Embracing cultural geography: an army imperative

As an instrument of national strategy, the United States Army has served the American people well for more than two centuries. Its fundamental mission has always been to fight and win America's Wars. As we have moved from the bi-polar nature of world dynamics to that of the new global neighborhood, the American Army has seen an increase in missions related to peacekeeping, disaster relief, and humanitarian actions. From a geography perspective, the Army must operate in numerous countries simultaneously. To succeed, the Army must go beyond physical accomplishments: it must interact and communicate with nations at a level of shared understanding and enthusiasm of each others culture. The American soldier must understand the cultural nature of geography as well as the physical. The hypothesis of this paper is: There is an urgent need for the men and women of the Unites States Army to have a firm conviction that people of other cultures have beliefs, value systems, and customs that result in behaviors and perceptions that may be vastly different than ours. . .and that those differences are legitimate. Beginning with mistakes made during the Vietnam war, the authors give examples, current as well as past, of cultural illiteracy on the part of the military. The role of the Army in the new world order is then addressed with emphasis on the types of missions to be expected in the 21^st Century. The authors point out that significant efforts to grasp customs of foreign countries to which Army units are deployed have been made during recent years; however, much remains to be accomplished. The solution to a lack of cultural awareness is given in the form of improvements to the Army military education system. An overview of the current training environment, with its strengths and weaknesses, is provided as a precursor to recommendations for future training. A multitiered education system is proposed in which cultural awareness education is provided at all levels of authority, from the basic training recruit to senior officers. Given that programs of instruction are already full, it will take a combination of command emphasis and innovation to accomplish the goal of inculcating cultural awareness in the American Army. The paper concludes with the position that the only way the Army can accomplish its changed global missions is by first winning its own war against cultural illiteracy.     

The progress in urban social spactial differentiation study of China

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跨境教育基础设施与中国城市空间的重构——基于粤港澳大湾区的案例分析

跨境教育基础设施对不同尺度空间的修复作用已成为学界的关注热点之一,但大部分研究仍缺乏对于中国经验案例的探讨。为进一步发挥跨境教育基础设施在城市和区域建设中的积极作用,推动中西方有关这一新兴现象的理论和实践对话,论文以粤港澳大湾区为例,探讨了跨境教育基础设施在中国的发展情况及其空间效应。基于多案例观察发现,跨境教育基础设施对城市空间的影响主要体现在物质性、象征性和情境性3个维度。研究发现,这些跨境办学机构只能被视为一种教育飞地,对城市空间所产生的物质影响仅仅是体现在对城市基础设施的改善和周边社区的绅士化等方面,对于城市深层的发展格局和肌理重构缺乏实质性帮助。相较于对城市的物质性修复,这些跨境教育机构对于城市空间的象征性修复作用显然更加明显,对城市品牌营建、城市发展愿景的扶持以及城市文化软实力提升都有比较明显的作用。从情境性来看,跨境教育基础设施除了在校园尺度上提供了独特的境外学习情景模式之外,在与迁出地的联系以及与城市和社区尺度上的社会文化联系等情境性交流方面都比较缺乏。研究提供了对非新自由主义社会语境下跨境教育基础设施流动所产生的(城市)空间效应的反思,对现有的有关这一新兴现象的理论和概念分析框架进行了补充和对话,对跨境办学及其政策也提供了非教育学层面的反思,对于面向教育的区域与城市发展决策也具有参考价值。     

地学计算的研究进展与问题分析

对西方地学计算的起源、概念、知识体系以及存在争议的问题进行了概括地介绍和评述。地理计算的发展动因在于探索空间复杂性的需要,发展源流则在于计算科学,技术主线可以归结为：计算机科学→计算科学→计算地理学→地理计算科学。地理计算与地理信息系统(GIS)具有密切关系,需要运用定量地理学的全套工具,横跨自然、人文两大领域,可望成为一个全新的知识领域,甚至有可能发展出一种新的研究范式。地理计算科学在西方发展迅速,但也存在一些令人不安的问题,其中之一便是缺乏知识建构的核心。由于地理计算具有超越地理学的意向和趋势,本文建议以计算地理学为主体之一,以“利用模型寻求理解”为原则,建立一个相对收敛的知识体系。     

2006―2016年粤港澳大湾区城市不透水面 时空变化与驱动力分析

以遥感和地理信息系统技术为支撑,从城市地理学视角对粤港澳大湾区城市不透水面的时空变化状况进行分析,并探讨了不透水面变化的驱动力。结果表明：1）湾区内城市不透水面扩张现象明显,面积从2006年的12 127.69 km2增加到2016年的20 188.87 km2,年均增长速度高达6.65%;2）区域内城市不透水面空间分布越来越集中,呈现高密度区域聚集;3）交通道路（省道及以上级别）与城市不透水面扩张的速度和方向关系密切,其中与国道的关系最为紧密;4）国民生产总值（GDP）和常住人口的增长都对城市不透水面的扩张产生深刻的正向影响,相关系数分别为0.840 7和0.834 1;5）近10年来,粤港澳大湾区城市不透水面的空间格局变化显著,湾区各城市的发展阶段存在差异性,在未来城市发展中应该协调好各城市不透水面的扩张范围和速度,避免过高不透水面带来生态环境问题。     

The model of a flat (Euclidean) expansive homogeneous and isotropic relativistic Universe in the light of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) confirmed the model of a flat (Euclidean) expansive homogeneous and isotropic relativistic universe with the total zero mass (energy), which describes the properties of our observed expansive homogeneous and isotropic relativistic Universe in the first (linear, Newtonian or classical-mechanical) approximation.     

试论湖南的历史文化区域

借鉴综合自然区划的原则和方法，以语言和风俗为主导指标，将湖南的历史文化区域划分为湘资区和沅澧区，并分别分为三个和两个亚区。前者以不同的地貌单元、统县以致高层政区、土著民族集团而分异，后者则因不同的河段流域、统县政区及开发进程而形成。     

现代黄河三角洲沉积物沉积年代的确定

黄河三角洲前缘粉砂分布于河口外中部,三角洲侧缘或分流间湾黏土质粉砂分布于三角洲前缘粉砂体的两侧。分流改道时新的分流河口大多分布在老叶瓣三角洲侧缘或分流间湾位置。这样,年轻的三角洲前缘粉砂覆盖在老三角洲侧缘或分流间湾黏土质粉砂之上,与此同时,年轻的三角洲侧缘或分流间湾黏土质粉砂覆盖在老三角洲前缘粉砂之上,形成规律性的叠覆层序。在观察钻孔岩心时,正确判断某一层的沉积环境,追踪其物质来历,即判断是从哪一条分流河道搬运来的物质形成的,该分流河道的活动年代就是该层形成的年代。     

ADVANCES IN MEDICO-CHEMICAL GEOGRAPHY IN CHINA

We have made progress in medico-chemical geography as follows: the correlative law of organism with geochemical environment; the geochemico-ecological classification of chemical elements; the types of formative cause of biogeochemical provinces in China; the parabolic correlation between contents of iodine in drinking water and prevalence rate of endemic goiter; the discovery and proof of the low selenium zone in China; the successive discovery of endemic fluorosis of the types of pollution from burning coal, drinking high fluoride tea and high fluoride table salt from the year 1978; the study on chemical geography of schistosomiasis and the compilation of the Atlas of Endemic Diseases and Their Environments in the People's Republic of China.