Landscape Theory Research Articles

One-mode Ginzburg-Landau theory of surface energy anisotropy

It is well established that for diffusive solid-liquid interfaces the interfacial anisotropy arises due to symmetry breaking of density waves at the interface. While the interfacial anisotropy is expected to be related to the underlying lattice symmetry, the anisotropy can still differ among materials with the same lattice structure due to the difference in the interatomic potentials. To shed light on this, a general Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory of solid-liquid interfaces, based on crystal symmetry and classical density functional theory, is proposed to analytically connect the relation between lattice symmetry, the shape of the free-energy landscape, and surface energy anisotropy. Using a perturbative scheme, we show that the corresponding anisotropic form of the surface energy, depending on crystal symmetry, naturally appears in the perturbation expansion. To explore how the double-well free-energy landscape in the GL theory affects the anisotropy, we consider lattices of hexagonal symmetry as an example, for which the shape of the free-energy landscape is shown to only depend on one parameter. The dependence of anisotropy on the free-energy landscape predicted by the perturbation scheme is shown to be in good agreement with numerical solutions of the GL theory. Finally, a universal relation between density wave profile widths and the anisotropy parameter of the surface energy is proposed and validated using a phase-field crystal method.

Modeling and Analysis of Virgin Ge-Rich GST Embedded Phase Change Memories

Germanium-rich alloys of Ge2Sb2Te5 have been developed to improve the reliability and performance of embedded phase change memory (PCM). Fast program operation, integration in the back end of the line (BEOL), and stability under high-temperature profiles make PCM with Ge-rich GST one of the prominent technologies for the embedded memory market. The Ge-rich alloy composition requires an initialization pulse, called forming, to uniformize the electrical characteristic of the cells from the virgin state at the end of production. This work will analyze the key features of virgin state Ge-rich GST PCM devices. Electron microscopy images and temperature-dependent electrical resistance data are reported. A modeling framework, based on the energy landscape theory, is presented to reproduce the electrical behavior as a function of temperature on the basis of the observed Ge-rich GST microstructure. The impact of the BEOL process on the poly-crystalline virgin state is assessed and the model is extended accordingly. The new model provides a valuable simulation tool for material- and physics-based simulation of PCM based on Ge-rich GST for memory, computing, and hardware security.

Pelatihan Penggunaan Pelabelan Lanskap Linguistik Pariwisata bagi Pemandu Wisata Keraton Kasepuhan Cirebon

Labeling activities at the Keraton Kasepuhan Cirebon were carried out using the theory of linguistic tourism landscapes. There are six labels documented using a digital camera. This training is necessary because the Cirebon Kasepuhan Palace is a tourist attraction that is frequently visited by domestic and foreign tourists, so labeling in the palace environment must also accommodate the needs of all tourists through the language used on the label. Then, training activities were carried out for tour guides on the six labels. This training aims to introduce tourism linguistic landscape theory to tour guides. The method used in implementing this PKM program is the mentoring or PAR (Participatory Action Research) method. Then data collection was carried out with a site survey and documentation of materials for training and discussion. The training steps are preliminary, implementation, and evaluation steps. The results and conclusions of this dedication are that linguistics can be useful to be juxtaposed with other sciences and be useful for the knowledge of the wider community. This training can also help tour guides explain more clearly to tourists when explaining objects in the palace environment through brand information.

Landscape characteristics and predation risk influence spatial variation in auditory courtship of an upland game bird

ContextNumerous wildlife species use a polygynous mating system, where males use auditory courtship behaviors to secure breeding opportunities. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis, risk reward, and landscape of fear theories suggest spatial variation in male auditory courtship will be influenced by areas in landscapes where sound transmission is increased, and predation risk is reduced. However, it is often unclear what landscape features drive spatial variation in courtship behaviors.ObjectivesWe quantified the influence of predation risk, land cover type, and resource selection on spatial trends in the auditory courtship behavior (gobbling activity) of Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris).MethodsWe used 53,025 gobbles coupled with GPS locations from 111 turkeys and 36 coyotes (Canis latrans), and distance metrics associated with hunter activity and land cover type, to investigate influences of predation risk, resource selection, and land cover type on spatial variation in gobbling activity in Georgia, USA.ResultsDistance to public access during hunting was the most influential predictor of gobbling activity, wherein the expected number of daily gobbles increased by 40% for every 500 m farther from public access. Daily gobbles decreased by 22% for every 500 m farther away from private property during hunting. We failed to find significant effects of land cover type and coyote use but found limited evidence that areas with increased predicted probability of turkey use was associated with increased gobbling.ConclusionsPredation risk associated with increased anthropogenic disturbance had the greatest influence on gobbling activity. Our findings suggest that altering hunter access by closing roads to vehicle use, reducing hunter activity, or creating refuge areas on the landscape could positively influence gobbling activity.

Quantum states in disordered media. II. Spatial charge carrier distribution

The space- and temperature-dependent electron distribution $n(\mathbf r,T)$ is essential for the theoretical description of the opto-electronic properties of disordered semiconductors. We present two powerful techniques to access $n(\mathbf r,T)$ without solving the Schr\"odinger equation. First, we derive the density for non-degenerate electrons by applying the Hamiltonian recursively to random wave functions (RWF). Second, we obtain a temperature-dependent effective potential from the application of a universal low-pass filter (ULF) to the random potential acting on the charge carriers in disordered media. Thereby, the full quantum-mechanical problem is reduced to the quasi-classical description of $n(\mathbf r,T)$ in an effective potential. We numerically verify both approaches by comparison with the exact quantum-mechanical solution. Both approaches prove superior to the widely used localization landscape theory (LLT) when we compare our approximate results for the charge carrier density and mobility at elevated temperatures obtained by RWF, ULF, and LLT with those from the exact solution of the Schr\"odinger equation.

Bridging anthropological theory: Accumulating and containing wealth in World of Warcraft landscapes

Human ingenuity responds to changing environments and resources with technological sophistication and variations in accumulative behaviors. While anthropologists look to the past and to processes of globalization to sketch these shifts in the natural world, there is a growing awareness that these transformations also occur in digital online worlds. I argue that archaeology’s attention to materiality provides useful analysis and directions for ethnographic video game analysis. I use research from the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, where players marshal social and economic resources in both the natural and digital worlds. In constructing reputations and accumulating prestige, players integrate online and offline resources, traversing the tangible/digital divide in their pursuit of achievement. Archaeological perspectives and theories of aggrandizement, containment, systems, landscapes, and ontological materiality provide opportunities to expand ethnographic video game research and debates into new directions.

INTERPRETATION NEUTRALITY FOR QUANTUM THEOLOGY

AbstractWithin contemporary scientific and science‐adjacent communities, it is generally accepted that quantum physics is our best theory. For this reason, it is understandable—and laudable—that scholars interested in questions at the intersection of science and theology wish to meaningfully engage with this physics. Recent work in foundations of physics has, however, importantly altered the landscape of quantum theory; in this article, my goal is to introduce these advances, then make an argument within this new landscape that I hope will be useful for certain theological inquiries. Specifically, I shall argue from grounds of the physics itself that one may, with clear philosophical conscience, access the majority of quantum theory's tools, models, and explanations while maintaining an interpretation‐neutral yet realist stance toward this physics.

Counseling on the Utilization of Tourism Linguistic Landscape Theory at the Museum Subang West Java

Linguistics has developed as a scientific discipline that can be side by side with disciplines outside of language. One of them is with the discipline of landscape and tourism science. In this article, Servant analyzes labeling within the Museum Subang by utilizing the theory of tourism linguistic landscape. Within the Museum Subang area, labeling is spread from the entrance gate to the back of the museum building. There are seven labels that Servicemen take by documenting using a digital camera. Then, the Servant conducts counseling on the results of the analysis of the seven labels that the Servant received earlier, to officers or guides who are in the museum area. The purpose of this service is to introduce the theory of tourism linguistic landscapes to the public, in this case officers or guides. The methods of implementing community service activities used in this community service are direct approaches, surveys, counseling, discussions, documentation, and literature. The results and conclusions of this dedication are that linguistics can be useful to be juxtaposed with other sciences and is beneficial for the wider community's knowledge in a comprehensive manner.

“The Place Where My Body Longed to Go”: Metaphors of Sexual Desire in André Aciman’s Prose

Sexual desire is one of the fundamental components of human personality and is seen as an important research object in contemporary Humanities. Its relevance for Linguistics lies in the increasing interest in the verbal representation of various forms of subjective experience, as well as in a large-scale discursivization of sexuality in contemporary culture and the need for developing a highly promising line of research known as ‘Language and Sexuality’. The present research focuses on metaphor with the aim of proving that it is an efficient mechanism of objectifying, structuring, interpreting, and verbalizing the subjective experience of sexual desire. The research is carried out on the basis of three thematically relevant novels by the contemporary American writer André Aciman (“Call Me by Your Name”, “Enigma Variations”, and “Find Me”). It is based on a sample of 364 contexts. Methodologically the research rests upon the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, which facilitates the analysis of the ways fragments of subjective experience are comprehended and provides systematicity in the study of this phenomenon. The specific methodological instruments employed in this research include: the career of metaphor theory, which substantiates the inclusion of similes in metaphor analysis; the metaphoric landscape theory, which enables us to systematize metaphors by identifying central and peripheral elements and defining their conceptual load; the metaphorical creativity theory, which proves the possibility of metaphorical innovations both at the conceptual and verbal levels. The paper identifies and analyzes ten groups of metaphors, nine of which regularly occur in Aciman’s prose and one of which is made up of unique isolated forms. It has been shown that contrary to the popular belief that sexuality discourse is dominated by the fire metaphor, the central element of the metaphoric landscape of sexual desire in Aciman’s texts turned out to besexual desire is movement in space. Among the most creative and regularly occurring ones are the metaphorssexual desire is a financial transactionandsexual desire is music. Within each of the identified groups the paper pinpoints the properties of the source domain that are being profiled, analyzes ways of their verbal representation, and discusses the possibility of conceptual and verbal variation. The research is qualitative and does not presuppose a statistical analysis of the metaphors.

An improved approach for calculating energy landscape of gene networks from moment equations.

The energy landscape theory has widely been applied to study the stochastic dynamics of biological systems. Different methods have been developed to quantify the energy landscape for gene networks, e.g., using Gaussian approximation (GA) approach to calculate the landscape by solving the diffusion equation approximately from the first two moments. However, how high-order moments influence the landscape construction remains to be elucidated. Also, multistability exists extensively in biological networks. So, how to quantify the landscape for a multistable dynamical system accurately, is a paramount problem. In this work, we prove that the weighted summation from GA (WSGA), provides an effective way to calculate the landscape for multistable systems and limit cycle systems. Meanwhile, we proposed an extended Gaussian approximation (EGA) approach by considering the effects of the third moments, which provides a more accurate way to obtain probability distribution and corresponding landscape. By applying our generalized EGA approach to two specific biological systems: multistable genetic circuit and synthetic oscillatory network, we compared EGA with WSGA by calculating the KL divergence of the probability distribution between these two approaches and simulations, which demonstrated that the EGA provides a more accurate approach to calculate the energy landscape.

On the role of cooperativity in funneled energy landscapes.

The consistency of energy landscape theory predictions with available experimental data, as well as direct evidence from molecular simulations, have shown that protein folding mechanisms are largely determined by the contacts present in the native structure. As expected, native contacts are generally energetically favorable, however there are usually at least as many energetically favorable non-native pairs owing to the greater number of possible non-native interactions. This apparent frustration must therefore be reduced by the greater cooperativity of native interactions. In this work, we analyze the unbiased all-atom folding trajectories obtained by Shaw and co-workers, focusing on the unfolded state. By computing mutual cooperativities between contacts formed in the unfolded state, we are able to show that native contacts are largely more cooperative with each other than non-native contacts. Furthermore, we show that our analysis can determine the cooperative structures in the unfolded state and that native contacts can be more accurately predicted from the unfolded state trajectories than from residue contact frequencies in the unfolded state or from statistical pair potentials.

Optimal foraging of lions at the human wildlands interface

AbstractOptimal foraging and landscape of fear theories provide frameworks which can be useful for investigating animal's space and prey use decisions. Predators, such as African lions Panthera leo, are likely to respond to prey abundance, accessibility, profitability and potential risks, often anthropogenic in nature, while making foraging decision. Identifying the relative role of these processes has important conservation implications. We investigated the relative role of responses to a pastoralist landscape of fear within lion feeding and spatial ecology in a landscape at the human‐wildlands interface. We collected spatial and predation data from 12 GPS‐collared lions and ungulate count data from transects, along the South Africa–Mozambique border, including parts of Kruger, Limpopo and Banhine National Parks. We calculated Jacobs' Index values from 80 kills to investigate lion selection of wild and domestic ungulates as prey, used maximum entropy modelling to predict multi‐season ungulate spatial occurrence and used resource selection functions to estimate the relative probability of use of wild and domestic ungulate areas by lions. All lions had access to wild prey and domestic livestock within their home ranges. Lions showed a strong selection for large‐bodied wild ungulates as prey taking waterbuck, zebra, kudu and buffalo more frequently then predicted by their availability. Lions showed a slight avoidance of cattle as prey, with cattle outnumbering larger ungulates across much of the study area. Lions showed the greatest selection for habitats with high occurrences of wild prey, specifically areas with kudu, then nyala and buffalo, during the dry seasons and showed strong avoidance of cattle areas during the wet season; a season when cattle are kept closer to settlements and thus better protected and easier to predict and avoid. These results suggest that lions select for wild prey and habitats optimally, yet show a fear response to cattle and cattle areas. This duality in the foraging behaviour of lions suggests that efforts to mitigate human–lion conflict and preserve vulnerable lion populations should focus on both increasing wild ungulate populations as well as exploiting lion's fear of humans with careful consideration of the risks of livestock presence acting as an ecological trap for vulnerable lion populations.

A Study of the Three Dimensions of Linguistic Landscape——A Case Study of Five Star Commercial Pedestrian Street in Liuzhou, China

As a multi-national city with an international view, Liuzhou city reflects its social culture and development on the linguistic landscape. Based on the three-dimension space theory of linguistic landscape by Trumper-Hecht, this paper analyzes 178 pieces of the linguistic landscape of the Five Star Commercial Pedestrian Street in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China by methods of both quantity and quality to explore whether the linguistic landscape accords with the multi-nationality and internationality of Liuzhou. The results show that, in physical space, Liuzhou's preference code is Chinese, followed by a combination of Chinese and English. But there is no ethnic minority language found. In living space, people' attitude towards the linguistic landscape proves that there are some problems with improper translation, rare minority language, and a sense of disorder. And in conceived space, this study indicates three pieces of advice about policy management of linguistic landscape on translation, Zhuang language, and multimodality. To better highlight the international and ethnic characteristics, Liuzhou needs to improve its linguistic landscape.

What landscape elements are needed for hospital healing spaces? Evidence from an empirical study of 10 compact hospitals.

Modern medical research shows that a rationally planned landscape environment helps patients recover. With the growing number of hospital patients and the tightening of per capita medical landscape land, the use of limited landscape resources to serve patients has become challenging. This study focused on the landscape environment of 10 hospitals in Guangdong Province, China. Based on the KANO theoretical model, a survey questionnaire was designed and administered to 410 participants. The data were analyzed based on demand attributes, importance, sensitivity, and group differences. The maintenance requirements were the most important item in the sensitivity ranking. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the users need a safe, quiet, and private environment, owing to their higher requirements, including visual healing, rehabilitation activities, shading and heat preservation, and medical escort. Moreover, adolescents and older adult patients have common and contradictory environmental needs. For example, the landscape environment should provide both an active space and a quiet rehabilitation environment. This study evaluates how landscape resources can be better utilized from the perspective of the user and expands the theory of healing landscapes, which has practical implications for hospital renovation and landscape environment strategies.

Energy landscape quantifications of histone H3.3 recognition by chaperone DAXX reveal an uncoupled binding specificity and affinity.

Histone variant H3.3 differs from the canonical histone H3.1 by only five amino acids, yet its chaperone death domain-associated protein (DAXX) can specifically recognize H3.3 over H3.1, despite having a large DAXX-interacting surface on the H3.3-H4 heterodimer common to that on the H3.1-H4 complex. This observation gives rise to the question of, from the binding energy point view, how high binding specificity may be achieved with small differences of the overall binding energy for protein-protein interactions in general. Here we investigate the mechanism of coupling of binding specificity and affinity in protein-protein interactions using the DAXX-H3.3-H4 complex as a model. Using a multi-scale method, we found that the hydrophobic interactions between DAXX and the H3.3-specific region contributed to their initial binding process. And the structural flexibility of the interacting partners contributed to the binding affinity after their encounter. By quantifying the free energy landscape, we revealed that the interaction between the specific residues of H3.3 and DAXX decreased the encounter barrier height while the folding of H3.3-H4 and DAXX increased the depth of the free energy basin of the final binding state. The encounter barrier height, which is not coupled to the thermodynamic stability of the final binding state, had a marked effect on the initial binding rate of flexible histones and chaperones. Based on the energy landscape theory, we found that the intrinsic binding energy funnel of this uncoupled recognition process was affected by the structural flexibility and the flexibility modulated the degree of coupling between binding specificity and affinity. Our work offers a biophysical explanation of the specific recognition between the histones and their chaperones, and also extends the use of energy landscape theory for understanding molecular recognitions in general.

Триада «природа – человек – культура» в конструировании геокультурного пространства Русского Севера

This article presents the results of many years of research into the geocultural space of the Russian North, its figurative and symbolic framework. The conceptual and methodological foundations for studying the principles of constructing geocultural space as well as Russian and foreign theories of cultural landscape are considered. The paper presents the author’s theoretical nature–human–culture model, which elucidates the problem of overcoming the dialectical contradiction in understanding the Northern Russian space in terms of adaptation and spiritual transformation. The article reveals the ethnocultural meanings of the space (landscape) of the Russian North in the context of the nature–human–culture triad. The symbolic space is formed in the process of exploration and “appropriation” of the Northern territories, which is expressed in the acts of comprehension (of both the northern world and the place of the human in it) and expansion. The author concludes that the exploration of the Northern space is a critically intense process, where both poles of human life, spiritual and physical, are manifested to the fullest. Considering the dual nature of humans, the exploration of the Northern space takes place on two levels: material (physical) and spiritual. The result of such exploration is the cultural landscape, i.e. an element of the geocultural space in which a person acts both as a subject and as a measure of its potential development. In terms of practical significance, this paper solves the problem of actualization of the cultural landscapes of Northern Russia as a basic component of the country’s regional and national culture, as well as the problem of formation of sociocultural constants that determine the spatial coordinates of the socioeconomic development of the North. The scientific importance and relevance of this research lie in the need to reconstruct the geocultural and geohistorical images of the Russian North and Russian Arctic as a symbolic resource for the development of the Northern macroregion.

The forgotten art of walking. Toward intra-active geography of an urban landscape

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose to redefine the classical studies of urban trails and wanderings by giving greater consideration to the affective and intra-active aspects of the performance of gait. Hence, the idea is to deepen our knowledge of landscape as a sphere of movement. The need to conduct research on urban walking emerges from the mechanics of so-called “sensory motor amnesia”, an unaware process of memory loss of how certain groups of muscles feel and how to control them. It seems that, apart from such casual matters as small injuries and bad postural habits, the process can be also deepened due to cultural factors, as a result of adapting bodies to modern urban life patterns. The phenomenon of re-fixing specific, human, physiological affordances is manifested by the development and preference of certain techniques and strategies of embodied acting in space, among which some may result in enhancing the sphere of discomfort and others lead to somatic improvement. This article presents walking, as one of the body technologies constituting the quality of spatial experience. Walking is presented as an exploratory, and adaptive form of the art of living, which can improve the quality of human urban life. The proposed treatment of the topic within the framework of an affective, intra-active, urban landscape theory may facilitate a better understanding of the mechanics of unperceived (hidden) affordances, pertaining to the processes involved in the developing performatics of different kinds of walking in different kinds of urban landscapes.

Comparison between graph theory connectivity indices and landscape connectivity metrics for modeling river water quality in the southern Caspian sea basin

The maintenance of connectivity is critical to the proper functioning of an ecosystem. The present study was conducted with the aim of comparing graph theory connectivity indices and landscape connectivity metrics for the purpose of modeling river water quality. To conduct this study, a forest layer was extracted from land cover map and 25 large watersheds were selected. River water quality was then assessed from the perspective of 8 landscape connectivity metrics and 12 graph theory indices. We developed predictive models using stepwise linear regression, power, exponential, and logarithmic models to locate the best model form for each water quality parameter (dependent variable) we examined. The results indicated that models developed using graph theory connectivity indices resulted in higher coefficients of determination (R2) than models developed using landscape metrics. Only 5 independent variables from a potential set of 13 were significant in explaining the variation in water quality parameters. Also, the models with the highest R2 attempted to explain variations in CO3 (0.818), water discharge (0.733), and Ca levels (0.702). Therefore, the results of this study showed that graph theory connectivity indices had more significant correlation with water quality parameters compared to landscape connectivity metrics. This work also indicates that there exist nonlinear relationships among connectivity indices and water quality parameters.

Uncommonly known change characteristics of land use pattern in Guangdong Province–Hong Kong–Macao, China: Space time pattern, terrain gradient effects and policy implication

Previous studies on land use have largely focused on characteristics of quota allocation and spatial distribution based on time series analysis. However, indwelling patterns, combined space–time characteristics and terrain gradient effects are often hidden from the regional territorial spatial planning process. By using spatial econometric techniques, including hot spot analysis, landscape theory, a space–time cube model and a terrain–niche index, this paper aimed to assist regional planning by revealing these hidden characteristics in Guangdong Province, China. The results were as follows: urban construction land had formed an agglomerated region at the center of the study area, surrounded by many smaller satellite cities, which resembled a mainland–island metapopulation pattern. Three hot spot types—oscillating (32.45 % of the region), sporadic (1.85 %) and persistent (6.83 %)—formed the main space–time pattern throughout the study period. The main patterns included persistent hot spots in the Pearl River Delta, approximating a strip pattern of sporadic and oscillating hot spots from the east to west, with persistent cold spots in the north. Dry land cropping showed an increase in area at terrain levels 3–6 while in other terrains the area of dry land cropping decreased over time. These findings indicate that more attention needs to be paid to maintaining or adjusting the shape and equilibrium between the mainland and the island cities in the future. Steeper terrain is normally considered for cropland when conflicts exist for land use, which might decrease cropland quality to some extent. Hence, current territorial and spatial planning should focus on changing spatial disequilibrium and the reduction in cropland quality, which might result from the land policy of “superior occupation and inferior compensation”, to slow regional differences and to achieve sustainable development.

The Electronic Disorder Landscape of Mixed Halide Perovskites.

Band gap tunability of lead mixed halide perovskites makes them promising candidates for various applications in optoelectronics. Here we use the localization landscape theory to reveal that the static disorder due to iodide:bromide compositional alloying contributes at most 3 meV to the Urbach energy. Our modeling reveals that the reason for this small contribution is due to the small effective masses in perovskites, resulting in a natural length scale of around 20 nm for the "effective confining potential" for electrons and holes, with short-range potential fluctuations smoothed out. The increase in Urbach energy across the compositional range agrees well with our optical absorption measurements. We model systems of sizes up to 80 nm in three dimensions, allowing us to accurately reproduce the experimentally observed absorption spectra of perovskites with halide segregation. Our results suggest that we should look beyond static contribution and focus on the dynamic temperature dependent contribution to the Urbach energy.