Planning for Ecosystem Services in Cities

This open access book presents current knowledge about ecosystem services (ES) in urban planning, and discusses various urban ES topics such as spatial distribution of urban ecosystems, population distribution, and physical infrastructure properties. The book addresses all these issues by: i) investigating to what extent ecosystem services are currently included in urban plans, and discussing what is still needed to improve planning practice; ii) illustrating how to develop ecosystem services indicators and information that can be used by urban planners to enhance plan design; iii) demonstrating the application of ES assessments to support urban planning processes through case studies; and iv) reflecting on criteria for addressing equity in urban planning through ecosystem service assessments, by exploring issues associated with the supply of, the access to and demand for ES by citizens. Through fully worked out case studies, from policy questions, to baseline analysis and indicators, and from option comparison to proposed solutions, the book offers readers detailed and accessible coverage of outstanding issues and proposed solutions to better integrate ES in city planning. The overall purpose of the book is to provide a compact reference that can be used by researchers as a key resource offering an updated perspective and overview on the field, as well as by practitioners and planners/decision makers as a source of inspiration for their activity. Additionally, the book will be a suitable resource for both undergraduate and post-graduate courses in planning and geography

PICaSSO Histologic Remission Index (PHRI) in ulcerative colitis: development of a novel simplified histological score for monitoring mucosal healing and predicting clinical outcomes and its applicability in an artificial intelligence system

[EN] Histological remission is evolving as an important treatment target in UC. We aimed to develop a simple histological index, aligned to endoscopy, correlated with clinical outcomes, and suited to apply to an artificial intelligence (AI) system to evaluate inflammatory activity. Methods Using a set of 614 biopsies from 307 patients with UC enrolled into a prospective multicentre study, we developed the Paddington International virtual ChromoendoScopy ScOre (PICaSSO) Histologic Remission Index (PHRI). Agreement with multiple other histological indices and validation for inter-reader reproducibility were assessed. Finally, to implement PHRI into a computer-aided diagnosis system, we trained and tested a novel deep learning strategy based on a CNN architecture to detect neutrophils, calculate PHRI and identify active from quiescent UC using a subset of 138 biopsies. Results PHRI is strongly correlated with endoscopic scores (Mayo Endoscopic Score and UC Endoscopic Index of Severity and PICaSSO) and with clinical outcomes (hospitalisation, colectomy and initiation or changes in medical therapy due to UC flare-up). A PHRI score of 1 could accurately stratify patients' risk of adverse outcomes (hospitalisation, colectomy and treatment optimisation due to flare-up) within 12 months. Our inter-reader agreement was high (intraclass correlation 0.84). Our preliminary AI algorithm differentiated active from quiescent UC with 78% sensitivity, 91.7% specificity and 86% accuracy. Conclusions PHRI is a simple histological index in UC, and it exhibits the highest correlation with endoscopic activity and clinical outcomes. A PHRI-based AI system was accurate in predicting histological remission.MI and SG are funded by the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Birmingham.Gui, X.; Alina Bazarova; Del Amor, R.; Vieth, M.; De Hertogh, G.; Villanacci, V.; Zardo, D.... (2022). PICaSSO Histologic Remission Index (PHRI) in ulcerative colitis: development of a novel simplified histological score for monitoring mucosal healing and predicting clinical outcomes and its applicability in an artificial intelligence system. Gut. 71:889-898. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2021-3263768898987

Ecosystem-based adaptation in cities: An analysis of European urban climate adaptation plans

AbstractEcosystem-based adaptation (EbA) measures have been increasingly promoted in the literature, as well as in policies and practices, for their environmental and socio-economic co-benefits. The recent scientific literature has shown a growing interest to assess climate adaptation plans at the urban level, in recognition of the important role played by urban areas in addressing climate change challenges. However, little information is available on the combination of these two issues, i.e., the actual inclusion of EbA measures in climate adaptation plans at the urban level. This paper addresses this gap by developing a framework to analyze the treatment of EbA in urban level climate planning, and apply it to a sample of climate adaptation plans in Europe. The framework consists of a classification of EbA measures, and a scoring system to evaluate how well they are reflected in different components of the plans. The results suggest that there is in general good awareness in plans of EbA measures, and of their potential role in addressing climate change challenges. However, their treatment in climate adaptation plans at the urban level often lacks sufficient baseline information, as well as convincing implementation actions. The paper concludes by offering recommendations to improve future practice, in terms of enhancing the baseline information to improve the proposal and design of EbA measures, improving the treatment of co-benefits associated to EbA measures, and strengthening coordination with other planning tools. Possible future development of this works include the integration of the proposed EbA classification, and the analysis of a larger sample of territorial plans

Conclusions

QC 20190930</p

Reviewing Ecosystem Services in Urban Climate Adaptation Plans

QC 20191001</p

The Phenomenon Analysis of Process Demand Portfolio Based on Process Progression.

在高科技產業中，技術進步往往會對產業結構帶來重大影響，而在半導體領域，因產品更迭快速、生命週期短暫，價格下滑速度較其他產業快速，廠商普遍透過製程微縮增加單位晶圓生產力，以維持持續性的成本降低。但隨著產業持續朝向先進製程節點邁進，IC設計廠商開始面臨了指數性上升的設計成本，在這樣的情況下，產業對先進製程的移轉速度可能已經出現了減緩。本文乃是從製程需求組合的角度切入，分析在設計成本轉折出現下，產業中製程研發與需求間缺口之變化，首先建立晶圓生產力指標指標，針對1996年至2007年等十二年之歷史資料進行探討，並檢定轉折出現年份，之後從成本的角度切入，在考量產業趨勢轉折下，建構IC設計廠商之平均成本函數之效率前沿，推測未來產業的可能變化。最終，本文發現在2002年後，產業間製程研發與需求間的差距由過去穩定維持在1至1.5個世代的情況，逐年上升至2007年時的2個世代，之後，根據動態模型的預測，在未來產業製程研發速度預期出現減緩下，此差距可能會暫時出現持平的現象，但在指數性上升的設計成本影響力逐漸加大下，此差距預計將會日益擴大。Technological progression is one of the most important critical factors in many high-tech industries. In semiconductor area, ASP (Average Selling Price) is eroded faster than other industries because of short product lifecycle. To maintain normal profit, the most widespread method that the firms used is scaling. Firms can get more productivity per wafer by enter more advance technology node, and bring economic of scale. But the design cost is exponential increasing with the technology progression. In this situation, the new technology node adoption rate is slower than the past. In this research, I attempt to analysis the gap between technology R&D and demand by technology node demand portfolio, and forecast the possible phenomenon base on design cost trend changing. In the first, I designed the wafer productivity index and used it to describe the industry characteristic during 1996 to 2007. Then, I used the change point analysis to test the timing of the change. The third, the efficient frontier of the IC design house was modeled and used to forecast the future. By the process, I found that after 2002, the gap between technology R&D and demand is increasing every year from below 1.5 generations to more than 2 generations. After 2007, the gap will maintain the temporary stability because of the slowing in technology progression. But the gap will finally expand because of the exponential increasing design cost.中文摘要...................................I文摘要...................................Ⅱ錄.......................................Ⅲ目次.....................................Ⅴ目次.....................................Ⅶ、緒論...................................1 1.1 問題背景..........................1 1.2 問題描述..........................2 1.3 研究目的..........................3 1.4 論文架構..........................3、文獻探討與產業分析.....................4 2.1 科技創新與採用.....................4 2.2 產業結構...........................7 2.3 產業結構變化案例...................10 2.4 製程進步與趨勢轉折.................16 2.5 製造系統進步.......................22、歷史資料分析...........................28 3.1 指標設計...........................28 3.2 資料分析...........................33 3.3 越代現象...........................42、製程需求組合分析.......................48 4.1 製程需求組合之影響因子.............49 4.2 IC設計廠商之成本結構分析...........52 4.3 平均成本函數之效率前沿.............59 4.4 製程需求組合.......................64、研究貢獻與限制.........................72 5.1 結論與貢獻.........................72 5.2 研究限制...........................73 5.3 未來工作...........................73、參考文獻...............................7

Storiform collagenoma (sclerotic fibroma) of the oral mucosa.

Storiform collagenoma (also called sclerotic fibroma) is uncommon, occurs as a cutaneous fibrous neoplasm, and is particularly rare in mucosal tissue in the head and neck. We describe an unexpected diagnosis in the oral cavity. Histopathological examination showed a proliferation of fibrous tissue, which was well circumscribed but unencapsulated, with thick laminated bundles of eosinophilic collagen that exhibited a storiform or "whorled" pattern. First described by Weary et al in 1972, storiform collagenoma is a marker for Cowden's disease or PTEN hamartoma tumour syndrome. Identification of other synchronous lesions should prompt chromosomal analysis for a mutation in the PTEN gene on chromosome 10q23