Changes in the Country and Their Impact on Topographic Data of Agricultural Land—A Case Study of Slovakia

Due to natural phenomena as well as human activities, changes are occurring in land use. Techniques and environment GIS have made it possible to process large amounts of data from various sources. In Slovakia, mapping of topography and elevation is being carried out as part of the elaboration of land readjustment projects. This is also a starting point for updating estimated pedologic-ecological units (EPEUs). Therefore, it is necessary to make efforts to harmonize the real state of the country with the data stored in the EPEU database, which are the basis for spatial analyses in the country and the creation of price maps. The EPEU system was built in the 1970s; however, only after 1990, due to changes in ownership and user conditions of the land, did it begin to seriously address the issue of updating data. This study examines selected sources of altimetry data, especially airborne laser scanning (ALS), and their potential role in processing purpose maps and harmonizing boundary curves and slope and exposure characteristics at a stable 5-position EPEU local code. Based on the obtained results, the use of ALS data and the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) derived from them may lead to the streamlining of some processes in terms of planning and decision-making regarding land use, even outside the context of the ongoing land reforms in the Slovak Republic.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Using Geographical Information System (GIS): An Integrated Land Suitability Analysis of Filling Stations

A stable methodology for conserving the natural environment has been a concern for developing countries. The fast-paced growth of urbanization generated significant demand for automobiles, leading to greater utilization of fuel. The consumption of fuel is fulfilled by the Filling Station (FS). An FS is undoubtedly an important facility, but it is reported that it has high potential for degradation of natural resources, pollution problems, environmental degradation, and hydrological, geological, and socio-economic hazards, and therefore the site selection of such facilities is an essential problem. The traditional approach utilizes EIA assessments and GIS separately and existing models lacks integration. Thus, this study provides an integrated GIS-based land suitability modeling using EIA assessments, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been used as key land use feature prioritization for the appropriate selection of FS locations. A case study is also carried out to assess the precision of the suggested model. The findings indicate that more than 73% of the present FS are in the acceptable region, while 27% of the FS are not in the adequate region using the local code. Furthermore, 58% of the present FS are in the acceptable region, while 42% of current FS are not in the adequate region using the international code. The findings of the comparative code analysis show a difference in the codes. The international code looks safer compared to the local code because it has higher buffer distances. This model will assist decision-makers in making better decisions for such land suitability problems for filling stations, and this model can also be extended to other facilities by some modifications in the filters and data layers of the model.

A Methodology for Estimating the Position of the Engineering Bedrock for Offshore Wind Farm Seismic Demand in Taiwan

Taiwan lies in the circum-Pacific earthquake zone. The seabed soil of offshore wind farms in Taiwan is mainly composed of loose silty sand and soft, low-plasticity clay. The seismic demand for offshore wind turbines has been given by the local code. Ground-motion analysis is required to consider the site effects of the soil liquefaction potential evaluation and the foundation design of offshore wind turbines. However, the depth of the engineering bedrock for ground motion analysis is not presented in the local code. In this study, we develop a three-dimensional ground model of an offshore wind farm in the Changhua area, through use of collected in situ borehole and PS (P wave (compression) and S (shear) wave velocities) logging test data. The engineering bedrock is the sediment at the depth where the average shear wave velocity of soil within 30 m, Vsd30, is larger than 360 m/s. In this ground model, the shear wave velocity of each type of soil is quantified using the seismic empirical formulation developed in this study. The results indicate that the engineering bedrock lies at least 49.5–83 m beneath the seabed at the Changhua offshore wind farm. Based on these findings, it is recommended that drilling more than 100 m below the seabed be done to obtain shear wave velocity data for a ground response analysis of the seismic force assessment of offshore wind farm foundation designs.

Performance and Evaluation of GNSS Receiver Vector Tracking Loop Based on Adaptive Cascade Filter

In the scenario of high dynamics and low C/N0, the discriminator output of a GNSS tracking loop is noisy and nonlinear. The traditional method uses a fixed-gain loop filter for error estimation, which is prone to lose lock and causes inaccurate navigation and positioning. This paper proposes a cascaded adaptive vector tracking method based on the KF+EKF architecture through the GNSS Software defined receiver in the signal tracking module and the navigation solution module. The linear relationships between the pseudo-range error and the code phase error, the pseudo-range rate error and the carrier frequency error are obtained as the measurement, and the navigation filter estimation is performed. The signal C/N0 ratio and innovation sequence are used to adjust the measurement noise covariance matrix and the process noise covariance matrix, respectively. Then, the estimated error value is used to correct the navigation parameters and fed back to the local code/carrier NCO. The field vehicle test results show that, in the case of sufficient satellite signals, the positioning error of the proposed method has a slight advantage compared with the traditional method. When there is signal occlusion or interference, the traditional method cannot achieve accurate positioning. However, the proposed method can maintain the same accuracy for the positioning results.

The symbolic space of northern cities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) on the example of art objects

This article examines the symbolic space of northern cities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), represented by art objects of modernity. The interpretation of landscape text, its symbolic transformation within the framework of transformations of the state structure contributes to broad understanding of territorial identity and determination of its new forms and projections. The authors consider the experience of Central Russia and Western cities. The article presents classification of art objects, murals and graffiti of the cities of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) by structural-semantic hierarchy in the monumental decorative art of urban space. Special attention is given to the bright examples with regional and local code components, as well to the objects created under the influence of Western culture. The novelty of this research consists the overview and analysis of the art objects of northern cities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) from the perspective of semiotic approach. The peculiarities of creation of art objects, their symbolism and meaning are determined. The author highlights the main flaws in the concept of creation of urban spaces in the North, as well as offers possible solutions to the questions of formation of favorable urban environment, taking into account seamless adaptation to time and place. Emphasis is  made on the need for systemic approach in the search for own identity in erection of art objects, application of color and light, as well as on the need for functionality and environmental friendliness of art objects in northern cities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

Race, Humor, and Politics

From a country of emigrants, Italy has recently become a receiver of migrants. These new, reverse direction migratory flows have triggered strong reactions by Italians, such as nativist discourses about national culture and identity and aggressive, exclusionary, anti-immigration politics. This chapter explores how everyday Italian discursive practices—joke-telling, in particular—operate in relation to these politics, at times totally or partially excluding migrants while simultaneously creating intimate spaces of inclusion for Italians. By codeswitching, for example, from standardized Italian into their local code during joke-telling performances that feature migrants, Northern Italian speech participants address audiences who are presumed to “share” this code while enacting exclusionary stances. This chapter also demonstrates that dichotomies such as exclusion/inclusion are inadequate analytical tools, and it proposes more processual approaches to participation.

Codes of Professional Conduct and Ethics Education for Future Teachers

This paper argues that the way future teachers are being initiated into the ethical dimensions of their future profession is largely out of step with the movement to professionalize teaching. After recalling the role that codes of professional conduct play in the ecology of professional self-regulation, and arguing that familiarizing students with their local code of ethics should be considered is the bare minimum of an adequate ethics education for professionals, the paper presents research findings indicating that education students are not leaving colleges and universities with a clear understanding of what is expected of them by society, their peers and the profession. The paper concludes with three suggestions about how to begin bringing ethics education for teachers more into line with teaching’s aspiration to professional status.

METAGRAMMATICAL MODEL AND METHOD OF DECODING THE VIDEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WITH PREFIX COMPRESSION CODES

In the article, a metagrammatic model and the local-frequency decoding method are proposed to solve the problem of decoding videographic information with prefix compression codes. The metagrammatic model is presented as a five – level stochastic metagrammatics that allows us to take into account the structural and statistical features of prefix coded data and use them to improve the decoding efficiency. It is shown that only regular Chomsky grammars can be used in the proposed stochastic metagrammatics. The model uses a combined metagrammatics scheme with matching rules such as “terminal – initial symbol” (TS) and “terminal – product label” (TP). It is shown that structuring the model in the form of stochastic metagrammatics can significantly reduce the total number of products in metagrammatics and simplify its modification when solving problems of decoding promising prefix compression codes. The features of the local-frequency method of decoding videographic information with prefix compression codes focused on this metagrammatic model are considered. To implement one of the main and time-consuming procedures of this method, related to the search in local code tables and translation of uneven prefix codes, a local-private procedure for searching code words is proposed. The features of the software implementation of the proposed method are considered. The results of experimental testing of the method on the example of real arrays of non-uniform prefix codes are presented.

Humans use a local code for tactile perception

Humans are classically thought to use either spectral decomposition or averaging to identify vibrotactile signals. These are general purpose ‘global’ codes that require integration of the signal over long stretches of time. Natural vibrotactile signals, however, likely contain short signature events that can be detected and used for inference of textures, instantaneously, with minimal integration, suggesting a hitherto ignored ‘local code’. Here, by employing pulsatile stimuli and a change detection psychophysical task, we studied whether humans make use of local cues. We compared three local cues based on instantaneous skin position and its derivatives, as well as six global cues, calculated as summed powers (with exponents 1,2, and 3) of velocity and acceleration. Deliberate manipulation of pulse width and amplitude (local+global) as well as pulse frequency (global) allowed us to disentangle local from global codes. The results singled out maximum velocity, an instantaneous code, as a likely and dominant coding variable that humans rely on to perform the task. Comparing stimuli containing versus lacking local cues, demonstrated that performances exclusively using global cues are rather poor compared to situations where local ones are available as well. Our results are in line with the notion that humans not only do use local cues but that local cues may even play a dominant role in perception. Our results parallel previous results in rodents, pointing to the possibility that quite similar coding strategies evolved in whisker and finger tactile systems.Significance statementThe brain is believed to select coding symbols in sensory signals that would most efficiently convey functionally relevant information about the world. For instance, the visual system is widely believed to use spatially local features, like edge orientation, to delineate a visual scene. For the tactile system only global, general purpose coding schemes have been discussed so far. Based on the insight that moving contacts, characteristic for active touch, feature short-lived stick-slip events, frictional movements that transfer fair amounts of texture information, one should expect the brain to use a temporally local code, extracting and instantaneously analyzing short snippets of skin movement. Here, we provide the first analytical psychophysical evidence in humans that this indeed is the case.