Eliciting emotions in HIV/AIDS research: a diary-based approach

Little attention has been given to understanding the emotional well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries, despite the fact that emotions may impact on people's sense of purpose and value, and ultimately their ability and resolve to hold livelihood and familial responsibilities together. Drawing upon research undertaken in the Caprivi Region of Namibia, this paper examines the use of solicited text and photo diaries in enabling insight into the emotional impacts of HIV/AIDS. The advantages and constraints of diary methods are examined, focusing on informant-directed research and the ethical considerations surrounding their use.     

Editorials

Abstract

Travelers' diaries are just one example of how primary documents can be used to experience geography in the classroom. Involving students in people's lives is an effective way to interest students in geography. Students will discover how these travelers migrated across the Missouri landscape, what modes of transportation they utilized, and the places they encountered along the way. This lesson focuses on people who traveled through Missouri in the mid-1800s. State historical societies and local archives are excellent sources of travel diaries and journals that can help your students experience geography and learn something about their own state in the process.     

Urban Forest Values of the Citizenry in Three Colombian Cities

Urban forests are an integral part of urban ecosystems and quality of life. With an overwhelmingly urban population, Latin American countries benefit considerably from their urban forests. However, little is known about the values that make such forests important. The goal of this study was to provide an overview of urban forest values in Colombia. Exploratory research was undertaken in the cities of Bogotá, Cali, and Pereira, with the use of field tours based on visits to five urban forest types, personal diaries, and focus groups. Recruitment was based on voluntary self-selection. Data were captured from 72 participants and analyzed via coding and theme extraction. The data demonstrate that Colombian urban dwellers value the urban forest in terms of a rich array of psychological, aesthetic, sociocultural, ecological, environmental, and economic themes. This study is a primer for eliciting urban forest values and developing typologies in a novel and effective way.     

Bartering for Basics: Using Ethnography and Travel Diaries to Understand Transportation Constraints and Social Networks Among Working-Poor Women

Working-poor women face many challenges in their quest for economic self-sufficiency. Although welfare reform promises jobs, women do not have equal access to necessary services, including transportation. With the 2010 reauthorization of TANF (Temporary Asssistance for Needy Women), there is a need to develop a methodology that uses qualitative individual-level data to evaluate whether public transportation will serve working-poor single mothers in this quest for self-sufficiency. Using ethnography, travel diaries, and a GIS for a sample of women in the process of leaving welfare in Knoxville, Tennessee, travel behavior is examined both qualitatively and quantitatively in order to understand why they rarely use public transportation. Further research into the ways these women move around in a sprawling, medium-sized city reinforces and seeks to understand the extensive social networks working-poor mothers rely on. These women create communities of spatial necessity, bartering for basic needs to overcome transportation constraints.     

'Private life' and 'work life': difficulties and dilemmas when making and maintaining friendships with ethnographic participants

This paper addresses the difficulties and dilemmas that may occur when friendships are formed with participants during an ethnographic research project. The ongoing, reciprocal relationships developed with participants are considered essential in the data collection of ethnography, as an avenue through which research can be carried out. However, while friendships in the field may open new doors to research, they can also create new (ethical) challenges. This paper revisits these issues, alongside research ethics guidelines, using three different scenarios: the negotiation of methods of contact, the maintenance of contact with participants and the sharing of research diaries with participants. From these discussions, two issues arise that may have implications for future ethnographic research: the obstacle of social networking websites and the negotiation of appropriate research ethics when participants become our friends.     

Application of Tracking Technologies to the Study of Pedestrian Spatial Behavior*

Research into human spatial behavior has tended to rely solely on evidence provided by the research subjects themselves. Subjects' accounts of where they were and for how long were logged and integrated into time‐space diaries. In the past few years, a number of studies have exploited advanced tracking technologies instead of the traditional diary technique, however these were mostly transport studies focusing on vehicular movement. This article explores the implementation of tracking technologies as a tool for gathering data on pedestrian spatial behavior. The article considers two of the principal tracking technologies available today: satellite navigation systems and land‐based navigation systems. The makeup and properties of each technology are detailed, and their potential as data‐gathering tools on pedestrian spatial behavior is evaluated.     

Not all those who Wander are lost: exploring human mobility using a smartphone application

Since the 1970s, activity diaries have been the principal source of data used by geographers and urban planners to capture human mobility patterns; however, memory recall requirements and participant burden are limiting features of this approach. While handheld GPS devices were initially used to simply validate activity diaries, the ubiquity of smartphones makes GPS-based technology a viable alternative for collecting human mobility data. This research visualises human mobility patterns using spatiotemporally GPS-rich traces collected from 24 participants during a pilot study of a new smartphone application—Wander. The results illustrate the utility of such data for capturing individuals’ multi-nodal activity spaces to better understand people–place interactions in the context of increasingly fluid and mobile lifestyles. Finally, we draw on our experiences of implementing this pilot study to discuss the benefits and limitations of this technology for its broader application in domains such as transportation planning, tourism management, and in the management of crime and disorder.     

HUMBOLDT'S NODES AND MODES OF INTERDISCIPLINARY ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE IN THE ANDEAN WORLD*

ABSTRACT. Alexander von Humboldt engaged in a staggering array of diverse experiences in the Andes and adjoining lowlands of northwestern South America between 1801 and 1803. Yet examination of Humboldt's diaries, letters, and published works shows how his principal activities in the Andes centered on three interests: mining and geological landscapes; communications and cartography; and use and distribution of the quinine‐yielding cinchona trees. Each node represented a pragmatic concern dealing with environmental resources in the context of the Andes. To pursue these interests in his Andean field studies, Humboldt relied on varied cultural interactions and vast social networks for knowledge exchange, in addition to extensive textual comparisons. These modes of inquiry dovetailed with his pragmatic interests and his open‐ended intellectual curiosity. Fertile combinations in his Andean studies provided the foundation and main testing ground for Humboldt's fused nature‐culture approach as well as his contributions to early geography and interdisciplinary environmental science.     

Adapting visual methods: action research with Kampala street children

The paper examines the use of four visual 'action' methods for eliciting information from street children about their interactions with the socio-spatial environment. These methods were adapted and used to encourage child-led activities and minimize researcher input. The advantages and constraints associated with the successful implementation of visual methods with children are examined, followed by a brief examination of the 'real' and ethical considerations surrounding their use. The paper concludes that visual methods allow a high level of child-led participation in research, as well as providing a stimulus for eliciting further oral material.     

Food Diaries to Measure Food Access: A Case Study from Rural Cuba

This article aims to make a contribution to current debates in the literature on food access by describing a mixed-methods approach to study the access to food in one rural community in Cuba. Each of the forty households in our study was asked to complete a detailed food diary in which they indicated what they ate and where they acquired each of the ingredients that they used for a full week. Although in Cuba the state plays a central role in organizing the distribution of food items, this method revealed a much more complex web of rural food access. By addressing alternative networks of food access and informal social relations, we aim to show how the use of food diaries, in combination with qualitative data from interviews and participant observation, can provide detailed insights in the complex processes and networks of food access.     

Exploring food choices within the context of nutritional security in Gaborone,Botswana

Food consumption experiences remain largely unexplored in urban Africa, despite mounting concerns regarding both over‐ and undernutrition of city dwellers and the potential impact on overall human health and development. This paper seeks to explore the foodstuffs people consume and the factors that shape consumer choice in Gaborone, Botswana. Empirical data were drawn from food diaries and observations of 40 households and discussions with them, plus key informants interviews in Gaborone. Analysis reveals the range of foodstuff people consume, highlighting the prevalence of diets comprised of energy dense, processed and animal‐sourced foods, which are major nutritional security concerns. However these diets were not summarily western or westernizing as per the nutritional transition thesis, as our analysis suggests subtleties of dietary patterns, including the fact that meat‐based diets are traditionally rooted rather than imported and meals tend to comprise both local and western components. The paper also identifies multiple interacting factors influencing consumer food choices, illustrating how food decisions embody context‐specific personal and social circumstances. Understanding how these factors shape what people eat in Gaborone may enable policy makers to facilitate the conditions within which healthy food choices can be made and to address emerging public health and nutrition challenges in African cities.     

干旱区可持续土地利用模式分析——以天山北坡为例

可持续土地利用模式是土地生态经济可持续发展的必然要求,但目前对可持续土地利用模式的科学基础研究较为薄弱。可持续土地利用模式的科学基础是土地类型及其空间组合结构,利用遥感和地理信息系统等新技术、基于社会发展需求的小尺度、大比例尺土地类型制图及其空间结构研究将是今后土地分类学的重要研究方向之一。目前土地利用中存在的与环境相关的问题,多数源自于违背土地类型自然属性的客观要求。退耕还草还林政策的实施,体现了土地利用需要遵循土地类型自然属性的客观要求。以天山北坡为例,在可持续土地利用模式的科学基础分析的基础上,根据土地类型及其空间组合结构,进一步完善和提升了近年提出的干旱区绿洲－中山带立体双带模式和干旱区山地利用模式;并基于典型的干旱区绿洲格局提出了冲洪积扇绿洲集约利用模式、冲积平原绿洲农业规模经营模式以及河流尾闾三角洲绿洲生态利用模式。     

Work schedules on lowland farms in southern New Zealand from the late colonial period to the 1930s

Details of two‐way flows of primary products, implements, labour, information and finance drawn from runs of farm diaries, stock and station agents’ records, and newspaper articles were used to analyse work schedules on three comparable properties between 1874 and 1930, and to track the development of mixed cropping and livestock farming in southern New Zealand when draught horses were giving way to either steam or internal combustion engines as the prime source of motive power. The earliest records are for two farms in the late 19th century, and the most recent are for a third property in the 1920s.     

干旱区可持续土地利用模式——以天山北坡为例

Sustainable land use patterns are ecological and economic prerequisites of regional sustainable development. This is especially true for arid lands, where the environment is wholly fragile thanks to extremely limited precipitation, and where human activities have greatly transformed natural desert system by clearing natural vegetation, expanding oases and even building dams on inland rivers. However, the current studies on land use patterns are still characterized by field investigations and case studies, with almost no solid scientific basis. This paper holds that land types and their combination patterns are the principal basis for designing sustainable land use patterns, and that GIS and RS-based large-scale land type mapping and the study of their spatial combination structures should be coordinated with the demand of social development. The existing environmental problems induced by irrational land use mostly result from their deviation from the natural properties of land types. Taking the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (NSTM) as an example and considering land type patterns as the basis of land use patterns, this paper improves the vertical oasis- and-mid-mountain two-belts development model and the sustainable mountain land use model for arid lands put forward in recent years; and in terms of oases patterns, it outlines oasis development models, including intensive land use pattern in alluvial-diluvial fans, moderate agricultural development pattern in alluvial plains, and ecological land use pattern in river-end oases.     

重庆市浅丘带坝区土地利用与景观空间格局分析

选取重庆市沙坪坝区陈家镇为研究区,采用其建立的土地利用现状数据库,运用GIS的图形处理与空间分析功能,生成6种景观格局图并输入Fragstats for ArcView3.X软件,提取景观格局指数,借助于景观格局指数在生态过程与土地利用间所建立的一种关联,分析并探讨土地利用诱发下景观空间格局特征的响应.其结果:水田景观在景观类型中占据着绝对优势,其连接度表现较高,是景观类型明显的基质,受人类活动干扰强;冬水田景观要素接近于水田景观本底,且冬水田景观要素斑块个数、类型面积随着河流缓冲区距离的增大而增加;旱地景观中各景观要素斑块总体上分布比较零散,规律性不强;农村居民点景观要素是建设用地景观的主要类型,其斑块几何形状简单、规整,各斑块间的相似性强,外围边界接近于正方形或者矩形.     

Transportation mode-based segmentation and classification of movement trajectories

The knowledge of the transportation mode used by humans (e.g. bicycle, on foot, car and train) is critical for travel behaviour research, transport planning and traffic management. Nowadays, new technologies such as the Global Positioning System have replaced traditional survey methods (paper diaries, telephone) because they are more accurate and problems such as under reporting are avoided. However, although the movement data collected (timestamped positions in digital form) have generally high accuracy, they do not contain the transportation mode. We present in this article a new method for segmenting movement data into single-mode segments and for classifying them according to the transportation mode used. Our fully automatic method differs from previous attempts for five reasons: (1) it relies on fuzzy concepts found in expert systems, that is membership functions and certainty factors; (2) it uses OpenStreetMap data to help the segmentation and classification process; (3) we can distinguish between 10 transportation modes (including between tram, bus and car) and propose a hierarchy; (4) it handles data with signal shortages and noise, and other real-life situations; (5) in our implementation, there is a separation between the reasoning and the knowledge, so that users can easily modify the parameters used and add new transportation modes. We have implemented the method and tested it with a 17-million point data set collected in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. The accuracy of the classification with the developed prototype, determined with the comparison of the classified results with the reference data derived from manual classification, is 91.6%.     

Sustainable land-use patterns for arid lands:A case study in the northern slope areas of the Tianshan Mountains

Sustainable land use patterns are ecological and economic prerequisites of regional sustainable development. This is especially true for arid lands, where the environment is wholly fragile thanks to extremely limited precipitation, and where human activities have greatly transformed natural desert system by clearing natural vegetation, expanding oases and even building dams on inland rivers. However, the current studies on land use patterns are still characterized by field investigations and case studies, with almost no solid scientific basis. This paper holds that land types and their combination patterns are the principal basis for designing sustainable land use patterns, and that GIS and RS-based large-scale land type mapping and the study of their spatial combination structures should be coordinated with the demand of social development. The existing environmental problems induced by irrational land use mostly result from their deviation from the natural properties of land types. Taking the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (NSTM) as an example and considering land type patterns as the basis of land use patterns, this paper improves the vertical oasis- and-mid-mountain two-belts development model and the sustainable mountain land use model for arid lands put forward in recent years; and in terms of oases patterns, it outlines oasis development models, including intensive land use pattern in alluvial-diluvial fans, moderate agricultural development pattern in alluvial plains, and ecological land use pattern in river-end oases.     

我国现阶段土地利用变化驱动力的宏观分析

土地利用的基本竞争模型是土地利用类型变化驱动力分析的理论基础。把握土地利用个体目标和社会目标的关系,尤其是它们之间的矛盾及其地区差异,是进行土地利用变化驱动力宏观分析的有效途径。工业化城市化与粮食安全之间的矛盾、农业发展与生态环境保护之间的矛盾是现阶段我国土地利用变化的基本矛盾。土地利用变化的驱动力在空间上表现出较大的差异。本文选取11项自然和社会经济指标,分省份计算了驱动力指数。结果表明:西部地区以生存型经济福利驱动和环境安全驱动为主,而东部地区以比较经济福利驱动和食物安全驱动为主     

Does prolonged illness contribute to adaptive land use practices among subsistence agricultural households in rural Mozambique?

The environmental effects of disease are broadly recognized but still not fully understood. The impact of health on economic development has been well-documented, as have how changes in land cover can contribute to poor health. However, little is known about how changes in health may impact land use and land cover. Fallowing has long been regarded as an advanced, sustainable land use decision employed by subsistence agriculturalists. In the presence of a prolonged illness, however, subsistence agriculturalists may also potentially use fallowing as a coping mechanism. In this paper we seek to understand the extent to which fallowing is used as a coping strategy by households facing a prolonged illness. If illness threatens a household's labor supply, it could affect their ability to cultivate all of their land and may impact food security and general economic well-being. Additionally, it may also impact the actual landscape, as previously agricultural land may revert to a transitional state or land abandonment. This study employs mixed methods to determine if unhealthy agricultural households use fallowing as a coping strategy, identifies whether or not unhealthy fallowing households are more vulnerable agriculturally and economically than their healthier fallowing counterparts, and examines whether there is a land cover effect that can be detected using Landsat TM/ETM + satellite imagery.     

黄淮海平原农区土地利用转型及其动力机制

本文分析了黄淮海平原农区2000-2010 年间土地利用转型的时空格局,在构建土地利用转型动力机制分析概念框架基础上,运用空间计量回归分析方法深入剖析了黄淮海平原农区5种主要土地利用类型转换的动力机制。黄淮海平原农区土地利用转型特征表现为：2000-2010年,耕地、未利用地和草地面积的减少伴随城乡建设用地、水域和林地面积的增加;2000-2005年变化幅度明显大于2005-2010 年的变化幅度。分析结果表明：黄淮海平原农区5 种主要土地利用类型转换是自然环境和社会经济多种因素共同作用的结果,其中交通和区位条件对这5 种土地利用类型转换的影响最为显著,是导致土地利用转型的共性驱动因子。并指出：地方各级政府在制定有关土地利用政策时,既应充分考虑驱动各种土地利用转型的主要因子及其地域分异和社会经济发展规律,还需考虑各地类之间转换的适宜性及难易程度,因地制宜开展土地综合整治与利用,让土地利用转型与当地自然环境条件和区域经济社会发展阶段相适应,并使其发生在适宜的区域范围内。