scholarly journals Sons al balcó: Soundscape Map of the Confinement in Catalonia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Rosa Ma Alsina-Pagès ◽  
Ferran Orga ◽  
Roger Mallol ◽  
Marc Freixes ◽  
Xavier Baño ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Communication Campaign ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
Scientific Hypothesis ◽  
On Line ◽  
Line Test ◽  
Dynamic Collaboration ◽  
The One

In this project, we aim to study the effect that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused on the perception of noise in Catalonia. In Sons al Balcó, the research activities cohabit with the dynamic collaboration with citizens and other stakeholders to create social and environmental impact, to widen awareness and design tools to improve citizenship development and empowerment. The initial scientific hypothesis is that the annoyance coming from outdoor noise, minimized by the lockdown effect, could be associated with better perception of the soundscape by people. Sons al Balcó allows validating this hypothesis in two different ways. On the one hand, by means of subjective questionnaires conducted to people living in pre-defined diverse acoustic areas (urban, suburban and rural environments), and on the other hand, by the use of objective measurements of the noise levels, and the study of the soundscape in these areas, using short pieces of video collected by citizens. For this purpose, we designed an on line test to be conducted by any citizen aiming to contribute to this wide study for all the territory of Catalonia, both from rural areas and from cities. A communication campaign was conducted to reach a significant participation. During the lockdown, more than 350 questionnaires and videos were collected, and a first map of the soundscape of the confinement in Catalonia was depicted.

Otherness and closeness: residential tourism and rural gentrification processes

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 736-755
Author(s):  
Antonio di Campli
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Spatial Representation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Rural Gentrification ◽  
Global North ◽  
The One ◽  
Residential Tourism

Purpose This essay looks at how various forms of residential tourism or lifestyle migration, produced by people arriving from the cities and territories of the so-called Global North, have triggered complex processes of social-spatial modification in the landscapes and rural environments of Vilcabamba, Ecuador, a small Andean village of approximately 5,000 inhabitants in the southern part of the canton of Loja. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Residential tourism in rural areas is a phenomenon that can be investigated by combining socio-economic studies with spatial analyses to define the specific characteristics of territories and environments affected by this phenomenon. In the case of Vilcabamba, the relationships and conflicts between imaginations, spaces, ecologies and desires have taken the form of a complex “implicit project”, a “palimpsest-project” intended as a set of territorial descriptions, interpretations and transformation actions triggered by a plot featuring migrant tourists, activists, eco-institutions, schools, artisans, intellectuals and artists. Though weakly connected to one another, these subjects nonetheless produce substantially coherent actions. Findings Two main hypotheses are given as: the first is that in particular rural contexts, such as the Andean area around Vilcabamba, dwelling practices and economies related to residential tourism have triggered processes through which these areas have progressively become peripheries to distant metropolitan territories and are reconfigured as sets of specialised places. The second hypothesis is that Vilcabamba and its rural surroundings can be viewed as a particular “contact zone” in which different types of residential tourists and local dwellers interact, together with different economies of tourism. In this case the reference is, on the one hand, to the logics and discourses of the so-called extractive tourism, a concept that describes the processes of “extracting” and converting local cultural characteristics, and “indigenousness”. To support these hypotheses, the result is the construction of a spatial representation of the ways in which specific practices of residential tourism are territorialised, and how they modify the meaning and functioning of rural spaces. Originality/value What is new in the paper is the attempt to define a spatial representation of transnational spaces trying to highlight relationships between extractive tourism and remittance urbanism.

Sons al Balcó, a Citizen Science Approach to Map the Soundscape of Catalonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Xavier Baño ◽  
Pau Bergadà ◽  
Daniel Bonet-Solà ◽  
Alba Egea ◽  
Maria Foraster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Demographic Data ◽  
First Year ◽  
Design Tools ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Outdoor Activities ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Dynamic Collaboration ◽  
One Year

Sons al Balcó (Catalan for “Sounds of the balcony”) was a project born to study the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown caused on the perception of noise in Catalonia. One of the aims of the project was to combine the research activities—acoustic and image processing, urbanistic analysis and health and annoyance evaluation—with the dynamic collaboration with citizens and other stakeholders to create social and environmental impact, to raise awareness and design tools to improve citizenship development and empowerment. This first year of Sons al Balcó has shown that citizens are willing to participate in initiatives that work with their everyday life, because one year after the lockdown, a new soundscape map of Catalonia has been built with their collaboration and their perceptual impact from their balconies or windows. This has allowed the inclusion of other issues that enhance the final goal of describing and finding relationships between the annoyance caused by noise, and other factors as the environment (urban, suburban, rural) and the landscape, including the soundscape and noise levels in this evaluation. Objective measurements of LAeq have been conducted during the lockdown and in the months afterwards to describe the average noise and its possible link with outdoor activities. During this second collecting campaign, Sons al Balcó managed to gather more than 220 contributions. In this work, we detail the definitions of the metrics that include urbanistic and health-related environmental elements (water, trees, etc.), together with the socio-economic and demographic data that correspond to the answers of the questionnaires, and finally, the information extracted from the audios and the videos sent by the citizens. Preliminary results show encouraging dependencies between perception gathered with the questionnaires and the objective data collected, still in process of analysis, and a clear bias to a worse soundscape in 2021 in comparison to the 2020 campaign.

The Concept of Model-View-Controler (MVC) as Solution Software Development

CCIT Journal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-402
Author(s):  
Ermatita Ermatita ◽  
Huda Ubaya ◽  
Dwirosa Indah
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Model View Controller ◽  
On Line ◽  
Line Test ◽  
Model View

Pengembangan perangkat lunak adalah tugas kompleks dan membutuhkan adaptasi untuk mengakomodasi kebutuhan pengguna. Untuk membuat konsep dan perubahan perangkat lunak, dalam pemeliharaan, sekarang telah dikembangkan lebih mudah dalam pengembangan perangkat lunak, pola model-view-controller, yang merupakan arsitektur yang dapat membantu memfasilitasi dalam pengembangan dan pemeliharaan perangkat luna. Hal ini, karena dalam arsitektur model tiga-lapis, yaitu: tampilan dan pengontrolan dalam pembangunan dilakukan secara independen, sehingga dapat memberikan dahan dalam pengembangan dan pemeliharaan. Selain itu, arsitektur ini juga dapat melihat hal-hal yang sederhana dan menarik bagi pengguna. Software sistem on-line test adalah perangkat lunak yang memerlukan interaksi dengan pengguna, dan pemeliharaan perangkat adaptif. Karena sistem ujian on-line memerlukan pengembangan perangkat lunak untuk mengakomodasi kebutuhan ini berkembang dengan cepat. Makalah ini untuk menganalisis Model-View-Controller dan mencoba pembangunan, untuk menerapkannya dalam pengembangan perangkat lunak sistem pengujian on-line. 

Aspects of the Evolution of the Romanian Tourists’ Preferences Concerning the Domestic Tourist Destinations

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Aniela Bălăcescu ◽  
Radu Șerban Zaharia
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Model ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
Tourism Management ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
On Line ◽  
The One ◽  
Long Term Studies

Abstract Tourist services represent a category of services in which the inseparability of production and consumption, the inability to be storable, the immateriality, and last but not least non-durability, induces in tourism management a number of peculiarities and difficulties. Under these circumstances the development of medium-term strategies involves long-term studies regarding on the one hand the developments and characteristics of the demand, and on the other hand the tourist potential analysis at regional and local level. Although in the past 20 years there has been tremendous growth of on-line booking made by household users, the tour operators agencies as well as those with sales activity continue to offer the specific services for a large number of tourists, that number, in the case of domestic tourism, increased by 1.6 times in case of the tour operators and by 4.44 times in case of the agencies with sales activity. At the same time, there have been changes in the preferences of tourists regarding their holiday destinations in Romania. Started on these considerations, paper based on a logistic model, examines the evolution of the probabilities and scores corresponding to the way the Romanian tourists spend their holidays on the types of tourism agencies, actions and tourist areas in Romania.

Higher education for sustainable development: stakeholders benefits

2020 ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
O.V. Kotomina ◽  
A.I. Sazhina
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Active Agent ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Stakeholder Approach ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Academic Activities ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
The One ◽  
Significant Factors

Education is one of the key goals of sustainable development (SD), which establishes the basis for the improvement of the people’s living conditions. In this logic a special role is played by universities that create an institutional framework for educating citizens on sustainable development, offering a new understanding of social problems. On the one hand, universities can create and promote knowledge about SD by their educational, expert and research activities, hence developing relevant values among people. On the other hand, universities can become an active agent in implementing the concept of SD by introducing it into its own academic activities. The article considers stakeholder approach as one of the approaches to the implementation of the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD). Therefore based on this approach, the article explores the benefits of the key stakeholders of the sustainable university. Low awareness among key stakeholders is one of the significant factors that hindering the implementation of the SD concept. Due to the lack of a sufficient research focused on studying the interests of the main stakeholders in the framework of ESD, this article is an attempt to narrow this gap.

Heuristic Algorithms for Waste Load Allocation in a River Basin

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 1057-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay Joshi ◽  
Prasad Modak
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Programming ◽  
Heuristic Algorithms ◽  
Water Quality Management ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Waste Load Allocation ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Waste Load ◽  
On Line ◽  
The One

Waste load allocation for rivers has been a topic of growing interest. Dynamic programming based algorithms are particularly attractive in this context and are widely reported in the literature. Codes developed for dynamic programming are however complex, require substantial computer resources and importantly do not allow interactions of the user. Further, there is always resistance to utilizing mathematical programming based algorithms for practical applications. There has been therefore always a gap between theory and practice in systems analysis in water quality management. This paper presents various heuristic algorithms to bridge this gap with supporting comparisons with dynamic programming based algorithms. These heuristics make a good use of the insight gained in the system's behaviour through experience, a process akin to the one adopted by field personnel and therefore can readily be understood by a user familiar with the system. Also they allow user preferences in decision making via on-line interaction. Experience has shown that these heuristics are indeed well founded and compare very favourably with the sophisticated dynamic programming algorithms. Two examples have been included which demonstrate such a success of the heuristic algorithms.

scholarly journals Stakeholders’ Participation in Sustainable Tourism Planning for a Rural Region: Extremadura Case Study (Spain)

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
Marcelo Sánchez-Oro Sánchez ◽  
José Castro-Serrano ◽  
Rafael Robina-Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Tourism Planning ◽  
Rural Region ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
The One

The objective of this research is to obtain and analyze discursive information on the problems and solutions of the tourism sector in an eminently rural region, such as Extremadura, based on the opinions of stakeholders, in order to incorporate them into the evaluation and tourism planning of the region. More specifically, on the situation of the sector, perceptions on profitability and return on investment, the problem of overnight stays, and coordination between tourism agents and training demands, in order to make a sustainable tourism sector in a rural region. The research starts from the following premise: for tourism to be sustainable, stakeholders must participate in the strategic decision-making process. This paper aims, on the one hand, to clarify sufficiently the state of the art regarding the validity of focus groups and their analysis as a research methodology, explaining how to address the main challenges implied by this technique by reviewing a selection of research works that we consider relevant in this field. On the other hand, an analysis of the tourism sector in Extremadura is carried out based on these group dynamics. The main result, after analyzing the discourse of six focus groups, is that the different opinions of their members reveal, despite everything, that the training of human capital in the tourism sector in rural environments is a pending issue.

scholarly journals The application of drones for mosquito larval habitat identification in rural environments: a practical approach for malaria control?

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle C. Stanton ◽  
Patrick Kalonde ◽  
Kennedy Zembere ◽  
Remy Hoek Spaans ◽  
Christopher M. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Malaria Control ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Larval Habitat ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Rural Environments

Abstract Background Spatio-temporal trends in mosquito-borne diseases are driven by the locations and seasonality of larval habitat. One method of disease control is to decrease the mosquito population by modifying larval habitat, known as larval source management (LSM). In malaria control, LSM is currently considered impractical in rural areas due to perceived difficulties in identifying target areas. High resolution drone mapping is being considered as a practical solution to address this barrier. In this paper, the authors’ experiences of drone-led larval habitat identification in Malawi were used to assess the feasibility of this approach. Methods Drone mapping and larval surveys were conducted in Kasungu district, Malawi between 2018 and 2020. Water bodies and aquatic vegetation were identified in the imagery using manual methods and geographical object-based image analysis (GeoOBIA) and the performances of the classifications were compared. Further, observations were documented on the practical aspects of capturing drone imagery for informing malaria control including cost, time, computing, and skills requirements. Larval sampling sites were characterized by biotic factors visible in drone imagery and generalized linear mixed models were used to determine their association with larval presence. Results Imagery covering an area of 8.9 km2 across eight sites was captured. Larval habitat characteristics were successfully identified using GeoOBIA on images captured by a standard camera (median accuracy = 98%) with no notable improvement observed after incorporating data from a near-infrared sensor. This approach however required greater processing time and technical skills compared to manual identification. Larval samples captured from 326 sites confirmed that drone-captured characteristics, including aquatic vegetation presence and type, were significantly associated with larval presence. Conclusions This study demonstrates the potential for drone-acquired imagery to support mosquito larval habitat identification in rural, malaria-endemic areas, although technical challenges were identified which may hinder the scale up of this approach. Potential solutions have however been identified, including strengthening linkages with the flourishing drone industry in countries such as Malawi. Further consultations are therefore needed between experts in the fields of drones, image analysis and vector control are needed to develop more detailed guidance on how this technology can be most effectively exploited in malaria control.

A Study on the Method of Vibration Analysis for Korean High Speed Train by the On-Line Test

2006 ◽  
Vol 321-323 ◽  
pp. 1593-1596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chan Kyoung Park ◽  
Ki Whan Kim ◽  
Jin Yong Mok ◽  
Young Guk Kim ◽  
Seog Won Kim
Keyword(s):  
Vibration Analysis ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Vibration Mode ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Railway Vehicle ◽  
High Speed Train ◽  
Acceleration Data ◽  
On Line ◽  
System Vibration ◽  
Line Test

The Korean High Speed Train (KHST) has been tested on the Kyongbu high speed line and the Honam conventional line since 2002. A data acquisition system was developed to test and prove the dynamic performance of the KHST, and the system has been found to be very efficient in acquiring multi-channel data from accelerometers located all over the train. Also presented in this paper is an analysis procedure which is simple and efficient in analyzing the acceleration data acquired during the on-line test of the KHST. The understanding of system vibration mode for a railway vehicle is essential to evaluate the characteristics of a dynamic system and to diagnose the dynamic problems of the vehicle system during tests and operations. Methods based on homogeneous linear systems are not realistic because real systems have nonlinear characteristics and are strongly dependent on environmental conditions. In this paper an efficient method of vibration analysis has been proposed and applied for the KHST to evaluate its vibration mode characteristics. The results show that this method is suitable to estimate the system vibration modes of the KHST.

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