Distant Places Research Articles

Transnational Governance of Soybean Land Use in South America: A Polycentric Approach

Abstract The expansion of soybean cultivation in South America has created substantial economic prosperity but has also raised a series of unsustainable land-use issues. Considering the telecoupling system (a system of socio-ecological interactions between distant places) between South America and its soybean trade partners, transnational governance could play an important role in addressing these issues. To achieve effective governance of this specific telecoupling system, this study applies a polycentric approach to improve the existing transnational governance and identify more suitable governance arrangements. This study first explores the telecoupling system and the existing transnational governance system of soybean land use in South America. It then compares the existing governance system with the polycentric approach to examine the gaps between them. Based on these analyses, suggestions for improving the governance system are provided, including increasing the involvement of major governance centres, improving public-private partnerships, and establishing a knowledge-sharing platform.

Augmented Landscapes of Empathy: Community Voices in Augmented Reality Campaigns

In contrast with virtual reality which often aims to isolate a user from their surroundings in order to transport them to a distant place, augmented reality (AR) was uniquely designed to (re)contextualize local landscapes and to provide expanded human experiences in situ. This critical reflection adopts a “research through design” process to examine AR’s technological and affective capabilities in the context of three community co-created AR campaigns. We discuss how AR can become both a conceptual and practical tool for creating conditions of self-identification and, potentially, empathy between audience and content. Further, we explore how people and place become a critical part of AR’s infrastructure through the practice of empathic feedback loops.

Antenna, laboratory, archive: sound explorations at Radio Utopia

As part of the French pavilion at the XVIII Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, muoto architects with Georgi Stanishev designed the Ball Theater, associating the idea of sound creation with the architectural project from the outset. Radio Utopia occupied the Ball Theater for five days in August as part of the Pavilion's vision of architecture as a receptacle for life. Designed as a sound laboratory and radio antenna, Radio Utopia provided a platform for receiving and broadcasting discussions, testimonies, sounds and installations. The medium of the radio made it possible to question the socio-cultural conditions of an event such as the Biennale, of a restricted circle of visitors. Radio broadcasting serves as both a parable and a tangible means of connecting with distant places and potential differences using sound recording. It also offers the possibility of extending an event beyond its physical location and ephemeral temporality. Radio Utopia has left an audio trace in a corner of the Web. From the experimental perspective in the tradition of soundscape studies, this paper will look at three main aspects of the project: 1) a pavilion as a radio antenna, 2) a space of creation, a sound laboratory, and 3) a sound archiving platform.

Deep mapping in geography education: learning about a distant place and people in a summer school as a ‘committed outlier’

ABSTRACT This article discusses Deep Mapping in Geography teaching and learning by drawing on a case study of a summer school organised during the COVID-19 pandemic. Deep Mapping was used to foster deep learning among the students and teach them about a distant place and people. The exercise tasked the students to work on the creation of layered maps representing the fieldwork site, the city of Vancouver, Canada. Critical student reflections about the Deep Mapping process are used to address some of the benefits and challenges. The Deep Mapping exercise stimulated the students to critically engage with the diverse summer school materials, move beyond a superficial view of the city, maps and mapping, and reflect on their positionality. The method is promising in light of making deep engagement with other places more accessible to those who might not have or be inclined to access such international educational experience and also offers another opportunity for blended learning. In conclusion, we argue that Deep Mapping offers a timely and highly engaging approach to learn about a place and people from another part of the world – be it on location or at a distance.

The Migrant seen as a Philosophical Wanderer: Real Perceptions, Ideals and Fantasies on Foreignness - Philosophical Counselling for Migrants

The nomad spirit has shaped the authenticity of our humanity since the dawn of time. In this process, the cultural self undergoes a transformation or a conversion. Migrants are those who are seeking to pacify some initial anxieties or inner delusions and to do so they are availing of the element of foreignness by settling in or travelling to a distant place. This research asserts that there is a physical abode that grants us a sense of familiarity and security. Individuals anchor their identity in the broadness of these three pillars that give the predisposition of a being-at-home feeling; the childhood home, any place on our emotional axis that is associated with our family or friends and the made up places found in modern, popular stories that blend in with our idealism of what home should mean. Second, the paper will argue, as found in the case study, that the majority of us are psychologically unequipped when we proceed to meeting with the inclemencies of a new political, economical, social and cultural setting of a different country. There is much reflectiveness, aloneness and responsibility in migrants’ decision to engage in the dialogue of interculturality. Hence, the migrant begins to resemble a philosophical figure by means of contemplation, self-transformation, dispelling the impurities of the mind and the soul by carrying out a personal project of outlandishness. Within the presence of the dialogue, we not only perceive what is different from our behavior, but we also take the first step into discovering other life styles and all habits adjacent to them; we participate in the “mutual belonging” of interculturalism. The study will bridge the cultural, social, psychological implications from migration literature to philosophical theories. It represents a humble attempt at connecting philosophical counselling approaches and techniques with existing multicultural guidance services which are present in every country.

Neuroscience of cancer: Research progress and emerging of the field.

Cancer cells immediately expand and penetrate adjoining tissues, as opposed to metastasis, that is the spread of cancer cells through the circulatory or lymphatic systems to more distant places via the invasion process. We found that a lack of studies discussed tumor development with the nervous system, by the aspects of cancer-tissue invasion (biological) and chemical modulation of growth that cascades by releasing neural-related factors from the nerve endings via chemical substances known as neurotransmitters. In this review, we aimed to carefully demonstrate and describe the cancer invasion and interaction with the nervous system, as well asreveal the research progress and the emerging neuroscience of cancer. An initial set of 160 references underwent systematic review and summarization. Through a meticulous screening process, these data were refined, ultimately leading to the inclusion of 98 studies that adhered to predetermined criteria. The outcomes show that one formidable challenge in the realm of cancer lies in its intrinsic heterogeneity and remarkable capacity for rapid adaptation. Despite advancements in genomics and precision medicine, there is still a need to identify new molecular targets. Considering cancer within its molecular and cellular environment, including neural components, is crucial for addressing this challenge. In conclusion, this review provides good referential data for direct, indirect, biological, and chemical interaction for nerve tissue-tumor interaction, suggesting the establishment ofnew therapy techniques and mechanisms by controlling and modifying neuron networks that supply signals to tumors.

Crisis from Afar. Media Conceptualisations of Events in Brazil after the 2022 Presidential Election

The proximity (localness) of the reported events is closely correlated with their relevance to the audience of media reports—and so the fact that it may be “our business”, that the thing may also affect us, becomes crucial to the decision to deal with the topic in question, but also to the way in which it is dealt with. In this article, we are interested in media conceptualisations of a crisis that is far away, that is “alien”, “foreign”, and thus cannot be narrated through reference to social and receptive experience. We look at the ways in which the exoticisation of distant places and events can be reduced, and thus at strategies for convincing the Polish audience that these are issues that are relevant and worthy of attention. We will look at whether the divisive, deeply political fractures in media narratives also apply to the storytelling about events on the other hemisphere, and whether the ideological filters common in Polish media are also imposed on what is unknown.

Logit and Probit Models Explaining Mode Choice and Frequency of Public Transit Ridership among University Students in Krakow, Poland

The predictors of urban trip mode choice and one of its important components, public transit ridership, have still not been thoroughly investigated using case studies in Central Europe. Therefore, this study attempts to clarify the correlates of mode choices for commute travel and shopping, and entertainment travel to distant places, as well as the frequencies of public transit use of university students, using a wide range of explanatory variables covering individual, household, and socio-economic attributes as well as their perceptions, mobility, and the nearby built environment. The correlation hypothesis of these factors, especially the role of the street network, was tested by collecting the data from 1288 university students in Krakow and developing Binary Logistic and Ordinal Probit models. The results show that gender, age, car ownership, main daily activity, possession of a driving license, gross monthly income, duration of living in the current home, daily shopping area, sense of belonging to the neighborhood, quality of social/recreational facilities of the neighborhood, and commuting distance can predict commute and non-commute mode choices, while gender, daily activity, financial dependence from the family, entertainment place, quality of social/recreational facilities, residential self-selection, number of commute trips, time living in the current home, and street connectivity around home are significantly correlated with public transit use. Some of these findings are somewhat different from those regarding university students in Western Europe or other high-income countries. These results can be used for policy making to reduce students’ personal and household car use and increase sustainable modal share in Poland and similar neighboring countries.

Risk factors associated with self-rated health among elderly females with different visual abilities in Chinese urban areas: a population-based study

ObjectiveSelf-rated health (SRH) has been documented as an important predictor of quality of life among the elderly and its risk factors are vision-specific among elderly males. The aim of this study was to clarify vision-specific risk factors to SRH among elderly females without dementia in Chinese urban areas.MethodsFrom March to November 2012, 2147 elderly women in Liaoning Province of China were selected using a stratified sampling method. After cognitive screening, 1956 participants without dementia were finally enrolled. A questionnaire including SRH, visual ability and factors including demographic characteristics, physical conditions, lifestyle factors, social psychological status and social activities were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to clarify the association of SRH with risk factors, while stepwise multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the vision-specific associations with SRH.ResultsThe mean age was 73.6 ± 5.82 (mean ± SD). The percentages of good SRH in good and impaired visual ability groups were 36.2% and 24.4%, respectively. Most characteristics between elderly females with different visual abilities were significantly different. Visual ability had interactions with physical conditions, lifestyle factors and social activities to affect SRH. Among elderly females with good visual ability, depressive symptoms, rather than chronic disease had the strongest association with good SRH followed by marital status, regular diet, going out alone to distant places, taking a walk, smoking and alcohol consumption. In the impaired visual ability group, going out alone to distant places had the strongest association with good SRH followed by chronic disease, filial piety, taking a walk, participating in entertainment, ethnicity, quality of sleep, worrying about falling and alcohol consumption.ConclusionsGood SRH status was at a low level especially among elderly females with impaired visual ability and the risk factors differed between elderly females with different visual abilities. Social psychological status was crucial for SRH among elderly females with good visual ability whereas physical conditions were prominent for impaired visual ability group.

Effect of meddling ARBs on ARGs dynamics in fungal infested soil and their selective dispersal along spatially distant mycelial networks

During the recent times, environmental antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their potential transfer to other bacterial hosts of pathogenic importance are of serious concern. However, the dissemination strategies of such ARGs are largely unknown. We tested that saprotrophic soil fungi differentially enriched antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARBs) and subsequently contributed in spatial distribution of selective ARGs. Wafergen qPCR analysis of 295 different ARGs was conducted for manure treated pre-sterilized soil incubated or not with selected bacterial-fungal consortia. The qPCR assay detected unique ARGs specifically found in the mycosphere of ascomycetous and basidiomycetous fungi. Both fungi exerted potentially different selection pressures on ARBs, resulting in different patterns of ARGs dissemination (to distant places) along their respective growing fungal highways. The relative abundance of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) was significantly decreased along fungal highways compared to the respective inoculation points. Moreover, the decrease in MGEs and ARGs (along fungal highways) was more prominent over time which depicts the continuous selection pressure of growing fungi on ARBs for enrichment of particular ARGs in mycosphere. Such data also indicate the potential role of saprotrophic soil fungi to facilitate horizontal gene transfer within mycospheric environmental settings. Our study, therefore, advocates to emphasize the future investigations for such (bacteria-fungal) interactive microbial consortia for potential (spatial) dissemination of resistance determinants which may ultimately increase the exposure risks of ARGs.

Body shape divergence of paradise thread fish (Polynemus paradiseus) collected from different coastal habitats of southern Bangladesh: A multivariate approach for population discrimination

The paradise thread fish (Polynemus paradiseus) is a commercially and ecologically important euryhaline fish that primarily lives in diversified coastal and estuarine habitats. A comprehensive understanding of the divergence in body shape and discrimination in population parameters related to habitats is crucial for fisheries management and conservation endeavours. To test whether significant morphological differences exist between P. paradiseus populations inhabiting different coastal environments, a total of 366 individuals (198 male and 168 female) were collected from five distant places over three zones- Cox's Bazar (Bakkhali River) and Chattogram (Karnaphuli River) in the southeast coastal regions, Noakhali (lower Meghna River) in the southcentral zone, and Khulna (Shibsa River) and Borguna (Bishkhali River) in the southwest zones adjacent to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh in November 2022. The truss networking and geometric morphometric analysis (GMA) indicated variations in body shape among P. paradiseus individuals induced by sexual dimorphism. Wireframe graphs demonstrated that female individuals had wider dorsal-abdominal parts than males. Using the truss networking dataset for five coastal habitats, multivariate analyses revealed two overlapping clusters: southwest (Borguna and Khulna) populations in one cluster, while central (Noakhali) and southeast (Chattogram and Cox's Bazar) populations form separate clusters. The GMA also illustrated that the Khulna-Borguna population was located near the opposite end of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar population axis, and the Noakhali populations were somewhat in the middle, with a high degree of overlap. Wireframe graphs displayed a significant body shape variations among populations, mainly in the snout shape, the width of the dorsal-abdominal part, the tail shape, and the head shape. The Discriminant Function Analysis revealed that there were pronounced variations in body shape between two populations located in distant regions, while there were minimum variations between two populations located close to each other. This study underscores the effectiveness of landmark-based truss networking and geometric morphometrics in discerning morphological variations across different habitats. These variations likely hold adaptive significance and are critical for informed population management and conservation strategies in the population structure of euryhaline P. paradisus.

Provenance Studies of Natural Stones Used in Historical Buildings of the Peninsula de Barbanza, Galicia, Spain (North-Western Iberia)

Traditionally, the building stones used in the architectural heritage of Galicia (Spain) during the past were mainly extracted from quarries located in the surrounding areas of the historical buildings. Thus, a great variety of monuments were built with the same type of granite but with different degrees of weathering depending on local conditions, geological context (facies), and period of construction. The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the probable origin of the construction materials of six historical buildings on the Barbanza Peninsula, Galicia (Spain), based on the degree of weathering and petrographic-mineralogical characteristics. The evaluation was performed on six different samples of granite according to the geological context in outcrops of places where there are old quarries. We used X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and petrographic microscopy (PM) to attempt to address whether the origin is really local to the Barbanza Peninsula or whether the stone was brought from more distant places, based on our knowledge of the geological context of the study area. Based on the chemical, textural, and mineralogical analyses obtained, the material used for construction has a local origin and comes from small quarries spread over a wide area within the Peninsula itself. Barbanza-type granite is the most abundant within the geological context of the area and also the most used as a construction material. Other types of granites identified are the Confurco Granite and other granitoids of the Noya complex. The Chemical Alteration Index (CIA) shows low to moderate weathering in the granites, fitting petrographic observations. In monuments, samples show higher concentrations of Na and K due to salt crystallization. They show microcracks due to extraction, cutting, and finishing processes and common alteration processes of the main minerals, such as sericitization of plagioclase and chloritization of biotite. This work consists of a multidisciplinary study focused on the geological perspective for the identification and preservation of historic quarries. Knowledge of the original material also presents a unique opportunity for the restoration and/or reconstruction of monuments, which allows for the maintenance of their conceptual and constructive homogeneity.

Mapping Regional Security Dynamics: Traditional and Non-Traditional Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

The research article delves into the multifaceted security dimensions of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its domain allegations. Securitization Theory and Non-Traditional Security Cooperation Theory, find out about scrutinizes traditional challenges like geopolitical rivalries and military engagements, revealing their intertwined nature with financial development. Non-traditional security concerns, along with terrorism threats and cybersecurity issues, add in addition complexity to the BRI. The research emphasizes China's proactive policies, analysing security cooperation, threat valuation, prison frameworks, and infrastructure protection measures. It underscores China's dedication to safeguarding investments distant places whilst merchandising stability. The research about additionally explores regional safety cooperation, highlighting the interconnectedness of traditional and non-traditional security dynamics. Overall, the findings illuminate the refined stability wanted in decision-making for sustainable improvement inside the BRI, showcasing the nuanced interaction between China's monetary ambitions, security considerations, and evolving geopolitical dynamics, offering each possibilities and challenges for China and its associate states concerned in the initiative.

Diesel Level Monitoring System

Abstract: The ultimate objective of this project is to create a wireless diesel tank monitoring system that employs WebSocket protocol to connect fuel sensors and a mobile app in remote areas in real time. Through the use of Wi-Fi networks, customers can obtain consumption information, monitor the current diesel levels in various tanks, and log in to the mobile app, which has a straightforward interface. Diesel levels are shown as a percentage, translated from voltage readings, and alerts are delivered by the system when levels drop below preset limits. The goal of this effective and user-friendly technology is to maximize the use of diesel and make timely refills in distant places easier. A reliable and smooth solution for diesel level monitoring is made possible by the integration of the ESP32 microcontroller, WebSocket connection, and capacitive fuel level sensor. Accurate mapping of sensor readings to ESP32 values is made possible by the use of a 20k ohm potentiometer, which guarantees accurate and dependable data transfer. This work advances the area of remote monitoring systems by providing a workable and expandable method for monitoring diesel level in a variety of applications.

Social Media Website Using Mern

It was very difficult years ago to communicate with friends or family living in distant and far off places, thanks to technology that is not a problem anymore.The present system is developed such that a registered user maintains his/her own profile and could also search other similar peer profiles over the application.If the earlier trend was making associations and groups physically, the present generation believes in making online communities and forms to discuss issues related to various and diverse to apps.

Optimizing Energy Efficiency in Opportunistic Networks: A Heuristic Approach to Adaptive Cluster-Based Routing Protocol

Opportunistic Networks (OppNets) are characterized by intermittently connected nodes with fluctuating performance. Their dynamic topology, caused by node movement, activation, and deactivation, often relies on controlled flooding for routing, leading to significant resource consumption and network congestion. To address this challenge, we propose the Adaptive Clustering-based Routing Protocol (ACRP). This ACRP protocol uses the common member-based adaptive dynamic clustering approach to produce optimal clusters, and the OppNet is converted into a TCP/IP network. This protocol adaptively creates dynamic clusters in order to facilitate the routing by converting the network from a disjointed to a connected network. This strategy creates a persistent connection between nodes, resulting in more effective routing and enhanced network performance. It should be noted that ACRP is scalable and applicable to a variety of applications and scenarios, including smart cities, disaster management, military networks, and distant places with inadequate infrastructure. Simulation findings demonstrate that the ACRP protocol outperforms alternative clustering approaches such as kRop, QoS-OLSR, LBC, and CBVRP. The analysis of the ACRP approach reveals that it can boost packet delivery by 28% and improve average end-to-end, throughput, hop count, and reachability metrics by 42%, 45%, 44%, and 80%, respectively.

IoT-Enabled Flood Monitoring System for Enhanced Dam Surveillance and Risk Mitigation

According to the Indian scenario, the majority of reservoirs for holding water are operated independently, which is problematic when there are crises (abnormal inflow, cloudy conditions), which causes the surrounding communities and agricultural areas to be submerged those aquifers. Due to the vast geographic region and depth, it is challenging to manually measure the essential reservoir life metrics. Therefore, this research work suggests a cutting-edge system of reservoir management that includes sensors that are appropriate for measuring variables such as pressure, water level, outflow velocity, inflow velocity, tilt, vibration, etc. The Arduino Uno integrates all of the sensors, and Microsoft Power BI receives the data in real time, where each parameter is shown in an appropriate format for visualization. In case of an emergency water level rise, the alarm is set off. The procedure begins with the collection of data from sensors and concludes with the presentation of that data on a dashboard in a control room situated in a distant place that links to a website where the relevant information can be seen by visitors.

STUDY ON COMMODITY TRADING ANALYSIS AND INVESTOR’S PERCEPTION

Commodity trading is as old as human civilization and one of the earliest economic pursuits of mankind. Over the centuries, commodity trading has evolved from the barter system to spot markets to derivatives markets. In barter system, goods were exchanged between two parties with matching and opposite needs (for example, bags of wheat were exchanged for cattle). Over a period of time, commodities brought from distant places were exchanged for gold and silver. With the introduction of Money as a medium of exchange, there was a paradigm shift in commodity trading with the value of commodity being expressed in monetary terms and trading in commodities was conducted mainly through the medium of currency. Commodity spot markets evolved in many places and the counterparties met at these common places where goods were brought for immediate sale and delivery at the market price decided by the demand and supply forces. In commodity spot markets, traders sell goods such as rice for immediate delivery against cash. At some stage, counterparties started entering into agreements to deliver commodities (e.g.: wheat) at a specified time in future at a price agreed today. These forward contracts, more often than not, were not honored by either of the contracting parties due to price changes and market conditions. A seller pulled out of the contract if the spot price was more profitable for him than the contracted price. A buyer also backed out from executing the contract on maturity if he was able to get the commodity at a cheaper price from the spot market. Futures emerged as an alternative financial product to address

Effects of mobility on dialect change: Introducing the linguistic mobility index.

Increased geographical mobility prompts dialectologists to factor in survey participants' exposure to linguistic variation in their research. Changing mobility patterns (e.g. longer-distance commuting; easier relocation to distant places for work, study or marriage) have caused linguistic connections to become much more diverse, potentially contributing to the acceleration of dialect change. In this methodological work we propose the Linguistic Mobility Index (LMI) to estimate long-term exposure to dialectal variation and thereby to provide a reference of "localness" about survey participants. Based on data about a survey participant's linguistic biography, an LMI may comprise combinations of influential agents and environments, such as the dialects of parents and long-term partners, the places where participants have lived and worked, and the participants' level of education. We encapsulate the linguistic effects of these agents based on linguistic differences, the intensity and importance of the relationship. We quantify the linguistic effects in three steps. 1) The linguistic effect of an agent is represented by a linguistic distance, 2) This linguistic distance is weighted based on the intensity of the participant's exposure to the agent, and 3) Further weighted according to the relationship embodied by the agent. LMI is conceptualised and evaluated based on 500 speakers from 125 localities in the Swiss German Dialects Across Time and Space (SDATS) corpus, and guidance is provided for establishing LMI in other linguistic studies. For the assessment of LMI's applicability to other studies, four LMI prototypes are constructed based on the SDATS corpus, employing different theoretical considerations and combinations of influential agents and environments to simulate the availability of biographical data in other studies. Using mixed-effects modelling, we evaluate the utility of the LMI prototypes as predictors of dialect change between historic and contemporary linguistic data of Swiss German. The LMI prototypes successfully show that higher exposure to dialectal variation contributes to more dialect change and that its effect is stronger than some sociodemographic variables that are often tested for affecting dialect change (e.g. sex and educational background).

Treading the Spiral: Intermediality, Spatiality, and Materiality in Lance Olsen’s Theories of Forgetting

Abstract In his 2014 intermedial word-image novel Theories of Forgetting, Lance Olsen focuses on human life’s transience, impermanence, and fragility through his major characters, Alana and Hugh, and their children, who read their parents’ diaries. The ideas about the fleeting nature of human lives are presented through intermedial configurations in the novel which are rendered through experimental usage of the topography of the page, hypertextual design, and inclusion of photographs and various visual media which altogether redefine the spatiality and materiality of the novel. The initial construction of the spatial form in the work comes from postmodernist narrative elements. Spatiality and space gain further significance in the novel’s fictional world, or narrative space, with Robert Smithson’s earthwork Spiral Jetty, which aims to show change, regression, and disintegration in nature as well as being the main inspiration in the ekphrastic ventures of the novel. Alana, one of the characters, works on a short documentary film on Spiral Jetty, leading her to think and question time and space and how space is subject to change with time. Hugh, another character, is a traveler in distant places like Europe, the Middle East, and Jordan, all of which turn into metaphors that help to shape the narrative and represent the mental spaces of its characters. Besides these stories on and about space, the print book also becomes a site rich with photographs, visual media, and verbal text. Through intermediality, the novel portrays a complex depiction of space at structural, narrative, and material levels. Such a presentation of the stories with postmodernist elements and hypertext and a critical sensibility of the materiality of the print medium turn the work into an art object to be viewed and read.1