Object-Based Land Cover Classification Using Multisensor Remote Sensing Data

The goal of this chapter is to demonstrate the classification of natural and man-made objects from multisensory remote sensing data. The spectral and spatial features play an important role in extracting the information of natural and man-made objects. The classification accuracy may be enhanced by fusion technique applied on feature knowledge database. A significantly different approach has been devised using spatial as well as spectral features from multisensory data, and the classified results are enhanced by majority voting fusion technique. The author concludes by presenting extensive discussion at each level and has envisaged the potential use of multisensory data for object-based land cover classification.

Brecht and Tragedy

This wide-ranging, detailed and engaging study of Brecht's complex relationship with Greek tragedy and tragic tradition argues that this is fundamental for understanding his radicalism. Featuring an extensive discussion of The Antigone of Sophocles (1948) and further related works (the Antigone model book and the Small Organon for the Theatre), this monograph includes the first-ever publication of the complete set of colour photographs taken by Ruth Berlau. This is complemented by comparatist explorations of many of Brecht's own plays as his experiments with tragedy conceptualized as the 'big form'. The significance for Brecht of the Greek tragic tradition is positioned in relation to other formative influences on his work (Asian theatre, Naturalism, comedy, Schiller and Shakespeare). Brecht emerges as a theatre artist of enormous range and creativity, who has succeeded in re-shaping and re-energizing tragedy and has carved paths for its continued artistic and political relevance.

Ethics and Technology: An Analysis of Rick and Morty

In this article, we argue that the animated TV-show Rick and Morty depicts several important and relevant themes about the impact of technology in contemporary societies. By using certain concepts and ideas from the philosophy of technology, especially from thinkers like Jacques Ellul, Jacques Derrida, Neil Postman, and George Ritzer, we investigate how this show brings to the fore certain ontological and ethical assumptions and problems that stem from the advance of technology. We shall use the term technopolitical thinking to refer to these core assumptions and principles which are inherent in contemporary technological societies. By providing various examples from certain episodes and scenes of the show, we shall illustrate how this animated series can provide a basis for a more extensive discussion.

The Responsibility of Waste Production: comparison of European Waste Statistics Regulation and Dutch National Waste Registry

The announcement of a new Circular Economy Action Plan as part of the European Green Deal policy has created an urgent need for the reliable information on resource flows to monitor and support the transition. An updated Monitoring Framework is set to rely as much as possible on European Statistics, however at this point there are no changes introduced in supranational statistics regulations. This raises a question whether regulations that have been created before the paradigm shift are still able to supply us with statistics necessary to inform policy makers about current successful practices, remaining barriers, positive and negative impacts of the transition and overall progress towards the set goals. This paper focuses on the Waste Statistics Regulation, specifically the relationship between the types of waste and economic activities which are considered to be the waste producers. Dutch National Waste Registry is used as a case study to compare the guidelines on pan-European waste data collection to the actual waste reports. The task of this publication is dual: first, it presents a computational method to link waste producers to their economic activities using a national Trade Registry. Secondly, it explores to which extent the guidelines available in the Waste Statistics Regulation correspond to the operational reality. An extensive discussion of the results provides insights and recommendations for the future guidelines of waste statistics to support circular economy transition.

Shariah Compliance in Islamic Economics: A Bibliometric Analysis

This study aims to examine the literature related to shariah compliance in the Scopus database. Furthermore, classification and critical commentary were applied to find a new direction for developing studies on shariah compliance in Islamic economics. The bibliometric approach was used to analyse 233 articles, while a systematic literature review was used to classify issues from 82 articles on this paradigm. The results showed that the examined studies grew significantly and were influential in developing the shariah compliance paradigm. This was indicated by the author’s highest m-index of 0.666. However, this literature primarily concerns financial institutions and their relationship with the paradigm, followed by related literature in various industries, with extensive discussion on ethics and in the normative context. In this regard, shariah compliance issues can be classified into three topics, namely Islamic banks, non-bank financial institutions, and general firms. Shariah compliance was insufficiently used as an instrument to measure the product restructuring impact of an Islamic bank and a reflection of the compliance from the customer psychology perspective. In this context, it is necessary to transform the paradigm into “preventing exploitation” by introducing the customer exploitation index.

Child Labor and Sex Trafficking

Regardless of their practice setting or subspecialty, pediatricians are likely to encounter children who have experienced sex or labor trafficking or who are at risk for exploitation. Only 24.1% of health professionals in one study reported receiving previous training on human trafficking; after a brief presentation on the topic, 39.6% indicated that they knew or suspected they had cared for a trafficked person in the past 3 months. Trafficked and exploited children can present with myriad physical or mental health conditions; most have experienced repeated, significant trauma; and few are likely to spontaneously disclose their exploitative situation. As a result, clinicians face challenges in recognizing and appropriately responding to potential human trafficking. Knowledge of common risk factors and potential indicators of exploitation can assist the pediatrician in recognizing affected and at-risk youth. However, health professionals report that existing training tends to focus on general information about trafficking, with relatively little time spent discussing the specifics of the trauma-informed approach to patient interactions. Given the critical importance of building patient trust, empowering patients to share their concerns, and engaging them in their own care and safety planning, this article focuses on the practical aspects of working with trafficked and exploited children. A brief overview of human trafficking is followed by an extensive discussion of rights-based, culturally sensitive, trauma-informed strategies for interacting with vulnerable patients.

The future of cultural psychology: An interview with Jaan Valsiner

Jaan Valsiner (JV) has been the foremost cultural psychologist in the world for the last 30 years. In 2021 professor Valsiner turned seventy, and he agreed to do an interview with colleagues and students on his understanding of cultural psychology, its potential for innovation and its connection to his many interesting experiences from around the world. The interview was conducted by the three directors of the Center for Cultural Psychology in Aalborg Denmark: Carolin Demuth (CD), Brady Wagoner (BW), and Bo Allesøe Christensen (BA). For an extensive discussion of the different sides of Valsiner work, readers can consult the recently published Festschrift (Wagoner, B., Christensen, B., & Demuth, C. [Eds.]. [2021]. Culture as process: A tribute to Jaan Valsiner. Springer.).

One of Everything: The Breakthrough Listen Exotica Catalog

We present Breakthrough Listen’s Exotica Catalog as the centerpiece of our efforts to expand the diversity of targets surveyed in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). As motivation, we introduce the concept of survey breadth, the diversity of objects observed during a program. Several reasons for pursuing a broad program are given, including increasing the chance of a positive result in SETI, commensal astrophysics, and characterizing systematics. The Exotica Catalog is a 963 entry collection of 816 distinct targets intended to include “one of everything” in astronomy. It contains four samples: the Prototype sample, with an archetype of every known major type of nontransient celestial object; the Superlative sample of objects, with the most extreme properties; the Anomaly sample of enigmatic targets that are in some way unexplained; and the Control sample, with sources not expected to produce positive results. As far as we are aware, this is the first object list in recent times with the purpose of spanning the breadth of astrophysics. We share it with the community in hopes that it can guide treasury surveys and as a general reference work. Accompanying the catalog is an extensive discussion of the classification of objects and a new classification system for anomalies. Extensive notes on the objects in the catalog are available online. We discuss how we intend to proceed with observations in the catalog, contrast it with our extant Exotica efforts, and suggest how similar tactics may be applied to other programs.

Two Classes of Infrasoft Separation Axioms

One of the considerable topics in the soft setting is the study of soft topology which has enticed the attention of many researchers. To contribute to this scope, we devote this work to investigate two classes of separation axioms with respect to the distinct ordinary elements through one of the generalizations of soft topology called infrasoft topology. We first formulate the concepts of infra- t p -soft T j using total belong and partial nonbelong relations and then introduce the concepts of infra- t t -soft T j -spaces using total belong and partial nonbelong relations. To illustrate the relationships between them, we provide some examples. We discuss their fundamental properties and study their behaviors under some special types of infrasoft topologies. An extensive discussion is given for the transmission of these two classes between infrasoft topology and its parametric infratopologies. In the end, we demonstrate which ones have topological and hereditary properties, and we show their behaviors under the finite product of soft spaces.

Compatibilization of Starch/Synthetic Biodegradable Polymer Blends for Packaging Applications: A Review

The health and environmental concerns of the usage of non-biodegradable plastics have driven efforts to explore replacing them with renewable polymers. Although starch is a vital renewable polymer, poor water resistivity and thermo-mechanical properties have limited its applications. Recently, starch/synthetic biodegradable polymer blends have captured greater attention to replace inert plastic materials; the question of ‘immiscibility’ arises during the blend preparation due to the mixing of hydrophilic starch with hydrophobic polymers. The immiscibility issue between starch and synthetic polymers impacts the water absorption, thermo-mechanical properties, and chemical stability demanded by various engineering applications. Numerous studies have been carried out to eliminate the immiscibility issues of the different components in the polymer blends while enhancing the thermo-mechanical properties. Incorporating compatibilizers into the blend mixtures has significantly reduced the particle sizes of the dispersed phase while improving the interfacial adhesion between the starch and synthetic biodegradable polymer, leading to fine and homogeneous structures. Thus, Significant improvements in thermo-mechanical and barrier properties and water resistance can be observed in the compatibilized blends. This review provides an extensive discussion on the compatibilization processes of starch and petroleum-based polymer blends.