Three-dimensional Landscape Research Articles

Searching for genomic answers to recurrent pregnancy loss—barking up the wrong tree?

Searching for genomic answers to recurrent pregnancy loss—barking up the wrong tree?

Tall Buildings and Urban Expansion: Tracing the Evolution of Zoning in the United States

Zoning has been a powerful force in shaping the three-dimensional landscape of the urban built environment. Although market forces and private interests have historically controlled the decision-making process, land-use regulations have been used to counter market failures and to collectively guide the growth of the American city. During the second half of the nineteenth century, advancements in construction and building technologies, including the steel structural frame, internal pneumatic and telegraphic communications, efficient mechanical systems, and improved fireproofing materials and techniques, allowed for the construction of structures of increasing height. As tall building construction flourished in major U.S. cities, issues of light, ventilation, and public health, as well as encroachment of incompatible uses, began to capture the public’s attention. Where tenement reform laws had addressed residential overcrowding, owners, architects, and public officials viewed building regulations as a means to minimize the negative impacts of increasingly massive structures on surrounding property values and public space. This article discusses the evolution of zoning and its implications for the form of cities and suburbs by tracing the history of New York’s first comprehensive zoning law. It first presents the economic, social, and technological forces leading to calls for regulation of the built environment and then examines the passage of the 1916 Zoning Resolution as it related to issues of public health, separation of uses, and real estate economics. Finally, the article explores the effect of zoning on the growth of the New York region, focusing on its impact on urban form and the spatial patterns of development and its relationship to emerging issues of environmental sustainability and urban resilience.

Land Use Change in New Spain: A Three-Dimensional Historical GIS Analysis

The introduction of European livestock into the New World resulted in extensive land use changes. Studying the spatiality of these changes as they actually transpired in a three-dimensional landscape can enhance our knowledge of the environmental transformations that accompanied colonization. This article focuses on a case study area in New Spain, roughly equivalent to present-day Mexico, wherein forty-seven sheep ranches were established through viceregal land grants between 1535 and 1610. An integration of fieldwork, textual analysis of land grants, and imagery analysis enables these ranches to be mapped in a three-dimensional geographic information system (GIS) environment. Once mapped in a GIS, the spatial statistics of each ranch's elevation, slope, and aspect (slope orientation) can be calculated to identify spatio-temporal patterns of land use change. These spatio-temporal patterns can be interpreted within the highly localized contexts of land granting to amplify our understanding of human–environment interaction in New Spain. This article's key findings are that grantees harbored a persistent preference for south-facing land; ranches clustered most heavily on isolated elevations; viceregal ordinances were effective at keeping livestock away from low-lying, agriculturally productive zones; and, as a consequence of native population decline and forced native resettlements, the midelevations experienced a land use change from semiterraced agriculture to ranching. These results offer a fresh perspective on the local-scale processes of land use change that resulted from the European colonization of the New World.

Elevation-Dependent Multiscale Analysis of a Complex Intertidal Zone

ABSTRACT Horne, P.; Suteanu, C.; van Proosdij, D., and Baker, G., 2013. Elevation-dependent multiscale analysis of a complex intertidal zone. Coastal geomorphology is the result of many complex interacting processes operating over a range of scales in space, and multiscale analysis on relevant scale intervals can help link form with process. Numerous studies focus on lines resulting from the intersection of a plane at a certain elevation with the three-dimensional landscape. However, in most cases, the reason for the choice of the actual elevation is not mentioned, nor at times is the value of the selected elevation even specified. Such an approach relies on the assumption that one studies an isotropic, self-affine pattern for which the irregularity is independent from elevation. The present study questions this assumption by applying fractal analysis not to one, but rather to a series of different elevations relating to tidal stages. The research takes place in a macrotidal estuary, in the Upper Bay of F...

Two-way incremental seriation in the temporal domain with three-dimensional visualization: Making sense of evolving high-dimensional datasets

Two-way seriation is a popular technique to analyze groups of similar instances and their features, as well as the connections between the groups themselves. The two-way seriated data may be visualized as a two-dimensional heat map or as a three-dimensional landscape where colour codes or height correspond to the values in the matrix. To achieve a meaningful visualization of high-dimensional data, a compactly supported convolution kernel is introduced, which is similar to filter kernels used in image reconstruction and geostatistics. This filter populates the high-dimensional space with values that interpolate nearby elements and provides insight into the clustering structure. Ordinary two-way seriation is also extended to deal with updates of both the row and column spaces. Combined with the convolution kernel, a three-dimensional visualization of dynamics is demonstrated on two datasets, a news collection and a set of microarray measurements.

Algorithm for Delineating and Extracting Hillslopes and Hillslope Width Functions from Gridded Elevation Data

AbstractThe subdivision of catchments into appropriate topography-based hydrologic units is an essential step in rainfall-runoff modeling, with the hillslope serving as a common fundamental unit for this purpose. Hillslope-based modeling approaches can utilize, for instance, the hillslope width function as a one-dimensional representation of three-dimensional landscapes by introducing profile curvatures and plan shapes. In this work, an algorithm was developed to delineate and extract hillslopes and hillslope width functions based on a new approach to calculate average profile curvatures and plan shapes from digital terrain data. The proposed method uses fuzzy logic rules and provides a quick and reliable assessment of hillslope characteristics, classifying hillslopes according to nine elementary landscapes (the so-called Dikau shapes). The algorithm was first tested on two contrasting (flat and steep) catchments in Quebec, Canada. The hillslope width functions obtained with the proposed method were able ...

Dissection of Hydrogen Bond Interaction Network around an Iron–Sulfur Cluster by Site-Specific Isotope Labeling of Hyperthermophilic Archaeal Rieske-Type Ferredoxin

The electronic structure and geometry of redox-active metal cofactors in proteins are tuned by the pattern of hydrogen bonding with the backbone peptide matrix. In this study we developed a method for selective amino acid labeling of a hyperthermophilic archaeal metalloprotein with engineered Escherichia coli auxotroph strains, and we applied this to resolve the hydrogen bond interactions with the reduced Rieske-type [2Fe-2S] cluster by two-dimensional pulsed electron spin resonance technique. Because deep electron spin-echo envelope modulation of two histidine (14)N(δ) ligands of the cluster decreased non-coordinating (15)N signal intensities via the cross-suppression effect, an inverse labeling strategy was employed in which (14)N amino acid-labeled archaeal Rieske-type ferredoxin samples were examined in an (15)N-protein background. This has directly identified Lys45 N(α) as providing the major pathway for the transfer of unpaired electron spin density from the reduced cluster by a "through-bond" mechanism. All other backbone peptide nitrogens interact more weakly with the reduced cluster. The extension of this approach will allow visualizing the three-dimensional landscape of preferred pathways for the transfer of unpaired spin density from a paramagnetic metal center onto the protein frame, and will discriminate specific interactions by a "through-bond" mechanism from interactions which are "through-space" in various metalloproteins.

Landscape Pattern Metrics: An Empirical Study from 2-D to 3-D

Analysis of landscape patterns, as an important means of studying landscape ecological functions and processes, is a key part of landscape ecology. The traditional patch-corridor-matrix paradigm, ignoring the differences between real three-dimensional (3-D) landscapes and two-dimensional (2-D) landscape maps, quantifies and describes 2-D landscape maps using landscape pattern metrics. Such simplification of the real landscape will lead to differences between 2-D landscape pattern metrics and real values, especially in mountainous areas. This study seeks to examine whether these differences are significant in natural landscape patterns. Fourteen small watersheds in a mountainous area were selected as sample landscape units. Two metrics at the patch level, five metrics at the class level, and four metrics at the landscape level were chosen as representative metrics. The results indicated that there were significant differences between the 2-D and 3-D landscape pattern metrics at the patch level, landscape level, and class level. We interpret the differences as errors in the 2-D metrics. The errors depend on the metric and the landscape type, and the errors for different landscape types were inconsistent. Whether these errors affect further interpretation of the role of pattern in landscape ecology remains uncertain.

The Facture of Three-dimensional Landform LandscapeMap Based on ERDAS

This paper simply presents basic rules of acquiring Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, details the methods and approaches about how to produce three-dimensional landform landscape map using the existing DRG and DEM data, and expounds three-dimensional landform landscape map is not a thematic map making from basic mapping digital production, but also a late-model multiple mapping production. On the basis of these, the author still explains the application foreground of three-dimensional landform landscape map.

ChemInform Abstract: Synthesis of Limonoid Natural Products.

AbstractReview: 156 refs.

Androgen receptor: acting in the three-dimensional chromatin landscape of prostate cancer cells.

Androgen receptor (AR) acts as a hormone-controlled transcription factor that conveys the messages of both natural and synthetic androgens to the level of genes and gene programs. Defective AR signaling leads to a wide array of androgen insensitivity disorders, and deregulated AR function, in particular overexpression of AR, is involved in the growth and progression of prostate cancer. Classic models of AR action view AR-binding sites as upstream regulatory elements in gene promoters or their proximity. However, recent wider genomic screens indicate that AR target genes are commonly activated through very distal chromatin-binding sites. This highlights the importance of long-range chromatin regulation of transcription by the AR, shifting the focus from the linear gene models to three-dimensional models of AR target genes and gene programs. The capability of AR to regulate promoters from long distances in the chromatin is particularly important when evaluating the role of AR in the regulation of genes in malignant prostate cells that frequently show striking genomic aberrations, especially gene fusions. Therefore, in addition to the mechanisms of DNA loop formation between the enhancer bound ARs and the transcription apparatus at the target core promoter, the mechanisms insulating distally bound ARs from promiscuously making contacts and activating other than their normal target gene promoters are critical for proper physiological regulation and thus currently under intense investigation. This review discusses the current knowledge about the AR action in the context of gene aberrations and the three-dimensional chromatin landscape of prostate cancer cells.

Multiple-Case Study of Landscape Visualizations as a Tool in Transdisciplinary Planning Workshops

Olaf Schroth, Ulrike Wissen Hayek, Eckart Lange, Stephen R. J. Sheppard and Willy A. Schmid

An improved line-of-sight method for visibility analysis in 3D complex landscapes

This paper presents an efficient method for implementing visibility analysis on complex landscapes based on an improved LOS (line of sight) algorithm. The method determines the viewshed by analyzing the geometric relationship between the target points and viewpoint. It differentiates the visibility of the target points by the elevation information. Eventually the visual results related to the given viewpoint are rendered on three-dimensional landscapes. The visibility of some target points is computed by comparing their elevations with the viewpoint’s height, thus is able to enhance the efficiency of the visibility analysis. This method can not only be applied in the visibility analysis of forest scenes, but also used in the analysis of the urban environment. Experiments show that the proposed method results in high efficiency and precision.

The iCE approach for journal evaluation

Recent research has shown that simple graphical representations of research performance can be obtained using two-dimensional maps based on impact (i) and citations (C). The product of impact and citations leads to an energy term (E). Indeed, using E as the third coordinate, three-dimensional landscape maps can be prepared. In this paper, instead of using the traditional impact factor and total citations received for journal evaluation, Article InfluenceTM and EigenfactorTM are used as substitutes. Article Influence becomes a measure of quality (i.e. a proxy for impact factor) and Eigenfactor is a proxy for size/quantity (like citations) and taken together, the product is an energy-like term. This can be used to measure the influence/prestige of a journal. It is also possible to propose a p-factor (where p = E 1/3) as an alternative measure of the prestige or prominence of a journal which plays the equivalent role of the h-index.

Three-Dimensional Landscape Visualizations: New Technique towards Wildfire and Forest Bark Beetle Management

After a century of fire exclusion, western US forests are vulnerable to wildfire and bark beetles. Although integrated fire and pest management programs (e.g., prescribed burning and thinning) are being implemented efficiently, damage to forests continues. Management challenges come in the forms of diverse land ownership, dynamic forest landscapes, the uncertainty effect of management strategies, and social interaction of the increasing wildland-urban interface. Three-dimensional (3-D) landscape visualization is comprised of multi-spatial, multi-temporal, and multi-expression elements. Supplemented with GIS database, remote sensing images, and simulation models, this technique can provide a comprehensive communication medium for decision makers, scientists, stakeholders, and the public with diverse backgrounds on the wildfire and forest bark beetle management. The technique we describe here can be used to organize complicated temporal and spatial information, evaluate alternative management operations, and improve decision-making processes. The application and limitations of our technique are also discussed.

On gene dispersal studies in complex landscapes: a reply to the comment on García et al. (2005, 2007)

On gene dispersal studies in complex landscapes: a reply to the comment on García <i>et al.</i> (2005, 2007)

Artistic rendering of mountainous terrain

Panorama maps are aerial view paintings that depict complex, three-dimensional landscapes in a pleasing and understandable way. Painters and cartographers have developed techniques to create such artistic landscapes for centuries, but the process remains difficult and time-consuming. In this work, we derive principles and heuristics for panorama map creation of mountainous terrain from a perceptual and artistic analysis of two panorama maps of Yellowstone National Park. We then present methods to automatically produce landscape renderings in the visual style of the panorama map. Our algorithms rely on United States Geological Survey (USGS) terrain and classification data. Our surface textures are generated using perceptual metrics and artistic considerations, and use the structural information present in the terrain to guide the automatic placement of image space strokes for natural surfaces such as forests, cliffs, snow, and water.

THE APPLICATION OF HIGH RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING IMAGE TO THREE-DIMENSIONAL URBAN LANDSCAPE CREATION

This paper deals with some techniques and methods for creation of a three-dimensional urban landscape model based on the high-resolution remote sensing image.As the high-resolution remote sensing images have such characteristics as high definition,rich information and strong real time capacity,they can be used to acquire a great abundance of information concerning urban landscape exactly and rapidly.The results show that the procedure is efficient,rapid and economical in creating the three-dimensional urban landscape model.

I Introduction: Surveying the Scene

What is landscape? Was there a concept of landscape in ancient Rome? Analysing the cityscape is now an established trend in the study of Rome and, since the 1990s, scholarship has explored the idea that thinking about the topography of the city of Rome encourages a more wide-ranging exploration of what being Roman was all about. Taking a broader approach, this Survey tackles the semiotics of a set of described, depicted, and three-dimensional landscapes where the emphasis is on a collaboration between nature and humankind. The timeframe is the late Roman Republic and early Principate, an era of change and reconstitution, when defining what being Roman meant was high on many agendas. This is also an era that offers the best possible scope for exploring a fascinating and diverse range of emblematic natural and manmade environments, taking in some of the most famous (but also some more unexpected) scenes in Roman literature, art, and architecture, closing with Hadrian's out-of-town landscaped villa near Tibur.

Clumsiness: why isn't it as easy as falling off a log?1

The process by which Arsenal Football Club found the site for its new stadium started off quite elegantly – just the market actor (Arsenal) and the hierarchical actor (Islington Council) – but was soon clumsified by the entry of an egalitarian actor (the Highbury Community Association). The result was a solution, totally overlooked in the early stages, that gave each of these contending actors more of what it wanted (and less of what it did not want) than it would have got if it had somehow established hegemony and “gone it alone.” This “clumsy solution” came about more or less by accident, and it stands in marked contrast to the sort of outcomes that we usually get, especially in relation to policy issues that have a high scientific input: environment and development in the Himalayan region, for instance. All of which raises the question: “How can we get clumsy solutions by design.” One important part of the answer is: “By doing pretty well the exact opposite of what policy orthodoxy says we should do.” Rather than a single, agreed definition of the problem, we need to move towards noisy and argumentative institutional arrangements in which all three voices (each with its distinctive definition of the problem – a definition, moreover, that cannot be reconciled with the other two) are (a) able to make themselves heard and (b) are then responsive to one another. Indeed, policy subsystems can be plotted on a 3×3 matrix in terms of accessibility and responsiveness, with deliberative quality increasing markedly as we move from (1,1: closed hegemony) to (3,3: clumsy institution). Any move that is uphill on this three-dimensional landscape is a move in the right direction (if we value deliberative quality and democratization, that is); any move that is downhill should be avoided like the plague.