Form and urban change : an urban morphometric study of five gentrified neighbourhoods in London

Research in Urban Morphology has long been exploring the form of cities and their changes over time, especially by establishing links with the parallel dynamics of these cities’ social, economic and political environments. The capacity of an adaptable and resilient urban form for ensuring a fertile environment for economic prosperity and social cohesion is at the forefront of discussion. Gentrification has emerged in the past few decades as an important topic of research in urban sociology, geography and economy, addressing the social impact of some forms of urban evolution; to some extent, these studies emphasise the form of the environment in which gentrification takes place, however, a systematic and quantitative method for a detailed characterization of this type of urban form is still far from being achieved. With this paper, we make a first step towards the establishment of an approach based on “urban morphometrics”. To this end, we measure and compare key morphological features of five London neighbourhoods that have undergone a process of piecemeal gentrification. Findings suggest that these five case studies display similar and recognisable morphological patterns in terms of their built form, geographical location of main and local roads and physical relationships between street fronts and street types. These initial results, while not implying any causal or universal relationship between morphological and social dynamics, nevertheless contribute to; a) highlight the benefits of a rigorous quantitative approach towards interpreting urban form beyond the disciplinary boundaries of Urban Morphology and b) define the statistical recurrence of a few, specific morphological features amongst the five cases of gentrified areas in London

Prevalence and risk factors for skin lesions on legs of dairy cattle housed in freestalls in Norway

Appropriate indoor housing facilities for dairy cattle promote improved animal welfare. Skin alterations are an indicator of dysfunctional housing. The purpose was to determine the relationship between different housing design and skin lesions, hence providing farmers more insight into how to reduce the occurrence of lesions. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,335 animals in 232 Norwegian freestall-housed dairy cattle from September 2006 to June 2007. A model was established to investigate risk factors related to the presence of lesions including hair loss, swelling, and wounds on the legs of dairy cattle. Separate models were developed to investigate risk factors related to the presence of knee and hock lesions. Previously described risk factors were included in the models, together with a questionnaire addressing the attitude of the farmer toward the animals. Mean (± SD) prevalence for hock lesions was 60.5 ± 21.2% with a median value of 64%. The prevalence for knee lesions was 35.3 ± 25.7% with a median of 30%. Cows in herds with a soft freestall base had an odds ratio (OR) for knee and hock lesions of 0.22 (0.06 to 0.73) and 0.62 (0.48 to 0.80), respectively, compared with those in herds with a harder freestall base, such as concrete and compact rubber mats. There was an increased risk of hock lesions when the length in the lying area in a double-row freestall was \u3e250 cm (OR = 2.96; 1.02 to 8.60) compared with ≤250 cm, and when the length of the lying area against a wall was \u3e260 cm (OR = 2.11; 1.53 to 2.90) compared with ≤260 cm. The risk for knee lesions increased if a row against a wall was \u3e270 cm (OR = 1.72; 1.09 to 2.72) compared with ≤270 cm. Hock lesions were associated with lame cows (OR = 5.76; 1.14 to 29.18) versus nonlame cows, and with cows in their second or higher parity (OR = 1.27; 1.06 to 1.52) versus cows in their first parity. Knee lesions were associated with farmers’ negative attitudes toward animals in pain (OR = 3.28; 1.79 to 6.03) versus those with positive attitudes; cows in the beginning of their lactation (OR = 1.84; 1.24 to 2.74) versus those at the end of their lactation; and tall animals (OR = 1.27; 1.00 to 1.61) versus shorter animals. These results show that freestall design is important with respect to skin lesions as are the characteristics of individual animals and the farmer

Scalable inference for crossed random effects models

We develop methodology and complexity theory for Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms used in inference for crossed random effect models in modern analysis of variance. We consider 15 a plain Gibbs sampler and a simple modification we propose here, a collapsed Gibbs sampler. Under some balancedness assumptions on the data designs and assuming that precision hyperparameters are known, we demonstrate that the plain Gibbs sampler is not scalable, in the sense that its complexity is worse than proportional to the number of parameters and data, but that the collapsed Gibbs sampler is scalable. In simulated and real datasets we show that the explicit 20 convergence rates our theory predicts match remarkably the computable but non-explicit rates in cases where the design assumptions are violated. We also show empirically that the collapsed Gibbs sampler, extended to sample precision hyperparameters, outperforms significantly, often by orders of magnitude, alternative state of the art algorithms. Supplementary material includes some proofs, additional simulations, implementation details and the R code to implement the 25 algorithms considered in the article

On the Design of Sidelink for Cellular V2X: A Literature Review and Outlook for Future

Connected and fully automated vehicles are expected to revolutionize our mobility in the near future on a global scale, by significantly improving road safety, traffic efficiency, and traveling experience. Enhanced vehicular applications, such as cooperative sensing and maneuvering or vehicle platooning, heavily rely on direct connectivity among vehicles, which is enabled by sidelink communications. In order to set the ground for the core contribution of this paper, we first analyze the main streams of the cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology evolution within the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), with focus on the sidelink air interface. Then, we provide a comprehensive survey of the related literature, which is classified and critically dissected, considering both the Long-Term Evolution-based solutions and the 5G New Radio-based latest advancements that promise substantial improvements in terms of latency and reliability. The wide literature review is used as a basis to finally identify further challenges and perspectives, which may shape the C-V2X sidelink developments in the next-generation vehicles beyond 5G

Identification of polymorphisms associated with production traits on chicken (Gallus gallus) chromosome 4.

Genetic selection for production traits has resulted in a rapid improvement in animal performance and development. Previous studies have mapped quantitative trait loci for body weight at 35 and 41 days, and drum and thigh yield, onto chicken chromosome 4. We investigated this region for single nucleotide polymorphisms and their associations with important economic traits. Three positional candidate genes were studied: KLF3 (Krüeppel-like factor 3), SLIT2 (Slit homolog 2), and PPARGC1A (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1 alpha). Fragment sequencing of these genes was conducted in 11 F1 animals, and one polymorphism in each gene was selected and genotyped in an F2 population (N = 276) and a paternal broiler line TT (N = 840). Associations were identified with growth, carcass, and fat traits in the F2 and the paternal line (P < 0.05). Using single markers in both the F2 and the TT line, KLF3 was associated with weight gain (P < 0.05), PPPARGC1A was associated with liver and wing-parts weights and yields (P < 0.05), and SLIT2 was associated with back yield (P < 0.05) and fat traits (P < 0.05). Using multiple markers, KLF3 lost its significance in both populations, and SLIT2 was associated with feed conversion only in the TT population (P < 0.05). The QTLs mapped in the F2 population could be partly explained by PPARGC1A and SLIT2, which were associated with body weight at 35 and 41 days, respectively, and with drum and thigh yield in the same population. The results of this study indicate the importance of these genes for production traits

Factors affecting mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the stability and repeatability of measures of mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets and to examine potentially confounding factors when using a hand held algometer.Study designDescriptive, prospective cohort.AnimalsForty-four piglets from four litters, weighing 4.6 ± 1.0 kg (mean ± SD) at 2 weeks of age.MethodsMechanical thresholds were measured twice on each of 2 days during the first and second week of life. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures design to test the effects of behavior prior to testing, sex, week, day within week, and repetition within day. The effect of body weight and the interaction between piglet weight and behaviour were also tested. Piglet was entered into the model as a random effect as an additional test of repeatability. The effect of repeated testing was used to test the stability of measures. Pearson correlations between repeated measures were used to test the repeatability of measures. Variance component analysis was used to describe the variability in the data.ResultsVariance component analysis indicated that piglet explained only 17% of the variance in the data. All variables in the model (behaviour prior to testing, sex, week, day within week, repetition within day, body weight, the interaction between body weight and behaviour, piglet identity) except sex had a significant effect (p < 0.04 for all). Correlations between repeated measures increased from the first to the second week.Conclusions and Clinical relevanceRepeatability was acceptable only during the second week of testing and measures changed with repeated testing and increased with increasing piglet weight, indicating that time (age) and animal body weight should be taken into account when measuring mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets. Mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds can be used both for testing the efficacy of anaesthetics and analgesics, and for assessing hyperalgesia in chronic pain states in research and clinical settings