REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN DENOMINATIONAL SWITCHING AMONG WHITE PROTESTANTS*

This study examines the hypothesis that the determinants of denominational switching vary regionally among white American Protestants. Data for the analysis are taken from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey for 1974 through 1984. Using logistic regression, the analysis compares the determinants of switching among respondents residing in the nine Census regions of the U.S. Results reveal significant regional differences in the determinants of switching, especially in the effects of conversion, childhood affiliation and interdenominational marriage.     

On Methods of Teaching Geography

This study investigates the location and varying spatiality of questions in geography textbooks. The results show that study questions posed in page margins address the three components of spatial thinking—concepts of space, using tools of representation, and processes of reasoning—more than questions in other locations within the text. Three practices are particularly recommended to help students develop spatial thinking skills through answering textbook questions: (1) utilize page-margin questions; (2) select questions around spatial representations; and (3) focus on higher-level cognitive processes.     

Location offarm woodlands in Denmark: a quantification of the results of the scheme for field afforestation in Ribe and Vejle counties

The article analyses the results of the scheme for field afforestation (EU-regulation 2080/92) in Denmark. The purpose is twofold, firstly to document the afforestation on arable land taking place both within the scheme and outside the scheme for field afforestation. The former is documented in Ribe and Vejle counties whereas the latter is documented in three smaller areas: Varde, Vorbasse, and Vejle. Secondly, the article argues that in order to evaluate the afforestation not only the location within designated areas hut also the spatial parameters and configuration of new woodlands must be considered. Two methods -'forest-pictures' and ‘gradient-pictures’-are presented and applied in order to quantify the spatial configuration of new woodlands in the landscape.     

Rapid generation of Digital Elevation Models from topographic maps

Abstract

In this article we demonstrate that substantial gains in time can be made when using point sampling rather than contour line digitising for generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). A simple sampling scheme, based on regularly distributed points, was used supplemented with points near break-lines in the terrain. An evaluation of surfaces created with three different interpolation methods at three different resolutions shows that the statistical distribution was better when using points as opposed to contours, and that the accuracy was comparable despite the much smaller amount of input data.     

基于陆路交通网的空间通达性分析——以兰州-西宁城市区域为例

以兰州-西宁城市区域交通路网为例,基于空间句法模型、日常可达性模型和等时圈通过特征点算法,试图运用GIS技术将节点、轴线和域面结合起来对通达性进行全面阐述,多视角综合测度区域路网通达性的空间格局。研究结果表明:1.区域路网体系较为完善,路网线段集聚相对明显;线段式空间伸展格局呈"点-轴"状,轴线式空间伸展格局呈"干-枝"状,初步形成核心、过渡、外围三大等级圈层以及"X"字型路网骨架,区域交通运输与城镇发展水平表现出较强的共轭协同发展关系。2.等时圈沿国道、省道、县道扩散表现连续,沿封闭铁路、高速公路扩散出现跳跃,其等时圈空间特征多呈现"枝-叶"状。城镇日常可达性在较大程度上取决于区域中心性、周边路网发达程度和城镇密集程度,区域路网单中心极化现象比较明显,兰州市对整个区域路网的控制作用较为突出。3.区域通达度空间分布各异,核心板块破碎而外围板块连片。区域通达性差异极其显著,出现极高值区和极低值区;兰州与西宁通达度中高值区出现断裂,区域南部通达度极低值区连片成带。因此,应当构建兰州地区绕城高速和环状路网,实现路网交通的适度分流;加快兰州-西宁高等级快速交通建设,推进兰州-西宁区域一体化进程;建设兰成铁路和兰州至云南磨憨口岸高速通道,培育临夏为南部区域性中心城市。     

塔里木河下游生态保护目标和措施

针对2000-2009年塔里木河下游10次生态输水后生态环境的变化情况,提出新的生态保护目标：在距河500 m以内以胡杨(Populus euphratica)为主的重点保护带,地下水埋深保持在≤4 m,植被总盖度达到0.4~0.5;500~1 000 m为基本保护带,以柽柳(Tamarix spp.)为主,地下水埋深为4~6 m,植被总覆盖度达到0.3以上;＞1 000 m为一般保护带,随着输水累积量增加,地下水埋深达到6~8 m,使现有植被不再退化;沿河两岸1 000 m的植被保护恢复总面积应达到1 028 km2;用水均衡法和潜水蒸散法重新估算的大西海子的下泄水量为2.3×108 m3 ,比原规划减少了1.2×108 m3 ,其中2.0×108 m3为维护生态所用,另外还有0.15×108~0.3×108 m3为向台特玛湖输水的水量;应保持输水连续性,大西海子以下年泄水量不小于0.36×108 m3;为了保证向下游输水,必须加强水资源调控,通过整治源流,使到达干流的水量为44.2×108 m3 ,干流严禁开荒,加强对防护堤修建后生态环境变化的监测,下游采用漫溢漂种增加植被面积。     

Use of Business-Naming Practices to Delineate Vernacular Regions: A Michigan Example

This article provides a history of efforts to map vernacular regions as context for offering readers a way of using business directories in order to construct a GIS-based map of vernacular regions. With Michigan as a case study, the article discusses regional-naming conventions, boundaries, and inclusions and omissions of areas from regional labels in order to offer educators ideas that can enhance classroom content on regions. This article concludes by providing suggestions for classroom activities collecting, analyzing, and discussing vernacular region patterns and processes in accordance with National Geography Standard Five at the eighth-grade level.     

Wavelet triangulated irregular networks

GIS applications have recently begun to emerge on the Internet. The management of three-dimensional geographic datasets in this distributed environment poses a particularly challenging problem, which highlights the need for a good data representation. This paper presents a new multiresolution data representation: the Wavelet Triangulated Irregular Network (WTIN). Compared to the traditional cell-based Digital Elevation Model (DEM) format and the Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) format, it is more compact and suitable for scalable distributed GIS services. This format is based on the second-generation wavelet theory and is specially designed for geographical height field data. The modified Butterfly scheme is used for constructing the wavelet transform. For every point in the geographic surface, only a single wavelet coefficient is used, which makes the final data representation very efficient and easy to compress. Because the transform used in the data representation is a linear filter operation, the computational efficiency is better than other multiresolution data formats for terrain surfaces. Results from numerical experiments on real data are given to demonstrate that the proposed data representation can be efficiently implemented. The results show that the proposed WTIN data format can provide multiresolution data sets, which achieve significant compression while preserving geographical features. The quality is found to be quite acceptable for geographical terrain representation.     

Finding shortest paths on real road networks: the case for A*

The problem of identifying the shortest path along a road network is a fundamental problem in network analysis, ranging from route guidance in a navigation system to solving spatial allocation problems. Since this type of problem is solved so frequently, it is important to craft an approach that is as efficient as possible. Based upon past research, it is generally accepted that several efficient implementations of the Dijkstra algorithm are the fastest at optimally solving the ‘one‐to‐one’ shortest path problem (Cherkassky et al. 1996 Cherkassky, B. V., Goldberg, A. V. and Radzik, T. 1996. Shortest paths algorithms: theory and experimental evaluation.. Mathematical Programming: Series A and B, 73: 129–174. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We show that the most efficient state‐of‐the‐art implementations of Dijkstra can be improved by taking advantage of network properties associated with GIS‐sourced data. The results of this paper, derived from tests of different algorithmic approaches on real road networks, will be extremely valuable for application developers and researchers in the GIS community.     

Politics,Public Space,and Memorials: The Brawl on the Mall

This paper examines recent proposals for memorials and monuments on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Demands for memorials are increasingly at odds with the Mall's important role as open green space and public protest space. This article analyzes the broader issues embodied in the competing purposes of this highly visible public space by considering the recent controversy over the World War II Memorial. The controversy focused primarily on the location of the memorial. Opponents contended the World War II Memorial would interrupt or destroy the iconography of the National Mall. Supporters argued that the location selected for the memorial was consistent with its importance in U.S. history and that it deserved such a prized location in the central axis between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The article then analyzes the politics behind the site selection, and examines the debate about the impact of the memorial's location. It concludes that the location of the memorial was not accidental but intentional, and thereby reveals a purposeful re-writing of the Mall's symbolic space to suit a specific vision of the war and its meaning in American history. The article also contends that the location of the memorial represents an emerging social-political agenda that is prioritizing the Mall as a place of commemoration at the expense of open space, and, perhaps, at the expense of public protest space.