Regional Context Research Articles

The Tamma of Azerbaijan in Regional and Imperial Contexts (1228–1261)

Abstract Research on the Mongol conquest of Iran and the Transcaucasus has focused most heavily on the campaigns of Chinggis Khan and his nephew Hülegü, in 1219–1224 and 1256–1260 respectively. Significantly less attention has been given to the nearly four decades that separate these two invasions, during which Mongol control was consolidated by a tamma (garrison) army numbering roughly 30,000 soldiers. This garrison occupied a liminal position on the frontier of the Mongol empire, linking the great khan to regional vassals in Iran, Greater Armenia, Georgia, and eastern Anatolia. This paper will use the history of the tamma to illuminate the web of personal relationships that allowed the Mongol empire to project its authority into the Middle East. It will demonstrate that this network was extremely brittle during the first three decades after Chinggis Khan’s death, during which time the Mongol empire was still taking shape. Founded by Chinggis Khan, the tamma owed its loyalty to the great khan in Mongolia, yet long interregnums and political instability at the heart of empire forced the Mongol garrison to identify regional princes and princesses as suitable substitutes for political authority. This collaborative approach embroiled the tamma in the factional politics at the heart of the Mongol empire and ultimately brought about its destruction in 1261.

Research on training evaluation of new engineering talents in China local colleges under the background of regional economy

Under the regional economic background, local colleges have a crucial role in evaluating and researching the training of new engineering talents. With the continuous development of technology and the improvement of economic strength, training new engineering talents has become an important mission for local higher education institutions. This study aims to explore the evaluation methods and strategies for training new engineering talents in local colleges within the regional economic context. It proposes an evaluation system that selects and assesses indicators from five aspects: basic conditions, teaching process, practical proficiency, cultivation level of innovation ability, and cultivation effect. The results were obtained through a combination of the analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model and take two majors of A college as an example to evaluate and analyze the training effect of new engineering talents. Furthermore, this article presents valuable recommendations and countermeasures to enhance the training of new engineering talents in local colleges.

The high-resolution map of Oxia Planum, Mars; the landing site of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission

ABSTRACT This 1:30,000 scale geological map describes Oxia Planum, Mars, the landing site for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission. The map represents our current understanding of bedrock units and their relationships prior to Rosalind Franklin’s exploration of this location. The map details 15 bedrock units organised into 6 groups and 7 textural and surficial units. The bedrock units were identified using visible and near-infrared remote sensing datasets. The objectives of this map are (i) to identify where the most astrobiologically relevant rocks are likely to be found, (ii) to show where hypotheses about their geological context (within Oxia Planum and in the wider geological history of Mars) can be tested, (iii) to inform both the long-term (hundreds of metres to ∼1 km) and the short-term (tens of metres) activity planning for rover exploration, and (iv) to allow the samples analysed by the rover to be interpreted within their regional geological context.

The Corraded Assemblage of the «Classic» Malta (Based on the Analysis of the Kunstkamera Collections)

The research revision of materials from the 1932 and 1934 collections of the world-famous geoarchaeological site Malta, stored in the Kunstkamera (St. Petersburg), was carried out in the spring of 2023. The purpose of the analysis was to identify lithic artifacts with marks of Aeolian corrasion as part of the study of the corraded industries of the Angara-Belsk geoarchaeological district of South Angara. As a results, 3 663 artifacts were examined, among them 71 corraded items were identified. The results present the corraded component of Malta's lithic industry practically does not differ from the «classical» cultural layers by technical, typological and petrographic features. But unique type of the point with ventral base thinning has no analogue in «classic» assemblage. And if previously these artifacts were interpreted in a regional context as cultural markers of the Initial Upper Paleolithic, now it is proposed to consider them as an element of the Gravett (?) technocomplex in Malta and one more proof of European-Siberian cultural link in author's opinion.

Reinforcing territorial impact assessments in Czechia: policy agendas and future scenarios

ABSTRACT This paper reveals the current state of territorial impact assessments (TIAs) and place-sensitive policymaking in Czechia, a Central European country that joined a pilot action intended to contribute to the territorial priorities of the strategic framework, the ‘Territorial Agenda 2030’. We traced the steps that were gradually taken at the national level towards the implementation of the Territorial Agenda and TIAs, including the identification of obstacles. We explored and described newly implemented mechanisms that should contribute to strengthening TIAs. We argue that the essential factors for successful implementation include a sound methodology without an administrative burden, the adjustment of institutional settings and environment, a strengthening of trust among all responsible actors and a willingness to deal with the territorial impacts of sectoral policies. Moreover, we establish that place-sensitive tools are still rather underutilized and call for an increased effort to present the best practices and results of impact evaluations from various regional contexts and environments.

Perspectives on the ongoing impact of compulsory income management in the Northern Territory

AbstractSince 2007, income support recipients in the Northern Territory (NT) have been subjected to compulsory income management (CIM), a form of welfare conditionality which continues, despite the withdrawal of CIM from other locations in Australia and research that identifies negligible benefits. Implemented with the goal of improving social well‐being and health outcomes, CIM quarantines a proportion of income support payments which cannot be used to purchase alcohol, gambling, pornography and in some cases tobacco, to direct payments to priority needs of recipients and encourage socially responsible behaviour. This article presents the perspectives of welfare sector stakeholders in the NT on the ongoing impact of CIM on income support recipients and their communities. It draws on semi‐structured interviews with 26 participants with expertise across non‐government service delivery, government, legal and advocacy sectors. The findings detail that CIM is considered ineffective in reducing social harms such as substance misuse, can contribute to situations of family violence, and exacerbates challenges for recipients living in regional and remote areas. It also highlights the poor compatibility of community income management in regional and remote contexts, its top‐down design, and views that CIM is a form of social control and disempowerment.

Discordance Therapeutic Protocol of Cystic Echinococcosis With WHO Guideline: A Descriptive Study Based on Liver Ultra-Sonographic Data in North Khorasan Province, Northeastern of Iran.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), a helminth-associated zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus, poses a significant public health problem, particularly in pastoral-rearing regions. The lack of uniform guidelines led to variations in CE management. Based on ultrasound data, the World Health Organization Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis (WHO-IWGE) classification system categorizes cysts into active, transitional, and inactive groups. This study assesses whether the therapeutic approach from liver human operation cases in North Khorasan province aligns with the WHO-IWGE reference based on ultrasound data. The research is based on ultrasound data from liver CE human operation cases collected between 2018 and 2022. This retrospective study investigates the therapeutic protocol for (CE) in North Khorasan Province, Iran, comparing it with the WHO-IWGE guidelines. We collect data from previously registered patients' medical information from our studied area's main CE surgical hospital. Moreover, as the first hospitalized survey in Iran, this study reveals insights into patient demographics, cyst stage prevalence, and treatment modalities. Notably, more than half of the patients were treated for CE1 stage cysts, and CE4 cases, which generally do not require surgery, underwent open surgery. The results suggest a need for adherence to the "watch-and-wait" approach in specific cases. All patients underwent successful surgeries, but we do not have access to follow-up data from patients after discharge. This descriptive study contributes to understanding the implementation of WHO guidelines in a regional context, shedding light on the challenges and variations in CE management. It seems, retraining courses for surgeons are required to update their knowledge of standard CE diagnostic and treatment methods.

Energy Poverty Impact on Sustainable Development of Water Resources in China: The Study of an Entropy Recycling Dynamic Two-Stage SBM Model

Water scarcity is increasingly being recognized as a global concern. Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG-6) was established by the United Nations to address water resource governance within its sustainable development framework. This study employs the entropy weight method and a two-stage cyclical dynamic slacks-based measure (SBM) model to scientifically evaluate water resource utilization and governance across various regions in China. The findings reveal notable disparities in both the production and governance efficiency of water resources. Recognizing governance efficiency is crucial for promoting sustainable water resource utilization and socioeconomic development. The eastern, central, and western regions encounter unique challenges in attaining sustainability. The eastern region exhibits minimal potential for enhancing technical efficiency, necessitating interventions in management strategies and resource allocation. Conversely, the challenges in the central and western regions are more pronounced, demanding immediate implementation of new technologies and equipment. The data analysis in this study yields conclusions that offer targeted improvement recommendations to address disparities across China’s eastern, central, and western regions, and this is achieved by considering various developmental stages and regional contexts. These recommendations cover areas such as technical support, financial investment, and policy incentives, with the aim of enhancing the sustainable utilization of water resources in the country.

Estimation of Demand for Urban Land Uses: A Case Study of Türkiye

Land use change can have adverse impact on society and environment and therefore this puts enormous pressure on governments. Accurate estimates of future urban expansion are essential for sustainable growth and the preservation of the environment. This article examines the land use changes for urban uses, and further applies different methods for the projection of residential and industrial/commercial land uses in the selected case study area i.e. NUTS3 (nomenclature of terrestrial units for statistics) regions of Turkey. Density measures, trend extrapolation and regression analysis are the subject statistical methods used for projecting the land use. The findings show that using the chosen methodologies to project past changes leads in significant uncertainty. The results are significantly influenced by the variation in selected variables, and spatial organization of the study region. Therefore, validation analysis as a future research focus will be essential to select the most appropriate model that can be used to project the land use changes in Turkey. The results from the current analysis can be adopted by the government and local authorities for the land management and sustainable growth of urban land use in the Turkish regional context.

Gravimetric and morpho-structural analyses in the superhot geothermal system Los Humeros: an example from central Mexico

The influence of deep and regional geological structures is becoming increasingly important in superhot geothermal systems due to their proximity to the transition between brittleness and ductility. In the Los Humeros geothermal field in Mexico, where subsurface fluids reach temperatures of over 350 °C, the surface structures resulting from the collapse of calderas have so far only been interpreted at the local scale. The aim of this work is to place the recent tectonic and volcano-tectonic geomorphologic evolution and structures in the Los Humeros volcanic area in a regional context. NE- and NW-striking dominant structures resulting from a morpho-structural analysis on a regional scale are confirmed by negative and positive anomalies, respectively, after Butterworth filtering of gravity field data with different wavelengths over a local area of about 1000 km2. By analyzing the slip and dilation trends of the observed directions, we show the relevance of the regional context for reservoir exploration. The magnitudes of the principal stresses we estimate indicate a trans-tensional fault regime, a combination of strike-slip and normal faulting. The structures derived from the gravity and morpho-structural analyses, which are parallel to the maximum horizontal stress, have the highest potential for tensile and shear failure. Therefore, the corresponding negative gravity anomalies could be related to fracture porosity. Consequently, we hypothesize that these structures near the transition between brittleness and ductility control fluid flow in the Los Humeros geothermal field.

Assessing the Stationarity of Per Capita Electricity Consumption: Time Series Analysis in ASEAN Countries

The stationarity of per capita electricity consumption has become a critical subject of research and policy consideration, with a wealth of literature exploring this aspect using diverse methodologies. This paper, however, differentiates itself by focusing exclusively on electricity consumption, a pivotal energy form, within the context of the ASEAN region. The stationarity or nonstationarity of electricity consumption has significant implications for energy management and policy formulation. A Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) unit root test with structural breaks was applied to data spanning from 1971 to 2014 for nine ASEAN nations, shedding light on distinct patterns. The majority of countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Cambodia, exhibited nonstationary electricity consumption, suggesting susceptibility to prolonged fluctuations influenced by various structural factors. In contrast, Brunei displayed stationary electricity consumption, implying temporary effects of energy demand shocks. The policy implications are substantial. Nonstationary countries require flexible energy policies that address both immediate and long-term fluctuations in electricity consumption, especially in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and education, heavily reliant on electricity. Conversely, stable countries like Brunei should continuously monitor energy trends to make proactive policy adjustments.

THE TERM "ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE" AND ITS DISCOURSE IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF EARLY IRON AGE POPULATIONS ON THE UPPER OB

The paper analyzes the use of the term “Bolsherechenskaya archaeological culture” in domestic anthropological publications of the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Using historiographical and conceptual analysis, the author of the paper presents the main options and contradictions in using the term “Bolsherechenskaya” archaeological culture within the framework of anthropological publications. The analysis of available materials helps to emphasize the discussion points regarding the contradictory and inconsistent use of this term in a specific regional context. Such features fully correspond to the general tendencies of crisis phenomena in using the term “archaeological culture” in modern settings.

Sustainable Business Practices and the Role of Digital Technologies: A Cross-Regional Analysis

This study examines the relationship between digital transformation and sustainable practices within enterprises against the backdrop of global transformative forces framed within the holistic paradigm of systems thinking. It examines the extent to which digital advances either facilitate or impede the sustainable development of companies, while also considering the systemic impact of demographic variables (such as gender, age, education), national income levels, and geographical regions on business sustainability. Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), which encompasses 26,790 entrepreneurs in 47 countries, this research uses multinomial regression to assess how these factors influence companies’ commitment to social and environmental goals. A key finding is that the strategic use of digital technologies in sales processes significantly increases the likelihood that entrepreneurs will integrate social and environmental considerations into their decision-making. Notably, this conscientious approach to business is most prevalent among entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our findings underscore the central role of digital technologies in driving sustainable business transformation while also highlighting the significant influence of regional socio-environmental contexts on business sustainability orientations.

Secularization, De-secularization and Re-secularization in Bangladesh: Does the ‘Third Image’ Matter?

This article analyses the trajectories of secularization, de-secularization and re-secularization in Bangladesh. It is about mapping broad historical developments with reference to basic understanding of secularization and its progress in Bangladesh. The central question in the article is: How have the trajectories of secularization, de-secularization and re-secularization in Bangladesh been influenced by the nexus of internal–external dynamics of political and social forces developed in the 1980s? The article argues that a decisive attempt to rediscover liberal and secular character of politics is currently evident in Bangladesh. The attempt to reestablish secularism in the society also faces a host of challenges, stemming from national, regional and global contexts that echo the 1980s. Methodologically, it is based on policy outlook and trend analysis.

Research on How Public Art Shapes the Spirit of Museum Place

With the increasing demand for urban public space construction, the use of public art has become increasingly important. At the same time, museums are gradually emerging as an indispensable "third space" in the city. Therefore, it is necessary for us to think deeply about how to achieve a complementary and mutually beneficial relationship between museums and public art. This paper takes the spirit of place as theoretical guidance, combines examples of domestic and foreign museums, and specifically analyzes the design path for museums to build public art to shape the spirit of place. This paper studies how museum public art can narrate strategies from external spaces, use media to restore internal scenes, fit in with the natural environment, and explore the "third space" of urban spirit is constructed from four aspects of regional context. This paper proposed that with the intervention of public art, museums should comprehensively consider multiple factors such as design, overall environment and correlation, pay attention to the overall correlation between design and system environment, and focus on the audience's sense of identity and belonging to build the spirit of place.

RSAFormer: A method of polyp segmentation with region self-attention transformer

Colonoscopy has attached great importance to early screening and clinical diagnosis of colon cancer. It remains a challenging task to achieve fine segmentation of polyps. However, existing State-of-the-art models still have limited segmentation ability due to the lack of clear and highly similar boundaries between normal tissue and polyps. To deal with this problem, we propose a region self-attention enhancement network (RSAFormer) with a transformer encoder to capture more robust features. Different from other excellent methods, RSAFormer uniquely employs a dual decoder structure to generate various feature maps. Contrasting with traditional methods that typically employ a single decoder, it offers more flexibility and detail in feature extraction. RSAFormer also introduces a region self-attention enhancement module (RSA) to acquire more accurate feature information and foster a stronger interplay between low-level and high-level features. This module enhances uncertain areas to extract more precise boundary information, these areas being signified by regional context. Extensive experiments were conducted on five prevalent polyp datasets to demonstrate RSAFormer’s proficiency. It achieves 92.2% and 83.5% mean Dice on Kvasir and ETIS, respectively, which outperformed most of the state-of-the-art models.

Are There Regional Differences in Mental Health among Black Americans? An Exploration of Explanatory Mechanisms.

Using data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) (2001-2003), we examine regional differences in past-year anxiety disorder and past-year major depressive episodes among a geographically diverse sample of Black Americans (N = 3,672). We find that Black Americans residing in the South experience a mental health advantage over Black Americans living in other parts of the country, experiencing lower rates of both anxiety disorder and past-year major depression. We also examine the extent to which stress exposure, religious involvement, and neighborhood contexts help explain any regional differences. We find that stress exposure helps to explain much of the differences observed across regions, while religious involvement and neighborhood contexts help explain observed regional differences to a lesser extent. These findings highlight the importance of considering regional contexts in understanding intra-racial differences in mental health.

Smart Cities Indicators: How Regional Context and Its Stakeholders Are Essential to Name “The” Smart City

ABSTRACT Despite various definitions of Smart Cities (SCs), it is challenging to characterize what “the best” Smart City would be. This is demonstrated by various frameworks of indicators and rankings, which present different cities as the smartest. This article aims to contribute to the understanding of concepts of SCs, focusing on 21 indicator frameworks, which were studied through text analysis and text mining techniques. The indicator frameworks were researched as units of analysis through an inductive interpretive approach. Frameworks of different regions (Europe, Asia, North and Latin America) were analyzed, and their results indicate that these frameworks are not immune to contextual factors affecting cities. They present categories and indicators that are, on the one hand, very similar, indicating an isomorphic trend, and, on the other, very different from each other due to the contextual influence of the environment and the stakeholders involved. The unprecedented contribution of this article is to show, using statistical analysis, that naming “the” SC would be an ineffectual task.

Subsurface Characterization Using Downhole Refraction Survey: A Case Study of the Niger Delta

This study addresses the critical role of downhole refraction as a method for assessing subsurface characteristics, particularly in areas facing challenges such as ground roll issues and weak reflection signals during seismic data acquisition. Focused on the Agudama, Kenfa, and Yenegwe settlements in the Niger Delta region, where frequent engineering structure collapses occur, the research aims to understand the depth and velocity of unconsolidated zones through downhole refraction. The study emphasizes the limitations of relying solely on uphole refraction and highlights the necessity of downhole methods for accurate velocity determination. The research employs various techniques, including borehole drilling, velocity measurements, and seismic pulse generation. The study's primary objectives include investigating the causes of engineering structure failures, proposing geophysical solutions, and contributing valuable insights into the geological context of the Niger Delta region. The fieldwork involved a comprehensive approach, combining reconnaissance surveys, downhole refraction studies, and the use of specialized equipment such as a Geometrics Stratavisor NZXP seismograph and explosives for seismic sources. The results of the downhole refraction survey reveal a double-layer velocity model in the research areas, indicating variations in weathered or unconsolidated layer thickness and velocities. The study establishes a relationship between elevation, weathered layer thickness, and velocities in both weathered and consolidated layers, offering valuable information for engineering considerations. The research concludes that the downhole refraction method is crucial for evaluating weathered strata properties and provides cost-effective subsurface information. The study recommends drilling below the weathered zone for seismic energy source placement, excavation depths for stable structures, and future investigations focusing on closely spaced data points and additional soil properties. These recommendations aim to enhance the safety and durability of structures in the study area, contributing to the understanding and mitigation of engineering structure failures in the Niger Delta region.

Cenozoic tectono-thermal evolution of the Weihe Basin, Central China

ABSTRACT As a passive rift basin in the Cenozoic, the formation and evolution process of the Weihe Basin has not been well explained. Here we estimate the stretching factor and basal heat flow for each rift period along four geological profiles using a 2D multi-stage finite extension model. The modelling is based on a reconstruction of pre-rift crustal and lithospheric thicknesses, and is calibrated with the current heat flow. The Xi’an Depression had the biggest stretching factor while the Pucheng Uplift had the smallest throughout the Cenozoic period, which saw a range of stretching factors from 1.02 to 2.06. The basal heat flow in the Weihe Basin exhibits a corresponding change. At the end of the Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene periods, the basal heat flow varied between 58.5 ~ 64.0 mW·m−2, 59.2 ~ 67.0 mW·m−2, and 59.6 ~ 78.7 mW·m−2, respectively. Increasing stretching factor and basal heat flow indicate that the Weihe Basin is currently in a state of sustained extension. The formation and development of the Weihe Basin are analysed in the context of larger tectonic changes, and it is considered that the Weihe Basin is controlled by pre-existing faults, and formed in a regional tectonic context of sliding and pulling apart first, and tensioning and lifting up later. Since the late Miocene (7.3 Ma), anomalously rapid subsidence has occurred, induced by a new phase of rifting and depth-related lithospheric extension. The thermal genesis of the geothermal system in the Weihe Basin is also thought to be closely related to the latest phase of extension.