Interpretation Of Landscape Research Articles

Integrating thermal and optical models with legacy excavation data for spatial inventories

Researching at previously excavated archaeological sites comes with its own challenge set, which includes ground-truthing previously unearthed architectural features to correlate old and new trenches. This study presents a comprehensive examination technique to approach architectural features at mound-type archaeological settlements through the synergistic utilization of thermal and optical imagery obtained via remote sensing technologies. Employing an interdisciplinary approach involving various types of imagery (optical, thermal, and radar) embedded in archaeological data, this research aims to reevaluate legacy spatial data and enhance the understanding of subsurface archaeological features by exploiting the complementary advantages of both thermal and optical sensors.This study involves the acquisition, processing, and integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based thermal and optical datasets to derive a complete representation of archaeological landscapes. Ground-truthing and validation exercises are incorporated to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results. The results contribute to advancing the field of archaeological remote sensing and highlight the significance of integrating diverse sensing modalities for a comprehensive and nuanced interpretation of archaeological landscapes. The techniques exemplified with two mound-type case sites help to generate high-resolution mappings which provide tools to increase the accuracy of on-site legacy data and help digital protection of the sites by generating digital twins. This presents a less costly method than conventional photogrammetric techniques, making it feasible and advantageous for field archaeologists or researchers dealing with legacy spatial data.

Wilyakali and archaeologists collaborating to map the journey of the Bronzewing Pigeon, Broken Hill, western New South Wales, Australia

ABSTRACTThis paper describes a collaboration between Wilyakali Indigenous Custodians and a group of archaeologists. This collaboration has generated a shared and integrated understanding of the cultural landscape, Ancestral Creation Histories, and archaeology of the Broken Hill region of western New South Wales. The Broken Hill landscape is ancient beyond imagination, and complex geological processes/Creation Histories have resulted in distinctive landscape features and resources including quartz suitable for stone artefact manufacture. Wilyakali stone knappers employed specialised and varied technological processes to overcome the diverse and sometimes intractable nature of the quartz material, resulting in efficient use of this local stone resource. Wilyakali interpret the Country through their knowledge of the travelling sacred Bronzewing Pigeon and its creation of landscape features and resources such as quartz and water. Empirical archaeological data complement traditional knowledge, with the two ways of knowing coming together to reconstruct a nuanced interpretation of the cultural landscape. This shared narrative has had ongoing and inter‐generational benefits to the Wilyakali people, with knowledge communicated to younger generations by Elders, enabling them to interpret both the archaeology and Ancestral Creation Histories with confidence. This paper also highlights the inconsistent recognition of Indigenous ways of knowing and connection in Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments in the region.

Evaluation and interpretation of landscapes from satellite imagery

Satellite imagery allows us to view landscapes from a bird’s eye view, providing a new dimension in appreciating the environments we inhabit. This alternative perspective has the potential to shape individual perceptions of landscapes and play a pivotal role in land management decision-making and communication. However, the interpretation and appreciation of landscapes seen in satellite imagery may vary among observers. This study investigates the relationship between individuals’ ability to interpret images from eye-level and satellite perspectives, their familiarity with the landscape, and their appreciation of land cover from this viewpoint. To achieve this, a survey was conducted presenting respondents with images of land cover classes captured at eye level and from satellite imagery of the Yungay municipality in Chile. Participants were asked to interpret the primary land use land cover (LULC) depicted in the imagery and indicate their appreciation of that landscape. Variation in the interpretation of LULC was observed between the image source and land cover type. For instance, forest classes seen in eye-level imagery were more accurately interpreted compared to satellite imagery, while the reverse was true for agriculture. These differences in interpretation also impacted the appreciation scores assigned to the landscapes in the images. Specifically, if respondents perceived an image to be dominated by a traditionally appreciated land cover (e.g., Native Vegetation), they provided a higher score, even if the image depicted another class (e.g., Plantation Forestry). These findings highlight that considering the influence of satellite imagery in shaping perception is crucial in supporting land management activities.

Abolished frameshifting for predicted structure-stabilizing SARS-CoV-2 mutants: implications to alternative conformations and their statistical structural analyses.

The SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting element (FSE) has been intensely studied and explored as a therapeutic target for coronavirus diseases, including COVID-19. Besides the intriguing virology, this small RNA is known to adopt many length-dependent conformations, as verified by multiple experimental and computational approaches. However, the role these alternative conformations play in the frameshifting mechanism and how to quantify this structural abundance has been an ongoing challenge. Here, we show by DMS and dual-luciferase functional assays that previously predicted FSE mutants (using the RAG graph theory approach) suppress structural transitions and abolish frameshifting. Furthermore, correlated mutation analysis of DMS data by three programs (DREEM, DRACO, and DANCE-MaP) reveals important differences in their estimation of specific RNA conformations, suggesting caution in the interpretation of such complex conformational landscapes. Overall, the abolished frameshifting in three different mutants confirms that all alternative conformations play a role in the pathways of ribosomal transition.

Charting Cultural Fluency: Leveraging Digital Story Maps for Language Proficiency in ESP Education

Cultural cartography as a way to understand the relationship between cultural manifestations and maps involves visual, symbolic and cognitive mechanisms of inquiry referring to the interpretation of territorial landscapes. The introduction of geo-computation techniques has enabled users to approach map-like visualizations of the world under different parameters. The design and interpretation of map symbology is crucial which according to Peirce (1994) is activated by forming a relationship between three distinct elements: signs, interpretants and objects. In this light, the study aims to explore the usage of digital story maps to enhance students’ cultural and linguistic acquisition in a course of English for engineers in higher education.To cover the objective, the methodology comprises a two-phased didactic approach developed as a final course project within the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classroom. Divided into two groups, the instruction starts for the experimental and the control groups with a set of learning sessions analysing the theoretical framework underlying the semiotic process of map making and symbol interpretation. The second step for the experimental group involves the analysis and production of digital cartographic storytelling created by learners through collaborative team work, while the control group continues to analyse and then presents their conclusions about pre-existing maps to the rest of the class. The study demonstrates that the introduction of map-creation using a web-based mapping platform provided students with the ability to create geocoded narratives through visual representations, enhanced critical and spatial thinking and fostered the development of cultural and communication skills in a foreign language

Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence in Nursing in Asia.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping health care, including nursing, across Asia, presenting opportunities to improve patient care and outcomes. This viewpoint presents our perspective and interpretation of the current AI landscape, acknowledging its evolution driven by enhanced processing capabilities, extensive data sets, and refined algorithms. Notable applications in countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and China showcase the integration of AI-powered technologies such as chatbots, virtual assistants, data mining, and automated risk assessment systems. This paper further explores the transformative impact of AI on nursing education, emphasizing personalized learning, adaptive approaches, and AI-enriched simulation tools, and discusses the opportunities and challenges of these developments. We argue for the harmonious coexistence of traditional nursing values with AI innovations, marking a significant stride toward a promising health care future in Asia.

Unlocking Landscapes Through Westonbirt’s Archive

There are growing calls across research, policy and practice to enable historic designed landscape experiences – from country estate gardens through to public parks and arboretums – that are accessible and engaging for all. In this paper, we highlight how meaningful access reaches beyond measures to enable physical presence in a landscape to the ways in which such landscapes, and human-plant relationships, are storied and interpreted, ensuring that people can also identify as part of the evolving stories of such places. Using twentieth century archival sources, particularly the diaries of foresters, held on site at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum in Gloucestershire, UK, we suggest ways in which sensory history approaches can be used to bring greater depth, context and diversity to historic designed landscape interpretation. Applying these approaches to archival research offers the potential to broaden the stories shared about such landscapes, enabling people to learn about and relate to the varied social and sensory histories of these significant places, plants and the people that shaped them.

Multi-slice spatial transcriptome domain analysis with SpaDo

With the rapid advancements in spatial transcriptome sequencing, multiple tissue slices are now available, enabling the integration and interpretation of spatial cellular landscapes. Herein, we introduce SpaDo, a tool for multi-slice spatial domain analysis, including modules for multi-slice spatial domain detection, reference-based annotation, and multiple slice clustering at both single-cell and spot resolutions. We demonstrate SpaDo’s effectiveness with over 40 multi-slice spatial transcriptome datasets from 7 sequencing platforms. Our findings highlight SpaDo’s potential to reveal novel biological insights in multi-slice spatial transcriptomes.

Cultural convergence in heritage landscape conservation: A comparative study of Chinese and English traditions

There are distinct Eastern and Western approaches that shape the conservation and interpretation of cultural heritage landscapes. While existing literature assesses each approach individually, there is limited research exploring potential for cross-cultural exchange and innovation to inform a more holistic conservation of heritage landscape sites. Using Chinese (representative of Eastern) and English (representative of Western) approaches as archetypal cases, and underpinned by a phenomenological ontological perspective, this theoretical contribution firstly establishes key distinctions between Chinese and English approaches toward heritage landscapes by conducting a review of relevant sources. Differences are subsequently synthesized into a comprehensive framework that supports a cultural convergence of approaches toward heritage landscapes. Informed by the literature, six key differences in approach are identified: (i) Philosophical underpinnings; (ii) spiritual and artistic emphasis; (iii) holistic and individual attitudes; (iv) concerns of continuity and evolution; (v) approaches toward community involvement; and (vi) relationship between nature, spirituality, and human-centricity. After reviewing these differences, a holistic framework is proposed that is underpinned by four key elements which have the capacity to overcome the differences identified: (i) harmonizing spirituality and esthetics; (ii) balancing continuity and evolution; (iii) fostering inclusive stewardship between communities and practitioners; and (iv) cultivating equilibrium between people and nature. The study concludes that this framework – what is termed a “cultural convergence” – can support more effective conservation of landscape sites, by capturing a broader cultural spectrum of heritage principles and concerns. The proposed framework opens avenues for cross-cultural exchange and advancement of more holistic heritage conservation strategies within an increasingly globalized heritage context. Future research should seek to apply this framework to the contemporary conservation of distinct heritage case study sites of interest to further advance research on this topic.

At the Edge of Space: The Archaeology of Boundaries within a Landscape for Young Convicts

Within a landscape, boundaries are the physically or socially defined lines that mark the limits of spaces. They can appear static and binary, and therefore analytically restricted. Yet it is argued here that while space is often analyzed in archaeology to inform social, economic, or institutional interpretations of a landscape, the analysis of boundaries is a complimentary method that captures movement, control, and prohibition mechanisms. Analyzing boundaries is shown to reveal aspects of change – sometimes diachronic and sometimes ephemeral – and a malleability that is often linked to materiality. The examination of the early nineteenth-century historical boundaries of Point Puer, a juvenile convict prison (1834–49) located in lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia, is used as a case study to illustrate their common archaeological forms. It is reasoned that the analysis of boundaries contributes dynamic interpretations of historical landscapes by theorizing boundaries as spatial frameworks to examine social and experiential elements of space.

Probing the dynamic landscape of peptides in molecular assemblies by synergized NMR experiments and MD simulations

Peptides or proteins containing small biomolecular aggregates, such as micelles, bicelles, droplets and nanodiscs, are pivotal in many fields ranging from structural biology to pharmaceutics. Monitoring dynamics of such systems has been limited by the lack of experimental methods that could directly detect their fast (picosecond to nanosecond) timescale dynamics. Spin relaxation times from NMR experiments are sensitive to such motions, but their interpretation for biomolecular aggregates is not straightforward. Here we show that the dynamic landscape of peptide-containing molecular assemblies can be determined by a synergistic combination of solution state NMR experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Solution state NMR experiments are straightforward to implement without an excessive amount of sample, while direct combination of spin relaxation data to MD simulations enables interpretation of dynamic landscapes of peptides and other aggregated molecules. To demonstrate this, we interpret NMR data from transmembrane, peripheral, and tail anchored peptides embedded in micelles. Our results indicate that peptides and detergent molecules do not rotate together as a rigid body, but peptides rotate in a viscous medium composed of detergent micelle. Spin relaxation times also provide indirect information on peptide conformational ensembles. This work gives new perspectives on peptide dynamics in complex biomolecular assemblies.

Interpretation of associative cultural landscape based on text mining of poetry: taking Tianmu Mountain on the Road of Tang Poetry in Eastern Zhejiang as an example

AbstractRevealing the association between natural elements and “religion, culture, or art” through text mining of poetry provides a new perspective for in-depth interpretation of Associative Cultural Landscape. Taking Tianmu Mountain, an important spot on the Road of Tang Poetry in Eastern Zhejiang, as an example, this study focuses on 444 poems written by 269 poets from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty in the Tianmu Mountain region. Text mining methods, such as text segmentation and social network analysis, are employed to conduct frequency statistics and association analysis of Landscape Terms in the poetry. The findings are as follows: (1) The descriptions in the poems bear witness to the beautiful and diverse Natural Landscape, the abundant Humanistic Landscape, and the unique Folk Landscape of Tianmu Mountain. These collectively reflect Tianmu Mountain with its religious features of cultivating both Buddhism and Taoism, cultural features of accumulating abundance and influence, as well as artistic features of blending picturesque charm and poetic grace. (2) The Cultural Landscape of Tianmu Mountain described in poetry across different dynasties exhibits characteristics of four relationships: “Group Relationship, Hierarchical Relationship, Interactive Relationship, and Cognitive Relationship.” It reveals the close association between natural elements in the Tianmu Mountain and “religion, culture, or art.” The research has constructed a theoretical model for interpreting the Multi-relationship within Associative Cultural Landscape, as well as provide the support of theories and methods for understanding the characteristics and interpreting the association of global Associative Cultural Landscape. It offers crucial scientific foundations for their overall conservation and sustainable utilization.

Management Motivation and Landscape Interpretation of the <italic>Geumcheon-Ggugok</italic> in Jinju

Background and objective: This study aimed to identify the management motivation of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i>, located in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, which distinguishes it from other Gugok Gardens, and examine what characteristics and meaning it has in terms of landscape.Methods: The research method was a combination of literature analysis and field survey. Through analyses of old maps and literature, the establishment background and landscape elements of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> were determined, and the changes from the original landscape were comparatively examined through field surveys. These field surveys were conducted a total of four times, and the changes and status of the <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> landscape were recorded with drawings and and photographs. Based on these, the landscape composition and characteristics of each <i>Gok</i> (area around a bend of meandering streams) were determined. Moreover, historical landscape relics including related pavilions and seowons (Confucian academies) distributed around <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> were surveyed and reflected in the study.Results: Boosa Seong Yeo-sin set a total of nine Goks (<i>Gugok</i>) along the Geumcheon Stream by matching the scenery of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> with that of Zhuzi's <i>Mui-Gugok</i>. Boosa recited the inspiration felt in each Gok as <i>Gugoksi</i> poems, which reveal the various landscape elements that make up the traditional landscape in the scenery of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i>. The total stream length of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> is 14 km, making it one of the longest of the Gugok Gardens in Korea. The distance between each Gok is irregular, ranging from about 0.5-3.5 km, and the nine Goks were established in a top-down order according to the flow of the mountain streams. Boosa created Busajeongsa and Bangujeong Pavilions in Gok 7 and used them as a base for academic research. The original landscape of each Gok of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> has been damaged over time and due to urbanization. By establishing and managing <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i>, Boosa sought to soothe the hearts of the people in the devastated village after the wars, and create an ideal place for life.Conclusion: What makes the management of <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> notably different from that of other Gugok Gardens is that it contains the idea of coexistence, "helping each other and living in harmony." Boosa developed <i>Dongyak</i> (village codes) as an institutional device to create an ideal village, and managed <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> as a public framework to realize this. He also installed libraries next to pavilions in <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i>, and operated an educational curriculum as a practical method to cultivate future talents. As such, Boosa's practice is the outcome of the idea of coexistence for everyone, not just one family or clan. <i>Geumcheon-Gugok</i> is a very valuable landscape relic as the only Gugok Garden managed by the orthodox Nammyeong School in the right region of Gyeongsang-do. However, since the original landscape is being damaged by rapid urbanization, a proper management plan should be sought.

The intersection of landscape values for tourists and residents in a mining heritage destination: a case study of Jiufen in Taiwan

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore the competing claims of two tourism stakeholders, local residents and tourists, for the best possible interpretation of the cultural landscape of Jiufen, a mining heritage destination in Taiwan, using the social representation theory. The study uses the conceptual tool of social landscape connectivity to examine the linkages among various levels of access to cultural landscapes for residents and tourists in its current state of tourism development. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 local residents and 16 tourists using purposive and snowball sampling. Results indicated that representations of cultural landscape consist of four interconnected themes: memory linking the past to the present, collective identity, belongingness, and mass tourism destinations. However, opinions regarding precisely what representations comprised the best possible cultural landscapes for tourism were inconsistent. The ramifications of value co-creation in a mining heritage destination’s sustainable development are discussed.

Advancing guideline quality through country-wide and regional quality assessment of CPGs using AGREE: a scoping review

Background and objectiveClinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are evaluated for quality with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) tool, and this is increasingly done for different countries and regional groupings. This scoping review aimed to describe, map, and compare these geographical synthesis studies, that assessed CPG quality using the AGREE tool. This allowed a global interpretation of the current landscape of these country-wide or regional synthesis studies, and a closer look at its methodology and results.Study design and methodsA scoping review was conducted searching databases Medline, Embase, Epistemonikos, and grey literature on 5 October 2021 for synthesis studies using the later versions of AGREE (AGREE II, AGREE-REX and AGREE GRS) to evaluate country-wide or regional CPG quality. Country-wide or regional synthesis studies were the units of analysis, and simple descriptive statistics was used to conduct the analysis. AGREE scores were analysed across subgroups into one of the seven Sustainable Development Goal regions, to allow for meaningful interpretation.ResultsFifty-seven studies fulfilled our eligibility criteria, which had included a total of 2918 CPGs. Regions of the Global North, and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia were most represented. Studies were consistent in reporting and presenting their AGREE domain and overall results, but only 18% (n = 10) reported development methods, and 19% (n = 11) reported use of Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Overall scores for domains Rigor of development and Editorial independence were low, notably in middle-income countries. Editorial Independence scores, especially, were low across all regions with a maximum domain score of 46%. There were no studies from low-income countries.ConclusionThere is an increasing tendency to appraise country-wide and regionally grouped CPGs, using quality appraisal tools. The AGREE tool, evaluated in this scoping review, was used well and consistently across studies. Findings of low report rates of development of CPGs and of use of GRADE is concerning, as is low domain scores globally for Editorial Independence. Transparent reporting of funding and competing interests, as well as highlighting evidence-to-decision processes, should assist in further improving CPG quality as clinicians are in dire need of high-quality guidelines.

Short communication: Perception of coastal barrier landscapes and implications for selection of landscape morphometrics

Landscapes tend to be described using some combination of mathematically- and statistically-derived morphometrics extracted from digital elevation models. For coastal barriers, these morphometrics are commonly used to characterize the response of these landscapes to sea level rise and storm activity, or to develop process-form relationships. However, it is not clear if these morphometrics, alone or in combination, are consistent with our interpretation of the landscape based on visual interpretation of structure and patterns. This study compares landscape interpretations based on commonly used morphometrics to visual interpretations made by experts and non-experts. Results suggest that what we visually perceive as landform structure and landscape pattern is not consistent with mathematically and statistically derived morphometrics, and that there is a need to evaluate whether the morphometrics we use are appropriate to characterize landforms in complex polygenetic landscapes for monitoring and management.

The spiritual forest: an ethnographic exploration of Finnish forest yoga and the forest landscape

This article discusses the Finnish forest yoga phenomenon, which incorporates contemporary spiritual discourses on nature, landscape, ‘the self’ and gender. We scrutinise ethnographic fieldwork materials, autoethnographic writings and other materials related to forest yoga. By using the methods of collaborative ethnography, we assert that forest yoga practices partially question and fragment, and partially reconstruct, previous forest-related discourses, practices and imageries in Finland. This results in new interpretations of forest landscapes, in which the local, global and national scales are intertwined and mediated through the body and the experiences of the yogi in the forest space. In these processes, the forest becomes gendered as a feminine and ‘safe’ space for the female body, but it is also experienced as a place for negotiating metaphorical and physical ‘roots’. Thus, previous national discourses on forests as ‘sacred places of Finns’ are brought forth, but also reinterpreted in the transnational spiritual frame.

Electronic Interpretation of Interlayer Energy Landscape in Layered Materials (Adv. Funct. Mater. 40/2023)

Electronic Interpretation of Interlayer Energy Landscape in Layered Materials (Adv. Funct. Mater. 40/2023)

Landscape in Leningrad Porcelain Art of the “Thaw” Period

Landscape became one of the dominant genres of Leningrad porcelain art of the “Thaw” era, reflecting the peculiarities of Soviet culture in the second half of the 1950s – 1960s with its characteristic desire to explore new spaces, changes in the appearance of cities, as well as mass construction. Thus, it is not coincidental that such well-known Leningrad porcelain artists as Vladimir Gorodetsky, Nina Slavina, Antonina Semenova, Larisa Grigoryeva, Tamara Bezpalova-Mikhaleva, Lidia Lebedinskaya among others created landscape compositions. When interpreting landscapes in a “modern style”, they often strived to convey the “overall impression of the depicted” through the use of iconic motifs, allowing the viewer’s imagination to independently complete the image. Landscapes could be of a stylized, graphic nature or, on the contrary, could be characterized by a picturesque freeness. In some cases, landscape came closer to abstraction, symbolically conveying the image of a particular season. Artists often used a tiered type of composition in their interpretation of urban and suburban landscapes, combining the conciseness of a linear drawing and bright, expressive color, or, by contrast, making it almost monochrome. The image of Leningrad was transformed in the porcelain art of the “Thaw” period in accordance with the principles of the “modern style”: strict classical style was combined with modernist generalization and stylization. The theme of new construction was attractive for the artists as well: they depicted graphic images of houses under construction, cranes, and industrial structures. Landscape compositions were distinguished by a harmonious combination of shape and design. Artists often sought to emphasize the features of the form, arranging the composition accordingly while placing special visual accents. Porcelain artists often left most of the surface of objects unpainted, accentuating the beauty and sonorous whiteness of porcelain as a material or using it as an element of an artistic image. At the same time, artists actively applied the technique of colored overglaze, often supplemented by line painting or cleaning, and also experimented with unpredictable effects from the spreading of paints, similar to experiments with colored glazes in “Thaw” ceramics. The coloristic solution of the paintwork was extremely laconic: usually no more than two or three colors were used.

A Strategic Interpretation of Landscape through Interaction between Natural, Built and Virtual Environments: The Case Study of Piazzola sul Brenta

The need to digitize data as an analysis tool is increasingly a topical issue, also because it is a tool of common interest for several disciplines. This new research merges with the iNEST project (Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem), referring in particular to Spoke 4: city, architecture and sustainable design, which aims at extending the beneficial effects of digitalization to the areas of “Nord-Est” Italy. The project started in August 2022 and will end in August 2025. Knowing that the trend of urbanization, metropolis living, and climate change is related to psychologically stressful situations as a result of environmental stressors, this research aims to analyze if living in a place surrounded by natural and valuable artificial elements (i.e., historical architecture, art) is crucial in generating health and psychophysical well-being. This paper presents the case study of Piazzola sul Brenta, a small town in the Veneto region on which a territorial analysis was carried out to understand the existing dynamics between the natural and artificial environment, using the literature and historical maps. Since this research began recently, with only preliminary and partial results so far, this paper focuses on the interdisciplinary discussion developed around this topic, showing the first part of a research that aims to create models of urban and landscape contexts that enable in-depth analysis and the prefiguration of strategies for regeneration.