cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
NeuroGeM, a knowledgebase of genetic modifiers in neurodegenerative diseases
Creators: name: Na, Dokyun
name: Rouf, Mushfiqur
name: O’Kane, Cahir J
name: Rubinsztein, David C
name: Gsponer, Jörg
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2016

description: Background: Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are characterized by the progressive loss of neurons in the human brain. Although the majority of NDs are sporadic, evidence is accumulating that they have a strong genetic component. Therefore, significant efforts have been made in recent years to not only identify disease-causing genes but also genes that modify the severity of NDs, so-called genetic modifiers. To date there exists no compendium that lists and cross-links genetic modifiers of different NDs. Description: In order to address this need, we present NeuroGeM, the first comprehensive knowledgebase providing integrated information on genetic modifiers of nine different NDs in the model organisms D. melanogaster, C. elegans, and S. cerevisiae. NeuroGeM cross-links curated genetic modifier information from the different NDs and provides details on experimental conditions used for modifier identification, functional annotations, links to homologous proteins and color-coded protein-protein interaction networks to visualize modifier interactions. We demonstrate how this database can be used to generate new understanding through meta-analysis. For instance, we reveal that the Drosophila genes DnaJ-1, thread, Atx2, and mub are generic modifiers that affect multiple if not all NDs. Conclusion: As the first compendium of genetic modifiers, NeuroGeM will assist experimental and computational scientists in their search for the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying NDs. http://chibi.ubc.ca/neurogem .
title: The temporary and typological potential for new interaction and publicness
Creators: name: Han, Jiawen
name: Zhang, Zixuan
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: As a portable typology, pop-up stores appeared in China in 2006 and quickly spread to increase opportunities for meeting up and growing fashion and brand activities. Most are located in the interior of shopping centres or on streets with retail shops. However, they are generally not considered as public spaces or as positive urban elements. Residents and urban agencies are inclined to perceive them to be temporary and purely functional places that serve commercial interests and lack social and spatial possibilities. This research, first, aims to provide a classification of the typologies of pop-up stores through a literature review and a field survey in Shanghai. Through the observation and documentation of people's behaviours in selected pop-up stores, the research explores whether such shops’ temporality, their limitations regarding times of operation, and their spatial configurations have affected people's interactions and activities. We argue that they concurrently offers a new sense of publicness among people immersing themselves in these spaces and places inside and outside pop-up stores depending on their location. In addition, it innovates and advances the understanding of these portable commercial areas by considering their social dimensions and relation to the larger context. This research further investigates how the temporality and flexible needs of the spaces have influenced their design. By studying Shanghai's pop-up stores as representational, the study aims to shed light on the design strategies of retail pop-up stores to strengthen the positive impact of new publicness brought by such innovative temporary public spaces.
title: Simulation of Dissipative Electron Quantum Transport in Si Nanowire Transistors: Effects of Phonon Confinement
Creators: name: Cai, Bimin
name: Van Put, Maarten L.
name: Fischetti, Massimo V.
Publisher: name: The University of Texas at Austin
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Materials science
subject: Engineering

description: Electronic transport in low-dimensional structures, such as thin bodies, nanosheets, nanoribbons and nanowires, is strongly affected by electron and phonon confinement, in addition to interface roughness. Here we use a quantum-transport formulation based on empirical pseudopotentials and the Master equation[1, 2] to study the effect of the phonon boundary conditions on the electron mobility in a small cross-section (4 × 4 cells) Si nanowire (NW) and the I − V characteristics of all-around-gate (GAA) SiNW field effect transistors FETs. We employ an empirical model for the dispersion of the confined phonons based on the folding of the bulk phonon dispersion (that approximates the results of the elastic-continuum model) and assume two extreme cases for their boundary conditions: Clamped boundary conditions (CBCs, as when employing hard gate insulators, such as Al2O3 or HfO2) or free-standing (FSBCs, as when assuming softer insulators, such as SiO2). Quite surprisingly, we find that clamped BCs result in a higher room-temperature electron mobility (462 cm2/Vs vs. 119 cm2/Vs for FSBCs), a result consistent with what previously reported[3]. On the contrary, in the off-equilibrium conditions seen in GAA FETs with 7-nm gate length, FSBCs yield an on-current a factor of about 3 larger than what is obtained assuming CBCs. We attribute this behavior to the fact that CBCs result in smaller overlap integrals between the low-energy initial/final electron wavefunctions and the divergence of the phonon-displacement field (all ‘peaked’ at the center of the NW), and, therefore, on smaller scattering rates for intra-subband scattering of thermal electrons. On the contrary, at the higher electron energies reached in GAA FETs, smaller phonon-emission rates (inter-subband processes) are obtained when assuming FSBCs that are characterized by a divergence of the phonon-displacement field that reaches its maximum near the edges of the NW. The calculations have been performed at TACC.
Finding and filling the gaps in the Australian government's innovation and entrepreneurship support spectra
Creators: name: Hindle, Kevin
name: Yencken, John
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: A national innovation system is concerned with the full process of converting new knowledge into commercially viable results. Governments are policy-active in trying to create productive national innovation systems. This paper reviews ways of thinking about entrepreneurship as the commercialisation component of Australia’s innovation system. The paper explores the impact and relevance of selected existing Australian Commonwealth, and to a lesser extent State government, programs for the commercialisation channels so identified, using four frameworks for the analysis: financial, management/start-up, innovation and entrepreneurial. The analysis indicates program initiatives covering the later development and commercialization phases, but serious gaps in the support available for the entrepreneurship phase involving the act of new entry. This gap is covered by research provider business development people and to a limited extent by incubator and State government initiatives. A critical issue has been and is access to smaller amounts of seed finance. The critical human component is the education of public servants and politicians about the nature and operation of entrepreneurship.
РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ РЕВИЗИОННЫХ ОПЕРАЦИЙ ПРИ ДЕГЕНЕРАТИВНО-ДИСТРОФИЧЕСКИХ ЗАБОЛЕВАНИЯХ ПОЯСНИЧНО-КРЕСТЦОВОГО ОТДЕЛА ПОЗВОНОЧНИКА
Creators: name: Абакиров М. Дж.
name: Нурмухаметов Р. М.
name: Мамырбаев С. Т.
name: Аль-Баварид О. А.
Publisher: name: Политравма
Year: 2020
Subjects: ревизионная операция; рецидив грыжи диска; псевдоартроз; синдром смежного сегмента; ALIF; TLIF.

description: Дегенеративно-дистрофические заболевания пояснично-крестцового отдела позвоночника являются распространенной проблемой здравоохранения во всем мире. Потребность в ревизионной операции остается высокой с переменными результатами. Цель исследования – провести сравнительный анализ результатов ревизионной операции при дегенеративно-дистрофических заболеваниях пояснично-крестцового отдела позвоночника с применением технологий трансфораминального межтелового (TLIF) и переднего (ALIF) спондилодеза. Материал и методы. Всего 50 пациентов с дегенеративно-дистрофическими заболеваниями пояснично-крестцового отдела позвоночника, перенесшие ревизионную операцию с применением технологий ALIF и TLIF с 2017 по 2019 г. Пациенты были разделены на две группы в зависимости от метода операции. I группа состояла из 26 пациентов в возрасте от 31 до 84 (59,8 ± 14,0) лет, оперированных по методике TLIF. Мужчин было 12 (46,2 %), женщин 14 (53,8 %). Группа II включала 24 пациента в возрасте от 23 до 67 лет (46,9 ± 12,3), прооперированных по методике ALIF. Соотношение мужчин и женщин в этой группе составило 16 (66,7 %) : 8 (33,3 %). Результаты. Во II группе ALIF в комбинации ТПФ отмечаются статистически значимые результаты: ВАШ до операции 7,3 ± 1,2 – после 1,7 ± 0,4, p < 0,001, индекс ODI до операции 50,4 ± 11,5 – после 10,0 ± 4,6, p < 0,001. В I группе декомпрессивно-стабилизирующих вмешательств по технологии TLIF также достигнуты статистически значимые результаты: ВАШ до операции 7,8 ± 0,8 – после операции 2,7 ± 1,6, p < 0,001, ODI до операции 56,2 ± 10,2 – после 20,6 ± 13,9, p < 0,001. Однако при сравнительном анализе во II группе показатели ВАШ и ODI лучше, чем в I группе, р < 0,001. Заключение. ALIF в комбинации ТПФ как метод ревизионной операции теоретически допускает комплексную дискэктомию при рецидиве грыжи диска, избегает повторного разреза параспинальных мышц, отмечается меньшая послеоперационная боль и кровопотеря во время операции, меньшая травма спинного мозга и корешков в результате тракции. Более того, передний доступ к поясничному отделу позвоночника позволяет устанавливать кейджи больших размеров с более широкой контактной поверхностью, что позволяет скорректировать поясничный лордоз и восстановить сагитальный баланс, который не менее важен в ревизионной хирургии при дегенеративно-дистрофических заболеваниях пояснично-крестцового отдела позвоночника. Тем не менее, ALIF не без собственных рисков. Одним из основных осложнений является повреждение магистральных сосудов и ретроградная эякуляция.
title: D. Mathez, C. Winter, J. Leibowitch, "Triple nucleoside analogue combinations as first or second line treatment against HIV-1 in patients with AIDS : preliminary results."
Creators: name: Mathez, Dominique
name: Winter, Cécile
Publisher: name: NAKALA - https://nakala.fr (Huma-Num - CNRS)
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/04ces3204
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2020

description: Résumé.
description: Source: http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/ms/Calames-201931110317981100
title: L'Espagne en 1897...
Creators: name: Gravier, Gabriel
Publisher: name: NAKALA - https://nakala.fr (Huma-Num - CNRS)
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/04ces3204
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2020

description: 11 pp..

Extr. du Bull. de la Socté norm de Géographie. 4e cah. de 1897
description: Source: Bibliothèque patrimoniale Villon (Rouen), fonds Leber, m 3924
mm 2252-5
Temporal Geochemical Variations in Lavas from Kilauea's Pu'u ‘O'o Eruption (1983-2010): Cyclic Variations from Melting of Source Heterogeneities
Creators: name: Weis, Dominique
Publisher: name: American Geophysical Union
Year: 2014

description: Geochemical time series analysis of lavas from Kīlauea's ongoing Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption chronicle mantle and crustal processes during a single, prolonged (1983 to present) magmatic event, which has shown nearly two-fold variation in lava effusion rates. Here we present an update of our ongoing monitoring of the geochemical variations of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lavas for the entire eruption through 2010. Oxygen isotope measurements on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lavas show a remarkable range (δ18O values of 4.6–5.6‰), which are interpreted to reflect moderate levels of oxygen isotope exchange with or crustal contamination by hydrothermally altered Kīlauea lavas, probably in the shallow reservoir under the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent. This process has not measurably affected ratios of radiogenic isotope or incompatible trace elements, which are thought to vary due to mantle-derived changes in the composition of the parental magma delivered to the volcano. High-precision Pb and Sr isotopic measurements were performed on lavas erupted at ∼6 month intervals since 1983 to provide insights about melting dynamics and the compositional structure of the Hawaiian plume. The new results show systematic variations of Pb and Sr isotope ratios that continued the long-term compositional trend for Kīlauea until ∼1990. Afterward, Pb isotope ratios show two cycles with ∼10 year periods, whereas the Sr isotope ratios continued to increase until ∼2003 and then shifted toward slightly less radiogenic values. The short-term periodicity of Pb isotope ratios may reflect melt extraction from mantle with a fine-scale pattern of repeating source heterogeneities or strands, which are about 1–3 km in diameter. Over the last 30 years, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lavas show 15% and 25% of the known isotopic variation for Kīlauea and Mauna Kea, respectively. This observation illustrates that the dominant time scale of mantle-derived compositional variation for Hawaiian lavas is years to decades.
title: Impact of heterogeneous reuse on heritage value under the perspective of scale subdivision - Two modern theatres in Nanjing as examples
Creators: name: Han, Yikuan
name: Li, Xiaoxi
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: Heterogeneous reuse is a type of reuse where the demand for new functional space differs significantly from the supply of the original space. It causes changes in the building morphology at all scale levels, which in turn has an impact on heritage value. Heterogeneous reuse is prevalent in the conservation of modern Chinese architecture, this article analyses the mechanism of heritage value change under different intervention methods, taking the Shengli Theatre and the Dahua Theatre in Nanjing as examples. Firstly, the value-bearing areas are identified by overall value assessment; secondly, the value of each value-bearing area at each scale level is determined by combining the theory of scale subdivision; Thirdly, influences of different interventions on the value of overall building and the value bearing parts are calculated by comparing the value changes before and after conservation and renovation. This research reveals that heterogeneous reuse often leads to a decline in the emotional and cultural value of built heritage, but enhances the use value. The overall value may also increase if done in appropriate ways. Through this article, the potential of typomorphology in the study of heterogeneous reuse is expanded, and through the integration of scale subdivision and value assessment, the specific heritage values at each scale level can be fine-expressed, while the effectiveness of various interventions can be reasonably evaluated.
Age-related exacerbation of lung damage after trauma is associated with increased expression of inflammasome components
Creators: name: Zhou, Yuzhuo
name: Meng, Fanshuai
name: Köhler, Kernt
name: Bülow, Jasmin Maria
name: Wagner, Alessa
name: Neunaber, Claudia
name: Bundkirchen, Katrin
name: Relja, Borna
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2024
Subjects: Femur fracture
Hemorrhagic shock
Aging
Pulmonary injury
Inflammasome
NF-KappaB

description: Background: Trauma, a significant global cause of mortality and disability, often leads to fractures and hemorrhagic shock, initiating an exaggerated inflammatory response, which harms distant organs, particularly the lungs. Elderly individuals are more vulnerable to immune dysregulation post-trauma, leading to heightened organ damage, infections, and poor health outcomes. This study investigates the role of NF-κB and inflammasomes in lung damage among aged mice post-trauma. Methods: Twelve male C57BL/6J mice underwent hemorrhagic shock and a femoral fracture (osteotomy) with external fixation (Fx) (trauma/hemorrhage, THFx), while another 12 underwent sham procedures. Mice from young (17-26 weeks) and aged (64-72 weeks) groups (n=6) were included. After 24h, lung injury was assessed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, prosurfactant protein C (SPC) levels, HMGB1, and Muc5ac qRT-PCR. Gene expression of Nlrp3 and Il-1β, and protein levels of IL-6 and IL-1β in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were determined. Levels of lung-infiltrating polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) and activated caspase-3 expression to assess apoptosis, as well as NLRP3, ASC, and Gasdermin D (GSDMD) to assess the expression of inflammasome components were analyzed via immunostaining. To investigate the role of NF-κB signaling, protein expression of phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated p50 were determined by western blot. Results: Muc5ac, and SPC as lung protective proteins, significantly declined in THFx versus sham. THFx-aged exhibited significantly lower SPC and higher HMGB1 levels versus THFx-young. THFx significantly increased activated caspase-3 versus both sham groups, and THFx-aged had significantly more caspase-3 positive cells versus THFx-young. IL-6 significantly increased in both sham and THFx-aged groups versus corresponding young groups. THFx significantly enhanced PMNL in both groups versus corresponding sham groups. This increase was further heightened in THFx-aged versus THFx-young. Expression of p50 and phosphorylated p50 increased in all aged groups, and THFx-induced p50 phosphorylation significantly increased in THFx-aged versus THFx-young. THFx increased the expression of inflammasome markers IL-1β, NLRP3, ASC and GSDMD versus sham, and aging further amplified these changes significantly. Conclusion: This study’s findings suggest that the aging process exacerbates the excessive inflammatory response and damage to the lung following trauma. The underlying mechanisms are associated with enhanced activation of NF-κB and increased expression of inflammasome components.
Effective tricuspid regurgitation reduction is associated with renal improvement and reduced heart failure hospitalization
Creators: name: Felbel, Dominik
name: Von Winkler, Juliana
name: Paukovitsch, Michael
name: Gröger, Matthias
name: Walther, Elene
name: Andreß, Stefanie
name: Schneider, Leonhard
name: Markovic, Sinisa
name: Rottbauer, Wolfgang
name: Keßler, Mirjam
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Tricuspid regurgitation
subject: Renal improvement
subject: Heart failure hospitalization
subject: Edge-to-edge repair
subject: T-TEER
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health

description: Background Several studies have demonstrated an association between tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and organ dysfunction including hepatic and renal insufficiency. Improvement of liver function following transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) has already been linked to reduction of venous congestion due to TR reduction. This study analyzes whether TR-reduction using T-TEER is also associated with improved renal function. Methods and results The TRIC-ULM registry includes 92 selected patients undergoing T-TEER between March 2017 and May 2023. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) improvement was evident in 53 patients (57%) at 3-months follow-up (FU) and defined by FU eGFR > baseline eGFR. Median age was 80 [interquartile range 75–83] years, pre- and postinterventional TR grades were 4 [3–5] and 1 [1–2], baseline eGFR was 36 [30–53] ml/min and New Yeark Heart Association (NYHA) IV was evident in 15% of patients. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed TR vena contracta reduction (Odds ratio (OR) 1.35 [95% CI: 1.12–1.64] per mm, p  = 0.002) and reduced preinterventional tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) [OR 0.89 (95% CI: 0.79–0.99) per mm, p  = 0.033] to independently predict renal improvement at FU. An eGFR improvement threshold of >9 ml/min was associated with reduced 1-year heart failure hospitalization rates [adjusted hazard ratio 0.22 (95% CI: 0.07–0.62) p  = 0.005]. Conclusion Effective tricuspid edge-to-edge repair is associated with improved renal function and reduced heart failure hospitalization. In patients without renal improvement at 3-months follow-up, residual tricuspid regurgitation should be reevaluated for reintervention.
title: Urban strips : the case of two streets in Łódź, Poland
Creators: name: Hanzl, Małgorzata
name: Gajek, Maria
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: The phenomenon of an urban strip still requires a more in-depth investigation. An essential element in a city street network, which offers access to its internal system, the strip often features a chaotic, visually polluted space that we are all forced to use. This paper aims to fill in the above gap looking for explanations in the context of a post-socialist European city. To fully understand the spatial problems of an urban strip, the multidimensional approach to the subject is needed. Therefore, we propose the systematic analysis which would enable us to look at the problem from several urban morphological perspectives (Oliveira, 2016). As a starting point, we use the timeless study in the field of strip research (Venturi et al., 1977), which we further extend applying the methodology and findings elaborated for the American strip (Scheer and Larice, 2014; Scheer, 2015). While researching the genesis of the phenomena and the local context, we draw from the studies developed by Polish researchers grounded in the field of historical geography (Koter, 1990). Finally, we look at the perception of space through the lenses proposed by Lynch (1960). By separating and then combining multiple factors that contribute to the strip space, we can obtain a comprehensive depiction. Such an examination uncovers the problems of this space which, despite the passage of time, remain unsolved. We use the typo-morphological approach to the analysis of urban layouts to organize the content, and we present the outcomes as an urban form matrix. The paper addresses the above issues using the case studies of the two urban strips in the third-largest city in Poland — Łódź. The results of the research reveal the organization of these transit areas and their excessive commercialization. At the same time, they enable us to formulate recommendations for the sites' redevelopment.
Deep learning-based image analysis identifies a DAT-negative subpopulation of dopaminergic neurons in the lateral Substantia nigra
Creators: name: Burkert, Nicole
name: Roy, Shoumik
name: Häusler, Max
name: Wuttke, Dominik
name: Müller, Sonja
name: Wiemer, Johanna
name: Hollmann, Helene
name: Oldrati, Marvin
name: Ramirez-Franco, Jorge
name: Benkert, Julia
name: Fauler, Michael
name: Duda, Johanna
name: Goaillard, Jean-Marc
name: Pötschke, Christina
name: Münchmeyer, Moritz
name: Parlato, Rosanna
name: Liss, Birgit
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computational platforms and environments
subject: Ion channels in the nervous system
subject: Machine learning
subject: Molecular neuroscience
subject: Neurophysiology
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health

description: Here we present a deep learning-based image analysis platform (DLAP), tailored to autonomously quantify cell numbers, and fluorescence signals within cellular compartments, derived from RNAscope or immunohistochemistry. We utilised DLAP to analyse subtypes of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive dopaminergic midbrain neurons in mouse and human brain-sections. These neurons modulate complex behaviour, and are differentially affected in Parkinson’s and other diseases. DLAP allows the analysis of large cell numbers, and facilitates the identification of small cellular subpopulations. Using DLAP, we identified a small subpopulation of TH-positive neurons (~5%), mainly located in the very lateral Substantia nigra (SN), that was immunofluorescence-negative for the plasmalemmal dopamine transporter (DAT), with ~40% smaller cell bodies. These neurons were negative for aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1, with a lower co-expression rate for dopamine-D2-autoreceptors, but a ~7-fold higher likelihood of calbindin-d28k co-expression (~70%). These results have important implications, as DAT is crucial for dopamine signalling, and is commonly used as a marker for dopaminergic SN neurons.
Utilizing predictive machine-learning modelling unveils feature-based risk assessment system for hyperinflammatory patterns and infectious outcomes in polytrauma
Creators: name: Fachet, Melanie
name: Mushunuri, Raghava Vinaykanth
name: Bergmann, Christian B.
name: Marzi, Ingo
name: Hoeschen, Christoph
name: Relja, Borna
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Risk assessment
subject: Clinical decision making
subject: Classification
subject: Explainability
subject: SHAP values
subject: Blood
subject: Biomarker
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health

description: Purpose: Earlier research has identified several potentially predictive features including biomarkers associated with trauma, which can be used to assess the risk for harmful outcomes of polytraumatized patients. These features encompass various aspects such as the nature and severity of the injury, accompanying health conditions, immune and inflammatory markers, and blood parameters linked to organ functioning, however their applicability is limited. Numerous indicators relevant to the patients` outcome are routinely gathered in the intensive care unit (ICU) and recorded in electronic medical records, rendering them suitable predictors for risk assessment of polytraumatized patients. Methods: 317 polytraumatized patients were included, and the influence of 29 clinical and biological features on the complication patterns for systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), pneumonia and sepsis were analyzed with a machine learning workflow including clustering, classification and explainability using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values. The predictive ability of the analyzed features within three days after admission to the hospital were compared based on patient-specific outcomes using receiver-operating characteristics. Results: A correlation and clustering analysis revealed that distinct patterns of injury and biomarker patterns were observed for the major complication classes. A k-means clustering suggested four different clusters based on the major complications SIRS, pneumonia and sepsis as well as a patient subgroup that developed no complications. For classification of the outcome groups with no complications, pneumonia and sepsis based on boosting ensemble classification, 90% were correctly classified as low-risk group (no complications). For the high-risk groups associated with development of pneumonia and sepsis, 80% of the patients were correctly identified. The explainability analysis with SHAP values identified the top-ranking features that had the largest impact on the development of adverse outcome patterns. For both investigated risk scenarios (infectious complications and long ICU stay) the most important features are SOFA score, Glasgow Coma Scale, lactate, GGT and hemoglobin blood concentration. Conclusion: The machine learning-based identification of prognostic feature patterns in patients with traumatic injuries may improve tailoring personalized treatment modalities to mitigate the adverse outcomes in high-risk patient clusters.
title: Transformation of municipal squares in early reform-era China, 1994-2006
Creators: name: Jiang, Min
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: Reform and opening-up profoundly changed the urban image and urban life in China. One of the most conspicuous phenomena was the nationwide boom of municipal squares in the early reform era. With clear authoritative representations, the municipal square is a concrete manifestation of the top-down political-economic reform. By comprehensively analysing gazetteers of major Chinese cities and specific case studies, this article aims to examine the transformation of municipal squares from the lenses of form and physical environment as well as function and use, highlight their legacies and changes, and elucidate the relationship between political-economic reforms and publicly owned and managed public spaces. Most municipal squares built in the 1990s were reconstructed from historical squares located in urban central areas and are relatively small in scale, designed with a fixed form and a high greening rate. Commercial facilities were usually separated from the square by a road or different floors, and cultural facilities built in or around the square mainly included museums and auditoriums. With the goal of building ‘international cities', many municipal squares built after 2001 belong to large-scale developments of new urban centres with comprehensive functions. Axes of organising space and buildings, separation of municipal squares and commercial facilities, and an emphasis on the greening rate are two legacies inherited from the 1990s. Functions and uses became more diversified, and the municipal square changed from an independent and dominant element to one important component of a largescale development. The transformation of municipal squares in early reform-era China embodied changing political, economic, environmental, and cultural goals, and the connotations of municipal squares have evolved to be less political and more pluralistic.
title: Morphological characterization of landscape using context-rich geometrical features extracted from path centre lines
Creators: name: Kayvan, Karimi
name: Rico, Eduardo
name: Neri, Iacopo
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: Understanding the morphology of connective networks can reveal hidden aspects of our cities when correlated to geographical data. A strong body of work exists on examining the relationship between space syntax analysis and socioeconomic indicators, in some cases complemented with information on urban blocks and typologies. Other authors study street morphology either as the basis of generative algorithms or detecting global groups of urban patterns across many cities. However, other aspects of urban and landscape design, such as style or character, while widely theorised and used within generative algorithms, have not been subjected to systematic geospatial exploration. This study presents an analytical method that can adequately capture the geometrical nature of urban landscape networks and correlate it with its historical style or character. In our experiment, we extracted geometric features from OSM cleaned path centre lines for 40 parks in London. This was followed by a historical survey carried out for each park, labelling lines into six distinct historical-stylistic categories. Eight classifiers were trained and evaluated through a machine learning process predicting the historical categories of lines from their geometrical features. This was repeated in three consecutive tests with a growing degree of contextual features derived from neighbouring lines. For the last test, a bespoke technique including spatial and non-spatial clustering was used to identify morphologically coherent pieces of fabric which are fed into the classifier. Classifiers accuracy range from 55% in the first test to above 90% using context-aware geometric features. This suggests that the historical development of the urban or landscape fabric leaves a footprint in the map that can be unravelled by analysing its morphology. In future studies, these methods have a great potential to be expanded further towards investigating these findings in relationship with other more sophisticated, historically dependent data and be applied to different types of networks.
title: Infrastructure landscapes : automobility and granularity in São Paulo and Detroit
Creators: name: Kickert, Conrad
name: Borges, Heraldo
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: This paper presents a cross-cultural comparison of the social, cultural, institutional and physical context and impacts of automobility and urban granularity in two global automotive capitals: Detroit and São Paulo. It uses a combination of descriptive history and comparative mapping to describe and measure urban change due to automobile intervenions. It finds that both cities, under quite similar forces, have actually taken divergent pathways toward infrastructure landscapes.
title: Evaluating the impacts of possible outcomes on urban design projects : three layers of Taksim Square and Gezi Park, Istanbul
Creators: name: Kubat, Ayse Sema
name: Eskidemir, Kahraman
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: Taksim Square and Gezi Park, have been one of the unique places to study social and spatial layout change throughout the history. Taksim as a political and social beating heart of Istanbul, it has been the subject of a never-ending cycle about urban design decisions. Currently the underground tunnel system is open to traffic and pedestrianized Taksim square, which is a vast concrete space awaits for an urban design project since 2013. The construction In March 2020, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, declared a contest for an urban design project in Taksim. Between 146 applications, only 3 projects were allocated design equivalent award. These three projects are unique in their space production with different urban design solutions. While the winner project, brings a new layer to the top of the area with a pedestrian bridge, one of the equivalents proposes a pothole to link the square and underground from different point of view. On the other hand, the third equivalent, brings back the old design choices with more green utilization. In this paper, the urban space design of different proposals are evaluated with a mathematical method, Space Syntax technique. Firstly, axial and segments maps are created from three proposals to create syntactic maps and measures. The analytical methods of Space Syntax are used for comparison to better understand how the morphological characteristics of Taksim would be changed with these proposals. Axial maps, segment maps, visual graph analyses and correlation graphs are used to prepare the models of measures: Integration HH and different R values, choice, synergy and visual integration in DepthMap. It is believed that this study contributes for contributors and municipality during implementation of the design. This study also shows the potential of Space Syntax for testing proposals and situations during urban design process.
title: Study on the morphological evolution of Chinese urban cemeteries in the process of rapid urbanization : a case study of Nanjing
Creators: name: Li, Meichen
name: Deng, Hao
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: As an important element of fringe belt, urban cemetery has been studied by urban morphologists to reveal the evolutionary process of urban expansion. In China, with the reform of housing system in 1990s, Chinese cities have entered into a period of mushroom growth. Urban cemeteries, which were originally located on urban fringe belts, have been surrounded by new accretions, and then, inevitably, migrated continuously under economic pressures and planning controls. Taking Nanjing as a case study, this paper aims to study the general migration characters of urban cemetery in China with the concept of fringe belt and then analyze its motivations in context of economy, policies, social psychology and cultural customs. The study reveals that the migration of urban cemeteries in China has shown diversity and complexity: as fixation line features, large urban cemeteries had limited the free urban expansion in the Oriental concept of life and death but, under the great pressure of the last round of urban development, they have been broken through and disintegrated, then formed and acted as elements of new fixation lines after migration. The gap of morphological study in urban cemetery between China and the West is mitigated in this paper.
Sex-for-Crack exchanges: associations with risky sexual and drug use niches in an urban Canadian city
Creators: name: Duff, Putu
name: Tyndall, Mark
name: Buxton, Jane A.
name: Zhang, Ruth
name: Kerr, Thomas
name: Shannon, K.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2017

description: Background: While crack cocaine has been associated with elevated sexual risks and transmission of HIV/STIs, particularly in the context of street-based sex work, few empirical studies have examined correlates of direct sex-for-crack exchanges. This study longitudinally examined the correlates of sex-for-crack exchanges and associated effects on sexual risk outcomes among street-based female sex workers (SW) who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Methods: Data were drawn from a prospective cohort of street-based SWs (2006–2008), restricted to those who smoke crack cocaine. Multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE) were employed to examine the correlates of exchanging sex for crack. A confounding model using GEE quasi-Poisson regression modeled the independent effect of exchanging sex for crack on number of clients/week. Results: Of 206 SWs, 101 (49%) reported sex-for-crack exchanges over 18 months of follow-up. In multivariable GEE analyses, sharing a crack pipe with a client (aOR = 1.98; 95%CI: 1.27-3.08) and smoking crack in a group of strangers (e.g., in an alley or crackhouse) (aOR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.13-2.58) were independently correlated with sex-for-crack exchanges. In our confounding model, exchanging sex for crack (aIRR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.07-1.69) remained significantly associated with servicing a greater number (>10) of clients/week. Conclusions: These findings reveal elevated sexual- and drug- risk patterns among those who exchange sex for crack. The physical and social environment featured prominently in our results as a driver of sex-for-crack exchanges, highlighting the need for gender-sensitive multilevel approaches to harm reduction, STI and HIV prevention that address SWs’ environment, individual level factors, and the interplay between them.
Particle filtering for applications in data assimilation
Creators: name: Pons Llopis, Francesc De Borja
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2019

description: In this thesis, several important topics in the area of particle filtering for applications in Data Assimilation are covered. The main focus of my research has been to explore ways to overcome the weight degeneracy problem that Importance Sampling (IS) faces in high dimensional problems or for very informative observations. It is also considered the case where it is necessary to determine what sensor took the observations before formulating the filtering problem. Here are the main findings of the research: • In the filtering problem where we have a continuous time signal following a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) and discrete time observations, I have found that the combination of tempering the likelihood to bridge the sequence of posterior distributions, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) steps to reintroduce diversity of the particles and the use of IS to guide the particles to regions of interest allows us to use particle filters to tackle harder problems that are intractable otherwise. • When both the signal and the observation are continuous in time, the methods proposed in discrete time cannot be applied straightforwardly. I study an IS method based on modifying the drift of the signal, focus- ing on how to approximate the drift. I have found that this term could be approximated via the solution of a Partial Differential Equation (PDE) or via approximating the Smoothing density and concluded nu- merically that the second option was more promising computationally. I also show how this importance sampling improves the performance of particle filtering when compared to a basic implementation. • Finally, I show that the use of machine learning algorithms has the potential to considerably improve the accuracy of previous algorithms based on a deterministic classification tree for the problem of classifying historical sea temperature and salinity data according to which sensor was used to collect this data.
title: Spatial network morphology and social integration of the elderly : the socio-spatial 'embeddedness' of community-based elderly care facilities
Creators: name: Li, Xiaoming
name: Sailer, Kerstin
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: Moving from the outskirts of cities into urban neighbourhoods, so called community-based elderly care facilities are regarded as a shift from a traditional medical model of care to a social model of care, with an aim of fostering social interactions between facility inhabitants and local residents. This strategy of achieving social integration through spatial integration involves spaces at multiple scales, including not only the interior environment of facilities, but also the exterior urban fabric surrounding facilities. However, most existing research focuses on the building interior of facilities. Local authorities tacitly assume that allocating facilities within an urban community means the realisation of spatial integration, hardly addressing the spatial complexity of urban communities from a morphological perspective, which results in contradictory findings with respect to the social outcomes of implementing such policies. Urban morphology can be a structural factor affording or eliminating opportunities of social interaction among inhabitants, which is particularly applicable to the ageing population, for whom social connections are largely realised via physical environments. Taking over 140 care facilities in the Chinese city of Nanjing as cases, this study develops a spatial network model to quantitatively identify the morphological patterns of urban communities in which facilities are located, thus considering the urban environment as an opportunity structure. It also disentangles to what extent facilities are connected or isolated from surrounding urban fabrics at various scales. Results show that being located within communities does not necessarily imply spatial embeddedness. Spatial network morphology may constrain social connection opportunities of facility inhabitants at global or local scales. Findings indicate that urban communities should not be regarded as spatially homogeneous entities when allocating care facilities. Differentiated morphological factors should be considered to optimise opportunities for social connection via spatial embeddedness.
title: Morphological transformation of Boston park system during 19th century and its reasons
Creators: name: Liu, Xinyu
name: Wang, Xiaojun
Publisher: name: University of Strathclyde Publishing
Year: 2022

description: With the perspective of urban morphology, this paper integrates historical maps to illustrate the morphological transformation of Boston Park System during 19th century. Based on such illustrations, cultural and political issues, geological issues and sanitary reform are concluded as main reasons for the transformations, thus to building up the relationship between space construction and its context.
Investigating the role of arcuate nucleus and paraventricular nucleus glucokinase in glucose homeostasis
Creators: name: Ratnasabapathy, Risheka
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2019

description: The brain is as an important regulator of appetite and metabolism. Glucokinase (GK) is a key component of glucose sensing, and is expressed in many glucose sensitive neurones (Rosario et al., 2016, Pocai et al., 2005b). Two regions where glucokinase is expressed are the arcuate nucleus and the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (Jetton et al., 1994b). Using viral techniques to specifically alter glucokinase expression, I show that upregulation of glucokinase in these nuclei individually, significantly improves glucose tolerance and increases insulin secretion. Conversely down regulation significantly worsens glucose tolerance and reduces insulin secretion. Interestingly the incretin effect is negligible within the arcuate nucleus but within the paraventricular nucleus, glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion is blunted when glucokinase expression is reduced. GLP-1 secretion has been believed to be entirely regulated by the enteroendocrine L-cells of the small intestine however these results suggest that the brain may play a role. The pathway of action of both the arcuate and paraventricular GK appears to be via ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP) channels (Maekawa et al., 2000, Hussain et al., 2015b, Ma et al., 2018a). These results suggest an important role for arcuate and paraventricular nuclei glucokinase in glucose homeostasis via KATP channels.
Topics in singular SPDEs
Creators: name: Schoenbauer, Philipp
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2019

description: This thesis is concerned with problems arising in the field of singular stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs). After two chapters providing an introduction to SPDEs in general and to the results of this thesis in particular, and a review of the preliminaries and notation needed, the main part of the thesis is contained in chapters 3 to 5. In chapter 3 we show a generalisation of the support theorem of Stroock and Varadhan to a large class of subcritical SPDEs. We prove that the topological support can be identified with the closure of the set of all solutions to a control problem associated to the SPDE. The main problem that we face here is the presence of renormalisation. In particular, it may happen in general that different renormalisation procedures yield solutions with different supports. One immediate corollary of our general theorems, and one of the main contributions of this thesis, is a proof that the Phi43 measure in finite volume has full support and that the associated Langevin dynamic is exponentially ergodic. In the chapter 4 we establish Malliavin calculus for solutions to subcritical SPDEs. The main difficulty here is to show that Cameron-Martin functions can be lifted to renormalised models for the problem dependent regularity structure. Malliavin differentiability is a powerful tool to show existence of densities with respect to the Lebesgue measure, which we prove for certain finite-dimensional projections for a large class of equations. In the final chapter of this thesis we study the anisotropic KPZ equation in two dimensions. We identify a scaling such that smooth approximations given by introducing a hard-cutoff in Fourier space are tight, and we show that any subsequential limit is non-vanishing.
A user-friendly simulation tool to facilitate writing of complex part programs for laser micromachining
Creators: name: Hume, R. G.
name: Hayes, J. P.
name: Iovenitti, Pio
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Excimer micromachining tools used to produce micromachined parts are often controlled by manually written numerical control (NC) part programs in RS-274 “G” and “M” codes, or NC-code. The manual creation of the part programs in NC-code is a time-consuming process for users and relies on their expertise. This often results in a trial-and-error approach to producing a part program for the desired shape because a user rarely gets it ‘right the first time’. Furthermore, writing programs to machine complex microstructures is difficult. As few CAD/CAM tools are available to assist programming for laser micromachining, the aim of the research was to develop a user-friendly CAM tool to assist programmers. A simulation tool has been written to interpret a part program and to display the intended part. With this simulation tool, the part programmer works more effectively by being able to view the machined surface and check the program using the simulation tool before trialling it on an expensive laser machine. The simulator allows the user to easily modify and retry a program during its development. The simulator provides a number of debugging features to enable the user to step through the program and determine what is happening at each instruction. The capability of the simulator tools is demonstrated through several part programs.