scholarly journals Degree of urbanization and predation pressure on artificial lepidopteran caterpillars in Cali, Colombia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jefferson Cupitra-Rodríguez ◽  
Lorena Cruz-Bernate ◽  
James Montoya-Lerma
Keyword(s):  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Successional Stage ◽  
Trophic Networks ◽  
Lepidopteran Larvae ◽  
The City ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Predator Community

Growing urban expansion results in the alteration of ecological processes (i.e. predation) within trophic networks. Predation on herbivores is known to vary with the size of the area covered in vegetation, successional stage, altitude, and the structure of the predator community, but there are gaps in information regarding how this occurs in urban and suburban environments. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the predation pressure on artificial models of lepidopteran larvae varied with degree of urbanization, type of substrate, and group of predators (birds or arthropods) in Cali, Colombia. Five hundred and eighteen artificial larvae were placed in two areas of the city (urban vs. suburban) and in two types of substrate (leaf vs. stem) for 30 continuous days and with two replications over time. Total predation was measured as the number of models with evidence of attack by predators. The overall incidence of predation was 24.13%, and was significantly higher in the urban area (63.20%) when compared to the suburban area (36.80%). The leaf substrate was attacked significantly more than the stem (60% vs. 40%). The proportion of attacks carried out by birds was significantly higher (74.40%) than that carried out by arthropods (24.80%). Together, these results suggest that the incidence of predation varies with the disturbance caused by urbanization and by the type of substrate in which prey organisms are found. In addition, the study confirms that birds are the main controllers of herbivorous insects in urban environments.

scholarly journals Common notions and composite collaborations: Thinking with Spinoza to design urban infrastructures for human and wild cohabitants

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Sue Ruddick
Keyword(s):  
Urban Design ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Wildlife ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Composite Body ◽  
Common Notion ◽  
The City ◽  
Over Time

This paper explores the ways in which we might construct urban environments that are responsible to the needs of more than just human cohabitants. Drawing on Spinoza’s common notion and attentive to the possibilities of socio-natures that both construct and respond to the habitat needs of urban wildlife, I look at how urban design and wildlife habitat might be thought and planned together as a human/non-human composite, invoking a complex spatial and temporal choreography which serves divergent needs. Drawing on examples of urban design in Toronto, Canada, this paper offers a way to think of the city as a composite body in Spinoza’s terms, to become open to an awareness of the city as a composition of forces—a choreography of bodies that are constantly interweaving and overflowing imagined boundaries, struggles that are fought as much over time as space, the accommodation of the temporalities and spatialities of other life processes, other rhythms and cycles that would, without a recalibration, sync uneasily with the pacing and spacing of human requirements.

scholarly journals Using Sensory Wearable Devices to Navigate the City: Effectiveness and User Experience in Older Pedestrians

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angélique Montuwy ◽  
Béatrice Cahour ◽  
Aurélie Dommes
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
User Experience ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Wearable Devices ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Navigation Experience ◽  
The City ◽  
Over Time

Preserving older pedestrians’ navigation skills in urban environments is a challenge for maintaining their quality of life. However, the maps that are usually used by older pedestrians might be unsuitable to their specificities and the existing digital aids do not consider older people’s perceptual and cognitive declines or user experience. This study presents a rich description of the navigation experience of older pedestrians either with a visual (augmented reality glasses), auditory (bone conduction headphones), or a visual and haptic (smartwatch) wearable device adapted to age-related declines. These wearable devices are compared to the navigation aid older people usually use when navigating the city (their own digital or paper map). The study, with 18 participants, measured the navigation performance and captured detailed descriptions of the users’ experience using interviews. We highlight three main phenomena which impact the quality of the user experience with the four aids: (1) the shifts in attention over time, (2) the understanding of the situation over time, and (3) the emergence of affective and aesthetic feelings over time. These findings add a new understanding of the specificities of navigation experience by older people and are discussed in terms of design recommendations for navigation devices.

Seasonal Variation of Suicide in the City of São Paulo, Brazil, 1996–2010

Crisis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Hideki Bando ◽  
Fernando Madalena Volpe
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Health Statistics ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
June July ◽  
The City ◽  
Over Time

Background: In light of the few reports from intertropical latitudes and their conflicting results, we aimed to replicate and update the investigation of seasonal patterns of suicide occurrences in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Data relating to male and female suicides were extracted from the Mortality Information Enhancement Program (PRO-AIM), the official health statistics of the municipality of São Paulo. Seasonality was assessed by studying distribution of suicides over time using cosinor analyses. Results: There were 6,916 registered suicides (76.7% men), with an average of 39.0 ± 7.0 observed suicides per month. For the total sample and for both sexes, cosinor analysis estimated a significant seasonal pattern. For the total sample and for males suicide peaked in November (late spring) with a trough in May–June (late autumn). For females, the estimated peak occurred in January, and the trough in June–July. Conclusions: A seasonal pattern of suicides was found for both males and females, peaking in spring/summer and dipping in fall/winter. The scarcity of reports from intertropical latitudes warrants promoting more studies in this area.

Minimetrò in Perugia as leverage for urban regeneration

TERRITORIO ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 148-163
Author(s):  
Luca Fondacci
Keyword(s):  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Peripheral Area ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Considerable Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
Historical Centre

In the 1970s, the fragile historical centre of the city of Perugia was a key area where the binomial of sustainable mobility and urban regeneration was developed and applied. At the turn of the xxi century, the low carbon automatic people-mover Minimetrò broadened that application from the city's historical centre to the outskirts, promoting the enhancement of several urban environments. This paper is the outcome of an investigation of original sources, field surveys and direct interviews, which addresses the Minimetrò as the backbone of a wide regeneration process which has had a considerable impact on the economic development of a peripheral area of the city which was previously devoid of any clear urban sense. The conclusion proposes some solutions to improve the nature of the Minimetrò as an experimental alternative means of transport.

Temporal patterns

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip James
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Far East ◽  
Temporal Patterns ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Flora ◽  
The Far East ◽  
Over Time

Beginning in the Far East over 2000 years ago the discussion in this chapter charts the movement of species found in contemporary urban environments around the globe. A city is dependent on trade for the resources required by the inhabitants to live and work. Some items of trade are plants and animals, and over time, many species have been introduced intentionally, and many others unintentionally (perhaps as a result of hitching a lift in or on items being traded between countries and continents) to become part of the urban flora and fauna. All the time that such global dispersal has been occurring, some floral and faunal species originally present in an urban area have become locally extinct. These processes of invasion and extinction are controlled by filters and process, and there are certain traits, the possession of which is seemingly beneficial to organisms in urban environments.

scholarly journals The prevalence of underweight in 9–10-year-old schoolchildren in Liverpool: 1998–2006

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 953-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne M Boddy ◽  
Allan F Hackett ◽  
Gareth Stratton
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrum ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
The Body ◽  
Fitness Testing ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Substantial Problem ◽  
Prevalence Of Obesity ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
The City ◽  
Over Time

AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of underweight between 1998 and 2006 in Liverpool schoolchildren aged 9–10 years using recently published underweight cut-off points.Design and settingStature and body mass data collected at the LiverpoolSportsLinx project’s fitness testing sessions were used to calculate BMI.SubjectsData were available on 26 782 (n13 637 boys, 13 145 girls) participants.ResultsOverall underweight declined in boys from 10·3 % in 1998–1999 to 6·9 % in 2005–2006, and all sub-classifications of underweight declined, in particular grade 3 underweight, with the most recent prevalence being 0·1 %. In girls, the prevalence of underweight declined from 10·8 % in 1998–1999 to 7·5 % in 2005–2006. The prevalence of all grades of underweight was higher in girls than in boys. Underweight showed a fluctuating pattern across all grades over time for boys and girls, and overall prevalence in 2005–2006 represents over 200 children across the city.ConclusionsUnderweight may have reduced slightly from baseline, but remains a substantial problem in Liverpool, with the prevalence of overall underweight being relatively similar to the prevalence of obesity. The present study highlights the requirement for policy makers and funders to consider both ends of the body mass spectrum when fixing priorities in child health.

scholarly journals Urban Growth, Real Estate Development and Indigenous Property: Simulating the Expansion Process in the City of Temuco, Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Francisco Maturana ◽  
Mauricio Morales ◽  
Fernando Peña-Cortés ◽  
Marco A. Peña ◽  
Carlos Vielma
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Real Estate Development ◽  
Territorial Planning ◽  
The Future ◽  
Urban Scenario ◽  
The City

Urbanization is spreading across the world and beyond metropolitan areas. Medium-sized cities have also undergone processes of accelerated urban expansion, especially in Latin America, thanks to scant regulation or a complete lack thereof. Thus, understanding urban growth in the past and simulating it in the future has become a tool to raise its visibility and challenge territorial planners. In this work, we use Markov chains, cellular automata, multi-criteria multi-objective evaluation, and the determination of land use/land cover (LULC) to model the urban growth of the city of Temuco, Chile, a paradigmatic case because it has experienced powerful growth, where real estate development pressures coexist with a high natural value and the presence of indigenous communities. The urban scenario is determined for the years 2033 and 2049 based on the spatial patterns between 1985 and 2017, where the model shows the trend of expansion toward the northeast and significant development in the western sector of the city, making them two potential centers of expansion and conflict in the future given the heavy pressure on lands that are indigenous property and have a high natural value, aspects that need to be incorporated into future territorial planning instruments.

A Tower of Tangled Histories: The Upper Silesia Tower in Poznań and the Making of an Unromantic Poland, 1911–1955

Slavic Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 566-590
Author(s):  
Patryk Babiracki
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Cold War ◽  
World War I ◽  
Material Structure ◽  
World War ◽  
Upper Silesia ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The City ◽  
Over Time

Engaging with regional, international, and spatial histories, this article proposes a new reading of the twentieth-century Polish past by exploring the vicissitudes of a building known as the Upper Silesia Tower. Renowned German architect Hans Poelzig designed the Tower for the 1911 Ostdeutsche Ausstellung in Posen, an ethnically Polish city under Prussian rule. After Poland regained its independence following World War I, the pavilion, standing centrally on the grounds of Poznań’s International Trade Fair, became the fair's symbol, and over time, also evolved into visual shorthand for the city itself. I argue that the Tower's significance extends beyond Posen/Poznań, however. As an embodiment of the conflicts and contradictions of Polish-German historical entanglements, the building, in its changing forms, also concretized various efforts to redefine the dominant Polish national identity away from Romantic ideals toward values such as order, industriousness, and hard work. I also suggest that eventually, as a material structure harnessed into the service of socialism, the Tower, with its complicated past, also brings into relief questions about the regional dimensions of the clashes over the meaning of modernity during the Cold War.

scholarly journals Facilitating fine-grained intra-urban dengue forecasting by integrating urban environments measured from street-view images

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Liu ◽  
Ling Yin ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Min Kang ◽  
Ai-Ping Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Feature Vector ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Environmental Feature ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Environmental Features ◽  
Street View ◽  
The City ◽  
Dengue Epidemic

Abstract Background Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that has threatened tropical and subtropical regions in recent decades. An early and targeted warning of a dengue epidemic is important for vector control. Current studies have primarily determined weather conditions to be the main factor for dengue forecasting, thereby neglecting that environmental suitability for mosquito breeding is also an important factor, especially in fine-grained intra-urban settings. Considering that street-view images are promising for depicting physical environments, this study proposes a framework for facilitating fine-grained intra-urban dengue forecasting by integrating the urban environments measured from street-view images. Methods The dengue epidemic that occurred in 167 townships of Guangzhou City, China, between 2015 and 2019 was taken as a study case. First, feature vectors of street-view images acquired inside each township were extracted by a pre-trained convolutional neural network, and then aggregated as an environmental feature vector of the township. Thus, townships with similar physical settings would exhibit similar environmental features. Second, the environmental feature vector is combined with commonly used features (e.g., temperature, rainfall, and past case count) as inputs to machine-learning models for weekly dengue forecasting. Results The performance of machine-learning forecasting models (i.e., MLP and SVM) integrated with and without environmental features were compared. This indicates that models integrating environmental features can identify high-risk urban units across the city more precisely than those using common features alone. In addition, the top 30% of high-risk townships predicted by our proposed methods can capture approximately 50–60% of dengue cases across the city. Conclusions Incorporating local environments measured from street view images is effective in facilitating fine-grained intra-urban dengue forecasting, which is beneficial for conducting spatially precise dengue prevention and control.

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