Exploring the discriminating power of texture in urban image analysis

Fulltext link (The 17th Congress, Commission 7): http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/XXIX/congress/part7/942_XXIX-part7.pdfThis paper presents some preliminary results from a series of investigations into the use of texture analysis in urban image understanding. High spatial resolution satellite imagery of urban areas contains much information that is not adequately exploited using per-pixel classification techniques. The principal hypothesis addressed is that detailed spatial features may be recognised by the analysis of urban morphological texture. Results from two analyses are reported. First, co-occurrence matrix measures of homogeneity are used on a Spot Panchromatic scene of Harare, Zimbabwe, to predict housing densities stored in a co-registered database. Second a Fourier domain statistic is developed to measure residential block density and is tested on a Spot panchromatic scene of Cardiff, Wales. The statistic is used to predict urban population counts stored in a co-registered population surface. The results demonstrate that useful morphological information can be extracted from Spot panchromatic images using such methods.The XVII Congress, Commission VII, Washington, DC USA, 2-14 August 1992. In International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 1992, v. 29 pt. B7, p. 942-94

Association between adiposity outcomes and residential density: a full-data, cross-sectional analysis of 419 562 UK Biobank adult participants

Background Obesity is a major health issue and an important public health target for urban design. However, the evidence for identifying the optimum residential density in relation to obesity has been far from compelling. We examined the association of obesity with residential density in a large and diverse population sample drawn from the UK Biobank to identify healthy-weight-sustaining density environments. Methods For this full-data, cross-sectional analysis, we used UK Biobank data for adult men and women aged 37–73 years from 22 cities across the UK. Baseline examinations were done between 2006 and 2010. Residential unit density was objectively assessed within a 1 km street catchment of a participant's residence. Other activity-influencing built environment factors were measured in terms of density of retail, public transport, and street-level movement density, which were modelled from network analyses of through movement of street links within the defined catchment. We regressed adiposity indicators of body-mass index (BMI; kg/m2), waist circumference (cm), whole body fat (kg), and obesity (WHO criteria of BMI ≥30 kg/m2) on residential density (units per km2), adjusting for activity-influencing built environment factors and individual covariates. We also investigated effect modification by age, sex, employment status, and physical activity. We used a series of linear continuous and logistic regression models and non-linear restricted cubic spline models as appropriate. Findings Of 502 649 adults in the prospective cohort, 419 562 (83·5%) participants across 22 UK Biobank assessment centres met baseline data requirements and were included in the analytic sample. The fitted restricted cubic spline adiposity-residential density dose–response curve identified a turning point at a residential density of 1800 residential units per km2. Below a residential density of 1800 units per km2, an increment of 1000 units per km2 was positively related with adiposity, being associated with higher BMI (β 0·19 kg/m2, 95% CI 0·14 to 0·24), waist circumference (β 0·41 cm, 0·28 to 0·54), and whole body fat (β 0·40 kg, 0·30 to 0·50), and with increased odds of obesity (odds ratio [OR] 1·10, 1·07 to 1·14). Beyond 1800 units per km2, residential density had a protective effect on adiposity and was associated with lower BMI (β −0·22 kg/m2, −0·25 to −0·20), waist circumference (β −0·54 cm, −0·61 to −0·48), and whole body fat (β −0·38 kg, −0·43 to −0·33), and with decreased odds of obesity (OR 0·91, 0·90 to 0·93). Subgroup analyses identified more pronounced protective effects of residential density among individuals who were younger, female, in employment, and accumulating higher levels of physical activity, except in the case of whole body fat, for which the protective effects were stronger in men. Interpretation Housing-level policy related to the optimisation of healthy density in cities might be a potential upstream-level public health intervention towards the minimisation and offsetting of obesity; however, further research based on accumulated prospective data is necessary for evidencing specific pathways. The findings might mean that governments, such as the UK Government, who are attempting to prevent suburban densification by, for example, prohibiting the subdivision of single lot housing and the conversion of domestic gardens to housing lots, will potentially have the effect of inhibiting the conversion of suburbs into more healthy places to live.published_or_final_versio

Morphometric analysis of the built environment in UL Biobank: Data analyses and specification manual

UK Biobank Built Environment Project - UKB WalesAvailable at: http://biobank.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/showcase/docs/ard-1195_UKBBuiltEnvWales.pd

UK Biobank Urban Morphometric Platform (UKBUMP): a nationwide resource for evidence-based healthy city planning and public health interventions

The built environment (BE) has emerged as one of the ‘first causes’ of chronic disease, capable of explaining its socio-spatial variation. There is an increasing need for objective, detailed and precise measurements of attributes of BE that may influence our lifestyle, behaviour and hence physical and mental health. In this paper, we report the UK Biobank Urban Morphometric Platform (UKBUMP), the first ever very large sample size high resolution spatial database of urban morphological metrics (morphometrics), being developed for half-a-million participants of the UK Biobank Prospective study spatially distributed across 22 UK cities. Large-scale objective assessment of the BE was conducted employing state-of-the-art spatial and network analyses upon multiple national-level spatial data-sets. Prospective large-scale objective assessment of the BE enables the development of BE-health modelling studies that have the potential to identify causal pathways from specific attributes of the BE to various complex chronic health outcomes as well as well-being. The UKBUMP will act as a national resource, providing a platform for evidence-based healthy city planning and interventions for the first half of the twenty-first century.postprin

Exploring associations between urban green, built environment configuration and walking: results from the Greater London boroughs

The Conference abstracts' website is located at https://www.icuh2014.com/Charter 3. Urban Planning and Architecture - Session title: Small are research for improving urban health - Ref: 621 OralIn recent years, lack of requisite physical activity has been identified as a key determinant of obesity and associated chronic diseases. In this paper, we examine the associations between objectively measured urban green and walking behaviour and how such associations are mediated by built environment configuration and street-level physical accessibility. The dwelling locations of the respondents of London Travel Demand Survey were geocoded and individual walking behaviour was extracted from the travel diary. The UK Map data was employed to calculate accessibility to urban green; expressed in terms of density of natural green, agricultural and anthropogenic green as well as street trees within defined buffers. A 0.5 metre resolution normalized difference vegetation index was employed to operationalize the degree of greenness. A network model of street-level physical accessibility was developed using spatial Domain Network Analysis (sDNA). A two-part multi-level regression model was employed with individuals nested within census-defined lower super output areas. The results show a significant influence of both urban green and street-level accessibility highlighting the need for targeted intervention strategies in the activity-friendly planning and design of urban built environment.postprin

Estimating and calibrating the amount of building-related construction and demolition waste in urban China

One side effect of the unprecedented urbanization in China is the large amount of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) waste generated during the process. It is an enigma why such statistics as C&D waste generation are absent from the literature in spite of their importance to devising sensible interventions to deal with the C&D waste related problems. This paper aims to estimate the amount of C&D waste at the country level. It does so by adopting a methodology utilizing national statistical data and the average amounts of waste generated at job sites. Furthermore, the estimation is undergone a thorough calibration against various independent sources before it can be accepted confidently. It is finally estimated that approximately 1.13 billion tons of C&D materials were generated in China during 2014, which has declined from a plateau of building activities and C&D waste generation in the early 2010s. The paper provides some useful references for devising appropriate C&D waste reduction, reuse, or recycling strategies. The paper also offers useful commentary on methodology to estimate C&D waste generation at an urban level, particularly in situations where data availability is erratic.postprin

Stakeholders' willingness to pay for enhanced construction waste management: a Hong Kong study

Based on the polluter pays principle, construction waste disposal charging schemes (CWDCS) have been deployed by various economies as one of the most effective ways of managing construction waste. Nevertheless, a means of rationalizing these schemes has not been well documented. Using the economic technique of contingent valuation method (CVM), this study aims to investigate stakeholders’ willingness to pay (WTP) for enhanced construction waste management (CWM) with a view to providing a scientific foundation for CWDCS rationalization. In considering this WTP in light of repeated exhortations that all stakeholders play a role in the management of construction waste, the study is unique. To ascertain stakeholders’ WTP, a payment card-style questionnaire survey was designed and administered to Hong Kong’s major CWM stakeholders in February 2014. Interestingly, the results show that there is no statistically significant variation in the WTP of different stakeholder groups. The average maximum WTP is around HK232/t for landfill disposal of C&D waste, HK186/t for off-site sorting facility (OSF) disposal, and HK$120/t for public fill reception facility (PFRF) disposal. These values are higher than the existing CWDCS charges (HK$125/t for landfilling, HK$100/t for OSF disposal, and HK$27/t for PFRF disposal) but much lower than the charges proposed to the government. This research provides not only a scientific foundation for the ongoing debate on changes to Hong Kong’s CWDCS, but also a valuable reference for other economies facing the challenge of developing charging schemes to deal with construction waste.postprin

Argo real-time quality control intercomparison

The real-time quality control (RTQC) methods applied to Argo profiling float data by the United Kingdom (UK) Met Office, the United States (US) Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Centre, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Coriolis Centre are compared and contrasted. Data are taken from the period 2007 to 2011 inclusive and RTQC performance is assessed with respect to Argo delayed-mode quality control (DMQC). An intercomparison of RTQC techniques is performed using a common data set of profiles from 2010 and 2011. The RTQC systems are found to have similar power in identifying faulty Argo profiles but to vary widely in the number of good profiles incorrectly rejected. The efficacy of individual QC tests are inferred from the results of the intercomparison. Techniques to increase QC performance are discussed

Nanofiber fabrication in a temperature and humidity controlled environment for improved fibre consistency

To fabricate nanofibers with reproducible characteristics, an important demand for many applications, the effect of controlled atmospheric conditions on resulting electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers was evaluated for temperature ranging 17.5 - 35°C and relative humidity ranging 20% - 70%. With the potential application of nanofibers in many industries, especially membrane and filter fabrication, their reproducible production must be established to ensure commercially viability.
Cellulose acetate (CA) solution (0.2 g/ml) in a solvent mixture of acetone/DMF/ethanol (2:2:1) was electrospun into nonwoven fibre mesh with the fibre diameter ranging from 150nm to 1µm.
The resulting nanofibers were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing a correlation of reducing average fibre diameter with increasing atmospheric temperature. A less pronounced correlation was seen with changes in relative humidity regarding fibre diameter, though it was shown that increased humidity reduced the effect of fibre beading yielding a more consistent, and therefore better quality of fibre fabrication.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies observed lower melt enthalpies for finer CA nanofibers in the first heating cycle confirming the results gained from SEM analysis. From the conditions that were explored in this study the temperature and humidity that gave the most suitable fibre mats for a membrane purpose were 25.0°C and 50%RH due to the highest level of fibre diameter uniformity, the lowest level of beading while maintaining a low fibre diameter for increased surface area and increased pore size homogeneity. This study has highlighted the requirement to control the atmospheric conditions during the electrospinning process in order to fabricate reproducible fibre mats

Regulation of the dystrophin-associated glycoprotein complex composition by the metabolic properties of muscle fibres

The dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) links the muscle cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix and is responsible for force transduction and protects the muscle fibres from contraction induced damage. Mutations in components of the DGC are responsible for muscular dystrophies and congenital myopathies. Expression of DGC components have been shown to be altered in many myopathies. In contrast we have very little evidence of whether adaptive changes in muscle impact on DGC expression. In this study we investigated connection between muscle fibre phenotype and the DGC. Our study reveals that the levels of DGC proteins at the sarcolemma differ in highly glycolytic muscle compared to wild-type and that these changes can be normalised by the super-imposition of an oxidative metabolic programme. Importantly we show that the metabolic properties of the muscle do not impact on the total amount of DGC components at the protein level. Our work shows that the metabolic property of a muscle fibre is a key factor in regulating the expression of DGC proteins at the sarcolemma