7,727 research outputs found
Decoding the urban grid: or why cities are neither trees nor perfect grids
In a previous paper (Figueiredo and Amorim, 2005), we introduced the continuity
lines, a compressed description that encapsulates topological and geometrical
properties of urban grids. In this paper, we applied this technique to a large
database of maps that included cities of 22 countries. We explore how this
representation encodes into networks universal features of urban grids and, at the
same time, retrieves differences that reflect classes of cities. Then, we propose an
emergent taxonomy for urban grids
Impact of the lipid-based nutrient supplements on prevention and treatment of childhood moderate undernutrition
Purpose: This review aims at assessing the effectiveness of LNS interventions for prevention and/or treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), stunting and other anthropometric indicators for undernutrition in children younger than 5 years.
Methodology: Eighteen clinical trials on LNS (soybased or milk-based) supplementation in children were compared with habitual diet/control or corn-soy blend (CSB). Mean changes in height for age (HAZ), weight for age (WAZ) and weight for height z-scores (WHZ) were assessed as primary outcomes. The secondary outcomes included: weight gain, height, mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), recovery from MAM, occurrence of fever, diarrhoea and cough.
Findings: The pooled estimate revealed a statistically significant increase in WAZ (weighted mean difference [WMD] =0.09; 95%CI= 0.02, 0.15; p=0.01), WHZ (WMD=0.14; 95%CI= 0.01, 0.26; p=0.000) and improved recovery from MAM (Risk Ratio [RR] = 1.37; 95%CI= 1.14, 1.65; p=0.000) in children receiving LNS compared with control or CBS. No significant effect was observed in HAZ (WMD=0.00;95%CI=-0.02,0.03: p=0.578). Children fed with milk-based LNS (RR=1.68; 95%CI=1.17, 2.39; p=0.005) were more likely to recover significantly from MAM when compared with CSB.
Conclusion: Although there is evidence that LNS yield better nutritional outcomes than CSB and control, it is impossible to conclude that the milk-based LNS are superior to soy-based LNS and whether age and duration of intervention significantly affect the effectiveness of LNS on childhood undernutrition. Further research is required before these products can be recommended at scale
Hamiltonian formulation of nonAbelian noncommutative gauge theories
We implement the Hamiltonian treatment of a nonAbelian noncommutative gauge
theory, considering with some detail the algebraic structure of the
noncommutative symmetry group. The first class constraints and Hamiltonian are
obtained and their algebra derived, as well as the form of the gauge invariance
they impose on the first order action.Comment: enlarged version, 7 pages, RevTe
Experience with the Open Source based implementation for ATLAS Conditions Data Management System
Conditions Data in high energy physics experiments is frequently seen as
every data needed for reconstruction besides the event data itself. This
includes all sorts of slowly evolving data like detector alignment, calibration
and robustness, and data from detector control system. Also, every Conditions
Data Object is associated with a time interval of validity and a version.
Besides that, quite often is useful to tag collections of Conditions Data
Objects altogether. These issues have already been investigated and a data
model has been proposed and used for different implementations based in
commercial DBMSs, both at CERN and for the BaBar experiment. The special case
of the ATLAS complex trigger that requires online access to calibration and
alignment data poses new challenges that have to be met using a flexible and
customizable solution more in the line of Open Source components. Motivated by
the ATLAS challenges we have developed an alternative implementation, based in
an Open Source RDBMS. Several issues were investigated land will be described
in this paper:
-The best way to map the conditions data model into the relational database
concept considering what are foreseen as the most frequent queries.
-The clustering model best suited to address the scalability problem.
-Extensive tests were performed and will be described.
The very promising results from these tests are attracting the attention from
the HEP community and driving further developments.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, conferenc
How can the wastewater treatment sector contribute for the sustainability of the agro-food industries?
Over the last decades, the agro-food industry has largely intensified its production to cover the growing needs of society. The economic model based on the take-make-dispose paradigm is no longer viable due to its unsustainability. In this context, the agro-food industry has been paying attention to cross-cutting technologies to incorporate sustainability into its processes. The water footprint is a key issue for the agro-food industry. Huge amounts of water are needed, and consequently huge amounts of wastewater are produced. Wastewater treatment processes are necessary for the preservation of water and its environmental quality. Nowadays, the implementation of greener wastewater treatment technologies, that allow for the reduction, reuse and recovery of materials is an asset. The granular sludge technology is an example of a such innovative process, robust to deal with fluctuations in wastewater composition and able to offer opportunities for more value-added processes. In this presentation, recent data and results will be shown to illustrate how the granular sludge technology can help in the transition to achieve sustainilibity in the agro-food industry, especially related to its water footprint.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Transcriptomic effects of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Ibuprofen in the marine bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam
The transcriptomic effects of Ibuprofen (IBU) in the digestive gland tissue of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam. specimens exposed at low environmental concentrations (250 ng L-1) are presented. Using a 1.7 K feature cDNA microarray along with linear models and empirical Bayes statistical methods 225 differentially expressed genes were identified in mussels treated with IBU across a 15-day period. Transcriptional dynamics were typical of an adaptive response with a peak of gene expression change at day 7 (177 features, representing about 11% of sequences available for analysis) and an almost full recovery at the end of the exposure period. Functional genomics by means of Gene Ontology term analysis unraveled typical mussel stress responses i.e. aminoglycan (chitin) metabolic processes but also more specific effects such as the regulation of NF-kappa B transcription factor activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
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