Automatic Mapping and Characterisation of Linear Depositional Bedforms: Theory and Application Using Bathymetry from the North West Shelf of Australia

Bedforms are key components of Earth surfaces and yet their evaluation typically relies on manual measurements that are challenging to reproduce. Several methods exist to automate their identification and calculate their metrics, but they often exhibit limitations where applied at large scales. This paper presents an innovative workflow for identifying and measuring individual depositional bedforms. The workflow relies on the identification of local minima and maxima that are grouped by neighbourhood analysis and calibrated using curvature. The method was trialed using a synthetic digital elevation model and two bathymetry surveys from Australia’s northwest marine region, resulting in the identification of nearly 2000 bedforms. The comparison of the metrics calculated for each individual feature with manual measurements show differences of less than 10%, indicating the robustness of the workflow. The cross-comparison of the metrics resulted in the definition of several sub-types of bedforms, including sandwaves and palaeoshorelines, that were then correlated with oceanic conditions, further corroborating the validity of the workflow. Results from this study support the idea that the use of automated methods to characterise bedforms should be further developed and that the integration of automated measurements at large scales will support the development of new classification charts that currently rely solely on manual measurements.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Boko Haram Attacks and its Effects on Education in Northern Nigeria (2009-2020)

The persistent attacks from Boko Haram have been issues of concern to the Nigerian government and its citizens. The study assessed spatio-temporal pattern of attacks by Boko-Haram insurgents and its effects on education in the Northern Region of Nigeria between 2009 and 2020 with specific objectives of ascertaining the pattern of the attacks, and appraising the trend of attacks’ fatalities over time, and reviewing the effects of the attacks on education. The study covered all three geopolitical zones (19 States with FCT) in the Northern Region of Nigeria. Data on Boko-Haram attacks were obtained from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) database. Nearest Neighbourhood Analysis and Geographically Weighted Regression on ArcGIS 10.8 were analytical techniques adopted in this study. Results with a negative Z-value of -88.62 indicated the clustered pattern of Boko-Haram at an observed mean distance of 1213 metres from one attack to another. There were 28 792 reported fatalities due to Boko-Haram attacks from 2009 and 2020. Boko Haram has affected the education system of the Northern Region of Nigeria through attacks and abduction of students. The study revealed that geospatial technology has the potential to analyse and monitor insecurity issues, and it is thus recommended that geospatial technology need to be integrated into security surveillance and operation to curb the challenges of insecurity on education, not only in the northern region but the entire space of Nigeria, so that Sustainable Development Goal Four (quality education for all) can be achieved.

‘ISOLATED IN OUR OWN NEIGHBOURHOOD’: ANALYSIS ON THE PROPOSAL TO REGULATE PEER-TO-PEER ACCOMMODATION SERVICES IN MALAYSIA

Peer-to-Peer Accommodation services (P2PA) are mushrooming worldwide due to the expansion of digital services and Internet access. Since P2PA services operate fully online, small establishments utilise disruptive technology and surpass traditional hoteliers by surprise. In the first part of this article, we examine the problems caused by P2PA for ‘playing on an uneven field’, avoiding necessary taxes, skipping regulatory and safety requirements, and causing loss of tranquillity to the neighbourhood. Due to these problems, a proposal was moved by the government to regulate P2PA in Malaysia via a self-regulatory guideline, as analysed in the second part of the article. However, due to its non-binding status, the proposal will arguably lead to irregularities in regulatory mechanisms at the state level when enforced. P2PA hosts were asked to comply with regulatory requirements similar to hoteliers, but the platform providers have arguably avoided any P2PA related liability nor responsibility as they operate offshore. Applying qualitative research methods via content analysis and semi-structured interviews, the article concludes by proposing a legal framework to regulate the P2PA platform providers, including hosts and agents, which is deemed timely and necessary for Malaysia to safeguard the interests of both tourists and stakeholders.

Polish-Ukrainian Treaty of Good Neighbourhood. Analysis of the decision-making process

2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Treaty of Good Neighbourhood, Friendly Relations, and Cooperation between Poland and Ukraine. In the presented article, by applying elements of decision analysis, an attempt was made to explain the decision to conclude the Treaty. First, the decision-making centres in Poland and Ukraine, and their awareness with respect to Polish-Ukrainian relations, were presented as three separate circles: public opinion, political parties, and groups of the most important decision-makers. The decision to sign the treaty was possible thanks to the political and intellectual elites who originated in the former communist-era opposition, both in Poland and Ukraine. Those elites convinced the governing circles to accept their conception of foreign policy. In Poland, this was all the easier because people originating directly from those elites formed part of the decision-making bodies. In Ukraine, however, the foreign policy conception of the dissident circles was internalised by the President. Secondly, using the game theory and assuming the rationality of decision-makers, the decision-making process was reconstructed, understood in the category of interactions between two decision-making centres. The two states aimed to conclude a treaty that would satisfy both parties. It can thus be concluded that they demonstrated a readiness to compromise during the negotiations. It can also be assumed that this readiness was slightly asymmetrical in Poland’s favour. Ukraine was willing to sacrifice much more in order for the treaty to be negotiated.

K-Neighbourhood Analysis: A Method for Understanding SMLM Images as Compositions of Local Neighbourhoods

Single molecule localisation microscopy (SMLM) is a powerful tool that has revealed the spatial arrangement of cell surface signalling proteins, producing data of enormous complexity. The complexity is partly driven by the convolution of technical and biological signal components, and partly by the challenge of pooling information across many distinct cells. To address these two particular challenges, we have devised a novel algorithm called K-neighbourhood analysis (KNA), which emphasises the fact that each image can also be viewed as a composition of local neighbourhoods. KNA is based on a novel transformation, spatial neighbourhood principal component analysis (SNPCA), which is defined by the PCA of the normalised K-nearest neighbour vectors of a spatially random point pattern. Here, we use KNA to define a novel visualisation of individual images, to compare within and between groups of images and to investigate the preferential patterns of phosphorylation. This methodology is also highly flexible and can be used to augment existing clustering methods by providing clustering diagnostics as well as revealing substructure within microclusters. In summary, we have presented a highly flexible analysis tool that presents new conceptual possibilities in the analysis of SMLM images.

Seniors’ Mobility and Perceptions in Different Urban Neighbourhoods: A Non-Aggregative Approach

In order to highlight the subjective criticality of each neighbourhood to inspire future policy actions, we propose an analysis comparing the perceptions of over-65s residents in the neighbourhoods that make up the Municipality of Genoa. We suggest a new approach based on a quantitative non-aggregative method, Partially Ordered Set (Poset), to measure the levels of satisfaction related to local public transport (LPT), pedestrian mobility, and quality of life in the 25 districts of Genoa. Final data of the analysis come from 401 questionnaires, distributed to residents over 65 years old in the Municipality of Genoa. This approach allows to address the multidimensionality of the phenomenon, as well as its different conceptual spheres. The findings highlight a great variance in local public transport needs perception between different neighbourhoods. In particular, the analysis shows that the types of intervention requested by respondents differ from district to district, so that a common urban transport policy would be ineffective. Some neighbourhoods stress the need for improving pedestrian mobility, whilst local public transport faults dominate in others. There is no significant relation between the three dimensions: Perceived quality of LPT, perceived quality of pedestrian mobility, and perceived quality of neighbourhood. Therefore, interventions should be carefully modulated, according to the specific needs expressed by the residents of each neighbourhood. We conclude that the importance of urban mobility intervention is reduced, whereas the concept of neighbourhood analysis and intervention becomes more relevant.

Narratives of Crisis in the Periphery of São Paulo: Place and Political Articulation during Brazil's Rightward Turn

Between 2014 and 2018, a period marked by major political and economic upheaval, Brazilian politics shifted sharply to the Right. Presenting qualitative research conducted over 2016–17, this article examines this process from the perspectives of residents of a peripheral São Paulo neighbourhood. Analysis is presented of three broad groups of respondents, each of which mobilised a distinct narrative framework for interpreting the crisis. Based on this, I argue that the rightward turn in urban peripheries embodies not a significant ideological shift, but rather long-term transformations of place and the largely contingent ways these articulate with electoral politics.

Functional heterogeneity of lymphocytic patterns in primary melanoma dissected through single-cell multiplexing

In melanoma, the lymphocytic infiltrate is a prognostic parameter classified morphologically into ‘brisk’, ‘non-brisk’ and ‘absent’ entailing a functional association that has never been proved. Recently, it has been shown that lymphocytic populations can be very heterogeneous, and that anti-PD-1 immunotherapy supports activated T cells. Here, we characterize the immune landscape in primary melanoma by high-dimensional single-cell multiplex analysis in tissue sections (MILAN technique) followed by image analysis, RT-PCR and shotgun proteomics. We observed that the brisk and non-brisk patterns are heterogeneous functional categories that can be further sub-classified into active, transitional or exhausted. The classification of primary melanomas based on the functional paradigm also shows correlation with spontaneous regression, and an improved prognostic value when compared to that of the brisk classification. Finally, the main inflammatory cell subpopulations that are present in the microenvironment associated with activation and exhaustion and their spatial relationships are described using neighbourhood analysis.

Self-Adjusting Thresholding for Burnt Area Detection Based on Optical Images

Mapping of regional fires would make it possible to analyse their environmental, social and economic impact, as well as to develop better fire management systems. However, automatic mapping of burnt areas has proved to be a challenging task, due to the wide diversity of vegetation cover worldwide and the heterogeneous nature of fires themselves. Here, we present an algorithm for the automatic mapping of burnt areas using medium-resolution optical images. Although developed for Landsat images, it can be also applied to Sentinel-2 images without modification. The algorithm draws upon the classical concept of differences in pre- and post-fire reflectance, but also takes advantage of the object-oriented approach and a new threshold calculation method. It consists of four steps. The first concerns the calculation of spectral indices and their differences, together with differences in spectral layers based on pre- and post-fire images. In the second step, multiresolution segmentation and masking are performed (clouds, water bodies and non-vegetated areas are removed from further analysis). Thirdly, ‘core’ burnt areas are detected using automatically-adjusted thresholds. Thresholds are calculated on the basis of specific functions established for difference layers. The last step combines neighbourhood analysis and patch growing to define the final shape of burnt areas. The algorithm was tested in 27 areas located worldwide, and covered by various types of vegetation. Comparisons with manual interpretation show that the fully-automated classification is accurate. Over 82% of classifications were considered satisfactory (overall accuracy > 90%; user and producer accuracy > 70%).