Differences in adults’ spatial scaling based on visual or haptic information

The present study examined differences in adults’ spatial-scaling abilities across three perceptual conditions: (1) visual, (2) haptic, and (3) visual and haptic. Participants were instructed to encode the position of a convex target presented in a simple map without a time limit. Immediately after encoding the map, participants were presented with a referent space and asked to place a disc at the same location from memory. All spaces were designed as tactile graphics. Positions of targets varied along the horizontal dimension. The referent space was constant in size while sizes of maps were systematically varied, resulting in three scaling factor conditions: 1:4, 1:2, 1:1. Sixty adults participated in the study (M = 21.18; SD = 1.05). One-third of them was blindfolded throughout the entire experiment (haptic condition). The second group of participants was allowed to see the graphics (visual condition); the third group were instructed to see and touch the graphics (bimodal condition). An analysis of participants’ absolute errors showed that participants produced larger errors in the haptic condition as opposed to the visual and bimodal conditions. There was also a significant interaction effect between scaling factor and perceptual condition. In the visual and bimodal conditions, results showed a linear increase in errors with higher scaling factors (which may suggest that adults adopted mental transformation strategies during the spatial scaling process), whereas, in the haptic condition, this relation was quadratic. Findings imply that adults’ spatial-scaling performance decreases when visual information is not available.

Large-sample assessment of spatial scaling effects of the distributed wflow_sbm hydrological model shows that finer spatial resolution does not necessarily lead to better streamflow estimates

Distributed hydrological modelling moves into the realm of hyper-resolution modelling. This results in a plethora of scaling related challenges that remain unsolved. In light of model result interpretation, finer resolution output might implicate to the user an increase in understanding of the complex interplay of heterogeneity within the hydrological system. Here we investigate spatial scaling in the realm of hyper-resolution by evaluating the streamflow estimates of the distributed wflow_sbm hydrological model based on 454 basins from the large-sample CAMELS data set. Model instances were derived at 3 spatial resolutions, namely 3 km, 1 km, and 200 m. The results show that a finer spatial resolution does not necessarily lead to better streamflow estimates at the basin outlet. Statistical testing of the objective function distributions (KGE score) of the 3 model instances show only a statistical difference between the 3 km and 200 m streamflow estimates. However, results indicate strong locality in scaling behaviour between model instances expressed by differences in KGE scores of on average 0.22. This demonstrates the presence of scaling behavior throughout the domain and indicates where locality in results is strong. The results of this study open up research paths that can investigate the changes in flux and state partitioning due to spatial scaling. This will help further understand the challenges that need to be resolved for hyper resolution hydrological modelling.

Legal affordances in global wealth chains: How platform firms use legal and spatial scaling

Firms can use legal and spatial scaling to increase their control and capacity to exploit assets. Here we examine how platform firms, like AirBnB, Uber, and Bird, scale their operations through global wealth chains. Their use of law is to maximize wealth creation and protection, while their services use local spaces to extract value from established property, labor, and public thoroughfares. We examine how such ‘networked accumulation’ platform firms use legal and spatial scaling through legal affordances. This includes opportunities for absences, ambiguities and arbitrage that are realized via multi and inter-scalar strategies and produce variegation. Our analysis draws on legal documents, as well as interviews, from Barcelona and San Francisco. The article contributes with a model of how platform firms use legal and spatial scaling, as well as how activists can challenge their operations.

Microbial Community Composition in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Bioreactors Follows a Distance Decay Pattern Primarily Controlled by Environmental Heterogeneity

Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of biodiversity is a central goal of ecology. The distance decay of community similarity is one of the spatial scaling patterns observed in many forms of life, including plants, animals, and microbial communities.

Individual differences in preschoolers' spatial thinking: Comprehension of dimensional adjectives and their relation to children's performance on non-verbal spatial tasks

The current study explores whether individual differences in the dimensional adjectives (e.g., big, tall) children understand, relates to individual differences in two non-verbal spatial abilities, an extrinsic spatial task (i.e., spatial scaling) and an intrinsic spatial task (i.e., mental rotation) in two studies that looked at spatial scaling and mental transformations respectively. Ninety-two Spanish-English bilingual children between 37.65 and 71.87 months (42 male) participated in Study 1 and with 79 of the children aged 48- to 72-months (40 male) also participating in study 2. Results show number of dimensional adjectives preschool children comprehend utilizing a new interactive, tablet-based task relates to performance on non-verbal spatial tasks. Children may use language when solving spatial tasks, or language may be indicative of overall stronger understanding of spatial relations.

Advances in conceptualising transport in chalk aquifers

The conceptualisations of matrix, fracture and fissure porosity are important for understanding relative controls on storage and flow of groundwater, and the transport of solutes (and non-aqueous phase liquids) within chalk aquifers. However, these different types of porosity, rather than being entirely distinct, represent elements in a continuum of void sizes contributing to the total porosity of the aquifer. Here we define such a continuum and critically examine the selection of appropriate values of effective porosity, a widely-used parameter for mass transport modelling in aquifers. Effective porosity is a transient phenomenon, related to the porosity continuum by the timescales under which mass transport occurs. An analysis of 55 tracer tests and 20 well inflow tests in English chalk aquifers identifies spatial scaling in groundwater velocity and groundwater flow respectively, which are interpreted within the context of the wider literature on carbonate aquifers globally. We advance transport modelling in the Chalk by developing a fissure aperture velocity mapping method using transmissivity data from existing regional groundwater models, together with the identified transient and spatial scaling phenomena. The results show that chalk aquifers exhibit widespread rapid groundwater flow which may transport contaminants rapidly in almost any setting.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5403807