STRENGTHENING SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE THROUGH GIS APPLICATIONS IN TRANSPORT MODELING

The process of transporting passengers and goods takes place in space; therefore, geospatial foundations are considered in transport models. Considering conceptual, methodological and technical developments in this direction, the relevance of an integrated approach becomes obvi-ous. The article deals with geographic information systems and their application in modeling transport processes. Three areas are identified in which the spatial perspective contributes to effective modeling and increasing the reliability of the results obtained. The purpose of the study is to prove the prospects of spatial transport modeling with the integration of geographic information systems

LOS PERVERSOS ESPACIOS-SANTUARIO EN LA NARRATIVA DE CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ CUBAS

La literatura fantástica de Cristina Fernández Cubas muestra una peculiar inclinación hacia espacios en que ciertos personajes se refugian para distanciarse de un mundo con el que no se identifican. La habitación de Nona (2015) ofrece nuevas perspectivas sobre este tipo de espacialidad que hemos denominado espacio-santuario, recurrente en la producción de la autora desde la publicación de su primer volumen de cuentos en 1980. En este artículo exploramos la doble dimensión de este lugar de protección y alienación apoyándonos en la teoría de los borderscapes, las aportaciones antropológicas referentes al símbolo del santuario y el refugio, y mediante una perspectiva espacial del texto literario que supedita el concepto de trama al de dominio espacial. Abstract: Cristina Fernández Cubas’s fantastic fiction shows a peculiar preference towards spaces in which certain characters take refuge to distance themselves from a world with which they do not identify. La habitación de Nona (2015) offers new perspectives on this type of spatiality, which we have called sanctuary-space, recurrent in the author’s production since the publication of her first volume of stories in 1980. This article explores the double dimension of this place of protection and alienation with the support of the theory of borderscapes, through anthropological contributions regarding the symbol of the sanctuary and refuge and, from a spatial perspective on the literary text that subordinates the concept of plot to that of spatial domain.

The Place of Civil Society in the Creation of Knowledge

This interdisciplinary volume addresses the relations between civil society and knowledge from a social, institutional, and spatial perspective. As knowledge and civil society are co-constitutive (any voluntary civic agency would seem to require a minimum of knowledge and the kinds of civic agency shape the production and use of knowledge), we approach their relationship from two viewpoints: (a) what we know and how we think about the civil society shapes our action in it; (b) the particular relations between knowledge and civil society shape how knowledge in civil society becomes actionable. Adhering to the first imperative, we should carefully reflect and occasionally reconsider our assumptions about civil society. In line with the second imperative, we should carefully distinguish the ways in which civil society impacts knowledge. These range from knowledge creation, its interpretation, and its influence on societal and political discourses to its dissemination through civil society.

BIOGRAPHY VISUALIZATION OF SULTAN THAHA SAIFUDDIN BASED ON ARCGIS STORY MAPS IN JAMBI PROVINCE

The introduction of new technologies for historical studies presents an opportunity to make historical studies more accessible to the public. The ArcGIS platform has facilitated this effort and offers interesting ways to do this, including the Story Map program. Part of the cloud-based online ArcGIS platform, the story map application enables the integration of narratives, images, and maps in an easy-to-use format. This paper tries to apply this technology in the theme of Visualization of Biography of Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Based on ArcGIS Story Map in Jambi Province. Many similar writings discuss the biography of Sultan Thaha Saifuddin with a historical approach but do not look at it from a spatial perspective. The focus of historical research only focuses on events and periodization. Therefore, this article describes the biography of Sultan Thaha Saifuddin so that other historians can also apply this technology to their work.

Indigenous Students’ Geographies on the Academic Fortress Campus: Palestinian Students’ Spatial Experiences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This article addresses an under-studied phenomenon in the lived experience of Palestinian students in Israeli universities as seen from a spatial perspective. Specifically, it analyses the everyday spatial experiences of Palestinian students on the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Situated in a contested space amid Palestinian villages, the campus's architecture and prominent location are intended to project power and symbolic domination over the surrounding Arab environment. The study analyses the narratives of fifteen Palestinian students from this campus, underscoring the dialectical relations between their feelings of alienation and estrangement, on the one hand, and practices of resistance and subversion on campus, on the other. Moreover, the analysis reveals how, through their daily spatial behaviours, Palestinian students challenge the settler-colonial landscape-production that the Israeli authorities attempt to impose.

Spatial perspective-taking: insights from sensory impairments

Information can be perceived from a multiplicity of spatial perspectives, which is central to effectively understanding and interacting with our environment and other people. Sensory impairments such as blindness are known to impact spatial representations and perspective-taking is often thought of as a visual process. However, disturbed functioning of other sensory systems (e.g., vestibular, proprioceptive and auditory) can also influence spatial perspective-taking. These lines of research remain largely separate, yet together they may shed new light on the role that each sensory modality plays in this core cognitive ability. The findings to date reveal that spatial cognitive processes may be differently affected by various types of sensory loss. The visual system may be crucial for the development of efficient allocentric (object-to-object) representation; however, the role of vision in adopting another’s spatial perspective remains unclear. On the other hand, the vestibular and the proprioceptive systems likely play an important role in anchoring the perceived self to the physical body, thus facilitating imagined self-rotations required to adopt another’s spatial perspective. Findings regarding the influence of disturbed auditory functioning on perspective-taking are so far inconclusive and thus await further data. This review highlights that spatial perspective-taking is a highly plastic cognitive ability, as the brain is often able to compensate in the face of different sensory loss.

Balance Expertise is Associated with Superior Spatial Perspective-Taking Skills

Balance training interventions over several months have been shown to improve spatial cognitive functions and to induce structural plasticity in brain regions associated with visual-vestibular self-motion processing. In the present cross-sectional study, we tested whether long-term balance practice is associated with better spatial cognition. To this end, spatial perspective-taking abilities were compared between balance experts (n = 40) practicing sports such as gymnastics, acrobatics or slacklining for at least four hours a week for the last two years, endurance athletes (n = 38) and sedentary healthy individuals (n = 58). The balance group showed better performance in a dynamic balance task compared to both the endurance group and the sedentary group. Furthermore, the balance group outperformed the sedentary group in a spatial perspective-taking task. A regression analysis across all participants revealed a positive association between individual balance performance and spatial perspective-taking abilities. Groups did not differ in executive functions, and individual balance performance did not correlate with executive functions, suggesting a specific association between balance skills and spatial cognition. The results are in line with theories of embodied cognition, assuming that sensorimotor experience shapes cognitive functions.