scholarly journals Imagine a Walkable City: Physical activity and urban imageability across 19 major cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marios Constantinides ◽  
Sagar Joglekar ◽  
Sanja Šćepanović ◽  
Daniele Quercia
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Compensation Mechanism ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
Developed World ◽  
Urban Characteristics

AbstractCan the shape of a city promote physical activity? The question of why individuals engage in physical activity has been widely researched, but that research has predominantly focused on socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, economic status) and coarse-grained spatial characteristics (e.g., population density), overlooking key urban characteristics of, say, whether a city is navigable or, as urban theorist Kevin Lynch put it, whether it is ‘imageable’ (whether its spatial configuration is economic of mental effort). That is mainly because, at scale, it is neither easy to model imageability nor feasible to measure physical activity. We modeled urban imageability with a single scalable metric of entropy, and then measured physical activity from 233K wearable devices over three years, and did so across 19 major cities in the developed world. We found that, after controlling for greenery, wealth, walkability, presence of landmarks, and weather conditions, the legibility hypothesis still holds: the more imageable a city, the more its dwellers engage in physical activity. Interestingly, wealth (GDP per capita) has a positive association with physical activity only in cities with inclement climate, effectively acting as a compensation mechanism for bad weather.

CNN-based Rain Reduction in Street View Images

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-81
Author(s):  
Simone Zini ◽  
Simone Bianco ◽  
Raimondo Schettini
Keyword(s):  
Character Recognition ◽  
Optical Character Recognition ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
Optical Character ◽  
Street View ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
Detection And Recognition

Rain removal from pictures taken under bad weather conditions is a challenging task that aims to improve the overall quality and visibility of a scene. The enhanced images usually constitute the input for subsequent Computer Vision tasks such as detection and classification. In this paper, we present a Convolutional Neural Network, based on the Pix2Pix model, for rain streaks removal from images, with specific interest in evaluating the results of the processing operation with respect to the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) task. In particular, we present a way to generate a rainy version of the Street View Text Dataset (R-SVTD) for "text detection and recognition" evaluation in bad weather conditions. Experimental results on this dataset show that our model is able to outperform the state of the art in terms of two commonly used image quality metrics, and that it is capable to improve the performances of an OCR model to detect and recognise text in the wild.

scholarly journals Influence of Physical Activity and Socio-Economic Status on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Patients after Stroke

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 8058
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Paprocka-Borowicz ◽  
Mona Wiatr ◽  
Maria Ciałowicz ◽  
Wojciech Borowicz ◽  
Agnieszka Kaczmarek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Treatment Of Depression ◽  
Post Stroke Depression ◽  
The Impact

Stroke is a high-risk factor for depression. Neurological rehabilitation is greatly difficult and often does not include treatment of depression. The post-stroke depression plays an important role in the progress of treatment, health, and the life of the patient. The appropriate treatment of depression could improve the quality of life of the patient and their family. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of physical activity and socio-economic status of the patient on the effectiveness of recovery from depression and the severity of the symptoms of depression. The study was conducted with 40 patients after stroke aged 42–82 years, and included 10 women and 30 men who were hospitalized for two weeks. The severity of depression/anxiety (D/A) symptoms were evaluated two times; at admission and after two weeks of physical therapy. The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) questionnaire was used for this purpose. Socio-economic status was evaluated by several simple questions. It was revealed that physical therapy has a positive influence on mental state. The severity of D/A symptoms after stroke is related to the financial status of the patients (2 = 11.198, p = 0.024). The state of health (2 = 20.57, p = 0.022) and physical fitness (2 = 12.95, p = 0.044) changed the severity of symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders. The kinesiotherapy in the group of patients with post-stroke depression had positive effects; however, economic and health conditions may influence the prognosis of the disease.

scholarly journals A Positive Association of Overactivated Immunity with Metabolic Syndrome Risk and Mitigation of Its Association by a Plant-Based Diet and Physical Activity in a Large Cohort Study

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2308
Author(s):  
Sunmin Park ◽  
Ting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Daily Intake ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Cell Counts ◽  
High Hba1c

The association between immunity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been studied, but its interaction with lifestyles remains unclear. We studied their association and interactions with lifestyles in 40,768 adults aged over 40 years from a large-scale, hospital-based cohort study collected during 2010–2013. White blood cell counts (WBC) and serum C-reactive protein concentrations (CRP) were used as indexes of immune status. The participants were categorized into four groups by the cutoff points of 6.2 × 109/L WBC(L-WBC) and <0.5 mg/dL CRP(L-CRP): L-WBC+L-CRP(n = 25,604), H-WBC+L-CRP(n = 13,880), L-WBC+H-CRP(n = 464), and H-WBC+H-CRP(n = 820). The participants in the H-WBC+L-CRP were younger and had higher numbers of males than the L-WBC+L-CRP. MetS risk was higher by 1.75- and 1.86-fold in the H-WBC+L-CRP and H-WBC+H-CRP, respectively, than the L-WBC+L-CRP. MetS components, including plasma glucose and triglyceride concentrations, and SBP were elevated in H-WBC+L-CRP and H-WBC+H-CRP compared with L-WBC+L-CR+P. The risk of hyperglycemia and high HbA1c was the highest in the H-WBC+H-CRP among all groups. Areas of WBC counts and serum CRP concentrations were 0.637 and 0.672, respectively, in the receiver operating characteristic curve. Daily intake of energy, carbohydrate, protein, and fat was not significantly different in the groups based on WBC counts and CRP. However, a plant-based diet (PBD), physical activity, and non-smoking were related to lowering WBC counts and CRP, but a Western-style diet was linked to elevating CRP. A high PBD intake and smoking status interacted with immunity to influence MetS risk: a low PBD and current smoking were associated with a higher MetS risk in the H-WBC+H-CRP. In conclusion, overactivated immunity determined by CRP and WBC was associated with MetS risk. Behavior modification with PBD and physical activity might be related to immunity regulation.

Adopting Technology in Third World Classrooms: Students' Viewpoint about Computers in Science Teaching and Learning

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olugbemiro J. Jegede ◽  
Peter Akinsola Okebukola
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Third World ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Nigerian Students ◽  
Senior Secondary ◽  
Developed World

The use of computers in education, which has emerged as a result of the considerable growth in information technology, has several implications for the global search for effective strategies in teaching school subjects. In contrast to what happens in the developed world, several developing countries like Nigeria are yet to fully appreciate the full benefits of computers and their usage in every day life. In Nigeria the Federal Government has only just taken the bold step to introduce computers into some selected classrooms as a modest beginning to the full scale use of computers in the society. The literature is replete with accounts indicating that the importation of several ideas into environments other than where they have been developed or meant, has often caused pedagogic and cultural problems. The paradigm of constructivism argues for the need to begin any instructional endeavor with pupils constructing their own knowledge using prior knowledge. This proposition motivated this study with the aim of seeking information that could be relevant to the effective introduction and use of computer in Third World classrooms. What for example, do Nigerian pupils perceive as the role of computers in the classroom? What is their concept of a computer and do they nurse any apprehensions? What sociocultural consequences would this have? This study was designed to gather and provide answers to these and other related questions. Using a four-part questionnaire with a total of 29 items, data were collected from a sample of 200 senior secondary one (grade level 10) students from the Lagos metropolitan area. The results of this study strongly suggest that the majority of Nigerian students: welcome and are enthusiastic about the introduction of computers into their classrooms; are concerned about their socio-economic status; demonstrate possession of computers have significant effect on their attitudes; and most of the students nurse some social and cultural apprehensions regarding the presence of computers in their classrooms.

Weather effects on intrahabitat movements of the western green lizard, Lacerta bilineata (Daudin, 1802), at its northern distribution range border: a radio-tracking study

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 1831-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Sound ◽  
M Veith
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Distribution Range ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Northern Distribution ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Movement Parameters ◽  
Bad Weather

Daily activity patterns of male western green lizards, Lacerta bilineata (Daudin, 1802), at the edge of their northern distribution range in western Germany after the breeding season from June to October were recorded using implanted radio transmitters. Different activity indices discriminating between stimulation, duration, and length of movement were correlated with actual weather conditions (d0) and with weather conditions on the 2 previous days (d-1 and d-2). The lizards' dependence on weather showed two different phases throughout the study period. During the first period and in the period preceding a drastic change of weather in midsummer, weather had no significant influence on movement parameters. After that event, temperatures dropped and a strong dependence on weather of all movement parameters except those indicating displacements became apparent. Thresholds for 50% activity during this second phase were a maximum temperature of 17°C and a minimum humidity of 35%. Two days after periods of bad weather, the influence of weather conditions increased again. This can be explained by physiological deficits that require compensation during the period of marginal weather conditions prior to hibernation. Displacement movements were significantly longer than home-range movements and were neither triggered nor modulated by the weather. They must therefore represent activities such as patrolling territory boundaries.

Short-term scheduling problem in smart grid considering reliability improvement in bad weather conditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2521-2533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babak Yousefi-khangah ◽  
Saeid Ghassemzadeh ◽  
Seyed Hossein Hosseini ◽  
Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grid ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Scheduling Problem ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Reliability Improvement ◽  
Bad Weather

scholarly journals Time trends in physical activity of adult users of the Brazilian National Health System: 2010-2014. Longitudinal study

2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruna Camilo Turi ◽  
Jamile Sanches Codogno ◽  
Rômulo Araújo Fernandes ◽  
Kyle Robinson Lynch ◽  
Eduardo Kokubun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Health System ◽  
National Health ◽  
Time Trends ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
National Health System ◽  
Sports Participation ◽  
Male Sex

ABSTRACT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In this longitudinal study, we aimed to describe time trends of physical activity (PA) in different domains from 2010 to 2014 among users of the Brazilian National Health System, taking into account the effects of sex, age and economic status (ES). DESIGN AND SETTING: Longitudinal study conducted in five primary care units in Bauru (SP), Brazil. METHODS: The sample was composed of 620 men and women who were interviewed in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The same group of researchers conducted the interviews, using the questionnaire developed by Baecke et al. Scores for occupational, exercise/sport, leisure-time/transportation and overall PA were considered in this longitudinal survey. Time trends of PA over the four years of follow-up were assessed according to sex, age and ES. RESULTS: We found that after four years of follow-up, the reduction in overall PA (-13.6%; 95% confidence interval, CI = -11.9 to -15.3) was statistically significant. Additionally, declines in the occupational domain and exercise/sports participation were affected by age, while the reduction in overall PA was affected by sex, age and ES. CONCLUSIONS: Overall PA decreased significantly from 2010 to 2014 among these outpatients of the Brazilian National Health System, and age and male sex were important determinants of PA in its different domains.

scholarly journals Risk Analysis and Management of Moored Ships in Ports

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana V. Pinheiro ◽  
Conceição J. E. M. Fortes ◽  
João A. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Management ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Complete Information ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Modular System ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Sea Waves ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
Port Areas

The risks associated with mooring of ships are a major concern for port and maritime authorities. Sea waves and extreme weather conditions can lead to excessive movements of vessels and mooring loads affecting the safety of ships, cargo, passengers, crew or port infrastructures. Normally, port activities such as ships’ approach manoeuvres and loading/unloading operations, are conditioned or suspended based solely on weather or wave forecasts, causing large economic losses. Nevertheless, it has been shown that some of the most hazardous events with moored ships happen on days with mild sea and wind conditions, being the culprit long waves and resonance phenomena. Bad weather conditions can be managed with an appropriate or reinforced mooring arrangement. A correct risk assessment must be based on the movements of the ship and on the mooring loads, taking into account all the moored ship’s system. In this paper, the development of a forecast and warning system based on the assessment of risks associated with moored ships in port areas, SWAMS ALERT, is detailed. This modular system can be scaled and adapted to any port, providing decision-makers with accurate and complete information on the behaviour of moored ships, movements and mooring loads, allowing a better planning and integrated management of port areas.

scholarly journals Sugarcane stems as larval habitat for the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) in sugarcane plantations

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 741-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo H.D. Cançado ◽  
Taciany Ferreira ◽  
Eliane M. Piranda ◽  
Cleber O. Soares
Keyword(s):  
Primary Source ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Larval Habitat ◽  
Stomoxys Calcitrans ◽  
Stable Fly ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Larval Habitats ◽  
Control Programs ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
Mato Grosso Do Sul

Outbreaks of stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, cause losses for livestock producers located near sugarcane mills in Brazil, especially in southern Mato Grosso do Sul. The sugarcane mills are often pointed by local farmers as the primary source of these outbreaks; some mills also joined the farmers in combating the flies. Brazilian beef cattle production has great economic importance in similar level to bio-fuel production as ethanol. In this context, the wide-ranging knowledge on the biology and ecology of the stable fly, including larval habitats and their reproduction sites is extremely important for further development of control programs. This paper aims to report the occurrence and development of S. calcitrans larvae inside sugarcane stems in three municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul. The sugarcane stems give protection against bad weather conditions and insecticide application. In this way, for sustainable sugarcane growth specific research concerning this situation should be conducted.

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