Formation of information support for the development of freight transportation of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsya”

A methodical approach to the formation of indicators of the information base of management decisions on the development of freight JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”, which consists in calculating the taxonomy of the level of development of freight by substantiating systems and its elements: eighteen static systems, elements of which are six regional railways; seven dynamic systems – regional branches and in general JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”. A spatial and temporal comparison of the development of freight transportation of selected systems is carried out. The taxonomy index is calculated on the basis of five indicators of freight traffic for the period 2002-2019. The analysis of static systems made it possible to identify the uneven development of freight transportation of regional branches of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” for the studied 18 years. The temporal comparison of the levels of development of freight traffic by each railway in particular also showed their instability. Fluctuations are observed in the last three years of the study period. In 2018, JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” demonstrated the lowest level of freight transportation development for the entire analyzed year 2002-2019. It was established that both external and internal factors caused the negative impact on rail transportation, in particular: the economic crisis of 2014-2015; military action in eastern Ukraine; ineffective management at different levels of government. The introduction of quarantine measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused unprofitable and deteriorating financial and economic performance of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, and its six regional branches in 2020, in particular, revenues from freight transportation decreased by 10.3% compared to 2019, and net loss amounted to UAH 11.9 billion. Implementing the anti-crisis plan by the management of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia and the improvement of operational work in the freight segment has yielded some positive results. However, for the effective planning and management decisions in the field of freight transportation an important component is the proper formation of an information base. The proposed methodological approach will serve as an effective tool not only in the management of the freight segment of individual regional branches or enterprises in particular, but also the economic development of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” in general and can be used by other large companies.

Do Superordinate Identification and Temporal/Social Comparisons Independently Predict Citizens’ System Trust? Evidence From a 40-Nation Survey

Do superordinate in-group bias as well as temporal and social comparisons offer standalone explanations for system justification? We addressed this question using the latest World Value Survey (7th Wave), combining the responses of 55,721 participants from 40 different nations. Results from a random slope multilevel model showed that superordinate (national) identification, temporal comparison (i.e., the outcomes of an individual relative to those of his/her parents at different time points), and social comparison (based on income levels) were independent and positive predictors of system justification. Specifically, system justification increased when national identification was high, when income increased (i.e., the socioeconomic comparison was positive), and when the outcomes of citizens improved relative to the outcomes of their parents at relevant time points (i.e., the temporal comparison was positive). Incidentally, we also observed an interaction between national identification and temporal comparison (but not with social comparison), indicating that positive temporal comparison seemed to have a reduced effect (but still significant) for highly identified citizens. These results are supportive of the social identity approach to system justification and suggest that support for societal systems is a positive function of people’s personal and group interests.

Once again—never before—too late: Competing modalities of temporal comparison in German politics (1790–1945)

Comparisons across historical times can appear in various shapes. Apart from simple then/now contrasts, three basic modalities may be distinguished: (1) Comparisons that stress similarity and repeatability (“once again”), (2) comparisons that claim absolute novelty, if not incommensurability between present and past (“never before”), and (3) comparisons that suggest a time lag between two entities which, although synchronous in calendar time, appear nonsynchronous in other respects (“too late”/“not yet”/“far ahead”). Relying on a broad range of comparison-performing utterances by leading politicians and observers, this article will assess the conjunctures of those three modalities of temporal comparison in 19th- and 20th-century German politics. Prima facie, one might expect an increase in the use of novelty claims (“never before”) and comparisons of the “too late”-type in that period of frequent upheavals. By contrast, the “once again”-variant should be declining because it builds on the historia magistra vitae topos which, according to Reinhart Koselleck, was dissolved in the post-1789 age of revolution. However, there is abundant evidence to show that historical examples and analogies continued to play a significant role all through the 19th and 20th centuries, whereas allegations of absolute novelty or of being too late remained limited to situations of imminent crisis. Even though the examples presented in this article refer to Germany’s special case, it will be argued that the pattern is typical for Western modernity at large: Modern political rhetoric and action are characterized not by one dominant regime, but a copresence of all three—competing—modalities of temporal comparison.

PROPOSAL FOR SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL COMPARISON IN THE ALGORITHMS FOR 3D RECONSTRUCTION

In the computer reconstruction of objects in three dimensions (3D) there are two problems to solve. The first problem concerns reducing the memory space occupied by a 3D object. The second problem is to reduce the execution time to digitally display the reconstruction.

UAV-SfM 4D mapping of landslides activated in a steep terraced agricultural area

The presence of roads is closely linked with the activation of land degradative phenomena such as landslides. Factors such as ineffective road management and design, local rainfall regimes, and specific geomorphological elements actively influence landslide occurrence. In this context, recent developments in digital photogrammetry (e.g., Structure from Motion; SfM) paired with Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) systems increase our possibilities to realize low-cost and recurrent topographic surveys. This can lead to the development of multi-temporal (hereafter: 4D) and high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), which are fundamental to analyse geomorphological features and quantify processes at the fine spatial and temporal resolutions at which they occur. This research proposes a multi-temporal comparison of the main geomorphometric indicators describing a landslide-prone terraced vineyard to assess the observed high-steep slope failures. The possibility to investigate the evolution of landslide geomorphic features in steep agricultural systems through a high-resolution and 4D comparison of such indicators is still a challenge to be explored. In this article, we considered a case study located in the central Italian Alps, where two landslides were activated below a rural road within a terraced agricultural system. The dynamics of the landslides were monitored by comparing repeated DEMs (DEM of difference), which reported erosion values of above 20 m3 and 10 m3 for the two landslide zones and deposition values of more than 15 m3 and 9 m3, respectively. The road network’s role in the alteration of superficial water flows was proved by the elaboration of the relative path impact index. Altered water flows were expressed by values between 2σ and 4σ close to the collapsed surfaces. The increase in profile curvature and roughness index described the landslides evolution over time. Finally, the multi-temporal comparison of feature extraction underlined the geomorphological changes affecting the study area. The accuracy of features extraction was analysed through the quality index computation, expressed in a range between 0 (low accuracy) and 1 (high accuracy), and proved to be equal to 0.22 m (L1-pre), 0.63 m (L1-post), and 0.69 m (L2). Results confirmed the usefulness of high-resolution and 4D UAV-based SfM surveys to investigate landslides triggering due to the presence of roads at hillslope scale in agricultural systems. This work could be a useful starting point for further studies of landslide- susceptible zones on a wider scale to preserve the quality and the productivity of affected agricultural areas.