Evaluation of the Poisson Approximation To Measures of the Random Pattern in the Square

Theoretical values for spacing between points of the Poisson process are frequently used to evaluate the hypothesis that the locations within a region of pointlike objects have a random pattern. These theoretical spacing values are an approximation to spacing values for a uniform process in which the objects are uniformly and independently located in the region. The adequacy of the Poisson approximation to this uniform process for a square region is evaluated by analytic and numeric methods. The approximation is close for a small number of points when spacing between objects is measured by toroidal distance.     

Redundancy as an Index of Change in Point Pattern Analysis

Point pattern analysis based on concepts from information theory can go beyond existing techniques. Direct measurement of spatial form is achieved when Thiessen polygons are constructed around the points; in this scheme, each point's proportion of total area may be treated like a probability. Three information-theoretic indices are available for analysis of a distribution of such probabilities. Entropy is density dependent. Redundancy, defined as the difference between observed and maximum entropy, seems to avoid this problem when the number of individuals in a pattern exceeds twenty. Comparisons of prior and posterior redundancy provide an indication of change in overall pattern form. An information gain expectation reflects changes for each individual in a pattern. Here, point-area redundancy parameters are determined for Poisson-generated patterns, using a gamma distribution of polygon areas and a computer-generated set. An application to an urban crime problem illustrates the use of these parameters in the analysis of pattern change.     

Religious Speech in the Public Square

Abstract

I examine the reasons often given for restricting religious language to the private domain. Despite acknowledging their force, I argue that suppressing religious speech in public conversations is inherently dangerous, suggesting that such a policy undermines mutual trust and confidence, is corrosive of individual integrity and that such marginalization of religious language deprives social discussions of vital resources. Finally I propose a set of qualities and virtues that should underpin the way that religious languages and perspectives are deployed in public so that fears about this can be overcome in service of a more harmonious and enriched level of exchange in the public sphere.     

细说「四方城」

四方的西安城,在完整之中显露着历史遗留下来的诸多痕迹,袒露在人们眼前的每一块砖石似乎都清清楚楚地写着「历史」,城墙的每个城门都会有外界的新、好、坏、丑各种各样诱人的事物涌进来,与满城沉积几百年的「历史」裹挟在一起,扭缠在一起,不可避免地造成新与旧、历史与现代、传统与摩登诸多因素的对抗冲突撞击,以及对峙中短暂停顿与和谐.     

天圆地方 福建土楼

<正>天圆地方,是土楼给我留下的印象,我被它的建筑构造所深深折服,"天、地、人"三方的紧密结合,在土楼被体现得淋漓尽致,它不仅仅是建筑,更是一种艺术。身处土楼之中,在并不宽敞的民居中支起摄影设备,天与地,建筑与居民,我用镜头寻找不一样的"东方明珠"。福建土楼历史悠久且规模巨大,因其大多数为客家人所建,故又称"客家土楼"。土楼墙体具有"可呼吸"的功能,室内舒适度很高,风吹不动,虫爬不进,而且冬暖夏凉,非常适宜居住。当地居民热情好客,拉着我讲述他们引以为豪的建筑瑰     

中国制造的伊斯兰幻方瓷器

从16世纪开始,中国开始生产回回文瓷器,外销伊斯兰世界,并延续至19世纪,大约可分为四个阶段。其中的第三阶段生产一种幻方瓷器,多为盘或碗,瓷器的中心由幻方组成,其中填满数字,周围环绕着大段《古兰经》中的诗文及伊斯兰颂词,幻方中的数字不仅仅是作为装饰,它的排列包含着一定的伊斯兰世界的含义。幻方瓷器是作为医疗用的瓷器而生产的,在伊斯兰世界起着很大的作用。     

说方豆与宥坐之器

在楚地的东周墓葬中常常出土有一种方形盘的豆形器,因其盘是方形的,其下部有柄和座,与东周常见的圆盘豆相同,故人们常因其形而将其称之为方豆,根据其铭文,本论认为是欹器,但不是周庙之欹器或宥坐之器,而应是在欹器的基础之上演变的一种新器种,仍名之为欹,同时认为,所见这类器物应属楚器。     

试论中国史前方形城址的出现

中国史前方形城址的出现,最早发生在龙山时代的中原地区。优越的地理环境,版筑技术的成熟,审美观、世界观中独特的价值取向以及聚落发展中重视事先规划与总体布局的文化传统,为方形城址的产生准备了必要的先决条件。龙山时代中原地区社会发展中礼制建设的需要,是方形城址出现的根本原因。     

Circling the Square: Moving between Practical Politics and Eschatological Performance

Abstract

The article explores some dilemmas of current Western liberal democratic politics. It proposes that a necessary tension be held between practical politics and radical critique. It reviews the Christian prophetic tradition as a contribution towards doing that and argues for ‘eschatological performance’ as an appropriate way of re-reading this tradition in a contemporary pluralistic context. The article suggests that, to be useful politically, ‘prophetic imagination’ must retain its theological identity and questioning. It critiques the realist/non-realist philosophical framework for doing this, and suggests how responsibly prophetic political theology can be both fluid and critically realist in its outlook.     

良渚文化经济形态与社会形态试说

良渚文化发现６０年来,诸多学者对其作了富有成效的探讨,其研究至今方兴未艾。本文试对其经济形态与社会形态作一分析,并就良渚社会存在的一些现象作尝试性的解说。一良渚文化的手工业非常发达,制陶、纺织和编织较以往有了很大进步,特别是制玉和祭坛建筑更是反映了良...     

Distance and social interaction in a Victorian city

The paper examines patterns of marriage in a small industrial city—Huddersfield—between 1850 and 1880, when the residential structure of the city was becoming more modern in its spatial organization. The need to interpret distance-decay patterns of interaction in their social context is stressed. The apparently unchanging relationship between physical distance and frequency of interaction is related to the balance between changing patterns of individual mobility, class consciousness and scales of residential segregation. The more extensive interaction fields of the rich are attributed to their greater mobility, but also their lower population density. The close-knit patterns of the poor reflect their higher population density and more particularly the segregation of the Irish community. Finally, the differences between normative (within-class) and non-normative (between-class) marriage distances are considered. It is suggested that physical distance operated independently of social distance, although this conclusion requires further testing at different scales of analysis, and using information on forms of interaction other than marriage.     

Distance Distributions and Trip Behavior in Defined Regions

This paper discusses applications of the statistical distribution of distances between random pairs of points in bounded regions. The existing literature on convex figures is first described, and applications of the analytically tractable distributions to point pattern analysis are given. New statistics are then introduced with applications in shape analysis and trip distribution studies. Finally a brief discussion is made of directional bias, and of alternative sampling rules and distance metrics.     

Innovation and Change in the Marshallian Industrial District

One of the relatively neglected aspects of studies of industrial districts is that of processes of innovation and structured change. In the paper, a preliminary theorization is offered, with evidence from a case in Tuscany. The paper concludes that creative capacities embedded at the local level may be valuable in this respect.