Search

There is a complex interaction between the quality of the urban tourism environment and the tourism economy. The former is the key to sustainable development of the tourism economy, which, in turn, also has an impact on the urban tourism environment. Therefore, understanding the coupling coordination relationship between them is crucial. This paper aims to construct a comprehensive evaluation index system of urban tourism environment quality system and the tourism economic system and adopts the entropy method to weigh the indexes. The comprehensive evaluation model and coupling coordination degree model are exploited to conduct an empirical analysis of the changes in Nanjing's tourism environment quality, tourism economy comprehensive development level, and coupling coordination degree from 2009 to 2020. The results show that the coupling coordination degree shows a fluctuating upward trend overall. In particular, the traffic environment and tourism benefits have the most significant impact on the coupling system, indicating that relevant departments need to consider these key factors when making macrodecisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the impact of the urban built environment on online car-hailing, an increasingly popular mode of urban transportation, is crucial for developing corresponding transportation strategies and addressing sustainable urban planning. This paper captures that the form and orientation of the neighborhood network have a certain degree of influence on travel behavior. Therefore, the road network orientation entropy indicator is introduced based on the originally built environment elements, and the orientation-order (OO) indicator calculation model is constructed to normalize it. This study further tests and verifies its impact on the travel behavior of online car-hailing, thereby improving the factor characterization of neighborhood design latitude in the urban built environment. From the perspective of spatial correlation and spatial heterogeneity, the optimal models are selected by model comparative analysis, namely, the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and the mixed geographically weighted regression model (MGWR). Based on the optimal model estimation results, the influence mechanism of the urban built environment on the spatial-temporal distribution of online car-hailing travel in three cases (considering road network density (RD), considering RD and OO, considering OO) is compared and analyzed. The results show that the model fitting considering the OO is the best in the above three cases, and the OO has a significant impact on DiDi travel compared with the RD in this study, which verifies the rationality and necessity of selecting the OO in this study. In addition, catering service, corporate business, and OO have significant positive spillover effects, while the spillover effects of sports and leisure service and land-use mix are negative. The indicators of the bus station, residential district, catering service, shopping service, corporate business, land-use mix, life service, and OO have significant spatial heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the performance of the reverse link adopting visible light communication at urban street environments. Firstly, the signal transmitting schemes are classified into two cases: only the head lamps are used or both the head lamps and the tail lamps are used; secondly, mathematical models corresponding the two different signal transmitting schemes for analyzing the performance of the reverse visible light communication link between a vehicle and the road side equipment are set up; thirdly, a method to improve the quality of the reverse visible light communication link is proposed; finally, three types of simulations are conducted to check the influence of receiver height and vehicle position on the link quality, respectively, and to check the validity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Triatomines in Latin America are natural Chagas disease (ChD) vectors. Triatomine domiciliation is one of the main factors increasing the occurrence risk of this disease in humans. There are 66 triatomine species in Brazil, with three genera of significant epidemiological importance—Panstrongylus, Rhodnius, and Triatoma. Among the Triatoma species, Triatoma williami, a wild species, has been reported in Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul. In the Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, the invasion by triatomines has been reported, with T. williami being the most common species. This study aimed to survey triatomine fauna and determine the Trypanosoma cruzi natural infection rates in triatomines in the urban area of Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Methods: Triatomine specimens were sampled by passive surveillance or active search by agents combating endemic diseases from 2019 to 2020. A parasitological feces diagnosis was performed to detect the presence of T. cruzi after the specimens were identified. Concerning T. cruzi identification, molecular diagnosis and genetic sequencing were performed to determine the strain, also called discrete typing units (DTUs). Results: The 211 triatomines were collected, distributed in specimens of T. williami (84.4%), P. geniculatus (3.3%), P. diasi (1.4%), and R. neglectus (10.9%). Two colonies of T. williami were found through morphological analyses. These insects were sampled inside domiciles in an urban area neighboring Jardim Pitaluga (15° 51′57.7″ N, 052° 16′ 04.5 E). The records were sampled in September 2019 and January 2021. The rate of natural infection by T. cruzi was 39.4%. Two T. williami specimens from the sampled colonies were positive for the T. cruzi strain DTU IV. Conclusions: This is the first time that T. williami has been confirmed in an urban area of Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Further studies are needed for a clearer understanding of the ecology of this species for prevention and control mechanisms since its sampled specimens had a high rate of natural infection by T. cruzi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to phenomena such as urban heat islands, outdoor thermal comfort of the cities' residents emerges as a growing concern. A major challenge for mega-cities in changing climate is the design of urban spaces that ensure and promote pedestrian thermal comfort. Understanding pedestrian behavioural adaptation to urban thermal environments is critically important to attain this goal. Current research in pedestrian behaviour lacks controlled experimentation, which limits the quantitative modelling of such complex behaviour. Combining well-controlled experiments with human participants and computational methods inspired by behavioural ecology and decision theory, we examine the effect of sun exposure on route choice in a tropical city. We find that the distance walked in the shade is discounted by a factor of 0.86 compared to the distance walked in the sun, and that shadows cast by buildings have a stronger effect than trees. The discounting effect is mathematically formalised and thus allows quantification of the behaviour that can be used in understanding pedestrian behaviour in changing urban climates. The results highlight the importance of assessment of climate through human responses to it and point the way forward to explore scenarios to mitigate pedestrian heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Detect-waste and classify-waste datasets benchmarks were introduced. • The quality of waste detection in various environments has been tested. • Semi-supervised training can boost classification of different types of waste. • Remarkable performance in waste detection is obtained by the two-stage framework. Waste pollution is one of the most significant environmental issues in the modern world. The importance of recycling is well known, both for economic and ecological reasons, and the industry demands high efficiency. Current studies towards automatic waste detection are hardly comparable due to the lack of benchmarks and widely accepted standards regarding the used metrics and data. Those problems are addressed in this article by providing a critical analysis of over ten existing waste datasets and a brief but constructive review of the existing Deep Learning-based waste detection approaches. This article collects and summarizes previous studies and provides the results of authors' experiments on the presented datasets, all intended to create a first replicable baseline for litter detection. Moreover, new benchmark datasets detect-waste and classify-waste are proposed that are merged collections from the above-mentioned open-source datasets with unified annotations covering all possible waste categories: bio, glass, metal and plastic, non-recyclable, other, paper , and unknown. Finally, a two-stage detector for litter localization and classification is presented. EfficientDet-D2 is used to localize litter, and EfficientNet-B2 to classify the detected waste into seven categories. The classifier is trained in a semi-supervised fashion making the use of unlabeled images. The proposed approach achieves up to 70% of average precision in waste detection and around 75% of classification accuracy on the test dataset. The code and annotations used in the studies are publicly available online 1 1 https://github.com/wimlds-trojmiasto/detect-waste.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) signal processing in urban areas faces a challenge because of multiple access interference (MAI). Sky-view obstruction and surrounding objects result in the reception of GNSS signals with wide range of power. MAI, due to strong signals, generates peaks in the cross-ambiguity function (CAF) that could exceed the peak of a weaker signal being acquired. This could hinder the acquisition process. This article presents a derivation of a closed-form expression for the MAI effect on the CAF. The derived expression aims at explaining the characteristics of the MAI correlation. Furthermore, the derived expression is utilized in developing two interference mitigation algorithms, coherent and noncoherent, called CIM and NCIM, respectively. The detection probability and acquisition performance are evaluated using simulated and real data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Flash houses', a distinctive type of public house associated with criminal activity, are a shadowy and little-studied aspect of early 19th-century London. This article situates flash houses within a wide perspective, arguing that the discourses on flash houses were part of concerns about the threat of the urban environment to the moral character of its inhabitants. The article draws on an original synthesis of a range of sources that refer to flash houses, including contemporary literature, newspapers, court documents, and government papers. It demonstrates that flash houses were part of both popular intrigue about the perceived 'criminal underworld' and official concerns about the collusion between police officers and suspected offenders, since police officers allegedly frequented flash houses to gather criminal information. A detailed examination of this term reveals anxieties about the state of the metropolis, poverty, and criminality that were central to the early 19th-century consciousness. However, the discussion of flash houses in this context also demonstrates a powerful connection in contemporary minds between the physical spaces of the city and the risks that they posed to inhabitants' morals. While associations between the physical environment and morality have been drawn throughout history, flash houses represent a paradigmatic moment in this dialogue. This is because different moral concerns coalesced around the discourse on flash houses: anxieties about the criminal underworld, the potential for moral degradation of young people who frequented these spaces, and the corruption of police officers through contact with known or suspected offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical greening with UNIKA planting blocks – Background information on application, design and construction The UNIKA planting block is an innovative masonry unit that enables free‐standing masonry walls and outer shells of cavity walls to be used as vertical greening areas. Due to the extensive range of application of walls made of planting blocks, they serve as architectural accents and contribute to air purification and temperature regulation in urban environments. Because of its unusual geometry, the planting block cannot be designed according to the regulations of Eurocode 6. For this purpose, the design is carried out with the help of user‐friendly tables given by a General Design Certification. The following article provides relevant background information on the design concept as well as advice for the application and the construction of vertical greening areas made of planting blocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing verticalization of urban environments led to the consideration of loads influenced by horizontal forces arising from the action of the wind. Different neighborhood densities alter the flow behavior and reflect on interference effects. An extensive study developed in the wind tunnel through aerodynamic characterization in the reduced model of the CAARC building, simulated with the insertion of distinct windward neighborhood densities in three configurations, I (one interfering model), II (two models) and III (three models), with different relative positions between the models, D and 2D, where D is the smallest dimension of the model, aiming to understand the interaction relationship between such parameters. Based on the results, both the insertion and number of interfering buildings, and the variation in spacing, influence on the determination of the coefficients. The results indicated that the FV values are mainly given as a function of the proximity and size of buildings directly in the surroundings, most forces on the x-axis have been increased (96.2%), on y-axis, most actions have been reduced (65.4%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental education aims to change the perception of people about the environment. Primary education (four to eleven years old) is a fundamental stage in the development of children's conduct, so enhancing learning of the environment in which they live is essential for them to start recognizing nature as part of their life. We tested students' perception before (pre-test) and after (post-test) a specific environmental education activity elaborated in a ludic and interdisciplinary way (psychological, biological, performing arts and educational perspectives), with more moments of practice than only theoretical or rhetorical. Our study showed that schools located in cities with low Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) can present satisfactory results in relation to students' environmental perception (hypothesis 1), that this perception does not differ according to nationwide educational indexes such as the Brazilian Basic Education Development Index (IDEB) (2), and that regardless of MHDI, there is an increase in this perception after environmental education activities, even a single activity (3). The developed methodology was effective in changing students' environmental perception, and can be used in an interdisciplinary way, even when resources are scarce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper problematises current conceptualisations of objects in social practices by investigating car parking, using original research material. Motionless cars are not only 'leftovers' of driving – they actively perform parking while waiting for their users to start driving again. They infrastructure everyday im|mobility and play a part in shaping urban environments. Two modalities of social practice are discerned and described to account for these performative capacities of objects. By describing different ways in which cars are taken care of and take part in parking in the material setting of a street, the article argues for more attention to non-human objects involved in social practices, particularly in the context of their infrastructuring capacities. The article contributes to the current developments in theories of social practices, discourses on social materiality and infrastructuring and complements existing understandings of automobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Agence Nationale de Recherche Caractérisation des ENvironnements SonorEs urbains (Characterization of urban sound environments) project, a questionnaire was sent in January 2019 to households in a 1 km2 study area in the city of Lorient, France, to which about 318 responded. The main objective of this questionnaire was to collect information about the inhabitants' perception of the sound environments in their neighborhoods, streets, and dwellings. In the same study area, starting mid-2019, about 70 sensors were continuously positioned, and 15 of them were selected for testing sound source recognition models. The French lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis occurred during the project, and the opportunity was taken to send a second questionnaire during April 2020. About 31 of the first 318 first survey respondents answered this second questionnaire. This unique longitudinal dataset, both physical and perceptual, allows the undertaking of an analysis from different perspectives of such a period. The analysis reveals the importance of integrating source recognition tools, soundscape observation protocol, in addition to physical level analysis, to accurately describe the changes in the sound environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of research presented in this paper is quantification of the relationship between the traffic safety and roadside advertising structures along a selected road in urban environment. In order to determine correlation, statistical analysis of traffic safety indicators was performed. Then identificcation of characteristics of advertising structures and analysis was done by using multi-criteria evaluation in order to determine their impact on driver distraction. Determination of driver distraction was performed by testing the drivers in real traffic conditions, using specialized measuring equipment. The indicators derived from the research were then analyzed using the methods of regression analysis, and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying species interactions and niche segregation under human pressure provides important insights into species adaptation, community functioning and ecosystem stability. Due to their high plasticity in behaviour and diet, urban mesocarnivores are ideal species for studying community assembly in novel communities.We analysed the spatial and temporal species interactions of an urban mesocarnivore community composed of the red fox Vulpes vulpes and the marten Martes sp. as native species, the raccoon Procyon lotor as invasive species, and the cat Felis catus as a domestic species in combination with human disturbance modulated by the SARS‐CoV‐2 lockdown effect that happened while the study was conducted.We analysed camera trap data and applied a joint species distribution model to understand not only the environmental variables influencing the detection of mesocarnivores and their use intensity of environmental features but also the species' co‐occurrences while accounting for environmental variables. We then assessed whether they displayed temporal niche partitioning based on activity analyses, and finally analysed at a smaller temporal scale the time of delay after the detection of another focal species.We found that species were more often detected and displayed a higher use intensity in gardens during the SARS‐CoV‐2 lockdown period, while showing a shorter temporal delay during the same period, meaning a high human‐induced spatiotemporal overlap. All three wild species spatially co‐occurred within the urban area, with a positive response of raccoons to cats in detection and use intensity, whereas foxes showed a negative trend towards cats. When assessing the temporal partitioning, we found that all wild species showed overlapping nocturnal activities. All species displayed temporal segregation based on temporal delay. According to the temporal delay analyses, cats were the species avoided the most by all wild species. To conclude, we found that although the wild species were positively associated in space, the avoidance occurred at a smaller temporal scale, and human pressure in addition led to high spatiotemporal overlap.Our study sheds light to the complex patterns underlying the interactions in a mesocarnivore community both spatially and temporally, and the exacerbated effect of human pressure on community dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the urban environment, and the ethnic geography at its heart, influence the combat effectiveness of democracies conducting counterinsurgency operations? We argue that the city's ethnic geography – whether it is ethnically homogenous, segregated, or mixed – influences combat effectiveness through two main mechanisms: intelligence and public opinion. There is no 'ideal' urban ethno-demographic setting where militaries are likely to be effective in combat. Rather, different ethno-geographies lead to different challenges with respect to intelligence and public opinion, which in turn affect combat effectiveness. We test our arguments through a structured focus comparison of the Troubles and the First Palestinian Intifada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intersection of fear of crime and media consumption has been examined in urban environments extensively. However, like many aspects of criminal justice research, much less is known about these concepts in non-urban environments. Further, there is an assumption that the processes of how media will influence fear of crime will work similarly in non-urban environments. This question remains open to empirical examination. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between media consumption and fear of crime in a semi-rural environment. Using data collected via telephone survey, and conducted within a selected non-urban community, we examine the relationship between media consumption and fear of crime while controlling for a host of confounders. Results indicated that media consumption is related to fear of crime among this specialized sample. However, this relationship becomes nonsignificant once perceived disorder is introduced. Findings and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic aerosols (OA) represent a significant fraction of total submicron particulate matter (PM1) concentrations globally, including densely populated megacities such as Seoul. However, scientific understanding of the atmospheric formation and removal processes of OA, especially for secondary organic aerosols (SOA), is still highly uncertain. In this study, we examine the characteristics of SOA formation in Seoul during spring‐summer 2016 and fall‐winter 2017/2018, using airborne and ground observations along with a 3‐D global chemical transport model, GEOS‐Chem. We use four different SOA schemes in the model, including simplified and complex volatility‐based frameworks, and evaluate them by comparing the simulations with the observations to examine how our scientific understanding embedded in each SOA scheme affects the observed biases. Our analysis of the model performance of each scheme also provides the most suitable approach in simulating SOA in a typical urban environment. Comparisons of the simulated versus observed OA concentrations show that model biases range from −72% to +118%, with considerable variability among different schemes and seasons. We find that the inclusion of semi/intermediate volatile precursors, in addition to the traditional precursors, and chemical aging (functionalization) are important factors to simulate surface SOA concentrations in Seoul. However, a comparison of observed and simulated SOA/∆CO enhancement ratios suggests that most schemes underpredict SOA aging in upper levels in the boundary layer. We also find that the simplified SOA scheme can reproduce observed OA but often shows overestimation in surface air, indicating that uncertainties exist in bottom‐up emissions and precursor parameterization in Seoul. Plain Language Summary: We compare four different modeling approaches for simulating secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, accounting for a significant fraction of total fine particulate matter concentrations in Seoul, Korea. Using GEOS‐Chem, a chemical transport model, we find that current SOA schemes show large variabilities. Including an additional precursor species and further oxidation (i.e., chemical aging) of simulated SOA improves model performance. We also find that a simplified scheme with less computational cost can reproduce observed values but generally shows an overestimation in Seoul, indicating uncertainties in parameterization. Key Points: Model evaluation of simulated organic aerosols (OA) using different secondary organic aerosols (SOA) schemes in Seoul shows large variabilityThe inclusion of semi/intermediate volatile precursors and chemical aging are important factors in reducing model biasesThe simplified SOA scheme can reproduce observed OA, but uncertainties exist in precursor parameterization in Seoul [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva 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.)

Training autonomous vehicles require rigorous and comprehensive testing to deal with a variety of situations that they expect to undergo on roads in real-time. The physical testing of autonomous driving on roads has always been hindered; by the infrastructure costs, high-performance systems, sensors, communication devices, and jeopardizing the safety of people in the real world. That is where the testing in the simulation helps in filling the gap and democratizes autonomous driving research. There are plenty of simulators to test autonomous driving solutions, and CARLA is one of them. CARLA is a powerful simulator that encompasses tools to develop, train and validate the systems in controlled scenarios. This paper presents a detailed overview of the CARLA, discussing its simulation engine, client-server architecture, urban environment, and a variety of sensors. The wide range of features and modules of each CARLA release has also been reviewed helping the research community to choose the suitable CARLA release meeting best their requirements. Moreover, the comparative analysis of CARLA with well-known open-source and commercial simulators is also presented. The analysis shows that CARLA and LGSVL are currently state-of-the-art open-source simulators for end-to-end testing of autonomous driving solutions. Finally, we discuss the various research applications and use case scenarios where the CARLA has been implemented and extended by the research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stormwater harvesting and reuse in the urban environment is emerging as an alternative water source, despite human pathogens in the stormwater may represent a hazard to public health. This study presents the results of 1-year monitoring to evaluate the quality of stormwater obtained in a high-income neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro for a set of microbiological parameters as total coliforms, Escherichia coli (E. coli), human adenovirus (HAdV), human JC polyomavirus (JCPyV), Group A rotavirus (RVA), and norovirus GI and GII. Forty-eight stormwater samples obtained from two multiplex units presented total coliforms and E. coli in 91.7% (n = 44) and 58.3% (n = 28) of samples, while HAdV and JCPyV were detected in 20.8% (n = 10) and 12.5% (n = 6), respectively. Viral quantification ranged from 103 to 104 genomic copies/liter (GC/L) for HAdV and from 101 to 104 GC/L for JCPyV. Neither RVA nor norovirus GI and GII was detected. Fifteen out of sixteen (93.8%) samples containing viruses were compliant as per fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) according to Brazilian standards for rainwater reuse and US EPA Guidelines for Water Reuse, suggesting that viruses monitoring should complement the study of bacterial indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we study the performance of cross‐hole electrical resistivity tomography measurements by employing different electrode array configurations in plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cased and horizontally slotted observation boreholes by inserting a multi‐electrode cable directly into the borehole. Preliminary cross‐hole electrical resistivity tomography measurements in PVC cased boreholes related to an underground tunnel construction showed poor data quality. This was attributed to the borehole‐fluid effect caused by the PVC casings. An experimental study was conducted to support this hypothesis by setting up various simulations in a water tank, using different PVC casings with various slot densities, and different electrode array configurations. We conclude that the applicability of various measurement setups depends mainly on the acquisition protocol and, to a lesser extent, on the slot density of the PVC casing. Among the different array configurations considered, the pole–dipole array with the potential measuring electrodes being placed in a separate borehole to the current electrodes provide the most robust and reliable results, even for low slot density PVC casings. Besides, denser borehole slot configurations result in better data quality, though to a different extent for the examined protocols. A minimum slot density criterion of at least six slots/electrode spacing is proposed, regardless of the electrode array. The experimental findings are finally evaluated against real field measurements associated with the construction of an underground tunnel of the new Thessaloniki Metro, verifying the pole–dipole array's superior behaviour for this type of measurement configuration. Finally, for those cases where the aspect ratio (hole depth/hole separation) is limited, we propose a modified borehole‐to‐surface configuration with the current electrodes placed outside the boreholes. The overall results indicate that slotted PVC cased observation boreholes (e.g., conventional piezometers), typically constructed as part of many infrastructure monitoring projects, can be efficiently employed for electrical resistivity tomography mapping, generating a new perspective for geoelectrical prospecting. This measuring approach exhibits a significant advantage. The use of pre‐existing boreholes reduces the overall survey costs, reliability, and effort, while also providing high‐resolution subsurface images, especially in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban trees and forests provide multiple ecosystem services for urban dwellers. However, forest water use for these benefits has become one of the critical concerns in dryland regions where water is limited. Negative forest water use impacts could be reduced by selecting tree species with low rates of transpiration. However, the possible changes of urban tree transpiration and its biophysical controls are still unclear. This study monitored the sap flow of a 58‐year‐old Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) plantation in a semiarid urban environment of northern China. Soil moisture played an important role in stand transpiration (Ec). Ec had a strong positive relationship with vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and solar radiation (Rs) when soil water was sufficient. In addition, the sensitivity of leaf stomata to VPD was not related to leaf and branch water potential. Under soil water stress, Ec was significantly reduced by 63.1% (p < 0.001) and was weakly related to VPD and Rs. Canopy conductance (gc) was reduced (p < 0.001) by 74.3% due to leaf stomatal closure, and the sensitivity of leaf stomata to VPD was significantly increased (p < 0.05) with increasing leaf and branch water potential. Wind speed had no significant effects on Ec. P. tabulaeformis tended to be isohydric with a relatively constant midday leaf water potential (i.e. −2.46 to −2.92 MPa) and strong stomatal regulation as a function of soil water stress. However, slopes (0.53–0.56) of the linear relationship between m (dgc/dlnVPD) and reference canopy conductance were significantly lower than the widely recognized 0.6 (p < 0.001). Therefore, urban tree transpiration drivers and forest impacts need to be clarified to better understand the proper tradeoff between water consumption and ecological services for urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office 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.)

Many registration schemes have been proposed to reduce the signaling cost required for user's mobility management in wireless communication networks. Various results on mobility management schemes to minimize the total signaling cost have been reported. The objective of this study was to analyze a registration scheme that could deal with mobility prediction and corresponding flexible tracking area list (TAL) forming. In this scheme, based on mobility prediction and corresponding TAL forms, a new TAL was constructed such that the registration cost could be minimized. In addition, a semi-Markov process model was newly presented for the registration scheme considering mobility prediction and corresponding flexible TAL forming for two different environments: urban and rural. Simulation studies were also performed to validate the accuracy of the semi-Markov process model. Numerical results showed that analytical and simulation results were very close (average relative error of 1.4%). The registration cost decreased as the moving probability (q) to the predicted direction increased. The performance of the proposed scheme was superior to distance-based registration (DBR) or TAL-based scheme especially when q was high. When call-to-mobility ratio was less than or equal to 1 corresponding to current small cell configurations, the proposed scheme outperformed the DBR or TAL-based scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Drones can be a very useful tool to help mosquito control tasks in areas where these insects are an important vector of disease transmission. Storing sterile mosquitoes in drones and releasing them in targeted areas where previous suppression of wild populations has been performed can be a major advance in this methodology. This is part of the sterile insect techniques (SIT) which have been demonstrated to be an environmentally friendly solution for the control of insect pests. However, the use of drones in the areas where these operations are foreseen is limited by the fact that we have a regulation that advances at a slower pace than technology. Of particular interest is the case of the suppression of mosquito populations in urban areas below the transmission threshold, where drones and their operating conditions must meet demanding safety requirements. This article presents the current regulatory situation in Europe that affects drone operations and its applicability to the case of the release of sterile mosquitoes to control the population of these insects in two different scenarios: urban and rural areas. In recent years, several countries have developed the use of sterile insect techniques (SIT) to fight against mosquitoes that transmit diseases. From a technical and economic point of view, the use of drones in the aerial release of sterile mosquitoes leads to important improvements in aerial coverage and savings in operational costs due to the requirement of fewer release sites and field staff. However, these operations are under the European drone regulation, one of the most advanced in the world. The main contribution and novelty of this paper with respect to previous work is the analysis of the SIT application with drones under the European risk-based regulation in two scenarios: urban and rural areas. The specific operations risk assessment (SORA) methodology has been applied to assess the risk of drone operations in these scenarios. The paper presents the operational requirements for aerial release of mosquitoes with drones along with the regulatory considerations that must be applied. Finally, an overview of the conditions in operation that could relax risks and mitigation measures is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For smart cities, location-based services (LBSs) are indispensable; however, the urban environment is typically a multipath channel and achieving high accuracy localization is challenging, especially in GNSS-denied environments. It is already known that there are two key factors that constrain IoT localization performance, namely, the presence of outliers in the inter-node ranging data and the difficulty to guarantee that ranging is carried out between all nodes, which means that we are dealing with an incomplete Euclidean distance matrix (EDM) contaminated with outliers. In this paper, we propose a robust localization framework, termed low-rank approximation-based localization (LRAbL). LRAbL enables network localization in a stepwise manner using partially observed EDMs that contain coarse noise (outliers). Specifically, the working process of LRAbL can be divided into three stages: the preprocessing of the observed EDM, aiming to eliminate outliers with large values, the use of low-rank approximation means to obtain the complete EDM, and finally the application of non-classical MDS to calculate the coordinates of the nodes in the network. To confirm the applicability of the proposed framework, extensive numerical experiments were conducted, which indicated that LRAbL was still able to achieve satisfactory localization results when the network links were sparse (only about 1/4 of the entries can be observed) and contained a certain percentage of large value outliers. In summary, our work provides a solution worthy of consideration for location-based services in the future Internet of Things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Al-Frahids Arts is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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 paper presents a method to estimate the covariances of the inputs in a factor-graph formulation for localization under non-line-of-sight conditions. A general solution based on covariance estimation and M-estimators in linear regression problems, is presented that is shown to give unbiased estimators of multiple variances and are robust against outliers. An iteratively re-weighted least squares algorithm is proposed to jointly compute the proposed variance estimators and the state estimates for the nonlinear factor graph optimization. The efficacy of the method is illustrated in a simulation study using a robot localization problem under various process and measurement models and measurement outlier scenarios. A case study involving a Global Positioning System based localization in an urban environment and data containing multipath problems demonstrates the application of the proposed technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing by leaps and bounds in almost all fields of technology, and Autonomous Vehicles (AV) research is one more of them. This paper proposes the using of algorithms based on Deep Learning (DL) in the control layer of an autonomous vehicle. More specifically, Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) algorithms such as Deep Q-Network (DQN) and Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) are implemented in order to compare results between them. The aim of this work is to obtain a trained model, applying a DRL algorithm, able of sending control commands to the vehicle to navigate properly and efficiently following a determined route. In addition, for each of the algorithms, several agents are presented as a solution, so that each of these agents uses different data sources to achieve the vehicle control commands. For this purpose, an open-source simulator such as CARLA is used, providing to the system with the ability to perform a multitude of tests without any risk into an hyper-realistic urban simulation environment, something that is unthinkable in the real world. The results obtained show that both DQN and DDPG reach the goal, but DDPG obtains a better performance. DDPG perfoms trajectories very similar to classic controller as LQR. In both cases RMSE is lower than 0.1m following trajectories with a range 180-700m. To conclude, some conclusions and future works are commented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cycling is a healthy habit; however, are its benefits outweighing risks when biking in heavily trafficked and air-polluted cities? Research involved studying contamination with traffic-related elements of dust collected from bike paths located in top trafficked cities of Europe in Poland. Human health risk was assessed via inhalation and ingestion pathways for adults and children. Bike path dust was heavily contaminated with Zn, Cd (Geoaccumulation index Igeo 4) and Pb (Igeo 3), sourced predominantly from nonexhaust car emissions. The concentrations of metals in dust decreased in the following descending order: Zn > Mn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Cd. A fractionation study revealed that Zn and Cd are almost entirely bioavailable (Mobility factor MF above 90%), causing hazards to humans and the environment. The highest congested intersections result in more TRAP-contaminated dust deposited on bike paths, which is easily resuspended, posing a health risk for cyclists or pedestrians. Avoiding cycling in proximity to heavily trafficked routes should be considered, when possible, as well as physical removal of dust by wet sweeping to limit dust resuspension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Particles from non-exhaust emissions derived from traffic activities are a dominant cause of toxic metal pollution in urban environments. Recently, studies applying multiple isotope values using the Iso-source and positive matrix factorization (PMF) models have begun to be used as useful tools to evaluate the contribution of each pollution source in urban environments. However, data on the metal concentrations and isotopic compositions of each potential source are lacking. Therefore, this study presents data on toxic metals and Cu, Zn, and Pb isotopic compositions in tires, which are one of the important non-exhaust emission sources. Findings: Among the toxic metals, Zn had the highest concentration in all tire samples, and the mean concentrations were in the order of Zn > Cu > Pb > Sn > Sb > Ni > Cr > As > Cd. Ni, Zn, Sn, and Sb had higher concentrations in domestic tires (South Korea), and the Cu, Cd, and Pb concentrations were relatively higher in imported tires. The mean values of δ65CuAE647, δ66ZnIRMM3702, and 206Pb/207Pb ranged from − 1.04 to − 0.22‰, − 0.09 to − 0.03‰, and 1.1242 to 1.1747, respectively. The concentrations and isotopic compositions of Cu and Pb in the tires showed large differences depending on the product and manufacturer. However, the differences in Zn concentration and δ66ZnIRMM3702 values were very small compared with those of Cu and Pb. The relationships of the Zn concentration and isotopic composition showed that domestic tires are clearly distinguishable from imported tires. Bi-plots of Cu, Zn, and Pb isotopic compositions indicated that tires can be clearly discriminated from natural-origin and other non-exhaust traffic emission sources. Conclusions: The multi-isotope signatures of Cu, Zn, and Pb exhibited different isotopic values for other non-exhaust traffic emission sources than for tires, and application of the multi-isotope technique may be a powerful method for distinguishing and managing non-exhaust sources of metal contamination in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of science and technology has created favorable conditions for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). Accurate localization is one of the fundamental functions of CAV to realize some advanced operations such as vehicle platooning. However, complicated urban traffic environments, such as the flyover, significantly influence vehicular positioning accuracy. The inability of CAV to accurately perceive self-localization information has become an urgent issue to be addressed. This paper proposed a novel cooperative localization method by introducing the relative Direction-of-Arrival (DOA) and Relative Distance (RD) into CAV to improve the localization accuracy of CAV in the multivehicle environment. First, the three-dimensional positioning error model of the host vehicle concerning adjacent vehicles in azimuth angle and pitch angle and intervehicle distances under the vehicle-to-vehicle communication was established. Second, two least-squares estimation algorithms, linear and nonlinear, are established to decrease the position errors by combining relative DOA and RD measurement information. To verify the proposed algorithm's effect, the PreScan-Simulink joint simulation is carried out. The results show that the host vehicle's localization accuracy by the proposed method can be improved by 25% compared with direct linearization. Besides, by combining relative DOA and relative RD measurement, the locating capability of the least-square-based nonlinear optimization method can be enhanced by 22%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visually impaired people have unique perceptions of and usage requirements for various urban spaces. Therefore, understanding these perceptions can help create reasonable layouts and construct urban infrastructure. This study recruited 26 visually impaired volunteers to evaluate 24 sound environments regarding clarity, comfort, safety, vitality, and depression. This data was collected in seven different types of urban spaces. An independent sample non-parametric test was used to determine the significance of the differences between environmental evaluation results for each evaluation dimension and to summarize the compositions of sound and space elements in the positive and negative influence spaces. The results suggested that visually impaired people (1) feel comfort, safety, and clarity in parks, residential communities, and shopping streets; (2) have negative perceptions of vegetable markets, bus stops, hospitals, and urban departments; (3) feel anxious when traffic sounds, horn sounds, manhole cover sounds, and construction sounds occur; and (4) prefer spaces away from traffic, with fewer and slower vehicles, with a suitable space scale, and moderate crowd density. These results provide a reference for the future design of activity venues (i.e., residential communities, vegetable markets, bus stops, parks, shopping streets, hospitals, and urban functional departments) and the planning of accessibility systems for visually impaired urban residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how the (de)territorialised appeal of international schools in China can reflect, enforce and expand pre-existing patterns of urban segregation. Whilst exploration of the effects of educational marketplaces on urban environments has become a focus of scholarly research, the recent expansion in the supply of, and demand for, international education has caused these effects to become more nuanced. As (de)territorialised entities, international schools can cause multiple forms of spatial and psycho-social distinction and (dis)association to become intertwined, the effects of which start from the school and radiate out from there. International schools can therefore cause segregation to become a structurally entrenched phenomenon. These ideas are illustrated through an empirical examination of three international schools located in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. We explore the ways in which these schools are branded spaces that reproduce socio-spatial boundaries and thus foster a (de)territorialised sense of inter-belonging amongst their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several urban canopy models now incorporate urban vegetation to represent local urban cooling related to natural soil and plant evapotranspiration. Nevertheless, little is known about the realism of simulating these processes and turbulent exchanges within the urban canopy. Here, the coupled modeling of thermal and hydrological exchanges was investigated for a lawn located in an urban environment and for which soil temperature and water content measurements were available. The ISBA diffusive (ISBA-DF) surface–vegetation–atmosphere transfer model is inline coupled to the Town Energy Balance urban canopy model to model mixed urban environments. For the present case study, ISBA-DF was applied to the lawn and first evaluated in its default configuration. Particular attention was then paid to the parameterization of turbulent exchanges above the lawn and to the description of soil characteristics. The results highlighted the importance of taking into account local roughness related to surrounding obstacles for computing the turbulent exchanges over the lawn and simulating realistic surface and soil temperatures. The soil nature and texture vertical heterogeneity are also key properties for simulating the soil water content evolution and water exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this work is to show how to optimize the use of urban soils in conjunction with its transportation network to save residential areas from the air pollution generated by vehicles. The model evokes the spatial elements and problems necessary for the representation of the urban environment with precision in the development of residential land use. This model also predicts the degree of pollution of already existing residential areas. The approach is based on the minimum distance between the road and the residential area for which the air quality remains acceptable for human health. The mathematical analysis will allow a better planning of the urban transport network. The effect and impact of the transport network on urban air quality is presented based on geo-spatial analyzes. The results will help to reduce the negative impacts of transport on the air quality, particularly in the urban domain. Through this mathematical modelling, sustainable development will be achieved by defining the residential zone that will be spared from pollution due to the transport network and delimit the polluted part of the already existing zone. The solution adopted is to show how the soil must be exploited with regards to the transport network and residential areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The White Tern (Gygis alba) is a common seabird that nests on islands in tropical and subtropical oceans. In the southeastern Hawaiian Islands, White Terns breed only in urban and suburban areas of Honolulu. The Honolulu population has grown from a single pair in 1961 to 2,300 birds in 2016. We measured breeding success of White Terns in Honolulu and examined aspects of their breeding biology and the environment that may affect breeding. We documented 3,855 breeding events in Honolulu from 2016 to 2019. Breeding success was 68.3% and varied less than 3% among years. Breeding occurred in all months, with lowest activity in the summer and a peak in the winter and spring, but the pattern varied among years. White Terns bred in 64 tree species. Breeding success varied among tree species and was related to characteristics of the trees and their attractiveness to non-native predators. The height of breeding events was 9.26 ± 0.05 m and success was related to height, with higher success in events 5–10 m above ground. The diameter of branches on which breeding occurred was 10.2 ± 0.1 cm and success was related to branch diameter, with lower success on branches >20 cm. The high breeding success of White Terns in Honolulu is related to: the small size and isolation of the O'ahu population, which may result in reduced intra-specific competition for food; protection from predators provided by the urban environment; and trimming of trees by arborists, which unintentionally improves the value of trees as breeding sites for terns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soundscapes are affected by several factors and one of them is the activities done in the space concerned. People expect different acoustic environments for different activities, but there is no specific guidance for designing an ideal acoustic environment for different activities. This study aimed to identify ideal urban acoustic environments for four different activities: reading, relaxing, talking with friends, and playing with children. The ideal acoustic environment was evaluated using the soundscape composition concept. The concept was implemented by an acoustic environment simulator that enabled the respondents to compose their ideal acoustic environment and identify the perception of their composition. The sound source selection and perception rating were analyzed to understand the ideal acoustic environment and perception for different activities. This study identified the ideal soundscapes for four different activities and the perception expected to be present in the ideal environments for those activities. The result can be beneficial as guidance for urban soundscape design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visual system can recover 3D information from many different types of visual information, e.g., contour-drawings. How well can people navigate in a real dynamic environment with contour-drawings? This question was addressed by developing an AR-device that could show a contour-drawing of a real scene in an immersive manner and by conducting an observational field study in which the two authors navigated in real environments wearing this AR-device. The navigation with contour-drawings was difficult in natural scenes but easy in urban scenes. This suggests that the visual information from natural and urban environments is sufficiently different and our visual system can accommodate to this difference of the visual information in different environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensors for environmental perception are nowadays applied in numerous vehicles and are expected to be used in even higher quantities for future autonomous driving. This leads to an increasing amount of observation data that must be processed reliably and accurately very quickly. For this purpose, recursive approaches are particularly suitable in terms of their efficiency when powerful CPUs and GPUs are uneconomical, too large, or too heavy for certain applications. If explicit functional relationships between the available observations and the requested parameters are used to process and adjust the observation data, complementary approaches exist. The situation is different for implicit relationships, which could not be considered recursively for a long time but only in the context of batch adjustments. In this contribution, a recursive Gauss-Helmert model is presented that can handle explicit and implicit equations and thus allows high flexibility. This recursive estimator is based on a Kalman filter for implicit measurement equations, which has already been used for georeferencing kinematic multi-sensor systems (MSS) in urban environments. Furthermore, different methods for introducing additional information using constraints and the resulting added value are shown. Practical application of the methodology is given by an example for the calibration of a laser scanner for a MSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Interventions to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia largely focus on individual‐level strategies. To maximize risk reduction, it is also necessary to consider the environment. With the majority of older people living in cities, we explored how urban environments could support risk reduction. Materials and Methods: In our qualitative study, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with community members aged ≥65 years and stakeholders, all living in Leipzig, Germany. Interview guides were informed by the framework on modifiable risk factors for dementia of the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care. Interviews were audio‐recorded, verbatim‐transcribed, and thematically analysed. Results: Community members (n = 10) were M = 73.7 (SD = 6.0) years old and 50% were women. Stakeholders (n = 10) were aged 39–72 years, and 70% were women. Stakeholders' fields included architecture, cultural/arts education, environmental sciences, geriatrics, health policy, information and technology, philosophy, psychology, public health, and urban sociology. Across interviews with both older individuals and stakeholders, three main themes were identified: (i) social participation and inclusion (emphasizing social contacts, social housing, intergenerationality, neighbourhood assistance, information and orientation, digital and technological literacy, lifelong learning, co‐creation/co‐design), (ii) proximity and accessibility (emphasizing proximity and reachability, mobility, affordability, access to health care, access to cultural events, public toilets), (iii) local recreation and wellbeing (emphasizing safety in traffic, security, cleanliness and environmental protection, urban greenery, climate change and heat waves, outdoor physical activity). Discussion: The design of urban environments holds large potential to create favourable conditions for community‐dwelling individuals to practice lifestyles that promote brain health. Public policy should involve community members in co‐creating such environments. Key points: When asked about how urban environments could support dementia risk reduction, older community members and stakeholders referred to three main themes, namely: social participation and inclusion, proximity and accessibility, and local recreation and wellbeingResearch findings highlight the need for policy makers to involve community members in co‐creating urban environments that promote brain health [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of energy fluxes and surface-atmosphere energy balance is considered an important study for an urban environment. The arrangement of manmade impervious surfaces (building and roads), their geometry and orientation, material composition, albedo/emissivity, topography, natural and delineated spaces of vegetation, and the concurrent atmospheric profiles together play a pivotal role in defining the urban morphological environment at micro-scale. Hyperspectral remote sensing images can prove to be instrumental in identifying the inherent material characteristics of the urban surfaces. The study focuses on identifying six man-made (asphalt, concrete, tin, iron, china mosaic, HDPE) and five natural features (lake water, river water, trees, soil, grass) in the city of Ahmedabad, India using ISRO-NASA airborne campaign hyperspectral data captured on February 11, 2016 under the Airborne Visible and InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer – Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG), of JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), NASA bearing a spatial resolution of 8.1 m. The dimensionality reduction of the reflectance data was performed using a standard shift difference method in minimum noise fraction (MNF) technique by retaining the bands possessing coherent signals and dismissing the noise component within the data. The MNF data was further exposed to a partial linear spectral unmixing approach of mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF) possessing the dual character of maximizing the target endmember response and suppressing the background redundant noisy information by a filtering and tuning process. It was observed that the overall accuracy of identification of various materials using random checkpoints (ranging from 50 to 200) varied from 82.3% to 87.7%. High accuracy was observed in the natural features than the man-made features/materials. The knowledge of materials in an urban purlieu shall aid in understanding the urban environment in terms of energy demand and energy-balance and further help in deciphering the cause of urban heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe an exploratory investigation of a dynamic digital map, inspired by videogame design. Participants followed a novel route through an urban environment, using a custom map that presented directional information for off-screen landmark locations. Spatial orientation (pointing to remembered landmarks) in this group was compared to participants using a static version of the same custom map (without the directional cues) and an additional control group that used a static mobile map from the public domain. Participants using the dynamic map were most accurate in making egocentric orientation judgments, although groups did not appear to differ in their configural spatial knowledge. These data suggest that landmark persistence may help users to build more accurate on-line representations of their spatial orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing low-carbon logistics requires an understanding of the driving factors for carbon emissions. We employed the Comparative Study on Urban Transport and the Environment (CUTE) framework to identify the driving factors of China's logistics carbon emissions. Then, the Generalized Fisher Index Decomposition (GFID) model was adopted to decompose the effects of the driving factors. Finally, we tracked the spatial dynamics trajectory of each driving effect based on the gravity model. Our results showed that technical intensity and transport structure promoted carbon emissions, while technical efficiency and agglomeration curbed carbon emissions. The gravity centers of transport structure and technical efficiency converged with that of carbon emissions, whereas the gravity centers of technical intensity and industry agglomeration diverged from that of carbon emissions. The driving effects showed an obvious spatial heterogeneity, which indicated that carbon reduction policies should be formulated according to the local situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient accuracies of the low end position and orientation system (POS) used in low cost UAV LiDAR systems (ULSs) cause the direct georeferencing data to lead to poor point cloud quality. Trajectory correction and scan-to-map matching are two commonly used strategies for point cloud quality refinement. The existing trajectory correction strategies work with the assumption that POS errors can be modeled as a time-variant function, which cannot be applied to the low end POS. The existing scan-to-map matching methods have difficulty refining the ULS point clouds due to the large gaps between scan lines. This paper proposes HR-ULS, hierarchical refinement for low cost ULS point cloud quality in the urban environment, to solve these challenges. HR-ULS separated the raw laser scanning point clouds into a set of scan-blocks and refined the point cloud quality with a hierarchical strategy, resulting in local and global optimization, respectively. First, the internal scan-block matching (ISBM) estimated multiscale distributions for each laser frame and calculated relative motions iteratively to achieve local map consistency in each scan-block. Second, the multiview scan-block matching (MSBM) took inertial, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and laser measurements into a unified adjustment framework to correct the trajectory, achieving global map consistency between scan-blocks. Comprehensive experiments evaluated the proposed HR-ULS with the point clouds captured by a low-cost ULS in three typical urban areas. They showed that the average plane fitting RMSE of the ULS point clouds was improved from 0.34 m to 0.09 m, and the average checkpoint offset was improved from 1.86 m to 0.21 m, achieving an identical level of accuracy with that of direct georeferencing using a high end POS, APX-15-UAV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]