Cardinal Directions Research Articles

Spatial Ecology of Reddish-Brown Cuxiú Monkeys (Chiropotes sagulatus, Pitheciidae) in an Isolated Forest Remnant: Movement Patterns and Edge Effects

Habitat loss, and subsequent fragmentation, can increase the amount of forest edge. Primate species vary in their responses to such changes in their habitat. We studied the movement ecology of a group of reddish-brown cuxiú monkeys (Chiropotes sagulatus, Pitheciidae) in a small (13 ha), isolated forest remnant that was <3% of the species’ typical home range in the region. Every 5 min we recorded the group’s latitude and longitude, and the behavior of all individuals in sight. We calculated distance, speed, and trajectory of travel routes, and distance from every location to the nearest forest edge. Using Lidar data, we calculated canopy height. Cuxiús traveled in all cardinal directions, but they turned left more often than right, and they traveled at a faster speed to locations where the monkeys fed than where they did not eat. Although cuxiús used forest from the edge to the interior, they concentrated their movements and activities >30 m from the forest edge. Furthermore, their food sites were located less often near the forest edge, and canopy height of food trees near the forest edge was lower than canopy height of food trees at a greater distance from the edge. Although edge effects impacted the monkeys’ movement, trees >15 m at the forest edge can provide resources. Future research can examine ecological variables in more detail with the movement patterns.

Optimization of window area in buildings from the viewpoint of energy efficiency - Kabul, Afghanistan

The proportion of window area on a building façade is one of the key energy-saving design parameters affecting indoor thermal comfort, and the energy performance of a building. To avoid excessive energy loss or gain, determining the optimal window size is essential. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the impact of the Window-to-Wall ratio (WWR) of all sixteen cardinal, intercardinal, and secondary intercardinal directions on the energy consumption of buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan. Simulation models were built and analyzed using BEopt™ energy simulation software. The results indicate that in the climatic condition of Kabul, windows only on southeast, south-southeast, south, and south-southwest façades have energy-saving potential while providing windows on other facades results in higher energy demands compared to windowless façades. The total energy demand graph of the room with various WWR on southeast, south-southeast, south, and south-southwest façades form a U-shaped curve with a minimum value when the WWR is 0.15, 0.3, 0.35, and 0.25 respectively. The maximum amount of energy saving achieved by WWR optimization is 6.5%. However, adding windows of up to WWR-0.7 to other facades increases energy consumption by up to 29%. The study concludes that optimization of WWR in different orientations during the design process will contribute to the reduction of heating and cooling energy consumption.

STATUS C-ORGANIK DAN KADAR N-TOTAL PADA LAHAN PENGEMBANGAN KELAPA SAWIT DI WAWOLAHUMBUTI KECAMATAN PONDIDAHA KABUPATEN KONAWE

study aims to determine the status of soil organic carbon (C-organic), total nitrogen (N-total), and soil pH in oil palm development areas in Wawolahumbuti Village, Pondidaha Sub-District, Konawe Regency. The research was conducted in Wawolahumbuti Village, covering a research area of 365 hectares. Soil testing was carried out at the Biology Laboratory of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Halu Oleo University, from January to March 2022. The research was conducted using a survey method. The study location consisted of 6 land units. Soil samples were collected using a composite method. Soil samples were taken at approximately ±25 meters intervals in each cardinal direction, then mixed and homogenized at a depth of 0-100 cm, and approximately 1 kg of composite soil was collected. The variables measured were soil organic carbon (measured using the Walkley & Black method), total nitrogen (measured using the Kjeldahl method), and pH (measured using a pH meter). The research results showed that the status of soil organic carbon in the oil palm development areas in Wawolahumbuti Village, Pondidaha-Konawe ranged from very low (0.87%) to low (1.57%). The status of total nitrogen ranged from low (0.11%) to moderate (0.24%), and the soil pH ranged from very acidic (4.42) to acidic (5.12). Management efforts that can be undertaken to enhance the productivity of oil palm plants in Wawolahumbuti Village include the application of organic materials.

Coral reef fish larvae show no evidence for map-based navigation after physical displacement

Millions of minute, newly hatched coral reef fish larvae get carried into the open ocean by highly complex and variable currents. To survive, they must return to a suitable reef habitat within a species-specific time. Strikingly, previous studies have demonstrated that return to home reefs is much more frequent than would be expected by chance. It has been shown that magnetic and sun compass orientation can help cardinalfish maintain their innate swimming direction but do they also have a navigational map to cope with unexpected displacements? If displaced settling-stage cardinalfish Ostorhinchus doederleini use positional information during their pelagic dispersal, we would expect them to re-orient toward their home reef. However, after physical displacement by 180km, the fish showed a swimming direction indistinguishable from original directions near the capture site. This suggests that the tested fish rely on innate or learned compass directions and show no evidence for map-based navigation.

Multi-modal physiological parameter for mapping ablation lesions

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background In addition to variety of force time indices, electrophysiologist use peak to peak voltage (Vpp) and or S wave on unipolar electrogram to assess RF lesions they deliver. This strategy ignores cardiac conduction speed, direction, and wave curvature, all of which are affected by delivered lesion. Electrode array catheters such as the Advisor HD Grid allow individual cardiac wavefronts from sites to be characterized simultaneously in two dimensions from which vectorcardiograms can be derived. This underappreciated attribute of electrograms when integrated into activation mapping may provide new insights into the electrophysiologic state of tissue including wavefront amplitude, direction and velocity. Objective We tested the hypothesis that intracardiac vectorcardiogram loops contain aspects of properties that may better detect lesions compared to Vpp reduction and that a novel multi-modal approach will provide additional insights on wavefront interaction with substrate. Methods In 5 ex-vivo Langendorff perfused swine hearts, 56-pole (7 x 8 configuration) electrode arrays were sutured to the anterior epicardial left ventricle. Unipolar electrograms were acquired with UHN mapping system during programmed stimulation from all cardinal directions before and after creating RF ablation lesions. Vector loop maps were derived from orthogonal bipole pairs to study wavefront organization and voltage. Isochrone maps were generated from unipolar local activation times. Vector loop eccentricity was defined for each 4-electrode group as a function of loop’s major and minor axis lengths. Low values denote less eccentricity (more circular). Results An illustrative example of vector, loop and isochrone maps before and after ablation is shown in figures 1 and 2. Pre-ablation conditions show activation from a point stimulation on the left side with slender vector loops indicative of a relatively homogeneous linear conduction. In contrast, post-ablation vector loops are much less eccentric near the ablated area and smaller reflecting attenuated amplitude. Interestingly, near border zone locations large round loops are observed, suggesting curved or nonlinear wave propagation. Figure 2 shows that vector loops recorded from scar areas were diminished in size following ablation with a mean Vpp of 3.76 vs 2.18mV (p=0.0001) and exhibited less mean eccentricity, 0.925 vs 0.848 (p<0.0001), with more round loops (eccentricity < 0.7) found after ablation (12% of sites vs 4% pre-ablation, p < 0.0001). Conclusions Significant changes in loop characteristics were observed even when ablation induced voltage attenuation was minimal. This suggests that vectorial loop eccentricity may provide information in addition to omnipolar Vpp. Wavefront propagation disruption near ablation border zones is thus potentially valuable to detect lesion gaps. This information along with wave amplitude and direction can now be integrated into a novel multi-modal map.

Automated prediction of wet-snow avalanche activity in the Swiss Alps

AbstractWet-snow avalanches are triggered by the infiltration of liquid water which weakens the snowpack. Wet-snow avalanches are among the most destructive avalanches, yet their release mechanism is not sufficiently understood for a process-based prediction model. Therefore, we followed a data-driven approach and developed a random forest model, depending on slope aspect, to predict the local wet-snow avalanche activity at the locations of 124 automated weather stations distributed throughout the Swiss Alps. The input variables were the snow and weather data recorded by the stations over the past 20 years. The target variable was based on manual observations over the same 20-year period. To filter out erroneous reports, we defined the days with wet-snow avalanches in a stringent manner, selecting only the most extreme active or inactive days, which reduced the size of the dataset but increased the reliability of the target variable. The model was trained with weather variables and variables computed from simulated snow stratigraphy in 38$^\circ$ slopes facing the 4 cardinal directions. While model development and validation were done in nowcast mode, we also studied model performance in 24-hour forecast mode by using input variables computed from a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. Overall, the performance was good in both nowcast and forecast mode (f1-score around 0.8). To assess model performance beyond the stringent definition of wet-snow avalanche days, we compared model predictions to wet-snow avalanche activity over the entire Swiss Alps, based on the raw data over 8 winters. We obtained a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.71. Hence, our model represents a step toward the application of support tools in operational wet-snow avalanche forecasting.

Влияние микроклиматических городских условий на рост Tilia cordata Mill. (на примере г. Уфы)

The biological state of plantings with contrasting microclimatic growing conditions within the city limits is influenced by the orientation of streets to the cardinal directions and the presence of high-rise buildings. The trunk diameters (d0,1 and d1,3) and the height of Tilia cordata Mill were measured (n = 1 476 trees on 12 trial areas) with different age range (within V-X classes), freely growing on twelve linear trial areas allocated within two districts of the Ufa city of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The comparison of the average values of biometric parameters of trees growing in areas with different microclimates was carried out using the Student's test (α=0.05). In the process of conducting research on sites with contrasting microclimatic conditions, it was revealed that the growth, development and productivity of green spaces in urban conditions is influenced by their location, microclimatic conditions and air temperature. The orientation of the streets to the cardinal directions and the presence of high-rise buildings - sunny or shady - are very important for the growth of the tree. On the shady side during the growing period there is more moisture and the air temperature is lower. Of great importance for the difference in the diameters of the trees of the objects under consideration is their age. In addition, the immediate proximity of trees to the carriageway of the main street of the city also has a serious impact on their condition. The data of this study allow them to be used in the organization of landscape care for urban plantings, including linden trees.

Contrasting T-Phase and P-Wave Patterns from the 2015 and 2017 Eruptions of the Submarine Volcano Kick-‘em-Jenny: Influence of Cardinal Direction on Recorded First Phase Arrival

ABSTRACT Kick-‘em-Jenny (KeJ)—the most active volcano in the Lesser Antilles and located about 8 km north of Grenada—is the only known, live submarine volcano in the region. Unrest and eruption episodes are approximately decadal. Typically, a KeJ episode, which may consist of several eruptions, is short-lived and rapidly returns to quiescence, with virtually no background seismicity. Although two previous eruptions broke the surface of the sea, and some have had seismic effects felt in northern Grenada and sometimes Martinique, instrumental recordings of T phases were considered to provide firm evidence of eruptions. T phases are hydroacoustic waves that propagate efficiently in the Sound Fixing and Ranging channel allowing long-range recording. The most recent episodes occurred on 29 April 2017 and 23, 24 July 2015, with no reported surface evidence. The 2015 hr-long seismic signals, among the longest durations ever recorded, manifested differences in the first phase arrivals at some of the same recording stations suggesting a fundamental difference in T-phase wave trains’ generation at KeJ. The single eruption in the 2017 volcanic episode had a duration similar to those prior to the 2015 eruptions; however, except for the four stations in the immediate vicinity of KeJ, the detected signals propagated only as T waves. Real-time and posteruption deductions that the episodes occurred from different cardinal directions on the volcano were found to be supported by the findings from bathymetric analyses done shortly after the episodes. This characteristic enhances the KeJ profile, possibly improving real-time activity assessments in future KeJ episodes, with a view to strengthening hazard and risk communication.

Visual re-anchoring in misaligned local spaces impairs global path integration.

It is a prevailing theoretical claim that path integration is the primary means of developing global spatial representations. However, this claim is at odds with reported difficulty to develop global spatial representations of a multiscale environment using path integration. The current study tested a new hypothesis that locally similar but globally misaligned rooms interfere with path integration. In an immersive virtual environment, participants learned objects' locations in one room and then physically walked, while being blindfolded, to a neighboring room for testing. These rooms were rectangular but globally misaligned. Adopting different actual perspectives in the testing room, the participants judged relative directions (JRDs) from the imagined perspectives in the learning room. The imagined and actual perspectives were aligned or misaligned according to either local room structures or global cardinal directions. Prior to JRDs, participants did not conduct other tasks (Experiment 1) or judged relative global headings of the two rooms to activate global representations while seeing the testing room (Experiment 2) or in darkness (Experiment 3). Participants performed better at locally aligned than misaligned imagined perspectives in all experiments. Better performances for globally aligned imagined perspectives appeared only in Experiment 3. These results suggest that structurally similar but misaligned rooms interfered with updating global heading by path integration, and this interference occurred during but not after the activation of global representations. These findings help to settle the inconsistency between the theoretical claims and empirical evidence of the importance of path integration in developing global spatial memories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Improved Spatial Knowledge Acquisition through Sensory Augmentation.

Sensory augmentation provides novel opportunities to broaden our knowledge of human perception through external sensors that record and transmit information beyond natural perception. To assess whether such augmented senses affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge during navigation, we trained a group of 27 participants for six weeks with an augmented sense for cardinal directions called the feelSpace belt. Then, we recruited a control group that did not receive the augmented sense and the corresponding training. All 53 participants first explored the Westbrook virtual reality environment for two and a half hours spread over five sessions before assessing their spatial knowledge in four immersive virtual reality tasks measuring cardinal, route, and survey knowledge. We found that the belt group acquired significantly more accurate cardinal and survey knowledge, which was measured in pointing accuracy, distance, and rotation estimates. Interestingly, the augmented sense also positively affected route knowledge, although to a lesser degree. Finally, the belt group reported a significant increase in the use of spatial strategies after training, while the groups' ratings were comparable at baseline. The results suggest that six weeks of training with the feelSpace belt led to improved survey and route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the findings of our study could inform the development of assistive technologies for individuals with visual or navigational impairments, which may lead to enhanced navigation skills and quality of life.

Mutual Influence of External Wall Thermal Transmittance, Thermal Inertia, and Room Orientation on Office Thermal Comfort and Energy Demand

Upgrades in building energy efficiency codes led to differences between buildings designed according to outdated codes and those with most recent requirements. In this context, our study investigates the influence of external wall thermal transmittance, thermal inertia, and orientation on energy demand (heating, cooling) and occupant thermal comfort. Simulation models of an office building were designed, varying (i) the thermal transmittance values (0.20 and 0.60 W/(m2K)), (ii) the room orientation (four cardinal directions), and (iii) the wall thermal inertia (approximately 60 kJ/(m2K) for low and 340 kJ/(m2K) for high thermal inertia. The energy demand for heating and cooling seasons was calculated for Ljubljana using EnergyPlus 9.0.0 software. The reduction of the external wall thermal transmittance value from 0.6 W/(m2K) to 0.2 W/(m2K) contributes to significant energy savings (63% for heating and 37% for cooling). Thermal inertia showed considerable potential for energy savings, especially in the cooling season (20% and 13%, depending on the external wall insulation level). In addition, the orientation proved to have a notable impact on heating and cooling demand, however not as pronounced as thermal inertia (up to 7% total energy demand). Comparison of the thermal comfort results showed that when internal air temperatures are identically controlled in all the rooms (i.e., internal air temperature is not an influencing factor), the external wall thermal transmittance, thermal inertia, and room orientation show negligible influence on the average occupant thermal comfort. The simultaneous achievement of thermally comfortable conditions in the working environment and low energy use can only be achieved by simultaneously considering the U-value and thermal inertia.

Gišogenetic Variation in White-Spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) Trees of Yukon Beringia, Canada

Gišogenesis, otherwise known as secondary-xylem development, was investigated in an old-growth upland population of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) trees having morphologically diverse crowns and growing on a south slope north of East Fork Creek bordering never-glaciated Yukon Beringia. After tree felling, trunks were segmented into one-metre lengths. In the laboratory, widths of xylem layers were measured across the four cardinal directions at each height, followed by Pearson’s product momentum correlations to evaluate variation in historical gišogenetic vigour within and between trees. Substantial variation was found, and it cannot readily be explained in terms of differences in extrinsic environment. Physiological differences in intrinsic gišogenetic regulation within a genetically diverse population, comprising both refugia and recent recruits, is proposed as a probable explanation, thus emphasizing the individuality of each tree’s internal control over how it responds to the extrinsic environment. Further investigations within Yukon Beringia may yield insight into evolutionary diversification of gišogenesis.

Experimental evaluation of daylighting performance and energy output of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panel in Bandung, Indonesia

Building energy use contributes up to 40% of total global energy use and increases by 8-10% every five years, encouraging the development of technology-based renewable energy sources. Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) is a potentially relevant application of integrated PV in buildings which, it provides electricity cost savings, and increases the architectural attractiveness of a building. In contrast to conventional PV installations on building roofs, vertical PV installations are significantly influenced by the building orientation and the transparency of the PV. Study and analysis were conducted to implement BIPV windows in tropical climates using experimental measurement methods in energy output and indoor daylighting in four cardinal directions. This research was done by modelling a simple 2 × 2 × 1 m3 room with a PV solar window glazing made of Monocrystalline silicon 105Wp, placed on the roof of CADL Building, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, for four days. The measurement results indicate that South is the most recommended orientation for installing BIPV windows for tropical areas in Bandung with the performance indicators for energy output = 564 Wh, DA300 = 100%, UDI250-750 = 93%, UDI100-3000 = 100%, and UDI>3000 = 0%. In contrast, West and East orientations are not recommended because of the significant difference in energy output and illuminance in the morning and the afternoon.

Coffee berry borer population on the arabica coffee beans from three different cropping patterns in Karo, North Sumatera

The coffee berry borer or CBB (Hypothenemus hampei) is a critical pest overgrowing on coffee plants. This study was conducted to find out the intensity of CBB infestation. The method was based on the field primarily from direct observations of pest populations in coffee plants. The sampling method was used to systematically calculate the pest population in coffee plantations, with the sample of 50 coffee plants repeated three times for each type of cropping pattern. In each observation of the coffee plants, four samples of branches were taken according to the cardinal direction with the densest branches, and the infested berries were taken and separated according to the color of the berries to observe the population of CBB in it. Yield loss due to CBB infestation in Karo District was around 30-40%. Based on the observational data obtained up to the 10th observation, the highest CBB infestation was found in the coffee plant fields with a monoculture cropping pattern of 0.55%, polyculture (coffee - vegetable) of 0.43%, and the infestation was found in polyculture cropping pattern (coffee - citrus) by 0.24%. Plant spacing could affect the presence of CBB, and polyculture (coffee–citrus) in coffee cultivation is advised in Karo District since it has the lowest infestation rate of CBB.

Asymmetries in the discrimination of motion direction around the visual field.

The discriminability of motion direction is asymmetric, with some motion directions that are better discriminated than others. For example, discrimination of directions near the cardinal axes (upward/downward/leftward/rightward) tends to be better than oblique directions. Here, we tested discriminability for multiple motion directions at multiple polar angle locations. We found three systematic asymmetries. First, we found a large cardinal advantage in a cartesian reference frame - better discriminability for motion near cardinal reference directions than oblique directions. Second, we found a moderate cardinal advantage in a polar reference frame - better discriminability for motion near radial (inward/outward) and tangential (clockwise/counterclockwise) reference directions than other directions. Third, we found a small advantage for discriminating motion near radial compared to tangential reference directions. The three advantages combine in an approximately linear manner, and together predict variation in motion discrimination as a function of both motion direction and location around the visual field. For example, best performance is found for radial motion on the horizontal and vertical meridians, as these directions encompass all three advantages, whereas poorest performance is found for oblique motion stimuli located on the horizontal and vertical meridians, as these directions encompass all three disadvantages. Our results constrain models of motion perception and suggest that reference frames at multiple stages of the visual processing hierarchy limit performance.

An 'instinct for learning': the learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants from the 1850s to now.

The learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants are precisely coordinated movements that enable insects to memorise the visual surroundings of their nest or other significant places such as foraging sites. These movements occur on the first few occasions that an insect leaves its nest. They are of special interest because their discovery in the middle of the 19th century provided perhaps the first evidence that insects can learn and are not solely governed by instinct. Here, we recount the history of research on learning flights from their discovery to the present day. The first studies were conducted by skilled naturalists and then, over the following 50 years, by neuroethologists examining the insects' learning behaviour in the context of experiments on insect navigation and its underlying neural mechanisms. The most important property of these movements is that insects repeatedly fixate their nest and look in other favoured directions, either in a preferred compass direction, such as North, or towards preferred objects close to the nest. Nest facing is accomplished through path integration. Memories of views along a favoured direction can later guide an insect's return to its nest. In some ant species, the favoured direction is adjusted to future foraging needs. These memories can then guide both the outward and homeward legs of a foraging trip. Current studies of central areas of the insect brain indicate what regions implement the behavioural manoeuvres underlying learning flights and the resulting visual memories.

Honey bees infer source location from the dances of returning foragers

Honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica) communicate the direction and distance to a food source by means of a waggle dance. We ask whether bees recruited by the dance use it only as a flying instruction, with the technical form of a polar vector, or also translate it into a location vector that enables them to set courses directed toward the food source from arbitrary locations within their familiar territory. The flights of recruits captured on exiting the hive and released at distant sites were tracked by radar. The recruits performed first a straight flight in approximately the compass direction indicated by the dance. However, this "vector" portion of their flights and the ensuing tortuous "search" portion were strongly and differentially affected by the release site. Searches were biased toward the true location of the food and away from the location specified by translating the origin for the danced polar vector to the release site. We conclude that by following the dance recruits get two messages, a polar flying instruction (bearing and range from the hive) and a location vector that enables them to approach the source from anywhere in their familiar territory. The dance communication is much richer than thought so far.

The S-BAN: Insights into the Perception of Shape-Changing Haptic Interfaces via Virtual Pedestrian Navigation

Screen-based pedestrian navigation assistance can be distracting or inaccessible to users. Shape-changing haptic interfaces can overcome these concerns. The S-BAN is a new handheld haptic interface that utilizes a parallel kinematic structure to deliver 2-DOF spatial information over a continuous workspace, with a form factor suited to integration with other travel aids. The ability to pivot, extend and retract its body opens possibilities and questions around spatial data representation. We present a static study to understand user perception of absolute pose and relative motion for two spatial mappings, showing the highest sensitivity to relative motions in the cardinal directions. We then present an embodied navigation experiment in virtual reality (VR). User motion efficiency when guided by the S-BAN was statistically equivalent to using a vision-based tool (a smartphone proxy). Although haptic trials were slower than visual trials, participants’ heads were more elevated with the S-BAN, allowing greater visual focus on the environment.

Using equiluminance settings to estimate the cardinal chromatic directions for individuals.

Color information is processed by the retina and lateral geniculate along principal dimensions known as the cardinal directions of color space. Normal differences in spectral sensitivity can impact the stimulus directions that isolate these axes for individual observers and can arise from variation in lens and macular pigment density, photopigment opsins, photoreceptor optical density, and relative cone numbers. Some of these factors that influence the chromatic cardinal axes also impact luminance sensitivity. We modeled and empirically tested how well tilts on the individual's equiluminant plane are correlated with rotations in the directions of their cardinal chromatic axes. Our results show that, especially for the SvsLM axis, the chromatic axes can be partially predicted by luminance settings, providing a potential procedure for efficiently characterizing the cardinal chromatic axes for observers.

The influence of temperature and rain moisture in mortar facades obtained through hygrothermal simulation

This study evaluates the influence of different cardinal directions considering temperature and rain moisture for facades of buildings located in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil, consisting of solid ceramic bricks or 6-hole blocks coated with cement-based mortars. Based on hygrothermal simulations conducted with WUFI® Pro 6.5 software, the climate agents were analysed, and for each solar orientation, the Iti (thermal intensity index) and the RIF (rain impact factor) were determined, considering moisture intensity due to precipitation. The results indicate that the wall substrate composition, with solid ceramic bricks or 6-hole blocks, did not influence the impact of temperature and rain moisture on the facades’ external mortar coating. However, the results were different according to the cardinal orientations considered.