A Digital Revitalization: Immigration and the Italian Market

Existing theories of public spaces are outdated because they largely ignore the advent of digital socialization. The revitalization of public spaces such as parks, sidewalks in the new urbanist mold is premised on ideas of public space from the 1950s, before suburban sprawl. However, technology, such as smart phones and social media, have fundamentally changed the way in which all groups now interface with space. This is especially true of immigrants, who exist in multiple spaces, at home and in the new city, at once and maintain these myriad linkages through digital space. This project presents a critique of proposed revitalization plans of the Italian Market in Philadelphia in the context of existing physical and digital spaces. In 21st century Philadelphia, the demographic reality of immigrant-driven population growth and the technological fact of increased digital socialization, mean that we need to think of the city and urban \u27space\u27 as simultaneously local and global, digital and physical. This paper calls for a re-examination of the role of of traditional public spaces in revitalization in light of these changing modes of immigration and socialization

Enhancement of pigmeat quality by altering pre-slaughter management

End of project reportThe studies presented in this report were conducted to investigate the effect of breed, slaughter weight, castration of male pigs and strategic feeding strategies on the performance of pigs to slaughter and on their carcass quality. The effect of breed, gender and feeding regimen on the performance of pigs and their carcass quality was examined in the first study (Section 3). From weaning to slaughter Landrace-sired pigs grew at a similar rate but had a better feed conversion efficiency compared with Duroc-sired pigs. Landrace-sired pigs also had a higher carcass lean and greater muscle depth than Duroc-sired pigs. Entire male pigs grew more efficiently, had lower lean content in their carcasses and had a reduced kill out yield when compared with gilts. The eye muscle depth was greater for gilts than entire males. Diluting the diet with grass-meal (GM) reduced growth rate, caused a deterioration in feed conversion efficiency, reduced back fat thickness, reduced eye muscle thickness and reduced kill out yield compared to the control feeding regimen of a cereal based diet. Compensatory growth was observed during a re-alimentation period following a period of diet dilution with grass-meal. However, where it did occur, in most cases it was only partial. Adding 5% rapeseed oil instead of lard to the finisher diet increased nitrogen utilization efficiency and phosphorous utilization efficiency. The effect of gender (boar, castrate, gilt) and slaughter weight (80 to 120kg) on pig performance, carcass quality, meat quality, and nitrogen excretion was investigated in the second study (Section 4). Boars grew faster than gilts and more efficiently than castrates or gilts. Castrates had a higher kill out yield than boars. Nitrogen excretion from castrates was similar to gilts which were both higher than that from boars. The processing value of carcasses from castrates may be higher than that of boars and gilts. In particular castrates had heavier loins and bellies than either boars or gilts. Carcasses from castrates and gilts had a higher temperature (recorded 24 hours post slaughter) than boars. However, pH24 was not affected by gender. The intramuscular fat content of the l. dorsi in castrates was higher than that of boars or gilts, however at 1.65% this was well below the level (2.0%) above which any noticeable sensory attributes might be detected. Feed intake increased with increasing slaughter weight and feed conversion efficiency deteriorated. N excretion also increased with each increment in weight. Carcass lean content increased up to 90kg live EOP 4939.doc 4 25/10/2005 weight then reached a plateau and declined after 110kg live weight. Heavier carcasses yielded more product for approximately the same slaughtering cost and the associated larger muscles could make it easier to use seam butchery techniques that result in lean, well-trimmed, attractive cuts and joints. The pH45 and pH24 were reduced with increasing slaughter weight and drip loss increased. Heavier pigs may be more prone to the development of PSE than lighter pigs as their carcass temperature remains higher for longer than that of lighter pigs

Infinite product formulae for semilocal Solomon zeta functions

Lustig gave an infinite product formula for the zeta function of a commutative two-dimensional regular local ring with finite residue field. We extend this to the noncommutative setting with a method based on filtration by an invertible ideal. Our main formula may be viewed as a two-dimensional analogue of Hey's formula. In fact, upon revisiting Solomon's proof of Hey's formula, we find that our main two-dimensional zeta functions depend only on Artin-Wedderburn data for the top. This applies to zeta functions of local models for terminal orders on arithmetic surfaces, and we even suggest an analogy between our main formula and the Gottsche-Larsen-Lunts formula for the generating function of Hilbert schemes of a smooth surface. Our method gives us a more general and complicated formula than our main formula. It does, however, simplify to a general principle about the extent to which the zeta function of a module is determined by the module modulo an invertible ideal. The general formula also gives us a weird identity involving q-binomial coefficients.Comment: 24 page

Artificial Intelligence in Stock Analysis and Portfolio Building

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) investment analysts, often referred to as “robo-advisors”, has the potential to change traditional portfolio management. These systems access vast amounts of data and make portfolio management decisions and stock market predictions. In this study, I compared AI-generated portfolios with portfolios that were created manually. Surprisingly, the human-generated portfolios outperformed the AI portfolios. However, the prompt used in the AI application affects these results. The subset of AI portfolios that were created with specific objectives specified in the prompts outperformed those that were created with more generic prompts. Overall, this research sheds light on the future of stock selection and portfolio management in the AI era

Large sieve inequalities with power moduli and Waring's problem

We improve the large sieve inequality with $k$th-power moduli, for all $k\ge 5$. Our method relates these inequalities to a restricted variant of Waring's problem. Firstly, we input a classical divisor bound on the number of representations of a positive integer as a sum of two $k$th-powers. Secondly, we input a recent and general result of Wooley on mean values of exponential sums. Lastly, we state a conditional result, based on the conjectural Hardy-Littlewood formula for the number of representations of a large positive integer as a sum of $k+1$ $k$th-powers.Comment: 10 page

iVoLVER : Interactive Visual Language for Visualization Extraction and Reconstruction

We present the design and implementation of iVoLVER, a tool that allows users to create visualizations without textual programming. iVoLVER is designed to enable flexible acquisition of many types of data (text, colors, shapes, quantities, dates) from multiple source types (bitmap charts, webpages, photographs, SVGs, CSV files) and, within the same canvas, supports transformation of that data through simple widgets to construct interactive animated visuals. Aside from the tool, which is web-based and designed for pen and touch, we contribute the design of the interactive visual language and widgets for extraction, transformation, and representation of data. We demonstrate the flexibility and expressive power of the tool through a set of scenarios, and discuss some of the challenges encountered and how the tool fits within the current infovis tool landscape.Postprin

Growth and splitting of neural sequences in songbird vocal development

Neural sequences are a fundamental feature of brain dynamics underlying diverse behaviours, but the mechanisms by which they develop during learning remain unknown. Songbirds learn vocalizations composed of syllables; in adult birds, each syllable is produced by a different sequence of action potential bursts in the premotor cortical area HVC. Here we carried out recordings of large populations of HVC neurons in singing juvenile birds throughout learning to examine the emergence of neural sequences. Early in vocal development, HVC neurons begin producing rhythmic bursts, temporally locked to a prototype syllable. Different neurons are active at different latencies relative to syllable onset to form a continuous sequence. Through development, as new syllables emerge from the prototype syllable, initially highly overlapping burst sequences become increasingly distinct. We propose a mechanistic model in which multiple neural sequences can emerge from the growth and splitting of a commo n precursor sequence.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01DC009183)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DGE-114747

Perception visuelle du mouvement humain dans les interactions lors de tâches locomotrices

During daily activities, a walker interacts with their environment, especially the other walkers, avoiding any collision with them. The nature of visual information that is used for a collision-free interaction requires further understanding. Specifically, the thesis aims to answer the following questions: what are the visual cues an individual perceives from the movement of others? What are the possible interpretation mechanisms and models used for determining future predicted crossing distances? To answer these questions, we designed experiments considering collision avoidance interactions between two walkers in virtual reality, allowing detailed control of the visual environment and the available visual information. The first study of the thesis focused on the nature of visual information provided from another walker, investigating whether these visual cues are extracted from local body parts or from global perception of the body motion. The second study investigated the influence of the walker's path (straight or curved), which the participant is interacting with for the accurate estimation of future risk of collision. Finally, the third study investigated whether eye contact influences the interaction. Here we have demonstrated the coupling of perceived actionopportunities affordances from the nature of visual information and evidenced that walkers can detect future predicted collisions when another walker follows a path with constant acceleration.Durant ses activités quotidiennes, un marcheur interagit avec son environnement et en particulier avec les autres marcheurs, notamment en évitant toute collision. La nature de l'information visuelle utilisée pour une interaction sans collision est une question encore très ouverte à ce jour. Dans ce cadre, cette thèse vise à répondre aux questions suivantes : quels sont les indices visuels qu'un individu perçoit à partir du mouvement des autres ? Quels sont les mécanismes d'interprétation possibles et les modèles utilisés pour déterminer les possibles risques de collision ? Afin de répondre à ces questions, nous avons mis en place des expérimentations impliquant des évitements de collision entre deux marcheurs en utilisant la réalité virtuelle, permettant un contrôle détaillé de l'environnement visuel et des informations visuelles disponibles. La première étude s'est concentrée sur la nature de l'information visuelle fournie par un autre marcheur, en particulier, si ces informations sont extraites d’une perception locale considérant les segments corporels, ou d’une perception globale du mouvement du corps. La deuxième étude s'est concentrée sur l’influence de la trajectoire de l’autre marcheur (en ligne droite ou en courbe) sur la capacité à estimer de façon précise un possible risque de collision. Enfin, la troisième étude s'est concentrée sur l’effet du contact visuel sur l'interaction entre les deux marcheurs. Nous avons présenté ici le couplage entre les possibilités d'action perçues et les possibilités offertes par la nature de l'information visuelle et démontré que les marcheurs peuvent détecter les collisions futures prévues lorsqu'un autre marcheur suit une trajectoire avec des accélérations constantes