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22 pages, 15918 KB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Exceptional Cluster of Simultaneous Shallow Landslides in Rwanda: Context, Triggering Factors, and Potential Warnings

by Fils-Vainqueur Byiringiro, Marc Jolivet, Olivier Dauteuil, Damien Arvor and Christine Hitimana Niyotwambaza

GeoHazards 2024, 5(4), 1018-1039; https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards5040049 - 25 Sep 2024

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3261

Abstract

Rwanda, in eastern tropical Africa, is a small, densely populated country where climatic disasters are often the cause of considerable damage and deaths. Landslides are among the most frequent hazards, linked to the country’s peculiar configuration including high relief with steep slopes, humid [...] Read more.

Rwanda, in eastern tropical Africa, is a small, densely populated country where climatic disasters are often the cause of considerable damage and deaths. Landslides are among the most frequent hazards, linked to the country’s peculiar configuration including high relief with steep slopes, humid tropical climate with heavy rainfall, intense deforestation over the past 60 years, and extensive use of the soil for agriculture. The Karongi region, in the west-central part of the country, was affected by an exceptional cluster of more than 700 landslides during a single night (6–7 May 2018) over an area of 100 km². We analyse the causes of this spectacular event based on field geological and geomorphology investigation and CHIRPS and ERA5-Land climate data. We demonstrate that (1) the notably steep slopes favoured soil instability; (2) the layered soil and especially the gravelly, porous C horizon allowed water storage and served as a detachment level for the landslides; (3) relatively low intensity, almost continuous rainfall over the previous two months lead to soil water-logging; and (4) acoustic waves from thunder or mechanical shaking by strong wind destabilized the water-logged soil through thixotropy triggering the landslides. This analysis should serve as a guide for forecasting landslide-triggering conditions in Rwanda. Full article

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11 pages, 258 KB

Open AccessArticle

Digital Death and Spectacular Death

by Johanna Sumiala and Michael Hviid Jacobsen

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(2), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13020101 - 6 Feb 2024

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6193

Abstract

Throughout human history, individuals, communities and societies have always had to confront and tackle the problem of death. Consequently, death remains a topic of social scientific relevance, highlighting the need for its study and for theorising around it. This article analyses the development [...] Read more.

Throughout human history, individuals, communities and societies have always had to confront and tackle the problem of death. Consequently, death remains a topic of social scientific relevance, highlighting the need for its study and for theorising around it. This article analyses the development of the social scientific study of death and dying, taking inspiration from Philippe Ariès’s historical stages to discuss the recent developments in the field, namely the study of digital death. The article begins with a discussion of the visibility of death in modern society in the context of spectacular death. The analysis emphasises its four dimensions: mediatisation, commercialisation, re-ritualisation and the revolution in end-of-life care. The article moves on to discuss the emergence of digital death as the current stage and reflects on its similarities to spectacular death and its transformation of public imaginaries around death in contemporary society. The article concludes with a reflection on future developments in the field, specifically the emergence and study of artificial intelligence (AI) in digitalised death culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue DIDE–Digital Death: Transforming History, Rituals and Afterlife)

11 pages, 4502 KB

Open AccessReview

Using the Carnivorous Sponge Lycopodina hypogea as a Nonclassical Model for Understanding Apoptosis-Mediated Shape Homeostasis at the Organism Level

by Stephen Baghdiguian, Emilie Le Goff, Laure Paradis, Jean Vacelet and Nelly Godefroy

Foundations 2023, 3(2), 220-230; https://doi.org/10.3390/foundations3020018 - 18 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2674

Abstract

The dynamic equilibrium between death and regeneration is well established at the cell level. Conversely, no study has investigated the homeostatic control of shape at the whole organism level through processes involving apoptosis. To address this fundamental biological question, we took advantage of [...] Read more.

The dynamic equilibrium between death and regeneration is well established at the cell level. Conversely, no study has investigated the homeostatic control of shape at the whole organism level through processes involving apoptosis. To address this fundamental biological question, we took advantage of the morphological and functional properties of the carnivorous sponge Lycopodina hypogea. During its feeding cycle, this sponge undergoes spectacular shape changes. Starved animals display many elongated filaments to capture prey. After capture, prey are digested in the absence of any centralized digestive structure. Strikingly, the elongated filaments actively regress and reform to maintain a constant, homeostatically controlled number and size of filaments in resting sponges. This unusual mode of nutrition provides a unique opportunity to better understand the processes involved in cell renewal and regeneration in adult tissues. Throughout these processes, cell proliferation and apoptosis are interconnected key actors. Therefore, L. hypogea is an ideal organism to study how molecular and cellular processes are mechanistically coupled to ensure global shape homeostasis. Full article

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23 pages, 3671 KB

Open AccessArticle

Pull and Push Drivers of Giant-Wave Spectators in Nazaré, Portugal: A Cultural Ecosystem Services Assessment Based on Geo-Tagged Photos

by António Azevedo

Land 2023, 12(2), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020360 - 28 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 9559

Abstract

This paper maps the cultural ecosystem services (CES) of a well-known giant-wave hotspot located in Nazaré, Portugal. The paper adopts a qualitative approach combining an auto-ethnographic direct observation of a journey and the content analysis of photos and videos posted on the YouTube [...] Read more.

This paper maps the cultural ecosystem services (CES) of a well-known giant-wave hotspot located in Nazaré, Portugal. The paper adopts a qualitative approach combining an auto-ethnographic direct observation of a journey and the content analysis of photos and videos posted on the YouTube and Facebook pages of tourists and operators. A total of 44 geotagged photos from a sample of 6914 photos retrieved from Flickr allowed the classification and spatial distribution of several CES: (1) recreational—surf activities; (2) aesthetic—photography; (3) spiritual—dark tourism and risk recreation; (4) intangible heritage—maritime knowledge; (5) scientific—wave height forecast; (6) sense of place; and (7) social relations. The paper also proposes a theoretical framework that highlights the pull drivers (risk recreation, storm chasing, or spectacular death voyeurism) and the push drivers (e.g., marketing campaigns and wave forecasts alerts) that explain the behaviors of the big-wave spectators/chasers during the experience journey. Public decision-makers, destination marketing organizations, tourism operators, and business entrepreneurs must acknowledge the relevance of journey mapping in order to identify the moments of stress and the touchpoints associated with peak/positive experiences generated by these CES. This study confirms some push and pull factors assessed by previous studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology of the Landscape Capital and Urban Capital)

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18 pages, 1554 KB

Open AccessReview

Volatilomics: An Emerging and Promising Avenue for the Detection of Potential Prostate Cancer Biomarkers

by Cristina V. Berenguer, Ferdinando Pereira, Jorge A. M. Pereira and José S. Câmara

Cancers 2022, 14(16), 3982; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14163982 - 17 Aug 2022

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4466

Abstract

Despite the spectacular advances in molecular medicine, including genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, and personalized medicine, supported by the discovery of the human genome, prostate cancer (PCa) remains the most frequent malignant tumor and a leading cause of oncological death in men. New methods [...] Read more.

Despite the spectacular advances in molecular medicine, including genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, and personalized medicine, supported by the discovery of the human genome, prostate cancer (PCa) remains the most frequent malignant tumor and a leading cause of oncological death in men. New methods for prognostic, diagnostic, and therapy evaluation are mainly based on the combination of imaging techniques with other methodologies, such as gene or protein profiling, aimed at improving PCa management and surveillance. However, the lack of highly specific and sensitive biomarkers for its early detection is a major hurdle to this goal. Apart from classical biomarkers, the study of endogenous volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) biosynthesized by different metabolic pathways and found in several biofluids is emerging as an innovative, efficient, accessible, and non-invasive approach to establish the volatilomic biosignature of PCa patients, unravelling potential biomarkers. This review provides a brief overview of the challenges of PCa screening methods and emergent biomarkers. We also focus on the potential of volatilomics for the establishment of PCa biomarkers from non-invasive matrices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Screening and Diagnostics of Prostate Cancer)

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19 pages, 508 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Appearance and Resonance of Apocalyptic Archetypes in Contemporary Disaster Films

by Chi-Ying Yu

Religions 2021, 12(11), 913; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110913 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6951

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has roused the apocalyptic fear that was foreseen in religious prophecies. This research will focus on the post-9/11 and pre-COVID-19 disaster films, in an attempt to understand the representation and pre-presentation of the collective disaster psychology. Aligned with Jungian film [...] Read more.

The COVID-19 pandemic has roused the apocalyptic fear that was foreseen in religious prophecies. This research will focus on the post-9/11 and pre-COVID-19 disaster films, in an attempt to understand the representation and pre-presentation of the collective disaster psychology. Aligned with Jungian film studies, this essay regards films as a convergence of generations’ collective unconscious. Apocalypse may as well be considered the psychic archetypes that emerge in our civilization in the name of religion. This essay aims to construe the ways that apocalyptic archetypes appear and are elaborated in contemporary films, in hope of recognizing the new apocalyptic aesthetics formed in the interval between the two disastrous events. Consistent with the meaning in classic doomsday narratives, the archetypal symbols in these films are found to have carried a dual connotation of destruction and rebirth. Through empirical cinematographic style, these archetypal images are revealed in an immersive way. Disaster films from this time place emphasis on death itself, fiercely protesting against the stagnation of life, and in turn triggering a transcendental transformation of the psyche. Unlike those in the late 1990s, viewing the doomsday crisis through the lens of spectacularity, disaster in these films is seen as a state of body and mind, and death a thought-provoking life experience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Representation and the Philosophy of Film)

17 pages, 319 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Return of Death in Times of Uncertainty—A Sketchy Diagnosis of Death in the Contemporary ‘Corona Crisis’

by Michael Hviid Jacobsen and Anders Petersen

Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(8), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9080131 - 27 Jul 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 11315

Abstract

For most parts of human history, death was an integral part of life, something that prehistoric and premodern man had no other option than to live with as best as possible. According to historians, death was familiar and tamed, it was at the [...] Read more.

For most parts of human history, death was an integral part of life, something that prehistoric and premodern man had no other option than to live with as best as possible. According to historians, death was familiar and tamed, it was at the center of social and cultural life. With the coming of modern secular society, death was increasingly sequestrated and tabooed, moved to the outskirts of society, made invisible and forbidden. Death became a stranger, and the prevalent attitude towards death was that of alienation. At the threshold of the 21st century, the topic of death again began to attract attention, becoming part of a revived death attitude described as ‘Spectacular Death’. In the article, the authors diagnose, analyze, and discuss the impact of the return of death during the current ‘Corona Crisis’, arguing that despite the fact that the concern with death is at the very core of the management of the crisis, death as such remains largely invisible. In order to provide such a diagnosis of the times, the authors initially revisit the prevailing death attitudes in the Western world from the Middle Ages to the present day. Full article

20 pages, 251 KB

Open AccessArticle

“Spectacular Death”—Proposing a New Fifth Phase to Philippe Ariès’s Admirable History of Death

by Michael Hviid Jacobsen

Humanities 2016, 5(2), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/h5020019 - 29 Mar 2016

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 24347

Abstract

This article revisits, reviews and revises the much cited and magisterial description of successive historical death mentalities from the Middle Ages to modern society as proposed several decades ago by French historian Philippe Ariès. The article first outlines Ariès’s position starting out with [...] Read more.

This article revisits, reviews and revises the much cited and magisterial description of successive historical death mentalities from the Middle Ages to modern society as proposed several decades ago by French historian Philippe Ariès. The article first outlines Ariès’s position starting out with the medieval “tamed death,” then moves on to point to several inherent limitations in his history-writing, before suggesting a revision and update of it. Whereas Ariès ended his history-writing with modern “forbidden death,” the author suggests that contemporary death mentality in Western society rather be labelled “spectacular death” in which death, dying and mourning have increasingly become spectacles. Moreover, the author proposes that what is currently happening in contemporary Western society can be interpreted as an expression of a “partial re-reversal” of “forbidden death” to some of the characteristic features of previous historical death mentalities, which—coupled with contemporary scientific and technological possibilities—creates several paradoxical tendencies making death linger uneasily between liberation and denial as well as between autonomy and control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Death, Dying, Near-Death Experiences & Bereavement in the Western World)

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