Hasil untuk "Metropolitan areas"

Jihoon Seo, Daeok Youn, Sang-Woo Kim et al.

Although national emission control policies have contributed to long-term reductions in PM _2.5 levels, responses across neighboring cities remain heterogeneous, complicating the evaluation of policy effectiveness. This study diagnoses the spatial structure and examines temporal evolution of intercity-scale (tens of kilometers) and neighborhood-scale (a few kilometers) PM _2.5 components, separated from background variation including long-range transport, by applying a recently proposed spatial decomposition framework based on spatial coherence to long-term air quality monitoring network data in South Korea (2016–2023). Within this framework, a hierarchical averaging scheme uses coherence-based neighboring stations to define the intercity-scale variability of background-removed PM _2.5 concentrations. Focusing on the cold season (DJFM), spatial diagnosis reveals dominant intercity-scale contributions in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) and neighboring industrialized areas, highlighting the effectiveness of air control zone-based policies. In contrast, neighborhood-scale contributions predominate in high-PM _2.5 stations, particularly in the Southeastern Area (SEA), indicating the need for localized interventions. Temporal analysis reveals a structural transition beginning in 2019/20 DJFM, characterized by simultaneous trend reversals: intercity-scale components shifted from increasing to decreasing in the SMA, an area with intensive urban and industrial emissions, while the opposite occurred in the SEA, a coastal city cluster. This transition coincided with the implementation of the Seasonal PM Management policy and the COVID-19 lockdown. The variations in the intercity-scale component broadly align with residual emission intensities of PM _2.5 and NO _x , defined as deviations from national emission trends based on the Clean Air Policy Support System emission inventory. These results reveal a structural shift in intercity-scale PM _2.5 variability and its linkage to emissions, offering a scalable diagnostic tool for evaluating policy effectiveness and underscoring the need for scale-specific air quality management strategies.

Solhee Kim, Taegon Kim, Jeongbae Jeon

This study introduces an expanded methodology for smart regional planning tailored to improve public service accessibility. We develop a city-level distance-time conversion factor (DCF) that utilizes regional characteristics to offer more intuitive estimates of travel times and distances in public service planning. This approach integrates three key variables: road network distances, Euclidean straight-line distances, and minimum travel times derived from both speed limits and actual traffic speeds. The DCF, formulated from the circuity factor (CF) and the delay factor (DF), identifies areas with elevated DCF values, particularly in major metropolitan areas. These metrics serve as critical indicators for densely populated areas, marking a substantial improvement over traditional methods of uniform location planning. Our analysis addresses underdevelopment and population density challenges, underscoring the need for adaptable planning strategies. By incorporating real-time traffic data, the DCF provides insights crucial for strategically developing public infrastructure in high-demand regions. This research enhances the existing smart public service planning frameworks, emphasizing the significance of regional-specific strategies. Ultimately, our findings advocate for a tailored approach to infrastructure development, aiming to create more efficient and responsive public services.

Ji Xia, Yizi Zhang, Shuqi Wang et al.

Characterizing interactions between brain areas is a fundamental goal of systems neuroscience. While such analyses are possible when areas are recorded simultaneously, it is rare to observe all combinations of areas of interest within a single animal or recording session. How can we leverage multi-animal datasets to better understand multi-area interactions? Building on recent progress in large-scale, multi-animal models, we introduce NeuroPaint, a masked autoencoding approach for inferring the dynamics of unrecorded brain areas. By training across animals with overlapping subsets of recorded areas, NeuroPaint learns to reconstruct activity in missing areas based on shared structure across individuals. We train and evaluate our approach on synthetic data and two multi-animal, multi-area Neuropixels datasets. Our results demonstrate that models trained across animals with partial observations can successfully in-paint the dynamics of unrecorded areas, enabling multi-area analyses that transcend the limitations of any single experiment.

Zhao-Qiang Shen, Wen-Hao Li, Kai-Kai Duan et al.

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a cosmic-ray detector as well as a pair-converting $γ$-ray telescope. The effective area, reflecting the geometrical cross-section area, the $γ$-ray conversion probability and the photon selection efficiency, is important in the $γ$-ray analyses. In the work, we find a significant time variation in the effective area, as large as $\sim -4\%/{\rm yr}$ at 2 GeV for the high-energy trigger. We derive the data-based correction factors to the effective areas and apply corrections to both the effective areas and the exposure maps. The calibrated exposure can be $\sim 12\%$ smaller than the Monte Carlo one on average at 2 GeV. The calibration is further verified using the observation of the Vela pulsar, showing the spectral parameters with the correction are more consistent with those in the Fermi-LAT catalog than the ones without correction. All the corrections are now implemented in the latest version of the DAMPE $γ$-ray analysis toolkit DmpST.

Christopher G. Brinton, Mung Chiang, Kwang Taik Kim et al.

We provide a taxonomy of a dozen enabling network architectures, protocols, and technologies that will define the evolution from 5G to 6G. These technologies span the network protocol stack, different target deployment environments, and various perceived levels of technical maturity. We outline four areas of societal focus that will be impacted by these technologies, and overview several research directions that hold the potential to address the problems in these important focus areas.

Nguyen Hong THAI, Thach Minh QUAN

Despite strong development in Vietnam’s major cities, buses only contribute to city traffic. Bus services in Vietnamese towns do not yet meet passengers’ current needs and are not popular with passengers, especially in terms of time and convenience. This article analyzes the factors affecting urban people’s intention to use buses in Vietnam and, on that basis, makes recommendations to the authorities in cities to enhance the attractiveness of bus usage. Twenty-seven factors have been identified as affecting the need to travel by bus. The survey results show that there are still many barriers to attracting passengers using bus services in urban metropolitan areas. Therefore, urban governments in Vietnam need to adjust the current bus route network to suit the needs of the people, especially students, to increase its coverage.

Mohammad Hossein Saraei, farzaneh dasta

Extended abstract:Introduction: Following the increasing expansion of cities and urban population, the demand for urban services is also increasing. One of the important services in cities is administrative service that meets the citizens’ daily needs. This type of service has been established by ministries and central organizations with the increase of the number of cities and urban population and consequently, the increase of citizens' service needs. On the other hand, fair and adequate distribution of disciplinary enforcement centers has an effective role in establishing security and tranquility in cities. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately identify the current situation in this field in order to create a more appropriate and equitable distribution of administrative-disciplinary spaces that are needed by today's societies. In this regard, the purpose of this article was to evaluate the spatial pattern of administrative-disciplinary services in Isfahan so as to achieve the effect of the administrative model of administrative-disciplinary services on the desirability of the functional radius of these services and assess the relationship between the spatial distribution of administrative-disciplinary services and population in the related areas. Methodology: This study was of an applied type based on the purpose and a descriptive-analytical research in nature and method. Data collection was based on the library method. After collecting the basic information and data, the spatial distribution of administrative-disciplinary enforcement services was firstly modeled by using the nearest neighborhood analysis method, local Moran index, global Moran index, and hot-spot analysis in Arc GIS software environment. Then, the effect of the spatial distribution pattern of these services on the desirability of their functional radius was evaluated in the same software by using fuzzy membership function. In the next step, by drawing the map of Isfahan neighborhoods in GeoDa software, the spatial autocorrelation of the variable population of Isfahan with the distribution of ​​administrative-disciplinary services in its neighborhoods was determined and analyzed by using Moran’s bivariate index.Discussion: The analysis of the nearest neighborhood showed that the administrative-disciplinary enforcement services in Isfahan were randomly distributed. According to the calculations of the global Moran coefficient, the administrative-disciplinary enforcement services were distributed in clusters in the neighborhoods with a probability of 99%. By calculating the local Moran for the neighborhoods of Isfahan, it was found that 3 neighborhoods in District 13 were significantly located at the High-High clustering level, which indicated establishment of the neighborhoods with more administrative-disciplinary enforcement services nearby and in clusters. One neighborhood in District 10 and one in District 14 were located at the High-Low level. These neighborhoods had a large number of administrative-disciplinary enforcement services, while being surrounded by less record-breaking neighbors. 3 neighborhoods in District 13, which were located at the Low-High clustering level, faced the lack of access to these services, while being adjacent to the neighborhoods with a better access. Other neighborhoods did not have a significant autocorrelation. According to the maps drawn through the hot-spot analysis, the neighborhoods and central areas, especially areas 1, 3, 5, and 6, had formed hot spots and moved to the outskirts of the city due to their high administrative-disciplinary services, especially area 9 and the northeast part of the city. Also, cold spots were forming, which indicated the lack of administrative-disciplinary enforcement services in these neighborhoods. Assessing the effectiveness of the spatial distribution model of these services on the desirability of the functional radius demonstrated the desirability of their functional radius in the central regions, as well as unfavorable areas and neighborhoods around the city. The desirability of the functional radius was in favor of the center but had caused a detriment to the surroundings. Moran’s bivariate index was applied to measure and evaluate the spatial autocorrelation, which showed very low probability of the spatial distribution of administrative-disciplinary enforcement services based on the variable population with low significance. Conclusion: In general, the results indicated that the spatial distribution of administrative-disciplinary enforcement services in the neighborhoods of Isfahan City was inappropriate in a way that the desirability of access to these services in the central areas was very high, while citizens in the suburbs were facing lack of access to these services. Therefore, it is necessary to consider programs and policies that eliminate this major spatial gap and establish spatial justice in the neighborhoods of Isfahan and ultimately social justice to cover the entire city. According to David Harvey, it is advisable to give extra services to the groups in need because they do not have a history of using these services and are not thus accustomed to them. This is especially true of municipal services for very poor groups, new immigrants, and the like. Hence, entitlement to the geographical framework would be allocation of additional resources to compensate for the social and natural problems of each region. Keywords: spatial justice, spatial distribution, administrative-disciplinary services, Isfahan neighborhood References- Ardeshiri, Ali, Ken Willis & Mahyar Ardeshiri (2018). Exploring preference homogeneity and heterogeneity for proximity to urban, public services, Cities, pp 1–13.- Boyne. A., Georg, Martin A. Powell (2002). Territoial Justice Spatial Justice and Local covernment Finance, University of Herhordshire & university of clamorgan.- Delbosec, A. and G., Currie (2011). Using Lorenz curves to assess public transport equity, Journal of Transport Geography, 19(6), 1252-1259.- Deniz, A. (2012). Measuring the satisfaction of citizens for the services given by the municipality: the case of Kirsehir municipality. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 32(24).- Dutta, v (2012). War on the Dream, How Land use Dynamic and Sprawling City Devour the Master Plan and Urban Suitability. A Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach, proceeded in 13th Global Development Conference Urbanisatio and Development: Delving Deeper into the Nexus, Budapest, hungary.- Getis Arthur, (2005). Spatial Pattern Analysis, Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, Volume 3.- Godillon, S (2011). Urban renewal – a vehicle for spatial justice in the face of traffic safety problems, js.1-10.- Harvey, David (1935). "Social Justice and the City", the translator: Farokh. Hesamyan and Mohammad Reza Haeri and Behrouz monadi zadeh, the company processing and urban planning, Winter 1997, page 271.- Herrera, F., & Herrera-Viedma, E. (2002). «Linguistic decision analysis: steps for solving decision problems under linguistic information», Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 115, 67–82.- Langford, M., Higgs, G., Radcliffe, J. While, S. (2008). Urban Population Distntution Models and Service Accessibility Estimation Compuers Environment and Urban System.- Laurent E (2011). Issues in environmental justice within the European Union, Ecological Economics, No. 70, 1846–1853.- Liao, Chin-Hsien, Chang, Hsueh-Sheng, Tsou, Ko-Wan (2009). Explore the spatial equity of urban public facility allocation based on sustainable development viewpoint, 14th International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Information Society, Spain: Sitges, p 137-145.- Lorestani A., Yaghoubpour Z., Shirzadian R. (2016). Analysis of spatial distribution of Tehran Metropolis urban services using models of urban planning, Capital Urban Manage., 1(2). Pp 83-92.- Mitchel, G. and Norman, P. (2012). longitudinal environmental justice analysis: Co-evolution of environmental quality and deprivation in England, 1960–2007. Geoforum, No. 43, pp: 44-57.- Parry, Jahangeer A., Showkat A. Ganaie & M. Sultan Bhat (2018). GIS based land suitability analysis using AHP model for urban services planning in Srinagar and Jammu urban centers of J&K, India, Journal of Urban Management 7, pp 46-56.- Sohel Rana M. D (2009). Status of water use sanitation and hygienic condition of urban slums: A study on Rupsha Ferighat slum, Khulna", www.elsevier.com, pp. 322-328.- Tirband, Majid and Azani, Mehri (2012). Distribution of facilities and municipal services based on social justice, case study: Yasouj city, Journal of applied sociology, Issue 23, No46, p: 109-138.- Wiesel, Ilan, Liu Fanqi and Buckle Caitlin (2017). Locational disadvantage and the spatial distribution of government expenditure on urban infrastructure and services in metropolitan Sydney (1988–2015), Geographical Research, pp 1-13.- windner, Robert. (2009). Planning law primer, basics of variances planning commission journal. N6, p30-47.- Zhang Chaosheng, Lin Luo, Weilin Xu & Valerie Ledwith, (2008). Use of local Moran's I and GIS to identify pollution hotspots of Pb in urban soils of Galway, Ireland , Science of The Total Environment, Volume 398, Issues 1-3. Figures:- Figure 1: Map of the political situation of Isfahan in the city, province and country- Figure 2: Map of the central feature and directional distribution of administrative- disciplinary services in neighborhoods and areas of Isfahan- Figure 3: The pattern of distribution of administrative- disciplinary services in Isfahan city using the average nearest neighborhood analysis- Figure 4: The pattern of distribution of administrative- disciplinary services in the neighborhoods of Isfahan using Moran index- Figure 5: Spatial autocorrelation of Isfahan neighborhoods from the perspective of having administrative-disciplinary services- Figure 6: Analysis of hot and cold spots in neighborhoods of Isfahan from the perspective of administrative-disciplinary- Figure 7: Analysis of the desirability of the functional radius of administrative-disciplinary services in Isfahan based on the fuzzy membership method- Figure 8: Spatial autocorrelation diagram (local Moran) between of the population and the area of ​​ administrative- disciplinary services in Isfahan neighborhoods- Figure 9: Spatial autocorrelation map between the population and the area of ​​ administrative- disciplinary services in Isfahan neighborhoods

Sylvia G. Dee, Ebrahim Nabizadeh, Christine L. Nittrouer et al.

Abstract Extreme heat is a recognized threat to human health. This study examines projected future trends of multiple measures of extreme heat across Texas throughout the next century, and evaluates the expected climate changes alongside Texas athletic staff (coach and athletic trainer) attitudes toward heat and climate change. Numerical climate simulations from the recently published Community Earth System Model version 2 and the Climate Model Intercomparison Project were used to predict changes in summer temperatures, heat indices, and wet bulb temperatures across Texas and also within specific metropolitan areas. A survey examining attitudes toward the effects of climate change on athletic programs and student athlete health was also distributed to high‐school and university athletic staff. Heat indices are projected to increase beyond what is considered healthy/safe limits for outdoor sports activity by the mid‐to‐late 21st century. Survey results reveal a general understanding and acceptance of climate change and a need for adjustments in accordance with more dangerous heat‐related events. However, a portion of athletic staff still do not acknowledge the changing climate and its implications for student athlete health and their athletic programs. Enhancing climate change and health communication across the state may initiate important changes to athletic programs (e.g., timing, duration, intensity, and location of practices), which should be made in accordance with increasingly dangerous temperatures and weather conditions. This work employs a novel interdisciplinary approach to evaluate future heat projections alongside attitudes from athletic communities toward climate change.

Jinwei Lin

This paper has provided a novel design idea and some implementation methods to make a real time detection of multi-areas with multiple detecting areas that are generated by the real time drawing on the screen display of the video. The drawing on the video will remain the output as polylines, and the colors of the outlines will change when the stage of drawing or detecting is changed. The shape of the drawn area is free to be customized and real-time effective. The configuration of the drawn areas can be renewed and the detecting areas are working individually. The detection result should be shown with a GUI designed by Tkinter. The object recognition model was developed on YOLOv5 but can be changed to others, which means the core design and implementation idea of this paper is model-independent. With PIL and OpenCV and Tkinter, the drawing effect is real time and efficient. The design and code of this research is basic and can be extended to be implemented in numerous monitoring and detecting situations.

Jorge Soberón, Luis Osorio-Olvera

Aims To propose and analyze a general, dynamic, process-oriented theory of the area of distribution. Methods The area of distribution is modelled by combining (by multiplication) three matrices: one matrix represents movements, another niche tolerances, and a third, biotic interactions. Results are derived from general properties of this product and from simulation of a cellular automaton defined in terms of the matrix operations. Everything is implemented practically in an R package. Results Results are obtained by simulation and by mathematical analysis. We show that the mid-domain effect is a direct consequence of dispersal; that to include movements to Ecological Niche Modeling significantly affects results, but cannot be done without choosing an ancestral area of distribution. We discuss ways of estimating such ancestral areas. We show that, in our approach, movements and niche effects are mixed in ways almost impossible to disentangle, and show this is a consequence of the singularity of a matrix. We introduce a tool (the Connectivity-Suitability-Dispersal plot) to extend the results of simple niche modeling to understand the effects of dispersal. Main conclusions The conceptually straightforward scheme we present for the area of distribution integrates, in a mathematically sound and computationally feasible way, several key ideas in biogeography: the geographic and environmental matrix, the Grinnellian niche, dispersal capacity and the ancestral area of origin of groups of species. We show that although full simulations are indispensable to obtain the dynamics of an area of distribution, interesting results can be derived simply by analyzing the matrices representing the dynamics.

Raphael Brito Faustino, Luciana de Oliveira Royer

Resumo O artigo busca analisar os ciclos de expansão, estabilidade e retração do mercado imobiliário nas duas últimas décadas. Para tal, faz uso dos dados referentes ao financiamento imobiliário no âmbito do Sistema Financeiro de Habitação (SFH) e do Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida, principal programa habitacional no período entre 2003 e 2020. A partir dos indicadores apresentados, considera que os ciclos do mercado imobiliário dependem, em grande medida, das transformações ocorridas na política macroeconômica adotada no País, que acabam por afetar as políticas públicas e o padrão de demanda por crédito imobiliário. É, contudo, no período de retração que os agentes do mercado imobiliário pressionam por modificações na regulação do setor, que tendem a impactar o próximo ciclo de expansão.

Pronkin S.V.

The article is devoted to the interaction of the police and the elected bodies of Greater London-its Administration and municipal districts (boroughs) - in ensuring law and order. Both the history of the issue and its current state are touched upon. The foreign experience of interaction of the authorities in the maintenance of public security is of interest to the Russian Federation, which continues to search for effective forms of regional and municipal government, its place in the implementation of state functions. The experience of the United Kingdom is of particular interest in this regard, since in this country, the municipal and regional (self) government has historically developed significantly. The article mainly uses political and legal documents as sources of information. The author concludes that historically municipalities and local social forces played a crucial role in ensuring public security. It was typically for a «small state» with a tiny bureaucratic apparatus. Then government bodies played this role. Changes in the organization of the police were associated with the transition from the traditional rural society to modern urbanized. This required the creation of a professional centrally managed police force. The reform lasted for several decades. It’s important stage – Home office secretary R. Peel′s activity. Currently, efforts are being made to entrust the elected regional and municipal authorities with a new mission in ensuring public security – the exercise of democratic control over the activities of the police. In London this control is carried out by the mayor and the city council – Assembly. Municipal districts coordinate the activities of public services, civil, non-profit organization, business and individual citizens to ensure security in their territory.

Carolina Akemi Martins Morita

Resumo Este artigo parte da discussão sobre a individualidade moderna sob perspectivas diversas, como as de Cacciari, Adorno e Horkheimer, para, assim, compreender a constituição da psicologia da sociedade de massas, pautada na produtividade e na utilidade, de maneira inter-relacionada e, até mesmo, imanente à própria metrópole. Busca-se, então, um contraponto, por meio da dialética, da forma urbana e da utopia propostas por Lefebvre, de modo a lançar luz sobre a seguinte questão: se a dialética negativa nos ampara ao questionar a identidade entre sujeito e objeto, teoria e prática, o confrontamento com a perspectiva dialética lefebvriana problematiza os limites do próprio pensamento e parece apontar para a utopia concreta como horizonte capaz de alimentar o espaço diferencial e o devir.

D. Massey, N. Denton

A. Karion, W. Callahan, M. Stock et al.

<p>We present the organization, structure, instrumentation, and measurements of the Northeast Corridor greenhouse gas observation network. This network of tower-based in situ carbon dioxide and methane observation stations was established in 2015 with the goal of quantifying emissions of these gases in urban areas in the northeastern United States. A specific focus of the network is the cities of Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC, USA, with a high density of observation stations in these two urban areas. Additional observation stations are scattered throughout the northeastern US, established to complement other existing urban and regional networks and to investigate emissions throughout this complex region with a high population density and multiple metropolitan areas. Data described in this paper are archived at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and can be found at <a href="https://doi.org/10.18434/M32126">https://doi.org/10.18434/M32126</a> (Karion et al., 2019).</p>

Özgün Tutar, Eylem Bal

The neoliberalism process of Turkey, the intersection point of the Global South and the Global North, which dates back to the 1980s when neoliberalism became a dominant paradigm in the world, began to rapidly transform urban space in the 2000s. With the transformation of capital out of İstanbul, the main application area of neoliberal urbanization in Turkey, the other metropolitan cities of Turkey have been involved in the process of neoliberalization. In İzmir, the third largest metropolitan city of Turkey, the area which is declared New City Centre (NCC) in 2003 has become one of the important application areas of neoliberal urbanization policies. The neoliberalization process of NCC is carried out through large-scale urban projects which are one of the important implementation tools of neoliberal urbanization policies and intervene in the economic, social and cultural areas as well as urban space. In this context, the aim of this study is decipher neoliberal urbanization-oriented process and variables of neoliberal urbanization process in NCC and to reveal the neoliberal spatial transformation in the region on the basis of reproduction of the space.

Edson Delatorre, Filipe Vieira Santos de Abreu, Filipe Vieira Santos de Abreu et al.

The current outbreak of yellow fever virus (YFV) that is afflicting Brazil since the end of 2016 probably originated from a re-introduction of YFV from endemic areas into the non-endemic Southeastern Brazil. However, the lack of genomic sequences from endemic regions hinders the tracking of YFV’s dissemination routes. We assessed the origin and spread of the ongoing YFV Brazilian outbreak analyzing a new set of YFV strains infecting humans, non-human primates (NHPs) and mosquitoes sampled across five Brazilian states from endemic and non-endemic regions between 2015 and 2018. We found two YFV sub-clade 1E lineages circulating in NHP from Goiás state (GO), resulting from independent viral introductions into the Araguaia tributary river basin: while one strain from 2017 clustered intermingled with Venezuelan YFV strains from 2000, the other YFV strains sampled in 2015 and 2017 clustered with sequences of the current YFV outbreak in the Brazilian Southeastern region (named YFV2015-2018 lineage), displaying the same molecular signature associated to the current YFV outbreak. After its introduction in GO at around mid-2014, the YFV2015-2018 lineage followed two paths of dissemination outside GO, originating two major YFV sub-lineages: (1) the YFVMG/ES/RJ sub-lineage spread sequentially from the eastern area of Minas Gerais state to Espírito Santo and then to Rio de Janeiro states, following the Southeast Atlantic basin; (2) the YFVMG/SP sub-lineage spread from the southwestern area of Minas Gerais to the metropolitan region of São Paulo state, following the Paraná basin. These results indicate the ongoing YFV outbreak in Southeastern Brazil originated from a dissemination event from GO almost 2 years before its recognition at the end of 2016. From GO this lineage was introduced in Minas Gerais state at least two times, originating two sub-lineages that followed different routes toward densely populated areas. The spread of YFV outside endemic regions for at least 4 years stresses the imperative importance of the continuous monitoring of YFV to aid decision-making for effective control policies aiming the increase of vaccination coverage to avoid the YFV transmission in densely populated urban centers.

Amanda Xavier, Heloize Oliveira, Ana Aguiar-Santos et al.

<h4>Background</h4>The objective of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) is to phase out this endemic disease as a public health problem by 2020. Validation of elimination is obtained from the World Health Organization through evidence of non-transmission in countries that have already been subjected to mass drug administration (MDA) and in places adjoining these endemic areas. While three municipalities in Brazil have completed MDA, the epidemiological situation remains uncertain in nine adjoining municipalities. To determine the epidemiological status, this study was to perform a review of the literature and a school-based survey to describe the past and recent endemicity of lymphatic filariasis (LF) theses nine municipalities in Brazil.<h4>Methodology/principle findings</h4>For review of the literature, both formal and informal literature sources were accessed since the first reports of filariasis in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Brazil. We conducted a school-based survey in 2016 using immunochromatographic card tests (ICTs) among schoolchildren aged 6-10 years living in nine municipalities contiguous with the endemic areas in which MDA was conducted. Our review of the literature identified eight studies involving surveys demonstrating that microfilariae had been circulating in eight of the municipalities since 1967, with a low prevalence of microfilaremia, isolated autochthonous cases, and treatment of individual cases. The school-based survey included 17,222 children in 185 urban schools in the nine areas of Brazil with uncertain endemicity. One child affected by allochthonous transmission was antigen positive based on ICT and lived in a municipality adjacent to Recife; this child's family came from Recife, but no other case was diagnosed within the family.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>The study results suggest that there is no transmission of LF in the municipalities investigated. However, these areas have population migration and socioenvironmental conditions favorable to mosquito breeding grounds; therefore, surveillance is strongly recommended in these areas.

Yuanxin Wu, Chao He, Gang Liu

Inertial navigation and attitude initialization in polar areas become a hot topic in recent years in the navigation community, as the widely-used navigation mechanization of the local level frame encounters the inherent singularity when the latitude approaches 90 degrees. Great endeavors have been devoted to devising novel navigation mechanizations such as the grid or transversal frames. This paper highlights the fact that the common Earth-frame mechanization is sufficiently good to well handle the singularity problem in polar areas. Simulation results are reported to demonstrate the singularity problem and the effectiveness of the Earth-frame mechanization.

Francis Headley, Simon Cox

We present conjectured candidates for the least perimeter partition of a disc into $N \le 10$ regions which take one of two possible areas. We assume that the optimal partition is connected, and therefore enumerate all three-connected simple cubic graphs for each $N$. Candidate structures are obtained by assigning different areas to the regions: for even $N$ there are $N/2$ regions of one area and $N/2$ regions of the other, and for odd $N$ we consider both cases, i.e. where the extra region takes either the larger or the smaller area. The perimeter of each candidate is found numerically for a few representative area ratios, and then the data is interpolated to give the conjectured least perimeter candidate for all possible area ratios. At larger $N$ we find that these candidates are best for a more limited range of the area ratio.