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The paper theorises how a place can influence the emergence and evolution of an exchange field. Specifically, we examine the Society for Arts and Technology building in Montreal, focusing on its geographical location, material form, and meanings as their adaptations over time. Our findings identify three types of influence that the SAT building has on the field of projection mapping: supporting the community, fostering interorganisational relationships, and catalysing innovation. These influences manifest in distinct ways depending on the field's evolution phase. We contribute to the literature on field configuration by developing the concept of the field-configuring place and distinguishing it from the established concept of the field-configuring event. Additionally, we extend the institutional dynamics literature by showing how a place can support the configuration of a field from its emergence, based on its characteristics that can be adapted while providing stability. This study thus underlines the cross-fertilisation between the literature on field configuration and that on places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleogeography is the merger of sediment and volcanic facies, depositional settings, tectonic plate movements, topography, climate patterns and ecosystems through time. The construction of paleogeographic maps on tectonic plate reconstruction models requires a team effort to compile databases, data sharing standards and map projection methods. Two goals of the Paleogeography Working Group of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) program for Deep‐Time Digital Earth (DDE) are: (1) to interlink online national lexicons for all sedimentary and volcanic formations, and develop online ones for nations that currently lack these; (2) to target specific regions and intervals for testing/showcasing paleogeography output from the merger of these databases. Following those goals, we developed and applied new cloud‐based lexicon data services and interactive visualization techniques to regions in East Asia. This has been a successful collaboration among computer engineers and plate modellers and has involved stratigraphers in India (ONGC), China (Chengdu Univ. Tech., and Chinese Acad. Geol. Sci.), United States (Paleomap Project, and Purdue Univ.), Australia (GPlates visualization team) and Vietnam (Vietnam Nat. Univ.). Independent online lexicons with map‐based and stratigraphy‐based user interfaces have been developed (as of the date of this submission in March 2022) for all Proterozoic to Quaternary formations on the Indian Plate (over 800) and Vietnam (over 200), the majority of the Devonian through Neogene of China (ca. 2000) and partially for Thailand. A multi‐database search system returns all geologic formations of a desired geologic time from these four independent databases. With one click, users can plot the regional extent of one or of all of those regional formations on different plate reconstruction models of that desired age, and these polygons are filled with the lithologic facies pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclei are the main output structures of the cerebellum. Each and every cerebellar cortical computation reaches several areas of the brain by means of cerebellar nuclei processing and integration. Nevertheless, our knowledge of these structures is still limited compared to the cerebellar cortex. Here, we present a mouse genetic inducible fate‐mapping study characterizing rhombic lip‐derived glutamatergic neurons of the nuclei, the most conspicuous family of long‐range cerebellar efferent neurons. Glutamatergic neurons mainly occupy dorsal and lateral territories of the lateral and interposed nuclei, as well as the entire medial nucleus. In mice, they are born starting from about embryonic day 9.5, with a peak between 10.5 and 12.5, and invade the nuclei with a lateral‐to‐medial progression. While some markers label a heterogeneous population of neurons sharing a common location (BRN2), others appear to be lineage specific (TBR1, LMX1a, and MEIS2). A comparative analysis of TBR1 and LMX1a distributions reveals an incomplete overlap in their expression domains, in keeping with the existence of separate efferent subpopulations. Finally, some tagged glutamatergic progenitors are not labeled by any of the markers used in this study, disclosing further complexity. Taken together, our results obtained in late embryonic nuclei shed light on the heterogeneity of the excitatory neuron pool, underlying the diversity in connectivity and functions of this largely unexplored cerebellar territory. Our findings contribute to laying the groundwork for a comprehensive functional analysis of nuclear neuron subpopulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurons in the cortex are heterogeneous, sending diverse axonal projections to multiple brain regions. Unraveling the logic of these projections requires single-neuron resolution. Although a growing number of techniques have enabled high-throughput reconstruction, these techniques are typically limited to dozens or at most hundreds of neurons per brain, requiring that statistical analyses combine data from different specimens. Here we present axonal BARseq, a high-throughput approach based on reading out nucleic acid barcodes using in situ RNA sequencing, which enables analysis of even densely labeled neurons. As a proof of principle, we have mapped the long-range projections of >8000 primary auditory cortex neurons from a single male mouse. We identified major cell types based on projection targets and axonal trajectory. The large sample size enabled us to systematically quantify the projections of intratelencephalic (IT) neurons, and revealed that individual IT neurons project to different layers in an area-dependent fashion. Axonal BARseq is a powerful technique for studying the heterogeneity of single neuronal projections at high throughput within individual brains. High-throughput mapping of neural projections at the single-cell level remains challenging. Here, the authors have developed axonal BARseq, a new technique that allows for mapping projections from thousands of neurons within a single brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New results on the behaviour of the fast motion in slow-fast systems of ODEs with dependence on the fast time are given in terms of tracking of nonautonomous attractors. Under quite general assumptions, including the uniform ultimate boundedness of the solutions of the layer problems, inflated pullback attractors are considered. In general, one cannot disregard the inflated version of the pullback attractor, but it is possible under the continuity of the fiber projection map of the attractor. The problem of the limit of the solutions of the slow-fast system at each fixed positive value of the slow time is also treated and in this formulation the critical set is given by the union of the fibers of the pullback attractors. The results can be seen as extensions of the classical Tikhonov theorem to the nonautonomous setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous and dense time series of satellite remote sensing data are needed for several land monitoring applications, including vegetation phenology, in-season crop assessments, and improving land use and land cover classification. Supporting such applications at medium to high spatial resolution may be challenging with a single optical satellite sensor, as the frequency of good-quality observations can be low. To optimize good-quality data availability, some studies propose harmonized databases. This work aims at developing an 'all-in-one' Google Earth Engine (GEE) web-based workflow to produce harmonized surface reflectance data from Landsat-7 (L7) ETM+, Landsat-8 (L8) OLI, and Sentinel-2 (S2) MSI top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance data. Six major processing steps to generate a new source of near-daily Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel (HLS) reflectance observations at 30 m spatial resolution are proposed and described: band adjustment, atmospheric correction, cloud and cloud shadow masking, view and illumination angle adjustment, co-registration, and reprojection and resampling. The HLS is applied to six equivalent spectral bands, resulting in a surface nadir BRDF-adjusted reflectance (NBAR) time series gridded to a common pixel resolution, map projection, and spatial extent. The spectrally corresponding bands and derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were compared, and their sensor differences were quantified by regression analyses. Examples of HLS time series are presented for two potential applications: agricultural and forest phenology. The HLS product is also validated against ground measurements of NDVI, achieving very similar temporal trajectories and magnitude of values (R2 = 0.98). The workflow and script presented in this work may be useful for the scientific community aiming at taking advantage of multi-sensor harmonized time series of optical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the development of a world map projection intended to minimize distortion of all continents. I begin by reviewing a very similar map projection developed by Canters (2002), and address its shortcomings by carefully fine-tuning the initial constraints and the method of optimization, while retaining the most useful ideas of this earlier map. Most notably, the method described in this paper puts a great emphasis on the outline of the map, so that its aesthetics make it more suitable for atlases; the method also exclusively uses reproducible, deterministic methods. Finally, I compare the resulting world map to the original one of Canters in terms of map distortions and practical usefulness. The method presented here should work without changes if a low-distortion map of any other global-scale area is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional map projections introduce distortions, especially for global data. Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGS) offer an alternative by dividing the Earth into equal-area grid cells at different resolutions. This paper describes xdggs, a new Xarray extension that simplifies working with DGGS. Xdggs provides a unified API for various DGGS libraries and integrates seamlessly with the Pangeo ecosystem through extending the widely used Xarray library to use the DGGS-specific cell identifiers as an index. This development makes DGGS more accessible and will lead to facilitating data analysis on a planetary scale.Xdggs aims to provide a user-friendly API that hides the implementation complexities of different DGGS libraries. And because it integrates seamlessly with Xarray, a popular tool for geospatial data analysis, xdggs promotes FAIR data practices by simplifying data access and interoperability and can become a valuable tool for geospatial scientists and application developers working with global datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work shows the original projection of a 1:57,600 scale map of southern Germany at the end of the 18th century, produced under the direction of Karl-Heinrich von Schmitt (1743–1805). The sections of the map were scanned and georeferenced as part of the MAPIRE project, and the results are publicly available. In the present work, we use contemporary documents, in particular the books of César-Francois Cassini de Thury and manuscript sketches of the map found in the Military Archive of Vienna, to show that the overall projection of the map is identical to that used in Cassini's survey of France (first half of the 18th century). In the archive, we managed to find the overview sheet on which—in addition to the Paris Cassini coordinate system—the section grid of the Schmitt map was also constructed. This sketch served as the basis for the compilation and copying work, wherein the existing map works and survey sketches were inserted into 197 sections of the Schmitt map. Thus, the map coordinate system can be modeled in GIS systems using the Cassini (or Cassini-Soldner) projection, with the Paris Observatory as the projection origin. The georeferencing accuracy of using the pure Cassini projection is around 1–1.3 km (at the extremes, around 5 km), which is much more inaccurate than the one used in later topographic surveys. It is considered a combined result of the compilation of the different maps, presumably surveyed by graphic triangulation with measuring tables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the Juno mission and its observations of Jupiter's Galilean moons. The Juno spacecraft continues to send high-quality images of Jupiter, with a focus on the South Temperate Belt (STB) and the evolution of cyclonic spots within it. The article discusses the valuable insights gained from the images captured by JunoCam, including the changing pattern of images as Juno's orbit evolves. The text also discusses the close flybys of Jupiter's moon, Io, and the high-resolution images of its surface, revealing volcanic calderas and mountains. The impact of Jupiter's radiation belts on the spacecraft's camera is mentioned, along with the successful resolution of image degradation issues. [Extracted from the article]

α-Latrotoxin (α-LTX) was found to form two-dimensional (2D) monolayer arrays in solution at relatively low concentrations (0.1 mg/mL), with the toxin tetramer constituting a unit cell. The crystals were imaged using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM), and image analysis yielded a ~12 Å projection map. At this resolution, no major conformational changes between the crystalline and solution states of α-LTX tetramers were observed. Electrophysiological studies showed that, under the conditions of crystallization, α-LTX simultaneously formed multiple channels in biological membranes that displayed coordinated gating. Two types of channels with conductance levels of 120 and 208 pS were identified. Furthermore, we observed two distinct tetramer conformations of tetramers both when observed as monodisperse single particles and within the 2D crystals, with pore diameters of 11 and 13.5 Å, suggestive of a flickering pore in the middle of the tetramer, which may correspond to the two states of toxin channels with different conductance levels. We discuss the structural changes that occur in α-LTX tetramers in solution and propose a mechanism of α-LTX insertion into the membrane. The propensity of α-LTX tetramers to form 2D crystals may explain many features of α-LTX toxicology and suggest that other pore-forming toxins may also form arrays of channels to exert maximal toxic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous papers that have dealt with cylindrical map projections as limiting cases of conical projections, standard or equidistant parallels were used in the derivations. This paper shows that this is not necessary and that it is sufficient to use parallels that preserve length. In addition, unlike other approaches, in this article the limiting cases of conic projections are derived in the most natural way, by deriving the equations of cylindrical projections from the equations of conic projections in a rectangular system in the projection plane using a mathematical concept of limits. It is shown that such an approach is possible, but not always, so it should be used carefully, or even better, avoided in teaching and studying map projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depth estimation from monocular panoramic image is a crucial step in 3D reconstruction, which is a close relationship with virtual reality and metaverse technologies. In recent years, some methods, such as HRDFuse, BiFuse++, and UniFuse, have employed a two‐branch neural network leveraging two common projections: equirectangular and cubemap projections (CMPs). The equirectangular projection (ERP) provides a complete field of view but introduces distortion, while the CMP avoids distortion but introduces discontinuity at the boundary of the cube. In order to address the issue of distortion and discontinuity, the authors propose an efficient depth estimation fusion module to balance the feature mapping of the two projections. Moreover, for the ERP, the authors propose a novel inflated network architecture to extend the receptive field and effectively harness visual information. Extensive experiments show that the authors' method predicts more clear boundaries and accurate depth results while outperforming mainstream panoramic depth estimation algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distortion deformation usually imposes a potential threat to bridge safety. In order to comprehensively understand the distortion effect on thin-walled ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) box girders, an innovative approach encompassing the governing distortion differential equation is introduced in this study based on the general definition of distortion angle within the cross-section plane. The analytical results obtained from the proposed method are in accordance with those obtained from the energy method, and exhibit favorable agreement with experimental findings documented in the existing literature. Furthermore, a finite element model is developed on the ANSYS 2021 R1 software platform with the employment of a Shell 63 element. Numerical outcomes are also in good agreement with the experimental data, affirming the validity and reliability of the findings. In addition, parameter analysis results indicate that the distortion angle remains approximately constant at a location approximately 1/10 of the span from the mid-span cross-section of the box girder, regardless of changes in the span-to-depth ratio. Increasing the web thickness yields a notable reduction in the distortion effects, and decreasing the wall thickness can effectively mitigate the distortion-induced transverse bending moment. Compared with normal-strength concrete box girders, UHPC box girders can reduce the distortion angle within the span range, which is beneficial for maintaining the overall stability of the box girders. The outcomes obtained from this study yield engineers an enhanced understanding of distortion effect on the UHPC girder performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciphering patterns of connectivity between neurons in the brain is a critical step toward understanding brain function. Imaging-based neuroanatomical tracing identifies area-to-area or sparse neuron-to-neuron connectivity patterns, but with limited throughput. Barcode-based connectomics maps large numbers of single-neuron projections, but remains a challenge for jointly analyzing single-cell transcriptomics. Here, we established a rAAV2-retro barcode-based multiplexed tracing method that simultaneously characterizes the projectome and transcriptome at the single neuron level. We uncovered dedicated and collateral projection patterns of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) neurons to five downstream targets and found that projection-defined vmPFC neurons are molecularly heterogeneous. We identified transcriptional signatures of projection-specific vmPFC neurons, and verified Pou3f1 as a marker gene enriched in neurons projecting to the lateral hypothalamus, denoting a distinct subset with collateral projections to both dorsomedial striatum and lateral hypothalamus. In summary, we have developed a new multiplexed technique whose paired connectome and gene expression data can help reveal organizational principles that form neural circuits and process information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistence modules stratify their underlying parameter space, a quality that makes persistence modules amenable to study via invariants of stratified spaces. In this article, we extend a result previously known only for one-parameter persistence modules to grid multiparameter persistence modules. Namely, we show the K-theory of grid multiparameter persistence modules is additive over strata. This is true for both standard monotone multi-parameter persistence as well as multiparameter notions of zig-zag persistence. We compare our calculations for the specific group K_0 with the recent work of Botnan, Oppermann, and Oudot, highlighting and explaining the differences between our results through an explicit projection map between computed groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature on map projections, we regularly encounter the name standard parallel or standard parallels. However, it is obvious that a unique definition of a standard parallel is not universally accepted. To fully clarify the meaning of standard parallels, the author proposes the notion of equidistantly mapped parallels, which has not been common in the literature so far. Equidistantly mapped parallels can be in the direction of the parallel or in the direction of the meridian. Here, it is shown that every standard parallel is also an equidistantly mapped parallel, but that the reverse need not be true. If the parallel is mapped equidistantly in the direction of the parallel, then its length in the projection plane is equal to the length of that parallel on the sphere. The opposite does not have to be true, i.e., if the length of the image of the parallel in the projection plane is equal to the length of the parallel on the sphere, this does not mean that the parallel was mapped equidistantly. In addition to standard and equidistant parallels, the concept of parallels of true length also appears in the theory of map projections. They should also be distinguished from standard and equidistant parallels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terrorism poses a significant threat to security, and the need for an accurate monitoring visualization tool is essential for effective counterterrorism. However, the unavailability of such a customized tool is still a challenge in Mindanao, Philippines. Therefore, a terrorism visualization tool was developed in this study, covering the years 1975 to 2017. The methodology involved intensive data collection from the Global Terrorism Database and other reliable sources and featured the design development of a visualization tool in the form of a dashboard using Python. Also, regions with high terrorism activities along with major perpetrators have been presented. Findings indicate that Maguindanao yields the highest death frequency, with New People's Army (NPA) as the leading perpetrator as verified by the spatial map projection and overall preliminary prediction. In conclusion, with proper data management and feature selection, the developed tool is found to be highly viable and sufficient for decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping the connectivity of diverse neuronal types provides the foundation for understanding the structure and function of neural circuits. High-throughput and low-cost neuroanatomical techniques based on RNA barcode sequencing have the potential to map circuits at cellular resolution and a brain-wide scale, but existing Sindbis virus-based techniques can only map long-range projections using anterograde tracing approaches. Rabies virus can complement anterograde tracing approaches by enabling either retrograde labeling of projection neurons or monosynaptic tracing of direct inputs to genetically targeted postsynaptic neurons. However, barcoded rabies virus has so far been only used to map non-neuronal cellular interactions in vivo and synaptic connectivity of cultured neurons. Here we combine barcoded rabies virus with single-cell and in situ sequencing to perform retrograde labeling and transsynaptic labeling in the mouse brain. We sequenced 96 retrogradely labeled cells and 295 transsynaptically labeled cells using single-cell RNA-seq, and 4130 retrogradely labeled cells and 2914 transsynaptically labeled cells in situ. We found that the transcriptomic identities of rabies virus-infected cells can be robustly identified using both single-cell RNA-seq and in situ sequencing. By associating gene expression with connectivity inferred from barcode sequencing, we distinguished long-range projecting cortical cell types from multiple cortical areas and identified cell types with converging or diverging synaptic connectivity. Combining in situ sequencing with barcoded rabies virus complements existing sequencing-based neuroanatomical techniques and provides a potential path for mapping synaptic connectivity of neuronal types at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature usually calls downscaled versions of basic conformal map projections "secant", referring to conceptual developable map surfaces that intersect the reference frame. However, recent studies pointed out on the examples of various mappings of the sphere that this model may lead to incorrect conclusions. In this study, we examine the paradigm of secant surfaces for two popular map projections of the ellipsoid, the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) and the UPS (Universal Polar Stereographic) projections. Results will show that ellipsoidal map projections can exhibit further anomalies. To support the shift to a paradigm avoiding developable map surfaces, this study recommends the new term reduced map projection with a proper and simple definition to be used instead of secant map projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The validation of newly developed optical tissue-sensing techniques for tumor detection during cancer surgery requires an accurate correlation with the histological results. Additionally, such an accurate correlation facilitates precise data labeling for developing high-performance machine learning tissue-classification models. In this paper, a newly developed Point Projection Mapping system will be introduced, which allows non-destructive tracking of the measurement locations on tissue specimens. Additionally, a framework for accurate registration, validation, and labeling with the histopathology results is proposed and validated on a case study. The proposed framework provides a more-robust and accurate method for the tracking and validation of optical tissue-sensing techniques, which saves time and resources compared to the available conventional techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a known large spectral library, sparse hyperspectral unmixing has been taken as a hotspot in academia all these years. Its fundamental task is to estimate the abundance fractions of the spectral signatures in mixed pixels. Typically, the sparse and low-rank properties of the abundance matrix have been exploited simultaneously in the literature. Many studies only consider the low-rank property of the entire abundance matrix, however, pay less attention to the property of each abundance map. In this paper, we propose a new way to describe the low-rank prior. Firstly, an abundance cube is obtained by concatenating the abundance maps along the third dimension. We construct a lower-dimensional projection subspace of the abundance cube using a projection matrix, and the low-rankness of the abundance matrix is preserved during the projection process. Secondly, we consider the low-rank property by directly analyzing the abundance maps in the projection subspace. Finally, two algorithms, namely: projection subspace low-rank structure for sparse unmixing and projection subspace low-rank structure for bilateral sparse unmixing , are proposed based on different sparse structures of the abundance matrix. Both simulated and real-data experiments demonstrate that compared with classical sparse unmixing algorithms, the proposed ones obtain better unmixing results as well as cut down on calculation time. • We propose a projection subspace low-rank structure (PSLR) based on the characteristics of hyperspectral images. • We incorporate the low-rankness of both the abundance matrix and the projected abundance maps into the PSLR structure. • We present two novel algorithms named PSLR-SpU and PSLR-BSU for different sparse structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the border regions of Iran, which include West Azerbaijan province, the interwoven dynamics between development and security present a multifaceted set of challenges. This comprehensive study delves into the intricate relationship between these two critical elements, with a focus on elucidating potential scenarios that impact on development and security alike. Employing a rigorous methodological approach, using advanced data analysis tools and incorporating insights from experts, this research identifies seven pivotal factors that play a crucial role in shaping the sustainable development and security landscape of these border regions. By using the Method for Inserting Knowledge into Decision Support Models (Méthode d'Insertion de Connaissances dans les Modèles d'Aide à la Décision) MicMac software, an in-depth analysis of both direct and indirect variables was conducted to precisely gauge their influence in border security. The outcomes of this extensive analysis provide a solid foundation for the construction of diverse scenarios, thus offering a wide spectrum of potential future trajectories for the region. The examination of these scenarios grants invaluable insights into the intricate nexus between development and security, reinforcing the essential need for a holistic and integrated approach to regional planning. This research effectively underscores the vital imperative of nurturing synergies between security and development for the sustained progress of Iran's border areas. With a focus on empirical data and informed projections, this study sheds light on the intricate dynamics at play, emphasising the pivotal role of an integrated approach to regional advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the solar system provides new possibilities for the survival and development of humankind. Although we do not yet have the technology to migrate on a large scale, we must first find proper celestial bodies, understand their environment, and utilize them. In the future, with highly developed space technology, planets and natural satellites will become "islands" in the solar system for human settlements. However, the lack of information on this matter is one of the greatest challenges in this field. And, for the purpose of geographic data collection, improvements in surface precision and resolution with highly accurate 3D modeling and 2D maps are needed, and the surface of celestial bodies should be mapped by making full use of geometry and different types of map projection methods. Different techniques should be used for the accurate localization of rovers using satellites, thus combining both to create a map of the resource distribution. In this article, a projection method based on conventional techniques for better accuracy and efficiency of mapping and projections of a celestial body is proposed. For further research, hardware enhancements, improvements in multimodal techniques, and the development of communication protocols for rovers and satellites could be pivotal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate whether Apian could be the developer of his namesake map projections. Evidences suggest that these mappings should not have been named after Apian. The most likely inventor of the Apian I map projection is Amerigo Vespucci, and the Apian II projection was probably developed only 300 years later by Frangois Arago. Given that the case of Apian map projections is not a single example when the map projection is not named after its real inventor and the original authorship of more mappings might be questioned in the future, the cartographic community should revise, whether it is a good convention to name map projections after their supposed inventor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article belongs to the field of theoretical research on map projections. It is observed that there is no unique and generally accepted definition of standard parallels in the cartographic literature. For some authors, a standard line is a line along which there is no distortion, and for others, it is a line along which there is no distortion of length. At the same time, it is forgotten that the length distortions at any point generally change and depend on the direction. The main goal of this article is very simple: the sentence "linear deformation is zero in all directions" is expressed using a mathematical formula. Besides that, the paper introduces equidistance in a broader sense. This is a novelty in the theory of map projections. Equidistance is defined at a point, along a line and in an area, especially in the direction of the parallels and especially in the direction of the meridian. This enables an unambiguous definition of standard parallels. Theoretical considerations are illustrated with examples of cylindrical projections. The practical value of the proposed approach is manifested in the possibility of a better understanding of the distribution of distortions in any map projection used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distribution and abundance under climate change of particularly non‐timber forest product tree species is vital since they sustain many livelihoods, especially in rural sub‐Saharan Africa. The aim of the study was to determine the current and future natural range of mopane (Colophospermum mopane (J. Kirk ex Benth.) J. Léonard, Fabaceae), a dominant tree species in mopane woodlands of southern Africa. An ensemble model was built in 'biomod2' from eight algorithms and used to estimate the current and future distribution. Seven bioclimatic variables and 269 occurrence records were used to calibrate individual models that were later combined into an ensemble model. The ensemble model was projected to two time periods, 2041–2060 and 2081–2100, under two shared socio‐economic pathways (SSPs), SSP2‐4.5 and SSP5‐8.5, and three general circulation models (GCMs). The ensemble model showed high performance (KAPPA = 0.770, ROC = 0.961, TSS = 0.792, ACCURACY = 0.900). A map of the current distribution shows occurrence predominantly in low‐lying areas, including the Zambezi, Save and Limpopo valleys, Okavango and Cuvelai basins, and in southern and central Mozambique. Projection maps show expansion under all SSPs, GCMs and time periods. Averaged across GCMs in 2041–2060, the range expanded by 22.37% under SSP2‐4.5, and by 19.94% under SSP5‐8.5. In 2081–2100, the range expanded by 20.43% under SSP2‐4.5, and by 27.62% under SSP5‐8.5. Notably, the range expansion was highest under SSP5‐8.5, an SSP that envisages unmitigated greenhouse gas release and the largest mean global temperature increase. It is highly likely that mopane is not directly threatened by climate change. Indirect climate change threats, however, remain uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In books and textbooks on map projections, cylindrical, conic and azimuthal projections are usually considered separately. It is sometimes mentioned that cylindrical and azimuthal projections can be interpreted as limiting cases of conic, but this is rarely proven. The goal of this article is to show in a rigorous and systematic way how to generally approach solving the problem of transition from a conic to a corresponding cylindrical projection. This article points to the fact that J. H. Lambert showed as early as 1772 that a conformal cylindrical projection is created from a conformal conic projection. Following his idea, this paper shows that not only conformal, but also equal-area and equidistant cylindrical projections can be derived from corresponding conic map projections. Although it seems that the paper deals with quite well known and intuitive property of conic projections, it will also show that the transition from the conic to the corresponding cylindrical projection is not always possible.

The present study is taken up to record variations in the extent of area of two polygons—(i) a ground measured area of a university campus, (ii) enclosing the Ganga basin—and to examine the changes in both shape and area of another (iii) polygon covering India under different map projections with various parameters. The exercise brought forth interesting results. Depending on final ranks worked out based on minimum differences in extent of areas and shape distortion in the case of India, it is suggested to adopt either (i) Lambert Conformal Conical (LCC) projection with Everest India-Nepal datum, First Standard Parallel (FSP) 24.50, Second Standard Parallel (SSP) 28.50, Latitude of Origin (LO) 16.253259, Central Meridian (CM) 80.8749 or (ii) LCC projection with WGS 84 datum, FSP 24.50, SSP 28.50, LO 16.253259, CM 80.8749 or (iii) Polyconic with Everest India-Nepal datum, CM 84.50, LO 13.00, for mapping both smaller areas on larger scales and larger areas on smaller scales.

Cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) loops are fundamental organizing units in mammalian brains. CSTCs process limbic, associative, and sensorimotor information in largely separated but interacting networks. CTSC loops pass through paired striatal compartments, striosome (aka patch) and matrix, segregated pools of medium spiny projection neurons with distinct embryologic origins, cortical/subcortical structural connectivity, susceptibility to injury, and roles in behaviors and diseases. Similarly, striatal dopamine modulates activity in striosome and matrix in opposite directions. Routing CSTCs through one compartment may be an anatomical basis for regulating discrete functions. We used differential structural connectivity, identified through probabilistic diffusion tractography, to distinguish the striatal compartments (striosome-like and matrix-like voxels) in living humans. We then mapped compartment-specific projections and quantified structural connectivity between each striatal compartment, the globus pallidus interna (GPi), and 20 thalamic nuclei in 221 healthy adults. We found that striosome-originating and matrix-originating streamlines were segregated within the GPi: striosome-like connectivity was significantly more rostral, ventral, and medial. Striato-pallido-thalamic streamline bundles that were seeded from striosome-like and matrix-like voxels transited spatially distinct portions of the white matter. Matrix-like streamlines were 5.7-fold more likely to reach the GPi, replicating animal tract-tracing studies. Striosome-like connectivity dominated in six thalamic nuclei (anteroventral, central lateral, laterodorsal, lateral posterior, mediodorsal-medial, and medial geniculate). Matrix-like connectivity dominated in seven thalamic nuclei (centromedian, parafascicular, pulvinar-anterior, pulvinar-lateral, ventral lateral-anterior, ventral lateral-posterior, ventral posterolateral). Though we mapped all thalamic nuclei independently, functionally-related nuclei were matched for compartment-level bias. We validated these results with prior thalamostriate tract tracing studies in non-human primates and other species; where reliable data was available, all agreed with our measures of structural connectivity. Matrix-like connectivity was lateralized (left > right hemisphere) in 18 thalamic nuclei, independent of handedness, diffusion protocol, sex, or whether the nucleus was striosome-dominated or matrix-dominated. Compartment-specific biases in striato-pallido-thalamic structural connectivity suggest that routing CSTC loops through striosome-like or matrix-like voxels is a fundamental mechanism for organizing and regulating brain networks. Our MRI-based assessments of striato-thalamic connectivity in humans match and extend the results of prior tract tracing studies in animals. Compartment-level characterization may improve localization of human neuropathologies and improve neurosurgical targeting in the GPi and thalamus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual positioning is the task of finding the location of a given image and is necessary for augmented reality applications. Traditional algorithms solve this problem by matching against premade 3D point clouds or panoramic images. Recently, more attention has been given to models that match the ground-level image with overhead imagery. In this paper, we introduce AlignNet, which builds upon previous work to bridge the gap between ground-level and top-level images. By making multiple key insights, we push the model results to achieve up to 4 times higher recall rates on a visual position dataset. We use a fusion of both satellite and map data from OpenStreetMap for this matching by extending the previously available satellite database with corresponding map data. The model pushes the input images through a two-branch U-Net and is able to make matches using a geometric projection module to map the top-level image to the ground-level domain at a given position. By calculating the difference between the projection and ground-level image in a differentiable fashion, we can use a Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) module to iteratively align the estimated position towards the ground-truth position. This sample-wise optimization strategy allows the model to align the position better than if the model has to obtain the location in a single step. We provide key insights into the model's behavior, which allows us to increase the model's ability to obtain competitive results on the KITTI cross-view dataset. We compare our obtained results with the state of the art and obtain new best results on 3 of the 9 categories we look at, which include a 57% likelihood of lateral localization within 1 m in a 40 m × 40 m area and a 93% azimuth localization within 3 ∘ when using a 20 ∘ rotation noise prior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A web mapping XYZ Tile Layer Service, such as Google Earth (GE), provides an amazing resource for the visualization of spatial data against aerial and satellite imagery with global coverage, typically at a resolution finer than 5 m. However, the increasing requirement on spatial accuracy in farm information requires a greater appreciation of the issues involved in the use of such services. Position errors can be created in the georeferencing and orthorectification of images, transformation between reference frames (datums) in map projection, e.g., using a spheroid as compared to an ellipsoid earth model, and tectonic shifts. A review is provided of these issues, and a case study is provided of the horizontal positional accuracy of web map imagery for Australian mango orchards. Positional accuracies varied from 1.804 to 6.131 m across four farms using GE 2021 imagery, between 1.556 and 3.365 m in one farm for the most recent imagery available from each of four web map providers, and from 0.806 m (in 2016) to 10.634 m (in 2003) in one farm for the period of 2003 and 2021 using the historical GE imagery resource. A procedure involving the estimation of four transformation parameters was demonstrated for the alignment of GNSS data with GE imagery. However, as the scale factor was unity and the rotational value was near zero, the use of a simple horizontal mean shift vector was recommended. Further recommendations are provided on (i) the use of web mapping services, with a comparison of the use of UAV survey imagery, and (ii) the need for metadata, particularly the date of collection, on collected position data, in the context of use in farm management information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To answer this question, let's examine some theories of anthropomorphism, channeling them as an introduction to anthropological studies on the puppet theatre, in particular the Japanese puppet theatre. Japanese puppets, known as “bunraku theater” were originally tools used in magic rituals not unlike the use of woo doo dolls. In a brief historical excursus involving the use of the human anthropomorphic figure, we examine its archaic origins as a religious idol, proceeding then to insert them into a typical and current animistic panorama of the Japanese archipelago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The projection onto the epigraph or a level set of a closed proper convex function can be achieved by finding a root of a scalar equation that involves the proximal operator as a function of the proximal parameter. This paper develops the variational analysis of this scalar equation. The approach is based on a study of the variational-analytic properties of general convex optimization problems that are (partial) infimal projections of the sum of the function in question and the perspective map of a convex kernel. When the kernel is the Euclidean norm squared, the solution map corresponds to the proximal map, and thus, the variational properties derived for the general case apply to the proximal case. Properties of the value function and the corresponding solution map—including local Lipschitz continuity, directional differentiability, and semismoothness—are derived. An SC1 optimization framework for computing epigraphical and level-set projections is, thus, established. Numerical experiments on one-norm projection illustrate the effectiveness of the approach as compared with specialized algorithms. Funding: This work was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). M.P. Friedlander was supported by NSERC discovery grant [Grant RGPIN-2017-04461]. T. Hoheisel was supported by NSERC discovery grant [Grant RGPIN-2017-04035]. A. Goodwin's work was partially supported by an NSERC summer research stipend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Hispanic Dialectology" from The Routledge Handbook of Spanish Dialectology, edited by Francisco Moreno Fernández and Rocío Caravedo, presents research on the evolution of Spanish varieties in different countries and linguistic dimensions. The book features the collaboration of specialists from over twenty countries and addresses phonetic, phonological, grammatical, lexical, and pragmatic phenomena. It mentions Spanish varieties in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, the United States, Equatorial Guinea, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela, as well as Spanish in contact with other languages and its social projection. The book is aimed at researchers, teachers, and students interested in linguistics and linguistic variation in Spanish. [Extracted from the article]

In books and textbooks on map projections, cylindrical, conic and azimuthal projections are usually considered separately. It is sometimes mentioned that cylindrical and azimuthal projections can be interpreted as limiting cases of conic, but this is rarely proven. The goal of this article is to show in a rigorous and systematic way how to generally approach solving the problem of transition from a conic to a corresponding cylindrical projection. This article points to the fact that J. H. Lambert showed as early as 1772 that a conformal cylindrical projection is created from a conformal conic projection. Following his idea, this paper shows that not only conformal, but also equal-area and equidistant cylindrical projections can be derived from corresponding conic map projections. Although it seems that the paper deals with quite well known and intuitive property of conic projections, it will also show that the transition from the conic to the corresponding cylindrical projection is not always possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With the continuous development of society and the continuous improvement of economic level, science and technology have also been greatly developed. Multimedia technology has also been rapidly developed and promoted in the new era field and background. New media art has been developing rapidly in the new social development process. Therefore, it has played a more and more important role in the design and influence of art. The participation of new media art has also gone deeper and deeper into various fields, and has also had an important role and impact on people's lives. The application of new media technology in environmental art design has two main purposes. First, it has a visual impact on the audience. Second, it can help the audience understand how they are affected by the depletion of the environment and natural resources. The first purpose is to achieve it by using video clips or animations, which are produced by different kinds of technologies, such as 3D modeling software, projection mapping, virtual reality, etc. It can also be realized by using various types of media, such as photography, recording and music production. They are used to create an audio-visual expression, which can not only attract people's attention. This article mainly analyzes and explores the application of new media art in environmental art design, so as to help us better understand the connotation of new media art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital age has fundamentally transformed the nature of diplomacy. As countries embrace the opportunities of the digital realm to foster global relationships and promote their interests, they simultaneously confront an array of cyber threats and challenges. The inherent dynamism of this digital transformation challenges the age-old tenets of diplomacy, prompting a re-evaluation of traditional methodologies and strategies. Countries today are presented with a dual-edged sword. On one hand, digital tools serve as potent enablers, facilitating the forging of global relationships, enhancing soft power projection, and promoting nuanced national interests with unparalleled efficiency. Yet, the same arena also poses substantial challenges: cyber threats, misinformation campaigns, and intricate webs of state-backed digital espionage represent just the tip of a vast iceberg of challenges in the cyber domain. This research paper seeks to elucidate the evolving landscape of digital diplomacy, assessing its implications for traditional statecraft and international relations. By examining the dual nature of digitalisation -- it's potential for both collaboration and conflict -- we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the strategies and tactics employed by state actors. This exploration offers insights into the future of diplomacy, advocating for adaptive, resilient, and innovative approaches to navigate the challenges and harness the opportunities of the cyber era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ocean, as a vast interconnected body of water on Earth, plays an essential role in Earth's planetary dynamics, climate change, and the evolution of human society and decision-making processes. An ocean-focused global map is necessary to visually capture numerous phenomena within the world's ocean and seafloor. Here we present the power of the Spilhaus square projection with various geological and geophysical datasets, including bathymetry, teleseismicity, seafloor geography, and seafloor spreading parameters. The Spilhaus projection, compared to widely-used map projections (e.g., Mercator and Robinson), emphasizes the seamless connection of water masses surrounded by continents. This projection has recently garnered attention for presenting ocean-oriented data, although it is not extensively used and currently supported by the ArcGIS software. Maps presented here provide not only a novel geological perspective on the world ocean as a whole body, but also new insights/questions to be addressed regarding features and processes of the water body, the seafloor, and ocean-atmosphere dynamics, which can be used for research, education, media, and policy decisions, and promote similar approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ORB-SLAM2 based on the constant velocity model is difficult to determine the search window of the reprojection of map points when the objects are in variable velocity motion, which leads to a false matching, with an inaccurate pose estimation or failed tracking. To address the challenge above, a new method of feature point matching is proposed in this paper, which combines the variable velocity model with the reverse optical flow method. First, the constant velocity model is extended to a new variable velocity model, and the expanded variable velocity model is used to provide the initial pixel shifting for the reverse optical flow method. Then the search range of feature points is accurately determined according to the results of the reverse optical flow method, thereby improving the accuracy and reliability of feature matching, with strengthened interframe tracking effects. Finally, we tested on TUM data set based on the RGB-D camera. Experimental results show that this method can reduce the probability of tracking failure and improve localization accuracy on SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems. Compared with the traditional ORB-SLAM2, the test error of this method on each sequence in the TUM data set is significantly reduced, and the root mean square error is only 63.8% of the original system under the optimal condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For hyperspectral images (HSI) compressed sensing reconstruction, the 3D total variation (3DTV) is a powerful regulation term encoding the spatial-spectral local smooth prior structure. The term is calculated by supposing the sparsity structure on a gradient map along the spatial and spectral direction. In some real scenes, however, the gradient maps along different directions of HSI are not always sparse. Actually, TV constraints established on the gradient map of the original HSI are more effective in most cases. In this paper, instead of imposing sparsity on gradient maps themselves directly, compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction for HSI is formulated as an optimization problem utilizing a novel regulation term named multi-TV (MTV), which combines the sparsity prior for the gradient map and the TV projection along with other directions of the gradient map. We also develop a workable utility algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to effectively deal with the optimization problem. The proposed MTV term can easily replace the conventional 3DTV term and be embedded into hyperspectral CS (HCS) reconstruction to improve its performance. Experimental results show that compared with similar state-of-the-art methods, the proposed MTV term can significantly improve reconstruction precision for HCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histamine is a conserved neuromodulator in mammalian brains and critically involved in many physiological functions. Understanding the precise structure of the histaminergic network is the cornerstone in elucidating its function. Herein, using histidine decarboxylase (HDC)-CreERT2 mice and genetic labeling strategies, we reconstructed a whole-brain three dimensional (3D) structure of histaminergic neurons and their outputs at 0.32 × 0.32 × 2 μm3 pixel resolution with a cutting-edge fluorescence microoptical sectioning tomography system. We quantified the fluorescence density of all brain areas and found that histaminergic fiber density varied significantly among brain regions. The density of histaminergic fiber was positively correlated with the amount of histamine release induced by optogenetic stimulation or physiological aversive stimulation. Lastly, we reconstructed a fine morphological structure of 60 histaminergic neurons via sparse labeling and uncovered the largely heterogeneous projection pattern of individual histaminergic neurons. Collectively, this study reveals an unprecedented whole-brain quantitative analysis of histaminergic projections at the mesoscopic level, providing a foundation for future functional histaminergic study [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco inaugurated the opening of its new contemporary wing with teamLab: Continuity. The immersive exhibition spanned six galleries and was fully interactive via sensors and digital projection mapping technology; flowers bloom and grow, flying crows burst into colorful chrysanthemums, and butterflies are born or killed at a moment's touch. The digital objects dynamically interact with one another and with humans, blurring boundaries between art, participant, and technology. This article examines Continuity as a "collective interactive experience" situated within a digital ecosystem. It explores teamLab's approach to the natural environment and its digital replication, with a focus on the relationship between humans and machines in shared exhibition spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on digital cultural heritage is concerned with the implementation of projection mapping (PJM) technologies, projection viewing, and interactive programs at cultural heritage sites. As PJM technology has come to play an increasingly important role in attracting visitors to museums, heritage pavilions and heritage sites, the topics of digital cultural heritage and digital cultural tourism have become widely discussed in professional and academic circles. However, questions have begun to emerge over the past decade about the relevance of the content presented using PJM at heritage sites and tourist attractions to the sites' cultural value, and various researchers have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of PJM on the visitor experience and generate proposals for improvement. Unfortunately, the usefulness of these attempts has been limited by several methodological shortcomings. Therefore, this study proposes an original system for evaluating visitor's cultural experiences. By evaluating the effectiveness of PJM on visitor's cultural experiences, a methodology and a set of guidelines for applying PJM that promotes cultural understanding were proposed, and further to achieve an integrated understanding of visitor's tendency to recall PJM information. Furthermore, a trial run of the system was conducted by the authors in a study of a digital media campaign in October 2021 and the data derived from this investigation are presented in this article as a reference point for comparable cultural heritage and tourism sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]