Accurate and timely mapping of burned areas is crucial for environmental monitoring, disaster management, and assessment of climate change. This study presents a novel approach to automated burned area mapping using the AlphaEArth dataset combined with the Siamese U-Net deep learning architecture. The AlphaEArth Dataset, comprising high-resolution optical and thermal infrared imagery with comprehensive ground-truth annotations, provides an unprecedented resource for training robust burned area detection models. We trained our model with the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) dataset in the contiguous US and evaluated it with 17 regions cross in Europe. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed ensemble approach achieves superior performance with an overall accuracy of 95%, IoU of 0.6, and F1-score of 74% on the test dataset. The model successfully identifies burned areas across diverse ecosystems with complex background, showing particular strength in detecting partially burned vegetation and fire boundaries and its transferability and high generalization in burned area mapping. This research contributes to the advancement of automated fire damage assessment and provides a scalable solution for global burn area monitoring using the AlphaEarth dataset.
Frederik Hartz, Philipp Zehnder, Tobias Resch
et al.
Abstract Background The increasing adoption of individual urban mobility in European cities is contributing to a rise in the number of bicycle and e-scooter users. Consequently, a corresponding increase in accidents, along with an additional burden on emergency departments, is anticipated, particularly in metropolitan areas. The objective of this prospective cross-sectional study was to gather detailed information regarding the patient demographics, accident mechanisms, and injury patterns of e-scooter riders in comparison to cyclists. Identifying any differences between these groups will provide a foundation for developing targeted prevention strategies and safety measures aimed at reducing the incidence of accidents and injuries. Methods All patients who presented to the emergency department of our level I university trauma center after an accident involving a traditional bicycle without electric assistance or an e-scooter in 2022 were recorded. Demographic data as well as information regarding the trauma mechanism, injury pattern, alcohol influence, treatment requirements and helmet use were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results In 2022, a total of 626 patients were identified after a bicycle accident and 98 patients after an e-scooter accident. E-scooter riders were with a mean age of 31.0 years (standard deviation (SD) 10.7) significantly younger compared to bicycle riders at 43.2 years (SD 16.5; p < 0.001). More than half of the patients in both groups were male (e-scooter 69.4% versus bicycle 60.7%). E-scooter riders were more likely to be intoxicated (31.6% vs. 5.4%; p < 0.001), not wearing a helmet (93.9% vs. 78.4%; p < 0.001) and to have had accidents at nighttime (39.8% vs. 11.5%; p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the distribution of minor (e-scooter 75.2% vs. bicycle 70.3%) and major (24.8% vs. 29.7%) injuries. In terms of body regions, e-scooter riders suffered from major injuries to the skull, facial cranium, cervical spine (43.8% e-scooter vs. 22.4% bicycle; p = 0.008) and less frequently to the trunk, thoracic and lumbar spine and pelvis (0.0% vs. 13.6%). Conclusion Compared to cyclists, injured e-scooter riders are younger, mostly do not wear a helmet and more often ride under the influence of alcohol. E-scooter accidents occur more frequently at night and the riders are more likely to suffer serious head injuries.
Medical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aid, Public aspects of medicine
This study investigates the impact of green open spaces in reducing the probability of flooding and open waste burning in urban areas in Indonesia’s three largest metropolitan cities: Surabaya, Jakarta, and Medan. This study employs urban village microdata from the 2014 and 2018 Village Potential Census. First, we construct the dataset into a difference-in-differences setup. The urban villages that initially did not have any green open spaces in 2014 and then had them in 2018 were assigned as the treatment group, and those without any green open spaces in both periods were the comparison group. Then, we estimated the impact of urban green spaces on the probability of flooding and open waste burning. The results indicate that the likelihood of flooding and open waste burning had decreased in treated areas by 2018.
Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Fiora Helmi, Ernan Rustiadi, Bambang Juanda
et al.
Food security is a critical aspect of regional development, particularly in metropolitan areas that function as centers of consumption, production, and distribution. This study aims to identify leading food commodities in the PEKANSIKAWAN Metropolitan Area of Riau Province, which includes Pekanbaru City, Kampar Regency, Siak Regency, and Pelalawan Regency, and to provide recommendations for strengthening regional food security. The research employed Location Quotient (LQ) and Shift Share Analysis (SSA) to examine comparative and competitive advantages across the four regions. The analysis identified four key commodities: poultry meat in Pekanbaru City, aquaculture fish in Kampar Regency, rice and onions in Siak Regency, and agroindustry-based rice and fish in Pelalawan Regency. These commodities form a complementary system that enhances interregional synergy and food supply resilience. The findings indicate that optimizing interregional linkages through collaborative investment, integrated supply chains, and food system clusters is essential to address both production disparities and consumption needs. The conclusion emphasizes that the metropolitan scale provides unique opportunities to combine local strengths into a coherent regional food system, which can better support the availability, accessibility, and stability of food. Policy implications highlight the need for strategic investment in irrigation, cold chain logistics, and digital market platforms, alongside institutional strengthening through farmer cooperatives, financial access, and capacity building. The study contributes scientifically by integrating territorial analysis with quantitative methods in a metropolitan context, offering both theoretical enrichment for food security literature and practical guidance for regional policymakers.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
Based on a literature review and policy analysis, this study analyzes the evolution of the regional governance regime in China since its reform and opening-up, and examines how this process has influenced the development of contemporary metropolitan areas. Multiscale spatial development strategies and regional governance regimes have been formed because of different development goals and visions in regional development. As a crucial mediating scale in China's regional governance, the construction of metropolitan areas has exhibited notable variation in governance subjects, structures, and developmental effects during different development phases. From the perspective of spatial governance goals, factor allocation means, and their scalar characteristics, this study categorizes China's regional governance into four periods since the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s: i) regional economic growth driven by development zones (1978-1993), ii) regional resource reallocation through administrative adjustment (1994-2000), iii) regional coordinated development through the development of industrial parks and new national-level areas (2001-2015), and iv) multi-level governance of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas (2016-present). Governance forms and functional characteristics varied across different periods, contributing to a shift in China's regional governance from a centralized planned economy to a multilevel regulatory governance model. As metropolitan areas have become a key strategy in the new type of urbanization process, their development at different stages has exhibited different governance structures and functional characteristics. This study systematically reviews the evolutionary characteristics and driving factors of the regional governance stages and compares the first three metropolitan areas approved by the central government: Nanjing, Chengdu, and Fuzhou. It was found that the differences in regional governance across these stages shaped the functional development and vision of metropolitan areas. The Nanjing metropolitan area is under a multilevel governance stage, representing developed regions, characterized by advanced cross-boundary cooperation and a well-established coordination system between the central city and surrounding cities and counties. In this model, multilevel governments and non-governmental organizations actively participate in cross-regional governance, with market integration playing a leading role in metropolitan development. This has resulted in multidimensional development, such as the cross-boundary development of infrastructure, industries, and ecological protection. The Chengdu metropolitan area remains in a hierarchical governance stage marked by uneven regional development between the central city and the surrounding cities and countries. Consequently, government-initiated projects, such as ecological protection and infrastructure development, have been implemented, but the lack of market actors has constrained the development of the industrial division of labor and cooperation. This region has yet to form a unified resource allocation platform, which limits the flow of resources and development factors across administrative boundaries. The Fuzhou metropolitan area is characterized by industrial collaboration initiatives through intercity cooperative zones, and its central city has a weak influence on the surrounding cities and counties. Support from the provincial government facilitated the establishment of cross-boundary cooperative parks; however, excessive reliance on administrative mechanisms hindered the emergence of market-driven mechanisms. The capacity for regional functional integration and cooperation was relatively weak compared to the Nanjing and Chengdu metropolitan areas. A comparative analysis of the three metropolitan areas reveals that more economically developed regions tend to focus on functional integration among different cities and counties. Meanwhile, regions with uneven economic development emphasize coordinated development and improve ad hoc cross-boundary development issues. The interaction of government and market actors leads to distinct forms of regional governance and impacts the realization of metropolitan area functions.
Amid growing demands for urban regeneration, metro station areas (MSAs) have emerged as critical spatial units for assessing renewal potential. However, their highly heterogeneous functional and spatial attributes pose challenges to precise classification and targeted strategy development. This study introduces the RFM (recency, frequency, and monetary) model—originally used in marketing—to the urban renewal domain. By mapping POI (point of interest) data, population density, and land price to the RFM dimensions, a three-dimensional evaluation framework is constructed. Using QGIS to process multi-source data for 118 MSAs in Beijing, we apply an improved five-quantile stratification method to classify station areas into eight renewal potential types. The results reveal a concentric spatial gradient: 24% of core-area MSAs are identified as Key-Value MSAs, while 23% of peripheral MSAs are categorized as General-Retention MSAs. Based on the classification, differentiated renewal strategies are proposed: high-potential MSAs should prioritize public space enhancement and walkability improvements, whereas low-potential MSAs should focus on upgrading basic transit infrastructure. The study provides a replicable method for classifying MSAs based on spatial and economic indicators, offering new theoretical insights and practical tools to guide evidence-based urban regeneration and station–city integration in high-density metropolitan areas such as Beijing.
The aim of this study is to assess the differentiation of the dimensions of the smart city concept in metropolitan areas on the example of the cities of the Poznan metropolitan area. The analysis covered six basic areas of the smart city concept: smart economy, smart governance, smart mobility, smart environment and smart living. The assessment was carried out using the multi-criteria TOPSIS decision-making method. A total of 31 indicators relating to this concept and identified in the scientific literature were selected as comparative criteria. The analysis covered 14 cities. As a result, seven original rankings were prepared - six presenting an assessment of the cities' activities in individual smart city areas and a collective ranking indicating the position of individual cities in their efforts to build smart cities against the entire group. These rankings may provide indications for improving the programming of their development by decision-makers of cities located in metropolitan areas in the highlighted areas. By comparing the positions of individual units, it was possible to indicate which of them and in which area have the highest achievements and which smart city issues require a more careful look by decision-makers. The results of the study made it possible to indicate the directions of development of activities that are implemented in individual units against the background of the whole group.
Carolina Innella, Grazia Barberio, Claudia Brunori
et al.
The Urban Living Lab (ULL) is both a methodology and a place where different actors of a territory can collaborate with the aim of urban transformation and sustainable development. This paper briefly introduces a methodological framework, that combines stakeholder engagement and co-design process on Circular Economy (CE) ideas and projects. The structure of the methodological framework foresees four main phases: scouting and analysis of the territorial context, listening and exploration, participation and execution. The main objective of this paper focuses on the application and experimentation of the same ULL methodology framework in four different Italian urban territories (Anguillara Sabazia in the metropolitan area of Rome, Bologna, Taranto and Venosa, a small town in southern Italy), to highlight how the ULL is an effective approach for stakeholder engagement and co-design processes aiming to the transition toward CE. The discussion section of the four ULL cases highlights the main results of the co-design process: the ideation of project proposals of CE activities suitable for implementation in the reference urban territories. The four ULL cases have shown how the same methodological steps can be applied in urban areas with different geographical, territorial and socio-economic characteristics, with comparable results in terms of activating processes of engagement and co-design within the communities living there. In conclusion, experimenting the proposed methodological framework in each of the four urban areas, despite their differing characteristics, it has stimulated the growth of cultural capital and community ties. This was achieved through the exchange of different skills and the collaborative contributions of multidisciplinary teams, resulting in increased collective awareness.
Alexandreana Cocroft, Jesse S. Lewis, Jeffrey Clark
et al.
Abstract Cities support abundant human and wildlife populations that are shaped indirectly and directly by human decisions, often resulting in unequal access to environmental services and accessible open spaces. Urban land cover drives biodiversity patterns across metropolitan areas, but at smaller scales that matter to local residents, neighborhood socio‐cultural factors can influence the presence and abundance of wildlife. Neighborhood income is associated with plant and animal diversity in some cities, but the influence of other social variables is less well understood, especially across desert ecosystems. We explored wildlife distribution across gradients of neighborhood ethnicity in addition to income and landscape characteristics within residential areas of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Utilizing data from 38 wildlife cameras deployed in public parks and undeveloped open spaces within or near suburban neighborhoods, we estimated occupancy and activity patterns of common mammal species, including species native to the Sonoran Desert (coyote [Canis latrans] and desert cottontail rabbit [Sylvilagus audubonii]), and non‐native domestic cat (Felis catus). Neighborhood ethnicity (percentage of Latino residents) appeared to exhibit a negative relationship with occupancy for coyotes and cottontail rabbits. Additionally, daily activity patterns of coyotes occurred later in the evenings and mornings in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Latino residents, but activity was unaffected by differences in neighborhood income. This study is one of the first to show that social‐ecological mechanisms associated with patterns of neighborhood ethnicity as well as income may help to shape wildlife distribution in cities. These findings have implications for equitable management and provisioning of ecosystem services for urban residents and highlight the importance of considering a range of social covariates to better understand biodiversity outcomes in urban and urbanizing areas.
Frank Johansson, Yeserin Yildirim, Chaz Hyseni
et al.
Understanding patterns of species-genetic diversity correlations (SGDC) is important for conservation purposes because it allows us to infer whether conservation of species diversity (SD) influences conservation of genetic diversity (GD) and the other way around. Here, we studied SGDCs using aquatic macrofauna in a set of 31 urban ponds in the metropolitan area of Stockholm, Sweden. We also estimated how land use and pond environmental factors affect SD and GD. SD was estimated as species richness. GD was estimated in four focal species that differed in their dispersal abilities: Asellus aquaticus (Isopoda), Haliplus ruficollis (Coleoptera), Planorbis planorbis (Gastropoda), Rana temporaria (Amphibia), using double digest restriction associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing data. There were no significant SGDCs for any of the species. Similarly, GD was not related to land use or pond environment. However, SD had a significant positive correlation with total invertebrate abundance and pond area. Given the absence of significant SGDCs in our study, and the mixed positive and negative patterns found in previous studies reporting SGDCs, we suggest that simultaneously preserving species and genetic diversity in urban areas will prove challenging.
We study the stochastic properties of the area under some function of the difference between (i) a spectrally positive Lévy process $W_t^x$ that jumps to a level $x>0$ whenever it hits zero, and (ii) its reflected version $W_t$. Remarkably, even though the analysis of each of these areas is challenging, we succeed in attaining explicit expressions for their difference. The main result concerns the Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the integral $A_x$ of (a function of) the distance between $W_t^x$ and $W_t$ until $W_t^x$ hits zero. This result is extended in a number of directions, including the area between $A_x$ and $A_y$ and a Gaussian limit theorem. We conclude the paper with an inventory problem for which our results are particularly useful.
We prove that the area of each nonflat genus zero free boundary minimal surface embedded in the unit $3$-ball is less than the area of its radial projection to $\mathbb{S}^2$. The inequality is asymptotically sharp, and we prove any sequence of surfaces saturating it converges weakly to $\mathbb{S}^2$, as currents and as varifolds.
Esteban González-Díaz, Christian E. Rodríguez-Lugo, Sergio Quintero-Luce
et al.
Monkeypox (Mpox) is a zoonotic viral infection endemic to Africa, which has caused a global outbreak since April 2022. The global Mpox outbreak is related to Clade IIb. The disease has primarily affected men who have sex with men. Skin lesions are concentrated in the genital area, with lymphadenopathy as well as concurrent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This is an observational study of adult patients with a recent development of skin lesions and systemic symptoms, which could not be explained by other diseases present. Fifty-nine PCR-positive patients with prominent skin lesions in the genital area (77.9%), inguinal lymphadenopathy (49.1%), and fever (83.0%) were included. Twenty-five (42.3%) were known to be living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and 14 of the HIV-naïve subjects (51.9%) were found to be positive during workup, totaling 39 (66.1%) patients with HIV. Eighteen patients (30.5%) had concurrent syphilis infections. It is worrisome that Mpox is present in large metropolitan areas of Mexico, but the underlying growth of cases of HIV infection and other STIs has not been well studied and should be evaluated in all at-risk adults and their contacts.
Given trajectories with gaps, we investigate methods to tighten spatial bounds on areas (e.g., nodes in a spatial network) where possible rendezvous activity could have occurred. The problem is important for reducing the onerous amount of manual effort to post-process possible rendezvous areas using satellite imagery and has many societal applications to improve public safety, security, and health. The problem of rendezvous detection is challenging due to the difficulty of interpreting missing data within a trajectory gap and the very high cost of detecting gaps in such a large volume of location data. Most recent literature presents formal models, namely space-time prism, to track an object's rendezvous patterns within trajectory gaps on a spatial network. However, the bounds derived from the space-time prism are rather loose, resulting in unnecessarily extensive post-processing manual effort. To address these limitations, we propose a Time Slicing-based Gap-Aware Rendezvous Detection (TGARD) algorithm to tighten the spatial bounds in spatial networks. We propose a Dual Convergence TGARD (DC-TGARD) algorithm to improve computational efficiency using a bi-directional pruning approach. Theoretical results show the proposed spatial bounds on the area of possible rendezvous are tighter than that from related work (space-time prism). Experimental results on synthetic and real-world spatial networks (e.g., road networks) show that the proposed DC-TGARD is more scalable than the TGARD algorithm.
Hannaneh Barahouei Pasandi, Asma Haghighat, Azin Moradbeikie
et al.
The advent of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) has enabled the feasibility of wireless sensor networks for environmental traffic sensing across urban areas. In this study, we explore the usage of LoRaWAN end nodes as traffic sensing sensors to offer a practical traffic management solution. The monitored Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) factor is reported and used in the gateways to assess the traffic of the environment. Our technique utilizes LoRaWAN as a long-range communication technology to provide a largescale system. In this work, we present a method of using LoRaWAN devices to estimate traffic flows. LoRaWAN end devices then transmit their packets to different gateways. Their RSSI will be affected by the number of cars present on the roadway. We used SVM and clustering methods to classify the approximate number of cars present. This paper details our experiences with the design and real implementation of this system across an area that stretches for miles in urban scenarios. We continuously measured and reported RSSI at different gateways for weeks. Results have shown that if a LoRaWAN end node is placed in an optimal position, up to 96% of correct environment traffic level detection can be obtained. Additionally, we share the l
The United States (US) Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program operates the national forest inventory of the US. Traditionally, the FIA program has relied on sample-based approaches -- permanent plot networks and associated design-based estimators -- to estimate forest variables across large geographic areas and long periods of time. These approaches generally offer unbiased inference on large domains but fail to provide reliable estimates for small domains due to low sample sizes. Rising demand for small domain estimates will thus require the FIA program to adopt non-traditional estimation approaches that are capable of delivering defensible estimates of forest variables at increased spatial and temporal resolution, without the expense of collecting additional field data. In light of this challenge, the development of small area estimation (SAE) methods for FIA data has become an active and highly productive area of research. Yet, SAE methods remain difficult to apply to FIA data, due in part to the complex data structures and inventory design used by the FIA program. Thus, we argue that a new suite of estimation tools (i.e., software) will be required to accommodate shifts in demand for inference on large geographic areas and long time periods to inference on small spatial and/or temporal domains. Herein, we present rFIA, an open-source R package designed to increase the accessibility of FIA data, as one such tool. Specifically, we present two case studies chosen to demonstrate rFIA's potential to simplify the application of a broad suite of SAE methods to FIA data: (1) estimation of contemporary county-level forest carbon stocks across the conterminous US using a spatial Fay-Herriot model; and (2) temporally-explicit estimation of multi-decadal trends in merchantable wood volume in Washington County, Maine using a Bayesian mixed-effects model.
Lukas Brand, Sebastian Lotter, Vahid Jamali
et al.
We consider a multiuser diffusion-based molecular communication (MC) system where multiple spatially distributed transmitter (TX)-receiver (RX) pairs establish point-to-point communication links employing the same type of signaling molecules. To realize the full potential of such a system, an in-depth understanding of the interplay between the spatial user density and inter-user interference (IUI) and its impact on system performance in an asymptotic regime with large numbers of users is needed. In this paper, we adopt a three-dimensional (3-D) system model with multiple independent and spatially distributed point-to-point transmission links, where both the TXs and RXs are positioned according to a regular hexagonal grid, respectively. Based on this model, we first derive an expression for the channel impulse responses (CIRs) of all TX-RX links in the system. Then, we provide the maximum likelihood (ML) decision rule for the RXs and show that it reduces to a threshold-based detector. We derive an analytical expression for the corresponding detection threshold which depends on the statistics of the MC channel and the statistics of the IUI. Furthermore, we derive an analytical expression for the bit error rate (BER) and the achievable rate of a single transmission link. Finally, we propose a new performance metric, which we refer to as area rate efficiency (ARE), that captures the tradeoff between the user density and IUI. The ARE characterizes how efficiently given TX and RX areas are used for information transmission and is given in terms of bits per area unit. We show that there exists an optimal user density for maximization of the ARE. Results from particle-based and Monte Carlo simulations validate the accuracy of the expressions derived for the CIR, optimal detection threshold, BER, and ARE.
Calculations of the Fourier transform of a constant quantity over an area or volume defined by polygons (connected vertices) are often useful in modeling wave scattering, or in fourier-space filtering of real-space vector-based volumes and area projections. If the system is discretized onto a regular array, Fast Fourier techniques can speed up the resulting calculations but if high spatial resolution is required the initial step of discretization can limit performance; at other times the discretized methods result in unacceptable artifacts in the resulting transform. An alternative approach is to calculate the full Fourier integral transform of a polygonal area as a sum over the vertices, which has previously been derived in the literature using the divergence theorem to reduce the problem from a 3-dimensional to line integrals over the perimeter of the polygon surface elements, and converted to a sum over the straight segments of that contour. We demonstrate a software implementation of this algorithm and show that it can provide accurate approximations of the Fourier transform of real shapes with faster convergence than a block-based (voxel) discretization.
Quantitative estimates of present-day earthquake hazard in major cities are essential for effective policymaking, community development, and seismic risk reduction. In this study, we develop a statistical analysis of natural times in Nepal to compute earthquake potential score (EPS) that describes the current level of seismic progression of a city through irregular repetitive cycle of regional earthquakes. The method, known as earthquake nowcasting (Rundle et al., 2016), uses a discrete time domain of natural times, cumulative counts of small interevent earthquakes, to characterize the present state of fault system by way of considering all earthquake events, including dependent, induced, or triggered seismicity. Data analysis and statistical inference of natural times corresponding to M ≥ 6 events assign EPS values between 59% and 99% to 24 major cities of Nepal, with the scores of metropolitan areas Kathmandu (95%), Pokhara (93%), Lalitpur (95%), Bharatpur (93%), Biratnagar (92%), and Birganj (93%). Physically, these nowcast scores, viewed as a way of tectonic stress accumulation since the last event, provide a realistic estimate on how far along is a city in its earthquake cycle of large sized events at current time. The proposed analysis and emanated results produce valuable information to the academia, industry, and public on the current dynamical state of seismic hazard in the highly earthquake prone Nepal region.