Exploring geolocation issues in social media analytics A case study with Tweet messages

Social media data, such as Tweet messages, are sometimes associated with their geolocation. This information can be exploited to perform spatial analyses, resulting in geosocial analytics. However, the geolocation does not often correspond to the actual position of the author, but could be fictiously associated to the messages. The issues coming from the absence of Tweet geolocation metadata are explored in this paper, through a test case over Italy

Open Web Services: new tools for Medievalist Historians to manage and share their research work

The research project presented in this paper regards a joint cooperation between Medievalist Historians and Geomatics experts. The idea was to study if new tools based on Geomatics technologies could provide Historians with new methods to develop their studies, archiving digital data in a geo-database and “spatializing” the information sources to produce maps in a GIS environment. So, in the first part of the project, a GIS was designed and implemented based on data collected from documents preserved in the Italian National Archives. Afterwards, the problem of data integration and sharing among research groups working on Medieval History was dealt with, in order to make data available for the consultation and query by several research groups. Three approaches based on a client-server architecture have been explored: one is typical of the WebGIS architecture; the second one is based on OGC Web services and the third one exploits a Web page while the GIS tools are provided by a Desktop GIS installed locally on a PC. In the paper, the different approaches will be described, in order to underline advantages and disadvantages with respect to the Historians' requirements

Formal quality assessment of Crisis Maps produced during 2005-2010 - Preliminary results and a proposal for rapid and cost-effective quality assessment

In the last decade, crisis maps have become increasingly a common support in the disaster preparedness and response cycle. In this work, five years of crisis maps from five world leader service providers have been explored and a way to extensively and quickly verify their quality is proposed. A sample of 255 maps has been assessed according to a checklist designed. The clarity of the content, the readability and usability of the maps and the respect of main cartographic standards have been assessed. The first analysis presented in this document highlighted that the basic characteristics expected in good maps are not always respected. The aim of showing current shortcomings in the crisis maps to the scientific community is to foster the improvement of their quality in the future.JRC.DG.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

DATUM TRANSFORMATIONS FOR MAPPING APPLICATIONS: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS

Il problema delle trasformazioni tra sistema di riferimento globale, cui si appoggiano le moderne tecniche di posizionamento spaziale GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), e sistemi di riferimento nazionali, adottati storicamente per la cartografia, è un problema che ciascun tecnico deve affrontare ogni volta che si debba importare un rilievo GPS su una carta o quando si voglia rendere ‘navigabile’ una carta tradizionale ad un utilizzatore GPS. Dopo un breve inquadramento del problema dal punto di vista teorico e una breve panoramica su alcune metodologie attualmente disponibili per gestire le trasformazioni tra sistema globale e sistemi nazionali, viene presentata una applicazione di ArcGis utilizzata per riportare dal sistema ED50 al sistema WGS84 alcune aree coperte dal DB100, base dati cartografica in scala nominale 1:100.000 prodotta dall’Istituto Geografico De Agostini. L’obbiettivo del presente lavoro è quello di confrontare tale metodologia con altre metodologie più rigorose che potrebbero risultare più idonee a scala maggiore e valutare la presenza di eventuali deformazioni.Modern spatial positioning techniques GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) are based on a global reference system, while historically cartography is based on a national reference system. The problem of transformations between these two reference systems is a problem that every technician has to face every time a GPS survey needs to be included on a map or every time he needs to make available a traditional map to a GPS user. After a brief introduction of the problem from a theoretical point of view and a short overview on some methodologies, now available to manage transformation between global and national systems, we present an ArcGis application used to convert from the ED50 system to the WGS84 system, some areas covered by DB100. This is a cartographic data base at scale 1:100.000 produced by the Istituto Geografico De Agostini. The objectives of this work are to compare such a methodology with more rigorous approaches, that could be more suitable at a higher scale, and to detect possible deformations

From historical documents to GIS: A spatial database for medieval fiscal data in Southern Italy

The study presented in this article addresses a geographic information system supporting historical research, including tools for geo-referencing data extracted from medieval source documents. Working closely with historians, an effective model for fiscal and census data has been designed to supply them with tools for digitally archiving data from historical source documents in a database structure, which may suggest new criteria for studying and correlating information. The considered data had been collected from the Quaternus Declaracionum of the Regno di Napoli (Kingdom of Naples) and focuses on an area corresponding to the Principality of Taranto from 1458-1460

Validation Protocol for Emergency Response Geo-information Products

Europe is making a significant effort to develop (geo)information services for crisis management as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security GMES) programme. Recognising the importance of coordinated European response to crises and the potential contribution of GMES, the Commission launched a number of preparatory activities in coordination with relevant stakeholders for the establishment of an Emergency Response GMES Core Service (ERCS). GMES Emergency Response Services will rely on information provided by advanced technical and operational capabilities making full use of space earth observation and supporting their integration with other sources of data and information. Data and information generated by these services can be used to enhance emergency preparedness and early reaction to foreseeable or imminent crises and disasters. From a technical point of view, the use of geo-information for emergency response poses significant challenges for spatial data collection, data management, information extraction and communication. The need for an independent formal assessment of crisis products to provide operational services with homogeneous and reliable standards has recently become recognized as an integral component of service development. Validation is intended to help end-users decide how much to trust geo-information products (maps, spatial dataset). The focus, in this document, is on geo-information products, in particular those derived from Earth Observation data. Validation principles have been implemented into a protocol, as a tool to check whether the products meet standards and user needs. The validation principles, methods, rules and guidelines provided in this document aim to give a structure that guarantees an overall documented and continuous quality of ERCS products.JRC.DG.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

LRRK2 phosphorylates pre-synaptic N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion (NSF) protein enhancing its ATPase activity and SNARE complex disassembling rate

Background Lrrk2, a gene linked to Parkinson\u2019s disease, encodes a large scaffolding protein with kinase and GTPase activities implicated in vesicle and cytoskeletal-related processes. At the presynaptic site, LRRK2 associates with synaptic vesicles through interaction with a panel of presynaptic proteins. Results Here, we show that LRRK2 kinase activity influences the dynamics of synaptic vesicle fusion. We therefore investigated whether LRRK2 phosphorylates component(s) of the exo/endocytosis machinery. We have previously observed that LRRK2 interacts with NSF, a hexameric AAA+ ATPase that couples ATP hydrolysis to the disassembling of SNARE proteins allowing them to enter another fusion cycle during synaptic exocytosis. Here, we demonstrate that NSF is a substrate of LRRK2 kinase activity. LRRK2 phosphorylates full-length NSF at threonine 645 in the ATP binding pocket of D2 domain. Functionally, NSF phosphorylated by LRRK2 displays enhanced ATPase activity and increased rate of SNARE complex disassembling. Substitution of threonine 645 with alanine abrogates LRRK2-mediated increased ATPase activity. Conclusions Given that the most common Parkinson\u2019s disease LRRK2 G2019S mutation displays increased kinase activity, our results suggest that mutant LRRK2 may impair synaptic vesicle dynamics via aberrant phosphorylation of NSF

Educación tributaria y evasión de impuestos en los comerciantes del Centro Comercial Ameca, Trujillo, 2023

La investigación tuvo como objetivo general determinar la relación entre la educación tributaria y la evasión de impuestos en los comerciantes del centro comercial Ameca Trujillo, 2023, El estudio fue de alcance correlacional y de diseño transversal y no experimental; asimismo, se utilizaron como instrumento dos cuestionarios en escala ordinal Likert, los cuales fueron aplicados a una muestra conformada por 110 empresarios. Los principales hallazgos muestran que la mayoría de los comerciantes tiene un nivel medio de educación tributaria y evaden impuestos en un grado medio (55.5% y 53.6% respectivamente) debido a su limitada orientación fiscal y al desconocimiento de la normativa tributaria, lo que afecta su cumplimiento formal. Se concluyó que la educación tributaria se relaciona de manera inversa y significativa con la evasión de impuestos (correlación Rho de Spearman de -0.649 y p-valor = 0.000), esto evidencia que un mayor conocimiento y comprensión de obligaciones tributarias desincentiva la evasión. Este trabajo de investigación sirve como base para el desarrollo de estrategias para mejorar la educación tributaria, facilitando el diseño de programas de capacitación y difusión más efectivosThe general objective of the research was to determine the relationship between tax education and tax evasion in merchants at the Ameca Trujillo shopping center, 2023. The study was correlational in scope and had a cross-sectional and non- experimental design; Likewise, two questionnaires on an ordinal Likert scale were used as an instrument, which were applied to a sample made up of 110 entrepreneurs. The main findings show that the majority of merchants have an average level of tax education and evade taxes to a medium degree (55.5% and 53.6% respectively) due to their limited tax orientation and lack of knowledge of tax regulations, which affects their formal compliance. It was concluded that tax education is inversely and significantly related to tax evasion (Spearman's Rho correlation of -0.649 and p-value = 0.000), This shows that greater knowledge and understanding of tax obligations discourages evasion. This research work serves as a basis for the development of strategies to improve tax education, facilitating the design of more effective training and dissemination programs.Tesi

A geotagged image dataset with compass directions for studying the drivers of farmland abandonment

In this work, we present a dataset containing a collection of pictures taken during the fieldwork of a farmland abandonment study. Data was taken in 2010 with a compact camera that incorporates GPS and a digital compass sensor. The photographs were taken as part of a GIS database. Using their Exif metadata, we created a layer of geographic fields of view (geoFOVs) that can be used to perform specific spatial queries. The dataset contains 2,235 pictures and GIS layers of geoFOVs contextualising the agricultural plots being photographed. The dataset is hosted in a Zenodo dataset repository

Hazard Susceptibility Mapping with Machine and Deep Learning: A Literature Review

With the increase in climate-change-related hazardous events alongside population concentration in urban centres, it is important to provide resilient cities with tools for understanding and eventually preparing for such events. Machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques have increasingly been employed to model susceptibility of hazardous events. This study consists of a systematic review of the ML/DL techniques applied to model the susceptibility of air pollution, urban heat islands, floods, and landslides, with the aim of providing a comprehensive source of reference both for techniques and modelling approaches. A total of 1454 articles published between 2020 and 2023 were systematically selected from the Scopus and Web of Science search engines based on search queries and selection criteria. ML/DL techniques were extracted from the selected articles and categorised using ad hoc classification. Consequently, a general approach for modelling the susceptibility of hazardous events was consolidated, covering the data preprocessing, feature selection, modelling, model interpretation, and susceptibility map validation, along with examples of related global/continental data. The most frequently employed techniques across various hazards include random forest, artificial neural networks, and support vector machines. This review also provides, per hazard, the definition, data requirements, and insights into the ML/DL techniques used, including examples of both state-of-the-art and novel modelling approaches