Indigeneity and spatial information science

Spatial information science has given rise to a set of concepts, tools, and techniques for understanding our geographic world. In turn, the technologies built on this body of knowledge embed certain ways of knowing. This vision paper traces the roots and impacts of those embeddings and explores how they can sometimes be inherently at odds with or completely subvert Indigenous Peoples\u27 ways of knowing. However advancements in spatial information science offer opportunities for innovation whilst working towards reconciliation. We highlight as examples four active research topics in the field to support a call to action for greater inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in spatial information science

Assessing Technological Possibility Against Societal Need: Smart Sketch Maps for Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration

This paper explores the potential of smart sketchmaps for delivering fit-for-purpose land administration in Eastern Africa. It does this by assessing whether smart sketchmaps include the fit-for-purpose land administration elements according to different stakeholder perceptions. Whilst the use of sketch mapping itself is not new in land administration, smart sketchmaps’ technologies and processes allow for conversion of hand drawn sketch maps into topologically and spatially corrected maps. Smart sketchmaps can provide qualitative spatial information in areas where conventional cartographic and geospatial knowledge is often limited. Including these maps in the land administration system not only adds to existing data about visible boundaries, but importantly introduces records of those less obvious socially or temporally constructed de facto boundaries that are significant in customary tenures

Leveraging VGI Integrated with 3D Spatial Technology to Support Urban Intensification in Melbourne, Australia

High density residential development in metropolitan Melbourne, where contradictory imperatives of neighbourhood character and urban intensification play important roles, remains an uncertain practice. One key issue for plan implementation is the lack of consistency between authorities, developers and the community in interpreting the standards, design guidelines, and state/local strategies, especially those relating to neighbourhood character. There is currently no mechanism to incorporate community perceptions and place experiences as subjective aspects of neighbourhood character in development assessments. There is also little use of micro-scale and multi-dimensional spatial analysis to integrate these subjective aspects with objective measures (e.g. building volume and height; streetscape) to communicate effectively—and in a limited timeframe—with all stakeholders. This paper explores the potential of two emerging geospatial technologies that can be leveraged to respond to these problems. Evidence in the literature suggests that volunteered geographic information (VGI) can provide community input around subjective aspects of the urban environment. In addition, a deluge of three-dimensional (3D) spatial information (e.g. 3D city models) is increasingly available for micro-level (building- or property-level) assessment of the physical aspects of the urban environment. This paper formulates and discusses a conceptual framework to link these two spatial technological advancements in a virtual geographic environment (VGE) that accounts for micro-scale 3D spatial analysis incorporating both subjective and objective aspects of neighbourhood character relevant in implementing compact city strategies

Weeding out deviant workplace behaviour in downsized organizations: the role of emotional intelligence and job embeddedness

While job insecurity has been widely studied across various contexts, the empirical study within the Malaysian context remained scarce. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of job insecurity on deviant workplace behaviour on employees from retrenching organizations. This study also explored the effects of emotional intelligence and job embeddedness as moderating variables. Respondents were selected from retrenching organizations located in Johore, Penang and Selangor as these three states had the highest number of retrenchment cases in the country. Hypotheses testing was carried out using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the SmartPLS version 2.0. Overall, the results showed that job insecurity was negatively related to affective commitment and positively related to job-related tension. No relationship was detected between affective commitment and deviant workplace behaviour; however job-related tension correlated positively to deviant workplace behaviour. There was also a significant moderating influence of emotional intelligence on affective commitment and deviant workplace behaviour as well as on the relationship between job-related tension and deviant workplace behaviour. In addition, job embeddedness moderated the relationship between job- related tension and deviant workplace behaviour. The implications of the results to both theory and practice are discussed in this paper

UNDERSTANDING THE ATTITUDES AND FACTORS INFLUENCING ORGAN DONATION DECISIONS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to identify factors that were important in posthumous organ donation decisions in a developing country such as Pakistan. Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted with 50 semi-structured interviews among students of one public and one private university in Lahore (Pakistan) to understand their attitudes and factors influencing their decisions on posthumous organ donations. Purposive sampling technique was used in this study. The interview questions focused on the level of knowledge, motivation and overall attitude towards the posthumous organ donation decision of the respondents. Main Findings: There was a lack of general knowledge among university students in Pakistan. Most of the students had a positive attitude for posthumous organ donation yet moral norms are very influential in the decision-making process for organ donation after death. Those who were willing were reluctant because of the influence of family and friends. Religion was also another significant norm factor for prohibiting them to be an organ donor after death. Implications/Applications: The present study provided a way in the advancement of knowledge towards an understanding of the attitude, moral norms along with social and family influence for not only intention to donate but also signing the donor card. The findings of the study are useful for the government, policymakers and the organizations in Pakistan in their efforts to increase awareness and organ donation rates in the country. Novelty/Originality: The present research was exploratory and the intention for this research was to explore the underlying behavioral and normative beliefs which may inhibit or encourage organ donation among university students. Such qualitative studies are relatively uncommon in transplant literature

Governance of national spatial data infrastructures in Europe

The effective development and implementation of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) requires governance in order to avoid gaps, duplications, contradictions and missed opportunities in the implementation of different SDI components. Appropriate governance instruments should be established to coordinate the activities and contributions of different stakeholders. This article reviews the governance of national SDIs in Europe before, during and after the adoption of the European INSPIRE Directive, which aimed to establish an infrastructure for spatial information in the European community. The analysis is based on a governance instruments approach as introduced by public administration researchers to analyse coordination and governance in the public sector. The study shows that the instruments-based approach is a useful tool for analysing governance in the context of SDIs and contributes to a better understanding of SDI governance. Evidence was found for the adoption and use of each of six sets of governance instruments in the governance of national SDIs in Europe: collective decision-making structures, strategic management, allocation of tasks and responsibilities, creation of markets, inter-organizational culture and knowledge management, and regulation and formalization of the infrastructure

Conflicts to consensus: stakeholder perspectives of Tioman Island tourism sustainability

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study regarding island tourism at a rural Island destination in Malaysia. The findings based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with a number of stakeholder groups are reported, which show the different views among them where there is a divergence between the four stakeholder groups with regards to the problems faced by Tioman Island. A total of 46 residents, tourists, and government officials were interviewed to understand the problems encountered on Tioman Island. The qualitative interviews uncovered 15 problems faced by the various stakeholder groups on the island. The results found that different stakeholders perceived things differently. This study may help tourism planners, developers, and policy-makers to understand the problems faced by the island so that strategies can be implemented accordingly, to assess, monitor, and evaluate problems

Syngas-Enriched hydrogen production via catalytic gasification of water hyacinth using renewable palm kernel shell hydrochar

Syngas produced from biomass gasification has emerged as a highly promising substitute for conventional fossil fuel, catering to various industrial applications while ensuring minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Water hyacinth (WH) has been a major concern due to its invasive nature and uncontrollable growth which impedes aquatic growth and urban management. Fortunately, WH is a potential biomass feedstock due to the comparable cellulose and hemicellulose contents alongside high carbon content and high calorific value which reflects good biofuel properties. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the conversion of WH biomass via catalytic air gasification for syngas-enriched hydrogen production using palm kernel shell hydrochar (PKSH). A parametric study was conducted in a lab-scale fixed-bed downdraft gasifier based on the response surface methodology coupled with Box-Behnken design (RSM-BBD). The combined interaction effects of the influencing parameters investigated are temperature (600–800 °C), biomass particle size (2–6 mm), catalyst loading (0–10 wt%), and air flow rate (1–3 L/min). Temperature was revealed to be the primary factor with significant influence on the H2 and CO output. Maximum syngas (30.09 vol%) compositions of 11.14 vol% H2 and 18.95 vol% CO were obtained at 800 °C with a particle size of 6 mm and air flow rate of 2 L/min alongside 5 wt% PKSH catalyst loading

Intestinal fungi contribute to development of alcoholic liver disease

This study was supported in part by NIH grants R01 AA020703, U01 AA021856 and by Award Number I01BX002213 from the Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development Service of the VA Office of Research and Development (to B.S.). K.H. was supported by a DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) fellowship (HO/ 5690/1-1). S.B. was supported by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (P2SKP3_158649). G.G. received funding from the Yale Liver Center NIH P30 DK34989 and R.B. from NIAAA grant U01 AA021908. A.K. received support from NIH grants RC2 AA019405, R01 AA020216 and R01 AA023417. G.D.B. is supported by funds from the Wellcome Trust. We acknowledge the Human Tissue and Cell Research (HTCR) Foundation for making human tissue available for research and Hepacult GmbH (Munich, Germany) for providing primary human hepatocytes for in vitro analyses. We thank Dr. Chien-Yu Lin Department of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan for statistical analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Immobilized enzyme/microorganism complexes for degradation of microplastics: A review of recent advances, feasibility and future prospects

Environmental prevalence of microplastics has prompted the development of novel methods for their removal, one of which involves immobilization of microplastics-degrading enzymes. Various materials including nanomaterials have been studied for this purpose but there is currently a lack of review to present these studies in an organized manner to highlight the advances and feasibility. This article reviewed more than 100 peer-reviewed scholarly papers to elucidate the latest advances in the novel application of immobilized enzyme/microorganism complexes for microplastics degradation, its feasibility and future prospects. This review shows that metal nanoparticle-enzyme complexes improve biodegradation of microplastics in most studies through creating photogenerated radicals to facilitate polymer oxidation, accelerating growth of bacterial consortia for biodegradation, anchoring enzymes and improving their stability, and absorbing water for hydrolysis. In a study, the antimicrobial property of nanoparticles retarded the growth of microorganisms, hence biodegradation. Carbon particle-enzyme complexes enable enzymes to be immobilized on carbon-based support or matrix through covalent bonding, adsorption, entrapment, encapsulation, and a combination of the mechanisms, facilitated by formation of cross-links between enzymes. These complexes were shown to improve microplastics-degrading efficiency and recyclability of enzymes. Other emerging nanoparticles and/or enzymatic technologies are fusion of enzymes with hydrophobins, polymer binding module, peptide and novel nanoparticles. Nonetheless, the enzymes in the complexes present a limiting factor due to limited understanding of the degradation mechanisms. Besides, there is a lack of studies on the degradation of polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. Genetic bioengineering and metagenomics could provide breakthrough in this area. This review highlights the optimism of using immobilized enzymes/microorganisms to increase the efficiency of microplastics degradation but optimization of enzymatic or microbial activities and synthesis of immobilized enzymes/microorganisms are crucial to overcome the barriers to their wide application