Making migration meaningful: Achievements through separation in Mongolia

Mongolia has experienced two decades since the demise of the Soviet Union and has implemented strategies to strengthen its economy and its democratic practices. Transitions from being a nomadic society to a Soviet satellite state and onwards to liberal democracy have greatly impacted family life. The article focuses on changing patterns of mobility in the Mongolian ‘age of the market’ and its effects on population groups. Internal and international migration has continually risen as individuals and families have moved to places of opportunity. Connections are believed to be maintained during periods of absence by migrant family members, as both men and women are culturally permitted to be separate from their families. Migration is understood to contribute to prosperity, and separations contribute to generate growth and hishig (good fortune) for the good of the family. However, such mobility is also a way to escape family patriarchy and conformity, and can contribute to loss, hardship, and uncertainty for family members left behind. Further, mobility provides opportunities and a means to escape the stigma of ‘laziness’ culturally associated with poverty and immobility. Postsocialist separation has inadvertently contributed to the breakdown of the institutions of marriage and family – institutions that were supported by separations in the pastoral economy.     

Walking as Method: Toward Methodological Forthrightness and Comparability in Urban Geographical Research

Qualitative urban geographical research should explicitly acknowledge insights gained from walking (the iterative exploration and observation of cities on foot), which enhances local literacy and enables researchers to compare methods more explicitly. Some urban geographers might use walking as a method, but it is rarely reported in published scholarship. This article argues for the explicit inclusion of walking in methodological reporting for urban research. We suggest that reporting the walking that researchers do adds rigor to research findings and should be distinguished from research where this practice is absent, we report on international experiences using walking in combination with other methods, and we conclude with a proposal for comparable urban geographic walking practices.     

The potential for the use of Open Source Software and Open Specifications in creating Web‐based cross‐border health spatial information systems

Globalization is contributing to the blurring of borders making irrelevant the distinctions between domestic and international health problems. Cross‐border and global health spatial information systems (CBHSIS) are required to address the new global health challenges. There is a need to build and document alternatives for addressing the technological, economic, and sociocultural–political challenges encountered in the creation and deployment of these systems. This paper documents the building of a prototype Web‐based multimedia GIS system for use in a public health context using Open Source Software and Open Specifications and its deployment across the US–Mexico border. These technologies offer advantages in addressing several of the challenges previously mentioned. We highlight the technological and sociocultural–political issues important in successful collaboration across borders and cultures and in the creation of interoperable CBHSIS.     

Amplifier arrays for CMB polarization

Cryogenic low noise amplifier technology has been successfully used in the study of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Monolithic millimeter wave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology makes the mass production of coherent detection receivers feasible. We have produced large numbers of MMIC amplifiers for CMB measurements. We have also demonstrated the viability of multi-function multi-chip modules as sensitive receiver front-ends. MMIC integration makes it possible to realize massive arrays of receivers suitable for measurements of the polarization of the CMB. We describe the development of the unit cell of such an array and the development plans for implementation.     

Fabrication of synthetic calcite–muscovite rocks with variable texture — An analogue to cataclasite fabrics?

A series of large diameter calcite–muscovite aggregates has been prepared from calcite and muscovite powders, in order to gain a better understanding of how texture develops in impure carbonate rocks. The development of the microstructure and the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO, texture) during the preparation process is described. The synthetic rocks have been fabricated from powders of calcite and muscovite by uniaxial cold-pressing at loads up to 400 MPa and subsequent hot isostatic pressing (HIPping) at pressures of 150 to 170 MPa and a temperature of 670 °C. The resulting textures and microstructures are homogeneous throughout the samples. The calcite CPO is generated by rigid body rotation and twinning during cold-pressing and is not significantly altered by recrystallization during HIPping. Grain growth during HIPping is observed in pure calcite samples, but is inhibited through high porosity and the presence of muscovite in the mixed aggregates. The preferred orientation of the calcite c-axes is found to increase with increasing uniaxial cold pressure, and to be independent of the muscovite content. The magnetic bulk susceptibility of the starting material has been changed by the formation of ferromagnetic impurities during fabrication. Comparison of the samples to natural calcite fabrics from fault zones show the potential of the experiments and fabric analyses presented to analyze and to better understand the deformation mechanisms of fault zones.     

Spatiotemporal variability of methane over the Amazon from satellite observations

The spatiotemporal variability of the greenhouse gas methane(CH_4) in the atmosphere over the Amazon is studied using data from the space-borne measurements of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on board NASA's AQUA satellite for the period 2003–12. The results show a pronounced variability of this gas over the Amazon Basin lowlands region, where wetland areas occur. CH_4 has a well-defined seasonal behavior, with a progressive increase of its concentration during the dry season, followed by a decrease during the wet season. Concerning this variability, the present study indicates the important role of ENSO in modulating the variability of CH_4 emissions over the northern Amazon, where this association seems to be mostly linked to changes in flooded areas in response to ENSO-related precipitation changes. In this region, a CH_4 decrease(increase) is due to the El Nino-related(La Ni ?na-related) dryness(wetness). On the other hand, an increase(decrease) in the biomass burning over the southeastern Amazon during very dry(wet) years explains the increase(decrease) in CH_4 emissions in this region. The present analysis identifies the two main areas of the Amazon, its northern and southeastern sectors, with remarkable interannual variations of CH_4. This result might be useful for future monitoring of the variations in the concentration of CH_4, the second-most important greenhouse gas, in this area.     

Assessing the effectiveness of different visualizations for judgments of positional uncertainty

Many techniques have been proposed for visualizing uncertainty in geospatial data. Previous empirical research on the effectiveness of visualizations of geospatial uncertainty has focused primarily on user intuitions rather than objective measures of performance when reasoning under uncertainty. Framed in the context of Google’s blue dot, we examined the effectiveness of four alternative visualizations for representing positional uncertainty when reasoning about self-location data. Our task presents a mobile mapping scenario in which GPS satellite location readings produce location estimates with varying levels of uncertainty. Given a known location and two smartphone estimates of that known location, participants were asked to judge which smartphone produces the better location reading, taking uncertainty into account. We produced visualizations that vary by glyph type (uniform blue circle with border vs. Gaussian fade) and visibility of a centroid dot (visible vs. not visible) to produce the four visualization formats. Participants viewing the uniform blue circle are most likely to respond in accordance with the actual probability density of points sampled from bivariate normal distributions and additionally respond most rapidly. Participants reported a number of simple heuristics on which they based their judgments, and consistency with these heuristics was highly predictive of their judgments.