From the axial line to the walked line: Evaluating the utility of commercial and user-generated street network datasets in space syntax analysis

Data availability, reliability and cost are some of the most constraining factors in space syntax analysis and wider commercial acceptance. In recent years user-created Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) that is free to all via the Internet has gained wider acceptance and proven reliability (Haklay, 2010). Furthermore it has the property of being created by the people who inhabit the spaces being mapped; therefore it captures local knowledge and detail to a far greater degree than commercial mapping agencies. From a space syntax perspective it also relates more closely to the pedestrian network as it is used on foot and captures details of pedestrian routes through the urban fabric that other road-centric data sources ignore. This paper demonstrates the methodological approaches and analytic outcomes of a space syntax sensitivity analysis of Open Street Map (OSM) VGI road network data, the UK national mapping agency Ordnance Survey Integrated Transport Network (ITN) road data and a hand-drawn Axial map for four areas within the Greater London Region. The space syntax segment analysis was completed within the Depthmap application. The segment analysis was completed on the ITN model, OSM model and hand-drawn model separately and then it was carried out on a combined model of the ITN and OSM that integrated all the network elements from both. The integration and comparison of the network models was carried out through the usage of a new algorithm currently under development at University College London that identifies and extracts the differences between two line network datasets (Koukoletsos, forthcoming) and standard GIS processing techniques. The space syntax measures were evaluated on four areas in outer London that are the focus of the Adaptable Suburbs project at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. The analysis was carried out using length-weighted angular segment and choice analysis at radii 800m, 2000m and n (Turner, 2007). Comparative statistics were then generated for the areas to evaluate the analysis outcomes of the different network models. The London-wide network that was created through the combination of the OSM and ITN networks had a total length of 32,000km representing an increase of approximately 20% over the Ordnance Survey ITN network. The dramatic increase in network length alone demonstrates the divergent realities of the two mapping techniques and the representation of the world that they capture. It is anticipated that the sensitivity analysis will find that there was no significant difference in the global syntax values between the ITN and OSM and Axial models but at the local level the additional network segments for pedestrian routes within the OSM data will provide greater network accuracy and syntax values that model the reality on the ground better than the Ordnance Survey ITN model. Furthermore it captures potential pedestrian routes that are not present in the other data sets. The work carried out seeks to understand whether Volunteered Geographic Information is a viable alternative to official mapping sources when creating models for analysis of small urban areas. If this proves to be the case such data would provide not only a cost effective alternative to commercially produced data but indeed a more reliable network model for the analysis to be carried out. Open source geographic data have the capability to improve and enrich space syntax analysis whilst removing high price barriers that commercial data sources impose

Picture-Hanging Puzzles

We show how to hang a picture by wrapping rope around n nails, making a polynomial number of twists, such that the picture falls whenever any k out of the n nails get removed, and the picture remains hanging when fewer than k nails get removed. This construction makes for some fun mathematical magic performances. More generally, we characterize the possible Boolean functions characterizing when the picture falls in terms of which nails get removed as all monotone Boolean functions. This construction requires an exponential number of twists in the worst case, but exponential complexity is almost always necessary for general functions.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 11 puzzles. Journal version of FUN 2012 pape

The grit in the oyster: using energy biographies to question socio-technical imaginaries of ‘smartness’

It has been argued that responsible research and innovation (RRI) requires critique of the ‘worlds’ implicated in the future imaginaries associated with new technologies. Qualitative social science research can aid deliberation on imaginaries by exploring the meanings of technologies within everyday practices, as demonstrated by Yolande Strengers’ work on imaginaries of ‘smartness’. In this paper, we show how a novel combination of narrative interviews and multimodal methods can help explore future imaginaries of smartness through the lens of biographical experiences of socio-technical changes in domestic energy use. In particular, this approach can open up a critical space around socio-technical imaginaries by exploring the investments that individuals have in different forms of engagement with the world. The paper works with a psychosocial conceptual framework that draws on theoretical resources from science and technology studies to explain how valued forms of subjectivity may be conceptualised as emerging out of the ‘friction’ of engagement with the world. Using this framework, we show how biographical narratives of engagement with technologies from the Energy Biographies project can extend into critical deliberation on future imaginaries. The paper demonstrates the value of ‘thick’ data relating to the affective dimensions of subjective experience for RRI

Gridded global surface ozone metrics for atmospheric chemistry model evaluation

The concentration of ozone at the Earth's surface is measured at many locations across the globe for the purposes of air quality monitoring and atmospheric chemistry research. We have brought together all publicly available surface ozone observations from online databases from the modern era to build a consistent data set for the evaluation of chemical transport and chemistry-climate (Earth System) models for projects such as the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative and Aer-Chem-MIP. From a total data set of approximately 6600 sites and 500 million hourly observations from 1971-2015, approximately 2200 sites and 200 million hourly observations pass screening as high-quality sites in regionally representative locations that are appropriate for use in global model evaluation. There is generally good data volume since the start of air quality monitoring networks in 1990 through 2013. Ozone observations are biased heavily toward North America and Europe with sparse coverage over the rest of the globe. This data set is made available for the purposes of model evaluation as a set of gridded metrics intended to describe the distribution of ozone concentrations on monthly and annual timescales. Metrics include the moments of the distribution, percentiles, maximum daily 8-hour average (MDA8), sum of means over 35 ppb (daily maximum 8-h; SOMO35), accumulated ozone exposure above a threshold of 40 ppbv (AOT40), and metrics related to air quality regulatory thresholds. Gridded data sets are stored as netCDF-4 files and are available to download from the British Atmospheric Data Centre (doi:10.5285/08fbe63d-fa6d-4a7a-b952-5932e3ab0452). We provide recommendations to the ozone measurement community regarding improving metadata reporting to simplify ongoing and future efforts in working with ozone data from disparate networks in a consistent manner

Widespread FRA1-Dependent Control of Mesenchymal Transdifferentiation Programs in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Tumor invasion and metastasis involves complex remodeling of gene expression programs governing epithelial homeostasis. Mutational activation of the RAS-ERK is a frequent occurrence in many cancers and has been shown to drive overexpression of the AP-1 family transcription factor FRA1, a potent regulator of migration and invasion in a variety of tumor cell types. However, the nature of FRA1 transcriptional targets and the molecular pathways through which they promote tumor progression remain poorly understood. We found that FRA1 was strongly expressed in tumor cells at the invasive front of human colorectal cancers (CRCs), and that its depletion suppressed mesenchymal-like features in CRC cells in vitro. Genome-wide analysis of FRA1 chromatin occupancy and transcriptional regulation identified epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes as a major class of direct FRA1 targets in CRC cells. Expression of the pro-mesenchymal subset of these genes predicted adverse outcomes in CRC patients, and involved FRA-1-dependent regulation and cooperation with TGFβ signaling pathway. Our findings reveal an unexpectedly widespread and direct role for FRA1 in control of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in CRC cells, and suggest that FRA1 plays an important role in mediating cross talk between oncogenic RAS-ERK and TGFβ signaling networks during tumor progression.This work was supported by project grants 1026228 and 1044168 (to A.S.D.) and Senior Research Fellowships (to R.D.H., R.B.P. and J.M.M.) from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

Exploring Existing 3d Reconstruction Tools for the Generation of 3d City Models at Various Lod From a Single Data Source

Abstract. The use of three-dimensional (3D) city models has increased in a wide range of applications beyond visualisation. However, generation and maintenance of 3D data comes at a high cost, time, and workload. The purpose of the generalisation where coarser versions are obtained from a source data is of great interest for National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies (NMCA), which would benefit obtaining multiple 3D versions of an area from a single source. The main aim of the exploration presented in this paper is to study the potential of downsizing point clouds as an approach to generate 3D city models at multiple levels of detail from a single source and evaluate the steps required to ensure the output is fit for real world applications from an NMCA context. While interesting results are obtained when testing with sample data, no software managed to semi-automatically reconstruct 3D model for buildings of rather complicated geometry

Semantic Mapping Analysis of Digital Building LogBook/Passport Models

A Digital Building LogBook/Passport (DBL/DBP) is a repository for static "as built" and dynamic "Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)" throughout the life cycle of the buildings. This ongoing research uses the semantic mapping approach to analyse and compare the current recommended DBL/DBP models to identify the similarities/ differences between them. The findings of this investigation show that due to the lack of comparison studies on DBL/DBP models in academic literature, the similarity percentage between proposed categories and elements is very low, and a knowledge-based method would be needed that makes the comparison not straightforward. In particular, the lack of metadata caused an increasing uncertainty percentage of elements. The focus of this paper is on assessing the DBL/DBP models (comparison of categories and elements, metadata evaluation), furtherwork is needed to develop an integrated model

Disguised Propaganda from Digital to Social Media

Disguised propaganda and political deception in digital media have been studied since the early days of the World Wide Web. At the intersection of internet research and propaganda studies, this chapter explores disguised propaganda on websites and social media platforms. Based on a discussion of key concepts and terminology, this chapter outlines how new modes of deception and source obfuscation emerge in digital and social media environments, and how this development complicates existing conceptual and epistemological frameworks in propaganda studies. The chapter concludes by arguing that contemporary challenges of detecting and countering disguised propaganda can only be resolved, if social media companies are held accountable and provide the necessary support for user contestation