NEW FINDS OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURINES OF THE NORTH CAUCASIAN CULTURE IN THE CENTRAL FORE-CAUCASUS

Статья посвящена публикации погребальных комплексов с алебастровыми и глиняными антропоморфными статуэтками развитого и позднего этапов северокавказской культуры (XXVIII - нач. XXV в. до н. э.), обнаруженными в Центральном Предкавказье в 2000-2014 гг. В работе приводятся описание и датировка пяти погребений, содержавших 14 таких статуэток (рис. 1-3). На основе анализа общей источниковой базы (9 погребений, 21 статуэтка) рассматриваются закономерности расположения захоронений со статуэтками в насыпях курганов и самих статуэток внутри погребений, возрастной состав погребенных, классификация статуэток по материалу изготовления, форме, размерам и орнаментации (рис. 5). Далее приводятся аргументы в пользу происхождения антропоморфных статуэток северокавказской культуры от культовой пластики так называемого серезлиевского типа Северного Причерноморья (конец IV тыс. до н. э.). В заключение на основе картографирования находок статуэток на территории Центрального Предкавказья (рис. 4) предлагается название для данной серии культовых предметов: статуэтки «подкумского» типа. This paper publishes funerary assemblages with alabaster and clay anthropomorphic figurines of the developed and late stages of the North Caucasian culture (XXVIII - early XXV centuries BC) discovered in the central Fore-Caucasus in 20002014. The article describes and dates five graves containing 14 figurines (Fig. 1-3). Based on the analysis of the overall source database (9 graves, and 21 figurines), the paper explores the location pattern of the graves with the figurines in the kurgan mounds and the figurines themselves inside the graves, age composition of the deceased, classification of the figurines by material they are made from, size and decoration (Fig. 5). The authors provide arguments that help trace the origin of the Northern Caucasus figurines to religious cult figurines of the so called Serezlievka type in the North Pontic region (late IV mill. BC). In the final section of the paper this series of the religious cult figurines is proposed to be called the Podkumok type of figurines based on the mapping of the figurine finds from the Central Fore-Caucasus.

High Influencing Pattern Discovery over Time Series Data

A spatial co-location pattern denotes a subset of spatial features whose instances frequently appear nearby. High influence co-location pattern mining is used to find co-location patterns with high influence in specific aspects. Studies of such pattern mining usually rely on spatial distance for measuring nearness between instances, a method that cannot be applied to an influence propagation process concluded from epidemic dispersal scenarios. To discover meaningful patterns by using fruitful results in this field, we extend existing approaches and propose a mining framework. We first defined a new concept of proximity to depict semantic nearness between instances of distinct features, thus applying a star-shaped materialized model to mine influencing patterns. Then, we designed attribute descriptors to perceive attributes of instances and edges from time series data, and we calculated the attribute weights via an analytic hierarchy process, thereby computing the influence between instances and the influence of features in influencing patterns. Next, we constructed influencing metrics and set a threshold to discover high influencing patterns. Since the metrics do not satisfy the downward closure property, we propose two improved algorithms to boost efficiency. Extensive experiments conducted on real and synthetic datasets verified the effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability of our method.

Relocation of public healthcare network of a large city in the event of a major earthquake: a combined methodological analysis

PurposeThe aim of this research is to improve the responsiveness of the healthcare network of a large city to a major earthquake, by applying a combined methodology to reduce human suffering and death.Design/methodology/approachScenario analysis, a non-linear programming (NLP) model, and the analytical network process are sequentially applied to find the “best location pattern”.FindingsWhen considering the occurrence of major earthquakes in cities with high population density, as a rule of thumb, the location of healthcare facilities should prioritize areas characteristically overcrowded and/or that were built based on poor standards of seismic resistance.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed research design does not include a cost criterion in the set of decision variables involved. Furthermore, the results derived from the NLP-model are restricted by the input simulation data.Practical implicationsThe performance of the “best location pattern” is compared with the current location of healthcare facilities in terms of their distances to the affected zones. Metropolis areas worldwide with similar conditions to the city under consideration could be benefited from applying the general methodology for relocation of healthcare facilities described in this research.Originality/valueThis research implements a diverse combination of methodologies to examine the problem of relocating of healthcare facilities in a large city in the wake of an assumed earthquake. In addition, to the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that proposes improvements in the responsiveness of the healthcare facilities' network in the city in question.

The Impact of the Ring Roads on the Location Pattern of Shops in Town and City Centres. A Space Syntax Approach

This contribution demonstrates how inner ring roads change the location pattern of shops in urban areas with the application of the space syntax method. A market rational behaviour persists, in that shop owners always search for an optimal location to reach as many customers as possible. If the accessibility to this optimal location is affected by changes in a city’s road and street structure, it will affect the location pattern of shops. Initially, case studies of inner ring road projects in Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Bristol, Tampere, and Mannheim show how their realisation affect the spatial structure of the street network of these cities and the location pattern of shops. The results of the spatial integration analyses of the street and road network are discussed with reference to changes in land-use before and after the implementation of ring roads, and current space syntax theories. As the results show, how an inner ring road is connected to and the type of the street network it is imposed upon dictates the resulting location pattern of shops. Shops locate and relocate themselves along the most spatially-integrated streets. Evidence on how new road projects influence the location pattern of shops in urban centres are useful for planning sustainable city centres.