Search

Purpose: The purpose of this cyclical action research study was to examine the perspectives of Clyde, a first-year physical education teacher working in an urban intensive environment, as he attempted to implement restorative practices. Methods: Data included semistructured interviews, weekly e-mail communication, text messages, photographs, field notes from observations, and artifacts. Data were analyzed using a combination of inductive and deductive analysis. Results: The results are presented in three themes: (a) searching for appropriate discipline procedures, (b) critical incidents inhibited the integration of restorative practices, and (c) lack of preparation to teach in an urban intensive environment. Conclusion: Clyde's experience suggests that challenges for early career teachers may be further complicated by teaching in urban intensive environments. Teacher educators may consider the different contexts in which teachers work and the influence they can have on both teacher effectiveness and job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A deployment strategy for edge nodes based on the analysis of mobility traces. • A performance comparison of the strategy against traditional approaches. • The use of ParticpAct and Google Popular Time. • A data exploration analysis of the data sets describing some mobility features. The main objective of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) is to bring computational capabilities at the edge of the network to better support low-latency applications. Such capabilities are typically offered by Edge Data Centers (EDC). The MEC paradigm is not tied to a single radio technology, rather it embraces both cellular and other radio access technologies such as WiFi. Distributed intelligence at the edge for AI purposes requires careful spatial planning of computing and storage resources. The problem of EDC deployment in urban environments is challenging and, to the best of our knowledge, it has been explored only for cellular connectivity so far. In this paper, we study the possibility of deploying EDC without analyzing the expected data traffic load of the cellular network, a kind of information rarely shared by network operators. To this purpose, we propose in this work CLUB, CLUstering-Based strategy tailored on the analysis of urban mobility. We analyze two experimental mobility data sets, and we analyze some mobility features in order to characterize their properties. Finally, we compare the performance of CLUB against state-of-the-art techniques in terms of the outage probability, namely the probability an EDC is not able to serve a request. Our results show that the CLUB strategy is always comparable with respect to our benchmarks, but without using any information related to network traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidimensional digital and interactive basemaps are of high interest for many different user groups coming from various domains. There are already some design principles available for creating digital 3D maps, many of them coming from classical 2D map design, but there is still a need for new design strategies and principles for digital and interactive 3D and 4D basemaps for urban environments. In this article, we present the results of a comprehensive online survey with 175 participants. The aim of this conducted survey was to find out more about the preferences of different user groups regarding the content of digital 3D and 4D basemaps for urban environments, the zoom levels at which different content (such as buildings, landmarks, vegetation, labels, live data) should be visible, the highest shown level of detail as well the overall design (with regard to color, classification and symbology) of these contents. In addition, we also deal with questions about desired map elements and functionalities for an interactive multidimensional basemap and present first assessments of a developed 4D basemap demonstrator. As a final result, we conclude with two tables that provide advice for specific design decisions for creating digital and interactive 3D and 4D basemaps of urban environments for orientation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For stormwater systems, geysers in manholes are a risk to pedestrian and vehicle safety and the urban environment. Manhole covers dancing and blowing off are reported worldwide during heavy rainfall and geyser events. These manhole cover motions impact geyser characteristics but are rarely studied. This work experimentally studied geysers in covered manholes induced by air pocket release. Both fixed and mobile covers were tested, and the effects of manhole diameter and cover ventilation size were considered. The geyser regimes are classified into nongeyser, single-geyser, and multigeyser. The mobile covers can dance and blow off, resulting in pressure at the manhole headspace with characteristics of oscillation with high frequency, decline of peak magnitude, and negative pressure occurrence. The maximum positive pressure can be seven times higher for fixed covers than that for mobile covers. Increasing the manhole diameter decreases the number of geysers and the maximum positive pressure for both fixed and mobile covers. Decreasing cover ventilation reduces the number of geysers and increases the maximum positive pressure for the fixed covers, although it has limited effects for mobile covers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion paper aims to set out the key challenges and opportunities emerging from distributed manufacturing (DM). We begin by describing the concept, available definitions and consider its evolution where recent production technology developments (such as additive and continuous production process technologies), digitisation together with infrastructural developments (in terms of IoT and big data) provide new opportunities. To further explore the evolving nature of DM, the authors, each of whom are involved in specific applications of DM research, examine through an expert panel workshop environment emerging DM applications involving new production and supporting infrastructural technologies. This paper presents these generalisable findings on DM challenges and opportunities in terms of products, enabling production technologies and the impact on the wider production and industrial system. Industry structure and location of activities are examined in terms of the democratising impact on participating network actors. The paper concludes with a discussion on the changing nature of manufacturing as a result of DM, from the traditional centralised, large-scale, long lead-time forecast-driven production operations to a new DM paradigm where manufacturing is a decentralised, autonomous near end user-driven activity. A forward research agenda is proposed that considers the impact of DM on the industrial and urban landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Although recommended lung cancer screening with low‐dose computed tomography scanning (LDCT) reduces mortality among high‐risk adults, annual screening rates remain low. This study complements a previous nationwide assessment of access to lung cancer screening within 40 miles by evaluating differences in accessibility across rural and urban settings for the population aged 50 to 80 years and a subset eligible population based on the 2021 US Preventive Services Task Force LDCT lung screening recommendations. Methods: Distances from population centers to screening facilities (American College of Radiology Lung Cancer Screening Registry) were calculated, and the number of individuals who had access within graduating distances, including 10, 20, 40, 50, and 100 miles, were estimated. Census tract results were aggregated to counties, and both geographies were classified with rural‐urban schemas. Results: Approximately 5% of the eligible population did not have access to lung cancer screening facilities within 40 miles; however, different patterns of accessibility were observed at different distances, between regions, and across rural‐urban environments. Across all distances and geographies, there was a larger percentage of the population in rural geographies with no access. Although the rural population represented approximately 8% of the eligible population, the larger percentage of the rural population with no access was noteworthy and translated into a larger number of individuals with no access at longer distance thresholds (≥40 miles). Conclusions: Disparities in access should be examined as both percentages of the population and numbers of individuals with no access in order to tailor interventions to communities and increase access. Geospatial analysis at the census tract level is recommended to help to identify optimal focus areas and reach the most people. Lay Summary: As annual lung cancer screening rates remain low, this study examines access to lung cancer screening nationwide and across rural and urban settings.A geographic information system network analysis of census tract–level populations is used to estimate access at different distances, including 10, 20, 40, 50, and 100 miles, and the results are aggregated to counties.Approximately 5% of the eligible population does not have access to screening facilities within 40 miles; however, different patterns of accessibility are observed at different distances, between regions, and across rural‐urban environments.Across all distances and geographies, there is a larger percentage of the population in rural geographies with no access. This study uses geospatial analysis to examine access to lung cancer screening at graduating distances nationwide and across rural‐urban settings. Approximately 5% of the eligible population does not have access to lung cancer screening facilities within 40 miles; however, different patterns of accessibility are observed at different distances, between regions, and across rural‐urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed traffic is a common phenomenon in urban environment. For the mixed traffic situation, the detection of traffic obstacles, including motor vehicle, non-motor vehicle, and pedestrian, is an essential task for intelligent and connected vehicles (ICVs). In this paper, an improved YOLO model is proposed for traffic obstacle detection and classification. The YOLO network is used to accurately detect the traffic obstacles, while the Wasserstein distance-based loss is used to improve the misclassification in the detection that may cause serious consequences. A new established dataset containing four types of traffic obstacles including vehicles, bikes, riders, and pedestrians is collected under different time periods and different weather conditions in urban environment in Wuhan, China. Experiments are performed on the established dataset on Windows PC and NVIDIA TX2, respectively. From the experimental results, the improved YOLO model has higher mean average precision than the original YOLO model and can effectively reduce intolerable misclassifications. In addition, the improved YOLOv4-tiny model has a detection speed of 22.5928 fps on NVIDIA TX2, which can basically realize the real-time detection of traffic obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although children of all ages have the right to participate in urban planning projects, pre‐literate children's voices are absent from urban debates. In this paper, we explore pre‐schoolers' experiences in, and expectations for, their city by drawing on a participatory research project that used neighbourhood walks and a tile‐based mapping exercise. Findings suggest that young children, although largely absent from planning, policy or child‐friendly city discourses, nonetheless, deeply engage with and value their city and its human and non‐human inhabitants. In our study pre‐schoolers from Dunedin, New Zealand created an urban environment which cares for their citizens by being safe, socially and physically connected and has destinations, amenities and services available for all ages and abilities. We argue in this paper that pre‐schoolers created not only cities based on their own experiences, but 'care‐full' cities that ensure the liveability, flourishing and wellbeing for humans and non‐humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a path loss model based on path profile in urban propagation environments for 5G systems. Although deep learning approaches are indeed powerful in tasks involving prediction or classification, they often lack transparency and suffer from high computational complexity. The proposed model combines the log‐distance path loss model for line‐of‐sight propagation scenarios and a machine‐learning‐based model for non‐line‐of‐sight (NLOS) cases. This paper uses the principal component analysis algorithm to extract relevant features out of some selected attributes of the path profile for NLOS cases. Then, the path loss model can be constructed based on the approach of polynomial regression. Simulation results show that the proposed model outperforms the conventional models when operating in the 3.5 GHz frequency band. The standard deviation of prediction error was reduced by about 22.2–37.2% dB when compared to the conventional models. Furthermore, the prediction performance was also evaluated in a non‐standalone 5G New Radio network in the urban environment of Taipei city. The real‐world measurements show that the standard deviation of prediction error can be reduced by 3.33–6.13 dB when compared to the conventional models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is a modern technology that has received great attention in the modern era due to daily road accidents. In VANET network it is difficult to design effective routing protocols due to the speed of movement of nodes and the rapid change in network architecture, and the purpose of routing protocols in the VANET network is to route data between vehicles (V2V), and between vehicles to infrastructure (V2I). Recently researchers have been interested in designing effective routing protocols for the VANET network because not all existing protocols are suitable for all traffic scenarios. Therefore, the focus of this paper will be on the maximum distance on-demand routing algorithm (MDORA) protocol and work on improving the protocol algorithm so that it is compatible with the urban environment. After that, the improved performance of the MDORA-without direction (MDORA-WD) protocol will be compared with the ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) protocol in terms of communication overhead, packet delivery ratio (PDR) and end to end (E2E) delay. The protocols will be simulated by MATLAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Attributes of the neighborhood-built environment are associated with self-reported physical activity, but only a few studies have concentrated on device-measured physical activity in Latin America. This study examines the associations of perceived neighborhood-built environment attributes, device-measured sedentary time, and light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in adults from 8 Latin American countries.Methods: Data from Estudio Latinoamericano de Nutrición y Salud adult study, an observational multicountry study (N=2,478), were analyzed in 2020. Data were collected between 2014 and 2015. Perceived neighborhood-built environment attributes were measured using the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Survey. Sedentary time, light-intensity physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity data were collected using accelerometers.Results: No associations between perceived neighborhood-built environment attributes and sedentary time were found. Positive perceptions of walking/cycling facilities (β=6.50, 95% CI=2.12, 10.39) were associated with more light-intensity physical activity. Perceptions of better aesthetics (Argentina) and better walking/cycling facilities (Brazil and Ecuador) were positively associated with light-intensity physical activity. Land use mix-diversity (β=0.14, 95% CI=0.03, 0.25), walking/cycling facilities (β=0.16, 95% CI=0.05, 0.27), aesthetics (β=0.16, 95% CI=0.02, 0.30), and safety from traffic (β=0.18, 95% CI=0.05, 0.24) were positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Land use mix-diversity, street connectivity, and safety from traffic were positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in Venezuela.Conclusions: These findings have implications for policy recommendations, which can guide policies to promote physical activity in the region. Land use mix-diversity, walking/cycling facilities, aesthetics, and safety from traffic can maintain or increase the levels of light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among Latin American adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puzzle‐based storage (PBS) systems provide a space efficient solution for storage and retrieval of unit loads (e.g., cars, boxes) in the very land‐expensive urban environment. In this work, we formulate a highly generic optimal retrieval problem, consisting of any number of loads to be retrieved, and an arbitrary number of I/O points and empty locations (escorts) on a two‐dimensional lattice graph. We theoretically analyze the characteristics of the problem and propose a set of graph search algorithms to tackle the inherent complexities thereof. In contrast to existing work in the field, we investigate the runtime‐memory tradeoff pertaining to our problem, highlighting the possible benefits and limitations of our heuristic search and tabulation techniques. Our results demonstrate that our algorithms are capable of optimally solving moderate‐sized PBS problems using a limited amount of memory and in a reasonable amount of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the four atoll countries in the world, the Maldives has the lowest average elevation. Therefore, it is likely to be the first country to lose its land when the sea level rises due to climate change. As a countermeasure to sea level rise, the government of the Maldives is constructing an artificial island called Hulhumalé by raising an atoll adjacent to the capital city of Malé. Other atoll countries may employ the same method to adapt to the anticipated sea level rise. There is a concern that people who are forced to relocate to the artificial island will be affected in various ways. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify measures to reduce the potential impacts of migration to artificial islands. This study aimed to identify factors that will work effectively to satisfy migrants from outside the Malé region to Hulhumalé. At this stage, sea level rise is not a motivating factor for migration to Hulhumalé. For the time being, enhancing high-income employment and high-level education in Hulhumalé, which are the main motivations for migration, will help sustain voluntary migration. Over the past two decades, rapid economic growth has changed the desire of Maldivians. Hulhumalé is attracting people with its new urban environment and employment opportunities. A small-scale questionnaire survey on the satisfaction level of post-migration life was conducted among the residents of Hulhumalé and the results showed that those who changed their jobs before and after migration were less satisfied with their migration than those who did not. In Hulhumalé, smart cities are being developed and new types of employment are being created. In order to facilitate the smooth migration of residents from remote islands, policies that focus on occupational changes before and after migration are needed, such as public job placement programs that enable migrants to find the same jobs that they had before migration, and job training programs that prepare them for career changes and enable them to adapt smoothly to new jobs. At present, mental health issues among migrants are not a major problem. Strengthening people-to-people networks through the use of information technology (IT) will contribute to smooth migration and resettlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Indonesia's economic growth is estimated to be driven by high levels of consumption which lead to large amounts of waste. Education is required to raise environmental awareness among the population as it is one of the ways to overcome the waste issue, especially in urban areas, which are the engines of economic growth. This study aims to determine whether the higher levels of education have a greater impact on citizens regarding environmental concerns such as littering. METHODS: The study took logistics regression on the primary data survey from 7 cities (Jakarta, Jambi, Muaro Jambi, Ambon, Padang, Surabaya, and Tasikmalaya) in Indonesia during 2019-2021. The survey includes 563 observations on the household level, involving a total of 2,349 respondents. The logistic regression predicts the likelihood of urban citizens to litter, given their socio-economic backgrounds and existing littering behavior and environmental awareness. FINDINGS: This study found that education did not affect decreasing the value of littering behavior as expected since it is estimated that an increase of 1 year in school will increase the probability of littering by 0.0189. Formal education is not enough to decrease the probability of littering behavior on the individual level. In contrast, informal education taught on keeping a clean environment matters is better than conventional formal education. Besides that, having self-initiative on environmental caring and good habits from childhood will decrease the probability of littering on an individual level. An individual has a self-initiative, the probability of littering will be 0.1732 times lower than those who do not have self-initiative. This study also found that per capita income and per capita expenditure in big cities in Indonesia ranged between USD 156,903 and USD 116,857. These economic factors affect the behavior of citizens not to litter. The per capita expenditure increasing by USD 1 per person per day will decrease the probability of littering by -0.0468. However, these factors are not enough to minimize the littering behavior since the disposal place availability becomes another keys factor in decreasing littering behavior on urban citizens. CONCLUSION: The government should also focus on building citizens' behavior regarding waste management awareness especially building good habits since childhood and individual initiative, simultaneously implementing the programs to reduce waste production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It aims to improve the construction of ecological civilization and promote the common development of urban and ecology. Firstly, contemporary ecological ethics is explored, and its principles and characteristics are summarized. Then, the technique of convolutional neural network (CNN) image in a deep learning model is analyzed. Finally, deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) are used to analyze and model the spatial characteristics of contemporary cities based on ecological ethics. According to the investigations, rural residential areas are more consistent with ecological ethics than urban residential areas when compared with the ecological characteristics of farmland and forest, and the highest ecological eigenvalues of the two areas are about 8 and 6. In the analysis of urban space, the maximum value of ecological eigenvalues of an airport is 9, and that of a stadium is 8. However, the scope of their construction that is consistent with ecological ethics is very small. Moreover, the eigenvalues of ecological ethics in the urban business circle of casinos are not only very low (the highest values are about 5 and 3), but also consistent with the construction norms of ecological ethics. The work of urban spatial philosophy is optimized based on the adoption of the DCNN model of deep learning in ecological ethics, which not only provides the reference for future ecological urban planning but also contributes to the common development of urban and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IEEE 802.11ah standard, marketed as Wi-Fi Halow, introduces a new channel access mechanism called the Restricted Access Window (RAW), aiming to provide connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT) applications over broad areas. RAW aspires to alleviate the contention by splitting the channel access into periods and allocating each period to a given group of stations. This paper develops an analytical framework based on Probability and Renewal theories for modeling and evaluating an IEEE 802.11ah-based network implementing the RAW mechanism. We consider a Rayleigh-fading channel with the presence of the capture effect: a realistic scenario for IoT networks deployed in dense urban environments. Considering a single-hop scenario of stations randomly distributed around an Access Point (AP) and the power attenuation of transmitted packets, we model the channel access under capture awareness. As the RAW mechanism presents a time-limited contention for channel access, we develop a counting process that tracks transmissions up to the end of the contention time interval. Henceforth, we evaluate the network performance in terms of throughput. We meticulously validate the derived analytical results through extensive campaigns of discrete-event simulations. Our study evaluates the impact of different parameters on the overall performance, including the contention time, the number of stations, the number of groups, and the capture threshold. We henceforth study the impact of the capture effect on enhancing the network performance under the grouping feature introduced by the RAW mechanism. This work contributes to developing an analytical modeling framework to evaluate the performance of time-limited random access mechanisms accurately and can be an excellent basis for proposing practical scheduling algorithms to configure the RAW mechanism under non-ideal channel conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tulcea municipality is frequently exposed to rainfall-generated floods, with its lower downtown area (located in the Danube' former meadow, now protected by dikes) being flooded two to three times per year. In this study, our objective was to understand the generation mechanism of these rainfall-triggered urban floods and to identify tailored mitigation options. Due to the lack of reliable information on the sewage network (diameters, slope, material) and the uncertain sewage outflows during heavy rain events, a rather simplified approach was preferred by the authors of this paper. The data processing was performed using GIS tools, with appropriate accounting of the digital terrain modelling, ortho-photos, administrative boundaries of the Tulcea municipality, delineation of the urban catchments, imagery of the frequently flooded areas, and the urban sewage network. Subsequently, a fast hydrological modelling and a volume-based flooding approach were developed in order to identify and evaluate the flooded urban areas under extreme rainfall events. Upon the completion of the calibration and validation processes, numerical simulations were run that considered the design storms of different return periods. Due to the high slopes of the hills, hence the short concentration time of the pluvial waters, a Sponge City approach does not seem as though it would be easy to implement. A more efficient solution utilising large-capacity buried urban retention tanks in the lower part of the municipality was alternatively identified. Further on, this solution will be supported by a set of green measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban living is a growing worldwide phenomenon with more than two-thirds of people expected to live in cities by 2050. Although there are many benefits to living in an urban environment, urbanicity has also been associated with deleterious health outcomes, including increased risk for psychotic outcomes particularly when the urban exposure occurs in pre-adolescence. However, the mechanisms underlying this association is unclear. Here, we utilize one-year follow-up data from a large (N =7,979), nationwide study of pre-adolescence in the United States to clarify why urbanicity (i.e., census-tract population density) might impact psychotic-like experiences (PLE) by looking at the indirect effect of eight candidate urbanicity-related physical (e.g., pollution) and social (e.g., poverty) exposures. Consistent with other work, we found that of the evaluated exposures related to urbanicity, several were also related to increased number of PLE: PM2.5, proximity to roads, census-level homes at-risk for exposure to lead paint, census-level poverty, and census-level income-disparity. These same urban-related exposures were also related to the persistence of PLE after 1 year, but not new onset of PLE. Mediation analysis revealed that a substantial proportion the urbanicity-PLE association (number and persistence) could be explained by PM2.5 (23–44%), families in poverty (68–93%), and income disparity (67–80%). Together, these findings suggest that specific urban-related exposures contribute to the existence and maintenance, but not onset of PLE, which might help to explain why those in urban environments are disproportionately at-risk for psychosis and point toward areas for public health intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habits are the fundamental basis for many of our daily actions and can be powerful barriers to behavioural change. Still, habits are not included in most narratives, theories, and interventions applied to sustainable behaviour. One reason societies struggle to reach policy goals and people fail to change towards more pro-environmental lifestyles might be that many behaviours are now bound by strong habits that override knowledge and intentions to act. In this perspective article, we provide three arguments for why pro-environmental habits are a needed research agenda in sustainability science: (1) habit theory highlights how behaviour is heavily reliant on automatic processes, (2) the environmental context sets boundary conditions for behaviour, shape habits, and cues action responses, and (3) our habits and past behaviour shape our values and self-identity. These arguments highlight the transformative potential of looking at sustainable behaviours through a habit lens. We believe a research agenda on pro-environmental habits could generate a more holistic understanding of sustainable behaviours and complement today's dominating approaches which emphasize reasoned decisions and intrinsic motivations such as values, norms, and intentions to understand and predict pro-environmental behaviour. We highlight evident knowledge gaps and practical benefits of considering habit theory to promote pro-environmental behaviours, and how habit architecture could be utilized as a strong leverage point when designing, modifying, and building urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In parallel with ongoing discussions on what the concept of a smart city actually entails, use of smart technology in management and governance of urban green space is increasing. Application of smart technologies usually involves multiple sensors, smartphones, internet connections, etc., working together to make green space management more inclusive and effective. In the Sustainable Smart Parks project in Gothenburg, Sweden, new technologies are being applied and tested for availability, reliance, and relevance for contemporary management. However, moving these technologies beyond ad-hoc applications and creating a joint systems approach to future management is still unexplored. In this article, we introduce an analytical framework based on urban ecology and nature-based thinking and use it to examine the Sustainable Smart Parks initiative. The framework works well in distinguishing integration of diversity, connectivity, adaptation, inclusion, and perception in different technologies. However, further studies are needed to test adequacy of the 5 initial criteria in a wider context and to increase coupling of smart technologies that share similar focus within each criterion. This would stimulate "systems mapping" and thus clearer progression toward integrated smart green space management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban forests can provide essential environmental and social functions if properly planned and managed. Tree inventories and measurements are a critical part of assessing and monitoring the size, growth, and health condition of urban trees. In this context, the parameters usually collected are diameter at breast height (DBH) and total height, but additional data about crown dimensions (width, length, and crown projection) are required for a comprehensive tree assessment. These data are generally collected by urban foresters through field surveys using tree calipers or diameter tape for DBH and the electronic ipsometer/clinometer to measure tree height and crown size. Greater detail could be achieved using a digital instrument such as Field-Map, a portable computer station, to quickly realize dimensional and topographic surveys of trees and forest stands. Additionally, the incorporation of a LIDAR scanner into a smartphone such as the iPhone 12 Pro has made this device able to measure tree attributes as well as additional spatial data in the field. In this study, we tested these 3 different measurement systems in a field sampling of an urban forest and compared them in terms of measurable parameters, accuracy, cost, and time efficiency. Furthermore, we discussed the pros and cons of each measurement approach and how the resulted data can be used to evaluate ecosystem services of trees and provide guidance on tree management in order to reduce potential risks or disservices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a map-based localization system for autonomous vehicle self-localization in urban environments, which is composed of a pose graph mapping method and 3D curvature feature points – Monte Carlo Localization algorithm (3DCF-MCL). The advantage of 3DCF-MCL is that it combines the high accuracy of the 3D feature points registration and the robustness of particle filter. Experimental results show that 3DCF-MCL can provide an accurate localization for autonomous vehicles with the 3D point cloud map that generated by our mapping method. Compared with other map-based localization algorithms, it demonstrates that 3DCF-MCL outperforms them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article elucidates the role of living traditions in decolonizing indigenous gender in an urban environment. "Living traditions" are perspectives and practices that emerge organically over time to account for the shifting needs of indigenous communities impacted by enduring structures of settler colonialism. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted over 2 ½ years, I explore gendered power dynamics in two urban pan‐Indian communities—one comprised of people who relocated from reservations and maintain ties to tribal nations (relocators) and another comprised of people reclaiming indigenous identities despite dislocations from tribal nations (reclaimers). By interrogating the mutual construction of indigeneity and gender across communities, I illustrate how relocators' and reclaimers' different relationships with tribal nations influence strategies for decolonizing gender. Reclaimers' weak ties to tribal nations result in dogmatic efforts to reject their (socialization into) whiteness and enact what they perceive as indigenous complementarian gender—gender roles that are horizontally but not hierarchically distinct. Reclaimers' strategic though misbegotten gender behaviors inadvertently reify settler‐constructed gender norms affirming men's dominance over women. In contrast, relocators' ongoing relations with tribal nations facilitate the emergence of "living traditions" that support fluid and adaptable gender strategies necessary to resist colonization and challenge hegemonic gender norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D city models integrate heterogeneous urban data from multiple sources in a unified geospatial representation, combining both semantics and geometry. Although in past decades they have predominantly been used for visualization, today they are used in a large range of tasks related to exploration, analysis, and management across multiple domains. The complexity of urban processes and the diversity of urban environments bring challenges to the implementation of 3D city models. To address such challenges, this paper presents the development process of a 3D city model of a single neighborhood in the city of Sofia based on the CityGML 2.0 standard. The model represents the buildings in LOD1, focusing on CityGML features, including building parts, the terrain intersection curve, and the address. Similar building models of 18 cities provided as open datasets are explored and compared to extract good modeling practices. As a result, workflows for the generation of 3D building models in LOD1 are elaborated on and improvements in the feature modeling are proposed. Two building model options are examined: (1) the modeling of a building as a single solid with differentiated rooftops and (2) the modeling of a building with separate building parts. The developed 3D building model contains 471 buildings and 198 addresses in both cases of building parts modeling. In addition, the terrain intersection curve (TIC) is modeled and a method for removing the duplicating TIC features is applied. Consequently, the overall count of vertices of the TIC is lowered from 12,112 to 8042. Finally, the possibilities for visualization of the model in popular platforms such as ArcGIS Pro and Cesium Ion are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selected types of crime in Krakow and their spatial distribution during the lockdown period during the spring of 2020. We compared crimes committed over a three-month period from March 15 up to 15 June 2020 with crimes committed during the corresponding periods of previous years, i.e. in 2015–2019. To characterize their spatial distribution, we used the Nearest Neighbor Analysis method (NNA). In the next stage of the study, an intensity distribution map was prepared for five different crime categories in 2015–2019 using the kernel function method. The point data layer from 2020 was then superimposed on the intensity layer thus formed. The final step was to examine how generators/attractors affect the spatial clustering of crime before and during the pandemic. These two analyses allowed us to identify variation in those areas with the highest concentration of crime events ("hotspots") that occurred as well as the impact of generators/attractors on the spatial distribution of crimes. The changes in crime patterns as a result of the pandemic restrictions were compared with existing criminological theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the onset times of precipitation over densely populated cities for the purposes of timely evacuation is a challenge. This paper explored a flooding event over an urban built environment in a South Asian mega city, Chennai, where extant urban planning models rely on predicted rainwater amounts for early warning and impact assessment studies. However, the time duration of flooding events is related to the nature of the urban sprawl in the built environment. Any evacuation measure is invariably tied down to the time duration over which the precipitation event occurs, and therefore to the expected time of a precipitation event to begin. In this context, a crucial parameter useful to municipal authorities is the onset time of precipitation. This study used optimised analytical formulations to predict this time, and the derived analytical expressions for the case study yielded comparable times estimated from a computer-intensive full-scale large eddy model within an accuracy of 2%. It is suggested that municipal authorities (who are non-experts in fluid mechanics) use this early prediction for the purposes of quick alerts to a congested city's most vulnerable citizens within urban sprawls. However, for the procedure to work at its best, it involves a two-stage procedure. The first step involves the use of a parcel model to obtain the expected cloud droplet spectral spreads based on the prevailing dynamical characterisations. The second step involves an optimisation procedure involving cloud spectral properties from the first step to quantify both the auto-conversion rates and the threshold. Thereafter, an onset time calculation based on cloud properties is estimated. These new results are cast in closed form for easy incorporation into meteorological applications over a variety of urban scales. Rain mass amounts were also predicted analytically and used to configure Aeronautical Reconnaissance Coverage Geographic Information System (ARCGIS) to compute low drainage flow rates over the vulnerable parts of Chennai city. It was found that heavy precipitation over the North Chennai region yielded discharge rates to the tune of ~250 m 3 s − 1 during a 24 h period, causing intense flooding in the low-lying areas around the Cooum River basin with a large population density, with estimates sufficiently corroborating observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new wave of federal legislation is drastically affecting how community colleges create and deliver programs in career and technical education (CTE). A key focus area shared by these federal policy changes is program‐to‐labor market alignment in which community colleges must utilize local labor market data to tailor their CTE programs to meet the needs of local businesses and industry. This article presents an overview of the rapidly shifting economic and policy environments, and offers three exemplars of community colleges in rural, suburban, and urban service areas that have successfully aligned CTE programs with local labor market demand. In all, this article highlights innovations and best‐practices offered by these exemplars as the federal government makes alignment a top priority for the 21st century community college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies suggest that the lived environment can affect cognition across the lifespan. We examined, in a large cohort of older adults (n = 3447), whether susceptibility to a multisensory illusion, the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion (SIFI), was influenced by the reported urbanity of current and childhood (at age 14 years) residence. If urban environments help to shape healthy perceptual function, we predicted reduced SIFI susceptibility in urban dwellers. Participants reporting urban, compared with rural, childhood residence were less susceptible to SIFI at longer Stimulus-Onset Asynchronies (SOAs). Those currently residing in urban environments were more susceptible to SIFI at longer SOAs, particularly if they scored low on general cognitive function. These findings held even when controlling for a several covariates, such as age, sex, education, social participation and cognitive ability. Exposure to urban environments in childhood may influence individual differences in perception and offer a multisensory perceptual benefit in older age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a 0.5 elasticity ratio between induced road traffic over five years and capacity change based on the average of 8 major capacity changes of Budapest bridges. • The elasticity ratio of induced road traffic to capacity change has been relatively stable over the 55 years long analysis period. • Capacity reduction has a similarly strong effect on travel demand (suppressed traffic) as capacity extension. Reducing urban road congestion by infrastructure development promises lower travel times, reduced pollution and wider economic benefits. However, besides advanced transport infrastructure affecting existing traffic, it also induces new demand, which tends to be underestimated. This phenomenon is well-known for interurban roads, especially for motorways, but the literature is scarce on real-life data for urban areas. Most analyses on induced traffic were carried out on relatively short time periods. Therefore, this paper studies 55 years in an urban environment and shows how capacity provision induced extra traffic. Furthermore, it could also be demonstrated that scaling back capacity diminishes travel demand. Most of the analyses on induced traffic concentrated on just a handful of countries; therefore, evidence from a country that emerged from middle income to high income provides new insights for other developing nations and cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the overarching problems of the world today is that too many people see themselves as dominating other groups of people, and dominating nature. That is a root problem. And thus part of a core solution builds from Kohlberg's commitment to a universal moral orientation, though extended to include not only all people but the more-than-human world: animals, trees, plants, species, ecosystems, and the land itself. In this article, I make a case for this form of ethical extensionism, and then present psychological evidence for it in both children and adults, including studies with inner-city Black youth and their parents. Then I build on Piaget's, Kohlberg's, and Turiel's emphasis that interaction with the physical and social world is a critical mechanism for development. My corollary is this: that to reverse the incredibly fast human-caused destruction of nature—the wellsprings of human existence—we need to deepen and extend people's interactions with nature, and with its relatively wild forms, even in urban environments. Toward this end, I discuss my current body of research and framework for urban design based on what are referred to as interaction patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to travel freely and independently to participate in society is essential for an individual's wellbeing and quality of life. People with disabilities are often unable to access public transport due to barriers in the urban environment and public transport systems. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the barriers faced by people with disabilities who are independent public transport riders. It includes: (a) barriers encountered from the perspective of the whole journey chain, from origin to destination for public transport trips; (b) investigates the commonalities and differences in the perceived barriers for different disability types; (c) discusses the impacts and shortcomings of universal design; and (d) limitations to data collection procedures. Evidence from the review of the existing literature has shown that there is limited research on travel behaviour relating to the whole public transport journey chain for people with disabilities. The consequences of not being able to make a journey due to the barriers in public transport inhibit participation in society that can have a range of negative impacts on the wellbeing of people with disabilities. This paper highlights the importance of the "bottom-up" approach for policy implementation and engagement with the disability community. It concludes with directions for further work and recommendations for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]