An Extended Minimum Spanning Tree method for characterizing local urban patterns

Detailed and precise information on urban building patterns is essential for urban design, landscape evaluation, social analyses and urban environmental studies. Although a broad range of studies on the extraction of urban building patterns has been conducted, few studies simultaneously considered the spatial proximity relations and morphological properties at a building-unit level. In this study, we present a simple and novel graph-theoretic approach, Extended Minimum Spanning Tree (EMST), to describe and characterize local building patterns at building-unit level for large urban areas. Building objects with abundant two-dimensional and three-dimensional building characteristics are first delineated and derived from building footprint data and high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging data. Then, we propose the EMST approach to represent and describe both the spatial proximity relations and building characteristics. Furthermore, the EMST groups the building objects into different locally connected subsets by applying the Gestalt theory-based graph partition method. Based on the graph partition results, our EMST method then assesses the characteristics of each building to discover local patterns by employing the spatial autocorrelation analysis and homogeneity index. We apply the proposed method to the Staten Island in New York City and successfully extracted and differentiated various local building patterns in the study area. The results demonstrate that the EMST is an effective data structure for understanding local building patterns from both geographic and perceptual perspectives. Our method holds great potential for identifying local urban patterns and provides comprehensive and essential information for urban planning and management.     

A cost path and network analysis methodology to calculate distances along a complex river network in the Peruvian Amazon

Distance is a key variable in explicating environmental, social, and economic conditions and in defining spatial and temporal patterns. Prior research has primarily focused on using simple to complex algorithms for calculating distances along road networks. In contrast, few algorithms are available for distance calculations along fluvial networks which are often more erratic, divergent and transient than road networks. Fluvial transportation is relied upon worldwide, particularly in developing regions, where communities use river networks for transportation, access to natural resources and for trade and commerce. This paper presents a methodology developed for mapping complex fluvial networks for travel distance analysis. The methodology was applied in four major river basins in western Amazonia over some 35,000 km of river length and incorporating 919 communities as origins/destinations. A cost path and network analysis methodology was created using vector and raster datasets in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess interactions among communities and the distances traveled by river to reach district capitals, major urban centres and marketplaces. An accuracy assessment using distance values calculated from a previous study using a different methodological approach in the region as well as Google Earth Pro, found a high degree of concordance for distance calculations. Our methodology creates a very flexible approach for complex river systems that can be use to calculate river distances in an adaptive and efficient manner and that can be use in other regions of the world where rural communities must rely on rivers for transportation.     

腾格里沙漠东南缘沙丘表面气流与坡面形态的关系

对腾格里沙漠东南缘格状沙丘主、副梁和新月形沙丘断面风速的野外观测结果表明,迎风坡风速放大率、背风坡气流的方向和强度随区域气流、坡面形态而不同。迎风坡风速放大率对沙丘形态的作用在于增加丘顶区域的输沙率和活动性;背风坡气流不仅影响沙丘形态而且控制沙丘动力学过程。在横向气流条件下,风速放大率使沙丘迎风坡随区域气流强度的增加变长变缓,背风坡受分离流控制使沙丘迁移;在双向－斜向气流条件下,沙丘丘顶处于侵蚀亚环境而两坡变陡变短,背风坡受附着偏向流控制使沙丘纵向延伸。     

Quaternary charophytes from Salina del Bebedero, Argentina: their relation with extant taxa and palaeolimnological significance

Charophyte (Charales, green macroscopic algae) assemblages found in Quaternary shoreline sediments from Salina del Bebedero, Argentina, are described in detail, illustrated, and statistically analysed. Fossil gyrogonites, Late Pleistocene and Holocene in age, of Chara cf. hispida var. major (Hartman) Wood, Chara halina García, Chara hornemannii Wallmann, Chara bulbillifera (Donterberg) García, Lamprothamnium haesseliae Donterberg and Lamprothamnium succinctum (Braun ex Ascherson) Wood were identified. A comparison with extant charophyte species of similar ecological requirements allowed for an accurate systematical determination and provided useful data for complementary palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical approaches. On this basis, a reconstruction of palaeo-salinities for the Salina del Bebedero lake, represented by eleven palaeo-beaches, is proposed. Also the associations of charophytes with the ostracods Cyprideis sp., Limnocythere sp., Pampacythere sp., Cypridopsis sp., Darwinula sp., Ilyocypris gibba (Randohr) Brady and Norman, and the foraminifers Ammonia sp., Elphidium gunteri Cole, Quinqueloculina sp., and one species of Discorbacea are analysed, since they are present in both the fossil and modern environments.     

Do Skeletal Networks Derived from Water Bodies Follow Horton's Laws?

The aim of this short note is to test whether the morphological skeletal network (MSN) of water bodies that resembles a river network follows Horton's laws. A fractal relationship of MSN of a water body is also shown. This investigation shows that the MSN of the Nizamsagar reservoir follows Horton's laws. Furthermore, this reservoir has a fractal dimension (D _m) of 1.92 which was computed by using two morphometric quantities and the fractal dimension of the main skeletal length (d). This value tallies exactly with the fractal dimension (D _f) of the whole MSN computed through box-counting method.     

Budapest's built environment in transition

The construction of major new buildings has been noticed in Budapest since the mid 1980s. New hotels, office blocks, housing projects and most recently shopping centres have become a prominent feature of the landscape in several districts of the city. The paper first outlines a conceptualisation of the `Transition' in terms of eastern Europe as a whole identifying internationalisation, Europeanisation and national government policies as key strands in a specific case of a process of change interpreted as the interaction of antecedent conditions and current processes. It then addresses the question of conceptualising the built environment in terms of the `Transition' and three `schools of thought' in geography stressing the urban morphogenesis approach. It thus poses the question of how radical a change has `occurred on the ground' since 1989–1990. Consequently the paper examines the transition in the built environment of Budapest under three principal headings: (a) the antecedent conditions of the built environment of Budapest by spatial structure, (b) the relationship between new buildings and current processes, (c) comparing models of the spatial structure of Budapest as a socialist city and as a post-socialist-(industrial) city or post-industrial (capitalist) city. It concludes that although the processes shaping the city's built environment have changed quite radically since 1990 the physical fabric of the city and its antecedent usage have strongly influenced the spatial impact of the current processes. Budapest is a post-socialist industrial city with capitalist forms fitted into it. The city is passing from socialist to capitalist processes in a way that suggests that morphological analysis has clear potential in theorising the relationship between the global and the local. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

栉孔扇贝成熟卵形态与超微结构的研究

实验研究栉孔扇贝成熟卵的形态与超微结构。观察表明卵子表面呈蜂窝状,无卵极标志。受精前质膜形态模糊,属非典型单位膜。卵质内含有线粒体、内质网、高尔基体等细胞器,但缺乏中心粒复合体。皮层内含有皮层颗粒。卵黄形态不同,来源于多种细胞器。卵子的成熟核相为第一次成熟分裂中期。     

蝉花菌质(Isaria cicadae)对大黄鱼(Larimichthys crocea)幼鱼生长、免疫和肠道菌群的影响

试验目的旨在研究蝉花菌质(Isaria cicadae)对大黄鱼(Larimichthys crocea)幼鱼生长性能、抗氧化和免疫、肠道组织形态以及肠道菌群等方面的影响,为大黄鱼绿色饲料添加剂的开发和利用提供参考。将初始体重为(16.50±1.10) g的大黄鱼幼鱼随机分成4组,对照组(IC0)不添加蝉花菌质,试验组分别添加1%(IC1)、3%(IC3)和5%(IC5)的蝉花菌质。试验结果表明:试验组的增重率(WGR)和特定生长率(SGR)显著高于对照组(P<0.05)。IC3与IC5组的肝体比(HSI)显著低于对照组(P<0.05),与IC1组差异不显著(P>0.05)。IC5组脏体比(VSI)显著低于对照组,但与其他试验组之间差异不显著(P<0.05)。肌肉和全鱼体成分各组之间差异不显著(P>0.05)。试验组肝脏过氧化氢酶(CAT)和血清溶菌酶(LZM)的活性显著高于对照组(P<0.05),各试验组间无显著性差异(P>0.05)。对照组单根绒毛杯状细胞数量显著少于各试验组(P<0.05),各试验组间无显著性差异(P>0.05...     

贝加尔湖Aulacoseira硅藻细胞壳的形态多样性及其在人类活动影响下的变化

We have investigated the frustule ultrastructure of Baikalian Aulacoseira: A.baicalensis (K.Meyer) Sim. and of thin-wall, spore-producing Aulacoseira which has long been designated as A. islandica (O.Muller) Sim. or A.islandica ssp. helvetica (O.Muller) Sim. (now A.skvortzowii Edlund, Stoermer,Taylor). It was found that the disagreement on the name of spore-forming Aulacoseira is due to the destruction of its vegetative frustules in the process of breaking free of the organic content, while ultrastructure data on A.islandica from different Russia''s regions can reflect signatures of different species.A. baicalensis is characterized by great polymorphism. A. baicalensis starts its development from the initial cell (auxospore). The morphological characteristics of the frustule undergo the drastic changes in the course of the life cycle. It sequentially changes the morphology and structure of its valves. Its cells evolve through several stages of development:from cyclotella-like cells to narrow and short reproducing cells. In the influence zone of the Baikalsky Pulp-and-Paper Plant (BPPP), waste waters, disturbances in the frustule structure both in vegetative and generative cells have been detected.     

汶川地震同震滑坡物质在震区的滞留和运移及其对龙门山地形演化的影响

2008年M_W7.9汶川地震导致龙门山断裂发生强烈地壳变形,同时引发的巨量同震滑坡加速了该地区的地表剥蚀和河流侵蚀.然而,目前尚缺少系统的数据定量研究滑坡物质的运移以及河流侵蚀速率随时间的演化规律,这些对理解龙门山前缘物质的再分配以及强震对活动造山带地形塑造的作用至关重要.为此,本研究在汶川地震后的6年间,对震区沱江上游3条支流湔江、石亭江、绵远河流域进行了多期次的定点现代河沙采样.通过系统测量河沙中的石英¹⁰Be浓度,并与震前已发表的数据进行对比,发现如下基本特点：（1）震后河沙¹⁰Be浓度均有明显降低,表明同震滑坡物质对河沙的稀释作用;（2）震后河流对河沙的运移量增加为震前的1.3~18.5倍,因此震后龙门山地区侵蚀速率短期显著增加;（3）初步估计得到汶川地震产生的滑坡物质被完全运移出造山带所需要的时间至少为100~4000年,接近龙门山地区强震复发周期;（4）震间和同震产生的构造变形和地表剥蚀在空间上具有互补性.考虑到地表剥蚀引起的地壳均衡反弹效应,认为类似汶川地震的强震有利于龙门山的隆升.认识震前、震时和震后的地壳变形及侵蚀过程有助于更好地理解单次强震事件对高原边界龙门山地形演化的作用.