Three-dimensional visualization of an emotional map with geographical information systems: a case study of historical and cultural heritage in the Yeongsan River Basin,Korea

The objective of this study is the production and visualization of an emotional map to reveal the unique emotions inherent to the areas surrounding the Yeongsan River, which is often referred to as ‘the cradle of civilization’ in Korea. The sites selected for this study are the 11 cities and districts (5667.6 km²) that cut across the vast granary in the southeastern region of Korea, near the Yeongsan River. The emotional map was produced by extracting features of historical and cultural heritage distributed throughout this region and by using a geographic information systems program and its functions for spatial analysis. A database was constructed through interviews with locals and Global Positioning System to index 4318 pieces of cultural heritage to achieve the visualization of emotions. Among the 558 historical relics considered for representing the regional culture, 100 with the largest emotional impact were selected. It was determined that loyalty (), justice (), courtesy (), resentment (), and anger () should be the major emotional elements. Methodologically, a set of regional, periodic, historical, and emotional classification codes were first systematized. After subjecting this data to inverse distance weight interpolation and vertical exaggeration coefficients, the three-dimensional emotional map could be visualized.     

Response to ‘Comments on “Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields” with communications on some issues related to Markov chain geostatistics’

Li and Zhang (2012b Li, W. and Zhang, C. 2012b. Comments on ‘Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields’ with communications on some issues related to Markov chain geostatistics. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 26(10): 1725–1739. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], Comments on ‘Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields’ with communications on some issues related to Markov chain geostatics) raised a series of comments on our recent paper (Cao, G., Kyriakidis, P.C., and Goodchild, M.F., 2011 Cao, G., Kyriakidis, P.C. and Goodchild, M.F. 2011. Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 25(11): 1773–1791. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 25 (11), 1773–1791), which include a notation error in the model equation provided for the Markov chain random field (MCRF) or spatial Markov chain model (SMC), originally proposed by Li (2007b Li, W. 2007b. Markov chain random fields for estimation of categorical variables. Mathematical Geology, 39(3): 321–335. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Markov chain random fields for estimation of categorical variables. Mathematical Geology, 39 (3), 321–335), and followed by Allard et al. (2011 Allard, D., D'Or, D. and Froideveaux, R. 2011. An efficient maximum entropy approach for categorical variable prediction. European Journal of Soil Science, 62: 381–393. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], An efficient maximum entropy approach for categorical variable prediction. European Journal of Soil Science, 62, 381–393) about the misinterpretation of MCRF (or SMC) as a simplified form of the Bayesian maximum entropy (BME)-based approach, the so-called Markovian-type categorical prediction (MCP) (Allard, D., D'Or, D., and Froideveaux, R., 2009 Allard, D., D'Or, D. and Froidevaux, R. 2009. Estimating and simulating spatial categorical data using an efficient maximum entropy approach, Avignon: Unité Biostatistique et Processus Spatiaux Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Technical Report No. 37 [Google Scholar]. Estimating and simulating spatial categorical data using an efficient maximum entropy approach. Avignon: Unite Biostatisque et Processus Spatiaux Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique. Technical Report No. 37; Allard, D., D'Or, D., and Froideveaux, R., 2011 Allard, D., D'Or, D. and Froideveaux, R. 2011. An efficient maximum entropy approach for categorical variable prediction. European Journal of Soil Science, 62: 381–393. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. An efficient maximum entropy approach for categorical variable prediction. European Journal of Soil Science, 62, 381–393). Li and Zhang (2012b Li, W. and Zhang, C. 2012b. Comments on ‘Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields’ with communications on some issues related to Markov chain geostatistics. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 26(10): 1725–1739. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], Comments on ‘Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorial fields’ with communication on some issues related to Markov chain geostatistics. International Journal of Geographical Information Science) also raised concerns regarding several statements Cao et al. (2011 Cao, G., Kyriakidis, P.C. and Goodchild, M.F. 2011. Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 25(11): 1773–1791. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Combining spatial transition probabilities for stochastic simulation of categorical fields. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 25 (11), 1773–1791) had made, which mainly include connections between permanence of ratios and conditional independence, connections between MCRF and Bayesian networks and transiograms as spatial continuity measures. In this response, all of the comments and concerns will be addressed, while also communicating with Li and other colleagues on general topics in Markov chain geostatistics.     

An analytic solution to the alibi query in the space–time prisms model for moving object data

Moving objects produce trajectories, which are stored in databases by means of finite samples of time-stamped locations. When speed limitations in these sample points are also known, space–time prisms (also called beads) (Pfoser and Jensen 1999 Pfoser, D. and Jensen, C.S. 1999. “Capturing the uncertainty of moving-object representations”. In Advances in spatial databases (SSD’99), Hong Kong, China, July 20–23, 1999, Vol. 1651, 111–132. Lecture notes in Computer Science.  [Google Scholar], Egenhofer 2003 Egenhofer, M. 2003. “Approximation of geopatial lifelines”. In SpadaGIS, workshop on spatial data and geographic information systsems, 4SpaDaGIS–Workshop on Spatial Data and Geographic Information Systems, Milano, Italy, March 2003. University of Genova.  [Google Scholar], Miller 2005 Miller, H. 2005. A measurement theory for time geography. Geographical Analysis, 37(1): 17–45. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) can be used to model the uncertainty about an object's location in between sample points. In this setting, a query of particular interest that has been studied in the literature of geographic information systems (GIS) is the alibi query. This boolean query asks whether two moving objects could have physically met. This adds up to deciding whether the chains of space–time prisms (also called necklaces of beads) of these objects intersect. This problem can be reduced to deciding whether two space–time prisms intersect.

The alibi query can be seen as a constraint database query. In the constraint database model, spatial and spatiotemporal data are stored by boolean combinations of polynomial equalities and inequalities over the real numbers. The relational calculus augmented with polynomial constraints is the standard first-order query language for constraint databases and the alibi query can be expressed in it. The evaluation of the alibi query in the constraint database model relies on the elimination of a block of three exªistential quantifiers. Implementations of general purpose elimination algorithms, such as those provided by QEPCAD, Redlog, and Mathematica, are, for practical purposes, too slow in answering the alibi query for two specific space–time prisms. These software packages completely fail to answer the alibi query in the parametric case (i.e., when it is formulated in terms of parameters representing the sample points and speed constraints).

The main contribution of this article is an analytical solution to the parametric alibi query, which can be used to answer the alibi query on two specific space–time prisms in constant time (a matter of milliseconds in our implementation). It solves the alibi query for chains of space–time prisms in time proportional to the sum of the lengths of the chains. To back this claim up, we implemented our method in Mathematica alongside the traditional quantifier elimination method. The solutions we propose are based on the geometric argumentation and they illustrate the fact that some practical problems require creative solutions, where at least in theory, existing systems could provide a solution.     

On Resurrected Nuggets and Sphincter Windows: Cultured Meat,Art, and the Discursive Subsumption of Nature

ABSTRACT

In this article, I scrutinize three art, design, and architecture projects engaging with “cultured,” or “in vitro,” meat (primarily muscle cells cultured outside of bodies) to illuminate the entanglements of academic and extra-academic environments that have characterized cultured meat’s history to date, and the conversations that this technology has spurred. In envisioning new ways of eating, and living, these projects (a book of hypothetical recipes, The In Vitro Meat Cookbook, Catts and Zurr’s bioartistic engagements with tissue engineering, and Terreform1’s tissue-house prototype “The In Vitro Meat Habitat”) illustrate cultural practices thought to be enabled by cell culturing’s new applications. Emphasizing such visions and conversations allows me to highlight an inattention to discursive dynamics within research on natures subsumed to industrial production processes (Boyd, Prudham, and Schurman 2001 Boyd, W., W. S. Prudham, and R. A. Schurman. 2001. Industrial dynamics and the problem of nature. Society and Natural Resources 14 (7):555–70. doi:10.1080/089419201750341862[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). But engaging with the “subsumption of nature” framework simultaneously allows me to problematize artistic visions presenting nature as fully malleable.