity, lipid oxidation, and Escherichia coli counts in pork collected from the formal and informal markets, and open-air and enclosed market stalls. Lipid content, Enterobacteriaceae , and total bacterial counts of pork collected from the informal market were higher (P ≤ 0.05) than those from the formal market. Positive cases of Listeria monocytogenes (6–8%) and Salmonella spp. (4%) were reported for pork sampled in the informal market, especially in open-air stalls. It was concluded that higher levels of microbial contamination in the informal market, particularly in open-air stalls compared to the formal market require constant monitoring, provision of appropriate market infrastructure, and hygiene behaviour change of vendors to ensure pork safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The street vendor's (SV) potential mobility in subverting authorities' hegemony over public space has been theorised within the contexts of urban informality and resistance. Discussions mainly revolve around movement tactics as resistance strategy while evading arrests and confiscations. This negates SV agency and limits understanding mobility in resistance. Using Bunschoten's metaspace and Cresswell's aspects of mobility, this paper employs semi-structured interviews with mobile SV, road users and pedestrians in Kano (Nigeria), to describe vendors' mobile practices and how they delay hostility from the state. Observing the interplay between vendors, users and environment, this paper identifies four types of vendor movement: focused, targeted, sporadic and self-regulatory; and examines how vendors exploit Cresswell's speed and rhythm in challenging formal urban practice hegemony through continuous operation. The paper also describes how vendors' movement affects other actors' mobilities. Finally, the paper discusses urban design implications for integrating SV within city plans, setting out potential proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'What there is to fear', is how a taxi driver put it. That is, in different worlds 'what there is to fear' shifts. It's a dark definition of a world – a universe of shared fears. But in Ecuador's Amazon, snakes are one thing there is to fear, while in metropolitan Quito, among Colombian forced migrants, other Colombians are what there is to fear: paramilitaries, decommissioned guerillas or extortionists who cross the border to exact a price – in blood, pain or money. Yet, in therapeutic encounters several forced migrants I know were told they suffered from persecution anxiety or that the face of the killer they saw across the market stall was probably just another Ecuadorean face. Working through a series of 'scenes' this article asks how fear works to create and break human kinship–or what Sahlins has called the 'mutuality of being'–and what I am calling a world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explains the condition of women street vending as a business that is capable of enhancing and strengthening the economic status of women in a family, but on the other hand, as a way that promotes prostitution. The approach used in this study is the ethnographic approach that seeks to understand the emic and the ethics of the research subjects. Finally, it can be understood that the prostitutes do not have the "Siri" (shame) values in their life, which is an institutionalized culture in society of Buginese and Makassarese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on street vending has been engaged with 'ordinary spaces of negotiation' as a heterogeneous, contradictory and performative realm of contestation over public space between street vendors and state bureaucracy. This article adopts Rancière's conceptualisation of politics and police for examining this realm, bringing actors in addition to, and other than, city authorities and street vendors into the investigation. Drawing on a study in three commercial strips in Tehran, this article shows that whenever the state is involved in containing – and not removing – street vendors, the entangled relationships between shopkeepers, state functionaries and street vendors shaped new dynamic orders in sidewalks, whereby trading was allowed, albeit with forms and intensity tolerated by the state and the powerful. This new order in sidewalks transformed some vendors into the agents of policing and in turn created new marginalised groups, such as individual vendors with lower resources. The article argues that by moving beyond equating politics with everyday contestations of subaltern groups, Rancière's perspective offers an analytical instrument for understanding how entangled interactions between different actors, inscribed by complex local histories and social norms, determine the ways of enacting – or not enacting – state policies, and mediate governing the city on a daily basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay is about 'youth full' change, the content of which is always partial and incomplete but it is always playful in the sense that it is generative and creative. That revolutionary playfulness emanates from young people suggests an important harbinger of change that is often dismissed or feared by adults. As the world moves along dystopian axes, we ignore this palpable energy and its potential at great cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper interrogates how street trading is governed in contemporary cities of the South, based on the example of Johannesburg. It excavates policy choices made by municipal officials and politicians, understood through the set of policy instruments (not only policy documents, institutions and tools, but also non-tools) that they have framed and used for almost two decades, beyond public rhetoric that is arguably misleading. The paper provides a critical analyzis of policy instruments for governing street trading, scantly absent from existing literature, it also brings back into the urban studies debate issues of municipal officials’ agency, political objectives and policy choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on my own experiences in the field and the stories of queer Latina immigrant vendors collected from 2004 to 2014. I argue that through an onto-epistemological relational framework, we can further elucidate how entangled social worlds provide new ways of understanding the world we live in. I propose reading the materiality and embodied street vending practices as not separate from, but constitutive with, ideologies about sexuality, gender, and nationality that shape, restrict, and reproduce informal street vending practices in Latino barrios. Particularly, I analyze the embodied entanglements of culturally conservative ideologies about sexuality within immigrant Latino communities across borders, individual experiences with transmigration journeys, and context of reception in Los Angeles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data services (i.e., office on wheels and entertainment on wheels) are expected to become a primary driver in the development of future connected cars. However, the sparse spatial distribution of roadside stationary units (RSUs) along the road renders the downloading of data via roadside-to-vehicle (R2V) connections intermittent. As a result, data services, particularly for those dealing with large volumes of data, may not achieve a good quality of service. In this paper, we propose a multiple-vehicle protocol for collaborative data downloading by using network coding (NC). When multiple vehicles that are approaching each other have a common interest in certain data, they can collaboratively download the data from an RSU to significantly reduce their download time. We first derive the probability mass functions (PMFs) of the downloading completion time for three downloading methods, i.e., random, feedback, and NC based, to quantify the benefits of the proposed scheme. Our analytical derivations show that, compared with random- and feedback-based methods, the proposed approach can significantly improve the download time and will remove any need for uplink communications from vehicles to the infrastructure. Moreover, we discuss the cooperative group formation issues and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) data sharing in detail. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol has a more robust performance compared with random- and feedback-based schemes. In addition, we constitute simulations to show that the proposed scheme can apply to the scenarios with dynamic network topology and imperfect V2V data sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focusing on street-side vending of fresh mint and herbs in the French city of Montpellier, this paper considers the difference between illegal and informal vending, and the regulatory mechanisms deployed by municipal and police actors in the push to eradicate illegality. Drawing on municipal archives from the late 1990s, and interviews and city documents from the 2000s, I examine the relationship between regularised market stall holders and those selling goods outside assigned vending spaces, with a particular interest in how these two groups interact, and the instances in which police and market officials are called. Through a rapidly escalating campaign to fight illegality, green fresh mint is coded as an illicit product and the individuals who sell it are targeted as dangerous criminal elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the strengths and complexities of using solicited journals/diaries with a marginalised, itinerant population in Vietnam's capital city Hanoi. We draw on journals completed by Hanoi street vendors to better understand the everyday lived experiences of a population targeted by state officials for fines and retribution. Since 2008, street vending has been banned on a number of streets and public spaces in Hanoi. Yet concurrently, livelihood options for those without formal education or skills are increasingly limited. Based on solicited journals kept by street vendors during 2012, we find that journals provide a channel for everyday politics and subtle resistance measures to be reflected on by research participants, and for detailed understandings of state-society relations to emerge. Moreover, from an analysis of participants' journal entries as well as de-briefing interviews, we consider the strengths and complexities of this qualitative method, situated within a context of state-induced fear among an itinerant and sometimes non-literate population. While the strengths of the approach became quickly apparent in the detailed and insightful narratives we received, literacy limitations, vendor feelings of inadequacy regarding journal entry style and complications regarding a sense of obligation to us as researchers raise a number of concerns. Researchers must therefore reflect carefully on the practicalities, ethics and power relations involved with this method. Nonetheless, we also note how participants became inspired to rework the journaling process to meet their own needs and were empowered to circumnavigate state controls to voice counter-narratives of their rights to the street. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street vending represents a vital and growing aspect of the urban informal economy that is often the subject of municipal regulatory efforts that seek to control, confine or extinguish it. In the People's Republic of China, recent developments and discussions on vendor rights and regulation underscore important socio-political and economic changes and concerns around the role of the informal economy in this country. As more of China's rural poor enter urban areas and turn to the streets to survive, the number of unlicensed vendors has risen and municipal efforts at increased regulation and enforcement of street vending licensure have been enacted. These developments within the context of China's ‘state-capitalist economy’ provide a fertile field for research into the informal economy, use and re-appropriation of public space, and regulation of a previously marginalized commercial activity. This paper draws from primary and secondary sources to provide an overview of street vending in China and consider the implications of recent regulatory developments and public dialogue that strive to formalize the informal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (hereafter called the 2004 Reauthorization Act) was federal legislation that required school districts participating in the federally funded school meal program to develop and implement policies addressing nutrition guidelines for all foods and beverages available on school campuses by the onset of the 2006/2007 school year. Purpose: Vending machine and school store (VMSS) availability and low-nutrient, energy-dense snacks and beverages in VMSS were assessed in a statewide sample of Minnesota secondary schools before and after the 2004 Reauthorization Act was implemented in 2006/2007. Methods: The CDC School Health Profiles principal survey was collected from a representative sample of middle (n=170) and high (n=392) schools biennially from 2002 to 2010. Trends were estimated using general linear models with a logit link and linear spline modeling. Analyses were conducted in 2012. Results: Among high schools, VMSS (p=0.001) and sugar-sweetened beverages (p=0.004), high-fat salty snacks (p=0.001), and candy (p=0.001) in VMSS decreased from 2002 to 2008. In 2008, a change in slope direction from negative to positive occurred for all food practices and an increase in VMSS (p=0.014) and sugar-sweetened beverages (p=0.033) was seen. Among middle schools, VMSS (p=0.027), sugar-sweetened beverages (p=0.001), high-fat salty snacks (p=0.001), and candy (p=0.029) decreased from 2002 to 2010. Conclusions: This study supports a link between policy and sustainable decreases in some food practices but not others and a differential effect that favors middle schools over high schools. Policy-setting is a dynamic process requiring ongoing surveillance to identify shifting trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing interaction between newspaper stands and Nigerian readers transcends market exchange. It is rather a place for engendering social consciousness among a people, desirous of being abreast of up-to-date information, but lacking requisite finance. Thus, a practice which evolved out of peoples' financial incapability has become a catalyst for the congregation of individuals at newspaper stands to access news at minimal cost, for social interaction and possible social consciousness. This depicts a public sphere where people have "shared interest". Thus, the newspaper stand presents as public sphere where shared public interest reported in newspapers ignites deliberative discourses which hugely impacts social consciousness among discussants and listening by-standers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each human organ performs specific function and is vital for the survival. But drastic times call for drastic measures and people resort to vending their normal being just to find the wherewithal and keep body and sole together. This paper highlight selling of a kidney and examines the reasons for which people indulge in the act of kidney selling, the process by which kidneys are sold and the laws and regulations in Pakistan pertain to control of this racket. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the role of female fish sellers in Dutch urban society. According to the author, these women's experiences were much more diverse than scholars have previously believed. Particular focus is given to the eel market in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is suggested that women in this sector of the fish trade operated independently of their husbands and enjoyed a measure of economic security, while women wage workers and fish vendors in other sectors of the market held more marginal positions. Topics discussed include literary portrayals of Dutch fishwives, the economic status of stallholders, and fish vendors' family relations and experiences of motherhood.

Wet markets play an important role in food security and consumers often view the produce as fresher and cheaper. It is highly prevalent in Asia and a source of livelihood for many small and medium businesses. Studies have revealed that highly unsanitary markets, especially those with live bird stalls operating within the wet market could pose a threat to consumer food safety and public health. This study proposed a new, rapid assessment tool for monitoring hygiene and biosecurity measures of live bird stalls. The design of Hygiene and Biosecurity Assessment Tool (HBAT) was supported by the identification of critical hygiene and biosecurity practices based on empirical evidence that suggests such control measures can prevent or reduce the cross contamination or transmission of zoonoses. An observational, cross sectional study of wet markets selling live birds and/or slaughtered birds was conducted to test the tool. Most wet market stalls slaughter and/or sell chicken, followed by quail, duck and amphibians. 50% of the wet market stalls were rated as moderate, 43.2% as poor and require major improvement, 2.3% as good and 4.5% as excellent. Stalls are in general kept in clean condition and no mixing of species or presence of pests or strays were observed. The cleaning and disinfection practices of slaughter area (after each slaughter) and tools require urgent improvement as majority of stalls cleaned the surfaces with water only. Customers have direct access to live bird stalls and should be reminded (with visible signs) to wash their hands before entering other zones. Toilet and handwashing facilities are highly inadequate and improved physical infrastructure and the provision of sufficient hygiene and handwashing facilities are required to facilitate hand hygiene. This study is highly relevant to countries where wet markets and live bird stalls play a crucial food security role to the local communities. The tool could be used to aid policymakers design evidence-based assessments to monitor on-site hygiene and biosecurity measures of live bird/animal stalls in wet markets. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to propose an on-site hygiene and biosecurity assessment tool to monitor live bird stalls in wet market. • Procedure for assessing on-site hygiene and biosecurity measures of wet market stalls is proposed. • Cleaning and disinfection practices of slaughter area and tools require urgent improvement to prevent cross contamination. • Visible notices to prompt workers and public about importance of hand hygiene and procedures for handwashing is required. • Adequate hygiene and handwashing facilities should be provided to workers and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on expressive merchandise and the first amendment in public fora in the U.S. It discusses the statutory framework for regulating sidewalk vending and the difference between the Second Circuit's approach in delineating the scope of the First Amendment from other federal courts. Moreover, it also tackles on how courts evaluate the First Amendment protection and how municipal government regulates expressive activity.

El artículo discurre sobre la cocina callejera en Venezuela. La autora comenta sobre la importancia de esta comida a la cultura urbana del país, así como por todo el mundo, y describe los aspectos legales y económicos de este nicho de la industria. También se considera una breve historia de la cocina callejera, incluyendo los cambios en el tipo de comida ofrecida.

Presents information on a study which focused on the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program which is designed to provide individuals who are blind with paid employment by operating vending facilities on federal and other property. Methodology of the study; Results and discussion.

Street vending is an essential part of the urban informal economy in developing countries. Related to rapid urbanization and socio-economic challenges, studies have proposed comprehensive street design and management that accommodate sidewalk vendors efficiently. To this end, this paper evaluated the effect of three alternatives to integrate sidewalk vendors on average pedestrian density. A social-force based pedestrian microsimulation model (PTV-Viswalk-11) was calibrated using a macroscopic approach. A calibrated model was then used to evaluate the effect of a kiosk, a sidewalk vendor in frontage, and a sidewalk vendor in furniture zones on pedestrian movement under different scenarios. Results indicated that the average pedestrian density varied with the location and width of the vending stall, width of the walkway, pedestrian flow and the presence of a customer interacting with a vendor. The paper concludes with recommendations for planners and local authorities. • Evaluation of the effect of three alternatives of sidewalk vendors on average pedestrian density. • A social-force based pedestrian model (PTV-Viswalk-11) was calibrated using a macroscopic approach. • Location and width of vending stalls, walkway width, pedestrian flow and presence of customer effect pedestrian density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on several companies of the U.S. that are pushing their pork suppliers to abandon individual stalls for pregnant sows. It informs that many of the food suppliers have made such commitments including McDonald's Corp., Kroger Co. and Aramark Corp. Paul Sundberg, vice president of science and technology at National Pork Board, disagrees that the industry has reached a tipping point.

The article presents information on the elimination of the use of the sow gestation stalls from the supply chain of the products by the retailers in the U.S. The production of pork in the country involves the stalls. Information on the companies that are eliminating the stalls including McDonald's Corp., Burger King Corp., Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. and Wendy's Co. is also presented INSET: Sow housing statements.