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Producing high-resolution urban land cover maps is essential for decision-making and urban management. In this regard, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), especially Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR), has served as a valuable data source to fulfill this task. Direct conversion of low-level features into high-level Land Cover (LC) concept may reduce the final classification accuracy. Therefore, mid-level representation models, such as Bag of Visual Words (BOVW), were employed to resolve the existing semantic gap challenge. In this paper, a Segment-based BOVW (Seg-BOVW) model was developed for urban land cover classification using PolSAR data. To this end, two PolSAR data over San Francisco Bay (SFB) and Flevoland (FL) acquired by RADARSAT-2 were employed to comprehensively evaluate the Seg-BOVW model's performance. First, to exploit the full potential of PolSAR data, 169 low-level features in four categories: (1) original, (2) polarimetric, (3) texture, and (4) decomposition features were extracted. Afterward, a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) was implemented to investigate the importance of low-level features for urban land cover mapping. This step resulted in selecting 14 and 6 low-level features, as the high contributing features, for SFB and FL datasets, respectively. The Seg-BOVW model achieved significant overall accuracies of 96.02% and 98.82% for SFB and FL, respectively, indicating the high potential of the proposed method for urban land cover classification. Furthermore, a comparison with other well-known algorithms of Support Vector Machine (SVM), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) was made, suggesting the capability of the Seg-BOVW model to improve the urban land cover classification results. Finally, the Seg-BOVW model was tested with two other PolSAR datasets acquired with different sensors over SFB to examine its applicability with different datasets.

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe. Graminoid, deciduous shrub, and evergreen shrub cover has increased in some regions, but not others. To better understand why plant responses vary across regions, we compared change in plant cover over time with nine functional traits of 12 dominant species in three regions of northern Alaska (Utqiaġvik, Atqasuk, and Toolik Lake). Cover was measured three times from 2008 to 2018. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) found that one species — Carex aquatilis — showed significant change in cover over time, increasing by 12.7% at Atqasuk. Canonical correspondence analysis suggested a relationship between shifts in species cover and traits, but Pearson and Spearman rank correlations did not find a significant trend for any trait when analyzed individually. Investigation of community-weighted means (CWMs) for each trait revealed no significant changes over time for any trait in any region. By comparison, estimated ecosystem values for several traits important to ecosystem functioning showed consistent increases over time in two regions (Utqiaġvik and Atqasuk). Our results indicate that vascular plant community composition and function have remained consistent over time; however, documented increases in total plant cover have important implications for ecosystem functioning.

A pair (A, P) is called a cover of EndA(P)op if the Schur functor HomA(P,-) is fully faithful on the full subcategory of projective A-modules, for a given projective A-module P. By definition, Morita algebras are the covers of self-injective algebras and then P is a faithful projective-injective module. Conversely, we show that A is a Morita algebra and EndA(P)op is self-injective whenever (A, P) is a cover of EndA(P)op for a faithful projective-injective module P., Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Projekt DEAL

CD and digital album covers are part of the music purchase/consumption experience; yet, very little is known about how album cover design influences people’s expectations concerning, and their perception of, music. This article explores the effect of the typeface curvilinearity of album cover design on people’s expectations and perception of music. Typeface curvilinearity has been shown to influence expectations across other sensory modalities, such as taste (gustation). Across 3 studies, we demonstrate how angular versus rounded typeface can impact expectations concerning how the music will sound. We also demonstrate how angular and rounded typefaces influence emotion ratings of actual music samples. In Experiment 1, typeface curvilinearity influenced people’s expectations of music, with participants expecting the music to sound more angular, masculine, fast, rough, happy, evil, violent, exciting, and active when the typeface on the faux CD album cover was angular compared with when it was round. Conversely, participants expected the music to sound more round, feminine, slow, smooth, sad, good, gentle, calm, and passive when the typeface was round than when it was angular. Experiment 2 demonstrated that typeface curvilinearity influenced people’s ratings of emotional valence but not arousal in neutral music (i.e., music that is considered neither round nor angular). Specifically, participants evaluated the music as sounding more pleasant when the CD cover featured round typeface. Finally, in Experiment 3, we did not find evidence that CD album cover typeface influences people’s perception of arousal or valance of music when the music itself is rated as sounding highly round or angular. These results will be of interest to designers and marketing experts when creating CD covers, logos, posters, and lyric videos.

Consider a region that requires to be protected from unauthorized penetrations. The border of the region, modeled as a unit line segment, consists of high priority segments that require the highest level of protection separated by low priority segments that require to be visited infinitely often. We study the problem of patrolling the border with a set of k robots. The goal is to obtain a strategy that minimizes the maximum idle time (the time that a point is left unattended) of the high priority points while visiting the low priority points infinitely often. We use the concept of single lid cover (segments of fixed length) where each high priority point is covered with at least one lid, and then we extend it to strong double-lid cover where each high priority point is covered with at least two lids, and the unit line segment is fully covered. Let λk-1 be the minimum lid length that accepts a single λk-1-lid cover with k - 1 lids and Λ2k be the minimum lid length that accepts a strong double Λ2k-lid cover with 2k lids. We show that 2min(Λ2k, λk-1) is the lower bound of the idle time when the max speed of the robots is one. To compute Λ2k and λk-1, we present an algorithm with time complexity O(max(k, n) logn) where n is the number of high priority sections. Our algorithm improves by a factor of min(n, k) the previous O(knlogn) running time algorithm. For the upper bound, first we present a strategy with idle time λk-1 where one robot covers the unit line, and the remaining robots cover the lids of a single λk-1-lid cover with k - 1 lids. Then, we present a simple strategy with idle time 3Λ2k that splits the unit line into not-disjoint k segments of equal length that robots synchronously cover, i.e., reaching the leftmost and rightmost point simultaneously. Then, we present a complex strategy that split the unit line into k non-disjoint segments that robots asynchronously cover. We show that combining strategies one and two attain an approximation of 1.5 the optimal idle time and combining strategy one and third attain optimal idle time.

Several reclamation approaches were developed in the last decades to control acid mine drainage from tailings storage facilities, including the monolayer cover combined with an elevated water table. Its performance is dependent on water table elevation and tailings saturation and is directly affected by climatic conditions; therefore, climate change needs to be taken into account to design resilient reclamation systems. The objective of this research was to evaluate three approaches to simulate climate change and compare the impact on reclamation performance up to year 2100. Numerical simulations were calibrated using experimental field data, and future weather conditions were established based on three climate change scenarios adapted for local conditions. Results showed that the projected impact of climate change varied depending on the approach used. Simpler and more conservative approaches indicated that reclamation would eventually fail following an increase of droughts during future summers. However, 80 year simulations showed that reclamation failures (evaluated as oxygen flux) could be limited to a few isolated summers and that a well-designed monolayer cover with elevated water table appeared to remain efficient in the long term. Overall, the probability to exceed the oxygen flux target of 1 mol/m2/year did not exceed 2% for the simulated conditions.

The structural integrity of a steel frame–shear wall structural system with a precast floor cover was experimentally investigated. A test structure with a new precast floor (SJ2) and a test structure with a cast in situ floor (SJ1) were subjected to shaking table tests. It was found that the natural frequencies of both specimens were similar. Under the action of different levels of seismic waves, the new precast monolithic floor and the cast in situ floor maintained the transmission of seismic shearing forces, thereby allowing the lateral-load-resisting members to function co-operatively. The maximum inertial forces and storey shearing forces of SJ2 and SJ1 differed depending on the seismic waveform and seismic loadings and for different storeys of the structure; some were basically the same, but the value of SJ2 was larger than that of SJ1 under some conditions. The difference in the amount of deformation was small, except for the deformation resulting from El Centro 200 cm/s2, for which the SJ2-to-SJ1 ratio of in-plane stiffness was 0.65. Thus, the novel precast structure (SJ2) that meets the requirements of engineering design would be applicable to a multi-storey reinforced concrete structure located in a seismic region.

For centuries, mathematicians and, later, statisticians, have found natural research and employment opportunities in the realm of insurance. By definition, insurance offers financial cover against unforeseen events that involve an important component of randomness, and consequently, probability theory and mathematical statistics enter insurance modeling in a fundamental way. In recent years, a data deluge, coupled with ever-advancing information technology and the birth of data science, has revolutionized or is about to revolutionize most areas of actuarial science as well as insurance practice. We discuss parts of this evolution and, in the case of non-life insurance, show how a combination of classical tools from statistics, such as generalized linear models and, e.g., neural networks contribute to better understanding and analysis of actuarial data. We further review areas of actuarial science where the cross fertilization between stochastics and insurance holds promise for both sides. Of course, the vastness of the field of insurance limits our choice of topics; we mainly focus on topics closer to our main areas of research.

Gyro finishing —a type of mass finishing—is one of the potential processes for finishing complicated shapes. This study proposes a cover plate located above a workpiece to improve finishing efficiency in gyro finishing. First, the effect of the cover plate on the force acting on the workpiece, which is related to the finishing efficiency, was investigated, and we confirmed that the force increased by using the cover plate. This was considered to be caused by the restriction of upward motion of the abrasive media. Subsequently, the effect of the cover plate on the finishing efficiency was evaluated by comparing the surface roughness variation with and without the cover plate. The finishing efficiency of the workpiece surface increased by approximately a factor of 2.0 with the cover plate due to the large force acting on the workpiece. Additionally, the bad effect caused by using the cover plate via larger force acting on the workpiece―worsening of the surface roughness―was not revealed. Therefore, the cover plate was confirmed a highly effective method to improve its performance. Furthermore, the effect of the cover plate was investigated under the workpiece-stopped condition for an improved understanding. We confirmed that the surface roughness obtained using the cover plate improved over the entire front surface of the workpiece due to the increase of the contact pressure.

The p-center problem consists in selecting p centers among M to cover N clients, such that the maximal distance between a client and its closest selected center is minimized. For this problem we propose two new and compact integer formulations. Our first formulation is an improvement of a previous formulation. It significantly decreases the number of constraints while preserving the optimal value of the linear relaxation. Our second formulation contains less variables and constraints but it has a weaker linear relaxation bound. We besides introduce an algorithm which enables us to compute strong bounds and significantly reduce the size of our formulations. Finally, the efficiency of the algorithm and the proposed formulations are compared in terms of quality of the linear relaxation and computation time over instances from OR-Library., Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2018

In this chapter, you will learn about the different charting types you can develop with the use of Highcharts. This chapter will cover the different types of charts in detail and how you can apply them to your web application using Angular.

This paper presents two different approaches to model corrosion-induced crack propagation in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Both approaches are based on a thick-walled cylinder analogy, in which the concrete cover is subjected to the internal pressure generated by the growth of corrosion products, and both consider rust compressibility and rust diffusion into cracks. The first approach is solved numerically using finite differences to model the post-cracking softening behaviour of concrete in tension. The second approach idealises the concrete cover as either a brittle elastic or an elastoplastic material, so that it may be solved using a closed-form solution. The results obtained using each approach are compared against each other as well as against published experimental results. A parametric investigation of the influence of several variables on the results provided by the modelling approaches is also presented. The experimental data found in the literature showed reasonable agreement with predictions from the numerical and elastoplastic (analytical) models.

In the Northwest Loess Plateau of China that is full of mountains and deep valleys, high-filled cut-and-cover tunnels (HFCCTs) not only satisfy transportation demands, but they create usable land as well. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the feasibility of HFCCTs, but the time-dependent behavior of the significant backfill needed for HFCCTs has not been adequately examined. Settlement can be severely underestimated due to the time-dependent behavior of ultra-high backfill, and the earth pressure becomes redistributed accordingly. Therefore, the ability to predict the long-term behavior of backfill on HFCCTs is necessary to ensure the long-term safety of the structure. Using a discrete element method (DEM), the changes in vertical earth pressure (VEP), vertical displacement, and load transfer mechanisms above an HFCCT were investigated in this study under scenarios with and without considering backfill creep. The results show that the differential displacement of the soil and the surface settlement obviously increase due to creep and the subsequent cycles of primary and secondary consolidation. Moreover, the stress surrounding the HFCCT is redistributed, causing both the stress concentration and slope effect to weaken over time, but the VEP increases significantly. The micromechanical parameters also change correspondingly. Our results clearly show that the creep of high backfill soil must be considered carefully in HFCCT projects to ensure structural safety.

In this paper k always denotes a finite field of characteristic p > 0 . A variety over k means a reduced scheme separated and of finite type over k. An etale cover is always assumed to be finite (as in [SGA1, I, Def. 4.9] ).

The meshless numerical manifold method (MNMM) inherits two covers of the numerical manifold method. A mathematical cover is composed of nodes' influence domains and a physical cover consists of physical patches, which are produced through cutting mathematical cover by physical boundaries. Because two covers are adopted, MNMM can naturally and uniquely solve both the continuous and discontinuous problems under Galerkin's variational framework. However, Galerkin's meshless method needs background integration grids to realize solving, which often does not match the nodes' influence domains, so the accuracy of numerical integration is reduced. Consider that MNMM allows even distribution of nodes and the physical cover contains the characteristics of the boundary and nodes' influence domains, the study presents a new numerical integration strategy to ensure that the background integration grids match the nodes' influence domains. The method can be applied to continuous and discontinuous problems, and is proved to be equivalent to the influence domain integration. At the same time, a reasonable arrangement of mathematical nodes is made to assure the background integration grid that it is accordant and straightforward. In this way, the number of physical patches of each integral point is the same, which improves the accuracy of interpolation calculation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical examples of both continuous and discontinuous problems.

The Chabauty-Coleman method is a $p$-adic method for finding all rational points on curves of genus $g$ whose Jacobians have Mordell-Weil rank $r < g$. Recently, Edixhoven and Lido developed a geometric quadratic Chabauty method that was adapted by Spelier to cover the case of geometric linear Chabauty. We compare the geometric linear Chabauty method and the Chabauty-Coleman method and show that geometric linear Chabauty can outperform Chabauty-Coleman in certain cases. However, as Chabauty-Coleman remains more practical for general computations, we discuss how to strengthen Chabauty-Coleman to make it theoretically equivalent to geometric linear Chabauty. We apply these methods to genus 2 and genus 3 curves., fixed minor issues and updated exposition; to appear in Acta Arithmetica

In this paper, a fluid-thermal coupled finite element model is established according to the design parameters of dry type air core reactor. The detailed temperature distribution can be achieved, the maximum error coefficient of temperature rise is only 6% compared with the test results of prototype, and the accuracy of finite element calculate method is verified. Taking the equal height and heat flux design parameters of reactor as research object, the natural-convection cooling performance of reactor with and without the rain cover is investigated. It can be found that the temperature rise of reactor is significantly increased when adding the rain cover, and the reasons are given by analyzing the fluid velocity distribution of air ducts between the encapsulation coils. In order to reduce the temperature rise of the reactor with the rain cover, the optimization method based on the orthogonal experiment design and finite element method is proposed. The six factors of the double rain cover are given, which mainly affect the temperature rise of reactor, and the five levels are selected, the influence curve and contribution rate of each factor on the temperature rise of reactor are analyzed. The results show that the contribution ratio of the parameter H1, L1, and L2, are obviously higher than the parameter H2, L3, and ?, so the more attention should be paid in the design of double rain cover. Meanwhile, the optimal structural parameters of rain cover are given based on the influence curves, and the temperature rise is only 43.25?. The results show that the optimization method can reduce the temperature rise of reactor significantly. In addition, the temperature distribution of inner encapsulations coils of reactor are basically the same, the current carrying capacity of coils can be fully utilized, which provides an important guidance for the optimization design of reactor.

Surveying canopy attributes while conducting fieldwork in the rain forest is time-consuming. Low-cost imagery such as digital cover photography is a potential source of information to speed up the process of vegetation assessments and reduce costs during expeditions. This study presents an image-based non-destructive method to estimate canopy attributes of wild cacao trees in two regions of the rain forest in Colombia, using digital cover photography and machine learning algorithms. Upward-looking photography at the base of each cacao tree and machine learning algorithms were used to estimate gap fraction (GF), foliage cover (FC), crown cover (CC), crown porosity (CP), clumping index (Ω), and leaf area index (LAI) of the canopy cover. Here we used the cacao wild trees found on forestry plots as a case study to test the application of low-cost imagery on the extraction and analysis of canopy attributes. Canopy attributes were successfully extracted from the canopy cover imagery and provided 92% of classification accuracy for the structural attributes of the canopy. Canopy cover attributes allowed us to differentiate between canopy structures of the Amazon and Pacific rainforests sites suggesting that wild cacao trees are associated with different vegetation types. We also compare classification results for the computer extraction of canopy attributes with a digital canopy cover benchmark. We conclude that our approach was effective to quickly survey canopy features of vegetation associated with and of crop wild relatives of cacao. This study allows highly reproducible estimates of canopy attributes using cover photography and state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms such as deep learning Convolutional Neural Networks.

In this paper, we consider the following variations of Line Segment Disk Cover (LSDC) problem.

Low blood flow in the distal part of the diabetic foot aggravates the wound to an ischemic state, which eventually leads to amputation. However, major advancements in microvascular surgery have shown the ability to salvage the limb even in the presence of poor perfusion. Since a foot is constituted of a complex network of angiosomes, each separate territory of the foot is supplied by interconnected vessels. We report the successful salvage of a severe diabetic foot injury of a 72-year-old male patient with a heavily calcified dorsalis pedis artery (DPA). Although the proximal end of the DPA was clogged to prevent the flow of blood and was insufficient to use as a recipient vessel, reverse flow from the distal end was restored after removing multiple calcification fragments. As a result, a large soft-tissue defect on the third and fourth toe region was successfully covered by a contralateral anterolateral thigh free flap.

Purpose: This research paper focused on the impact of Cuscuta campestris on vegetative cover and plant biodiversity in Homa-Bay County. The specific objective was to investigate the impact on plant growth and development with indicator as photosynthetic capacity of preferred host plants and chlorophyll content and leaf weight as the parameters. Methodology: The study was conducted in hot-spot areas of invasion, Rachuonyo North, Homa Bay town and Suba North using Completely Randomized Experimental Block Design. The data was collected through field observation and laboratory analysis. The study used descriptive and correlation data analysis procedures to show the impact on photosynthetic capacity, ANOVA to determine statistical significant difference among the obtained results for each parameter of the infected and uninfected samples. Variance analysis were conducted using SPSS 20 (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY, USA) and differences between means tested by ANOVA. Values of P ≤ 0.05 were considered significantly different. Findings: The results showed that the invasion was more intense in Theveta peruvinia and Euphorbia tirucalli species. Mean leaf amounts of chlorophyll were observed to decline with chlorophyll a from 3.97 to 1.59 mg/g and chlorophyll b from 2.65 to 1.18 mg/g and total chlorophyll value from 6.62 to 2.76 mg/g on infection resulting to reduced photosynthetic efficiency and low organic material formation. Leaf wet and dry weight significantly decreased in both infected varieties. The mean wet weight of 17.61g in infected was significantly different, F (1, 4) = 235.74, p< .05, from the mean wet weight of 24.23g in the uninfected Yellow Oleander while the mean dry weight of 5.55g in infected was significantly different, F (1, 4) = 159.72, p< .05, from mean dry weight of 7.87g in uninfected Yellow Oleander. Similarly, significant difference, F (1, 4) = 714.64, p< .05, was observed in Calliandra calothyrsus variety. These demonstrated how C. campestris is detrimental causing ecological impacts with direct effects on plant biodiversity by reducing growth and development of infected host plant and even leading to death. Unique Contributions to Theory, Practice and Policy: The paper recommends intense sensitization of the community on the impacts of dodder from the findings for an enhanced understanding and need for management and control. The findings to be disseminated through workshops involving farmers, NGOs and community based organisations, academic conferences and publications to help create awareness on the impacts and mobilize the entire public on management and possible total eradication. Further research to investigate on nutrients of attraction in the preferred host plants with an aim of permanent solution for total eradication in order to restore the vegetative cover and plant biodiversity.

Cover crops have the potential to immobilize nitrogen (N) that would otherwise be lost before or after the main crop production, leading to improved N management. However, information on how cover crops influence N management in intensive vegetable cropping systems is scarce. This study aimed to determine how an overwintering rye cover crop impacts crop yield and N cycling, for three common prairie vegetable crops. From 2017 to 2019, a broccoli – sweet corn – root crop sequence was tested (in which all crops of rotation were present each year), with each crop type receiving five N fertilizer treatments, ranging from 0 to 300 kg N·ha−1. After harvest each year, sub-plots were established with vs. without a rye cover crop, and the effect on vegetable yield, soil inorganic N, and N use efficiency (NUE) was followed into the subsequent growing season. In most cases, the cover crop increased vegetable crop productivity and N content in the subsequent growing season. The cover crop also lowered soil inorganic N levels at vegetable planting but increased levels at harvest. Vegetable crop NUE indices were frequently improved with vs. without the cover crop. As for the N fertilizer response, increasing N fertilizer rate did not continually increase vegetable crop productivity and N content. Higher N fertilizer rates increased soil inorganic N levels at vegetable planting and harvest, and often lowered vegetable crop NUE indices. These results demonstrate the importance of adjusting soil N levels to better align with crop needs — and that including a rye cover crop in the vegetable rotation is one method of doing so.

A mathematical model for optimizing the growth and development of plant cover is investigated. For constant environmental parameters (humidity, soil and plant temperature), a balanced optimal distribution of photosynthetic assimilates was found by the choice of growth functions and the ratio of leaf and root biomass in explicit general terms, maximizing its reproductive biomass at the end of 3 phases of growth and development of plant cover. The expressions obtained are meaningfully interpreted and can be considered as the basis for an adaptive model of plant productivity and moisture transfer in soil in a constant or slowly changing environment.

Minority groups are often the subject of studies dealing with sovereignty and European integration. A now also common topic in political science is the rise of populist movements. Scholars study both of these issues extensively, but little research has been done on their nexus. Against this background, this article looks at the current sovereignty discourse in the minority area of South Tyrol. Even though three linguistic groups peacefully co-exist in the Italian province, various calls for dual citizenship have arisen. The possibility of acquiring an Austrian passport became a salient topic, especially since the övp/fpö government of Austria. Using the discourse-historical approach, the authors contextualize medial discourses with social-cultural context information. Results suggest that local media are disseminating a discourse regarding dual citizenship that largely differs from the opinion of the majority of the population, but corresponds to that of the populist actors who seem to fuel the issue.

Ліс є ресурсно-сировинним та рослинно-ягідним постачальником, що потребує захисту держави та урегулювання його використання. Саме ці та багато інших питань лежать у правовій площині, і лісові відносини урегульовується нормами права. Зазначено, що біологічні, хімічні та інші характеристики природних об’єктів не завжди автома- тично приймаються юриспруденцією, право формує поняття природних об’єктів, керуючись своїми критеріями, і поняття ці можуть збігатися, проте можуть і відрізнятись. Саме тому не варто зако- нодавцю уникати правових колізій за допомогою використання схожих термінів, оскільки ця практика сприяє виникненню ще більшої плутанини і виникненню нових правових колізій. Поняття «земельна ділянка» та «земля» в більшості випадків охоплюють не лише простір над та під земною поверхнею, але й розташований у межах цього простору ґрунтовий покрив. Водночас, можливі ситуації, коли терміни «земельна ділянка», «земля» не будуть охоплювати ґрунт. У випадку, коли ґрунтовий покрив буде вилучено із природного середовища, тобто ґрунт перестане утворю- вати ґрунтовий покрив і буде поміщений, наприклад, у горщик із квіткою, він не буде охоплюватися ні поняттям «земля», ні «земельна ділянка», і відносини, об’єктом яких буде ґрунт у горщику, не будуть належати до предмету земельного права. Зазначено, що ліс – це природний, відтворюваний об’єкт природи, елемент екологічної системи, що складається з дерев, чагарників, іншої лісової рослинності, що зростає на землі; джерело одержання деревини та іншої лісової продукції, він виконує кліматорегулюючі, захисні, водоохоронні, санітарно- гігієнічні, оздоровчі, рекреаційні, естетичні, виховні та інші функції, які впливають одна на одну та на довкілля. Ліс як об’єкт природи має такі ознаки: об’єкт рослинного світу, зареєстрований у державних лісо- облікових документах як ліс, об’єкт власності, управління, використання та охорони; біологічна, біо- фізична, природна і кібернетична, економічна система; відтворюваний об’єкт природи; складається з деревно-чагарникової та трав’янистої рослинності, що зростає на землі; виробляє різноманітні сиро- винні ресурси; впливає на навколишнє природне середовище.

1. Pollinating insects provide economic value by improving crop yield. They are also functionally and culturally important across ecosystems outside of cropland. To understand landscape-level drivers of pollinator declines, and guide policy and intervention to reverse declines, studies must cover (a) multiple insect and plant taxa and (b) a range of agricultural and semi-natural land uses. Furthermore, in an era of woodland restoration initiatives and rewilding ideologies, the contribution of woodland and woody linear features (WLFs; e.g. hedgerows) to pollinator abundance demands further investigation. 2. We demonstrate fine-scale analysis of high-quality, co-located measurements from a national environmental survey. We relate pollinator transect counts to ground-truth habitat and WLF maps across 300 1 km squares in Wales, UK. We look at effects of habitat type, flower cover, WLF density and habitat diversity on summer abundance (July and August) of eight insect groups, representing three insect orders (Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera). 3. Compared with improved grassland (the dominant habitat in Wales), pollinator abundance is consistently higher in cropland and woodland—especially broadleaved woodland. For mining bees and two hoverfly groups, abundance is predicted to be at least 1.5× higher in woodland ecosystems than elsewhere. Furthermore, we estimate contributions of WLFs to abundance in agriculturally improved habitats to be up to 14% for honeybees and up to 21% for hoverflies. 4. The abundance of all insect groups increases with flower cover, which is a key mechanism through which woodland, cropland and grassland support pollinators. Importantly, we observe diminishing returns of increasing flower cover for abundance of non-Apis pollinator groups, expecting roughly twice the increase in abundance per % flower cover from 0% to 5%, as compared with 10% to 15%. However, the shape of the relationship was inverted for honeybees, which showed steeper increases in abundance at higher flower cover. 4. Synthesis and applications: We provide a holistic view of the drivers of pollinator abundance in Wales, in which flower cover, woodland, hedgerows and cropland are critical. We propose a key role for woodland creation, hedge-laying and farmland heterogeneity within future land management incentive schemes. Finally, we suggest targeting of interventions to maximise benefits for non-Apis pollinators. Specifically, increasing floral provision in areas where existing flower cover is low—for example, in flower-poor improved grasslands—could effectively increase pollinator abundance and diversity while prioritising wild over managed species.

Most shipyard companies maintain efficiency in all aspects of their business to survive. One of these aspects is ship production costs and their reduction. This study proposes a solution to this problem using an optimization method. A hatch cover composed of plates and stiffeners was selected as a case study. In this study, the mass and material cost of the hatch cover was optimized as an objective function using the Pareto approach with developed optimization methods. Plate thickness t, stiffener shape s, and plate material type m were selected as the design variables in this study along with some constraints. To estimate the optimal plate thickness, an expression of stress equations was developed using an optimization technique. Furthermore, stiffener shape and plate material type selection were optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA). The results show that the optimization method is effective to decrease the mass and material cost of a hatch cover.

Kartografski rječnik u izdanju Hrvatskoga kartografskog društva i Naklade Dominović objavljen je 2020. godine. U ovom radu opisani su problemi s kojima smo se susreli u radu na pripremi tog rječnika. Kartografija je disciplina koja se bavi zasnivanjem, izradom, promicanjem i proučavanjem karata. Prema službenoj podjeli znanosti u Hrvatskoj, kartografija je grana geodezije, pa se prema tome ubraja među tehničke znanosti. Međutim, opće je poznato da su karte svuda oko nas, pa je kartografija dobrim dijelom sastavni dio geografije, geologije, pomorstva, šumarstva, agronomije, povijesti, arhitekture, pedagogije i mnogih drugih područja koja se koriste kartama i geoinformacijama. Kartografija je u posljednjih 40-ak godina doživjela ogromne promjene. Sve veće mogućnosti interaktivnosti na webu, zamjena papirnatih karata multimedijskima i elektroničkima, sve češći zahtjevi za trodimenzionalnim modelima krajolika zbog različitih analiza, simulacija i vizualizacija, globalni kartografski servisi i druge inovacije obuhvaćene su našim Kartografskim rječnikom. Svaki je naziv obrađen studiozno, a opet razumljivo i jasno. To je strukovni rječnik koji sadrži nazive iz kartografije i njoj strodnih područja. Rječnik sadrži 2500 naziva koji su poredani po abecedi. Kada se naziv sastoji od dviju ili više riječi, prva je uvijek imenica. Na primjer tematska karta uvrštena je u rječnik kao karta, tematska. Zarez znači da je uobičajeni redoslijed riječi obrnut. Uz svaki naziv ide njegova definicija koja je redovito vrlo sažeta i u jednoj rečenici. Često se za detaljnije objašnjenje daje uputa s vidi na srodne nazive. Kratku i sažetu definiciju obično slijedi napomena, koja je ponekad i nešto opsežnija, kako bi čitatelj, ako želi, mogao dobiti više informacija. Sve su definicije na hrvatskom jeziku. Međutim, kartografija ne poznaje granice, pa su stoga za većinu naziva dani sinonimi na engleskom, francuskom i njemačkom jeziku. Posebno ističemo kazala na kraju rječnika, koja olakšavaju pronalaženje naziva na tim jezicima s uputama na odgovarajući naziv na hrvatskom jeziku. Od objavljivanja prvog i jedinog Višejezičnog kartografskog rječnika u Hrvatskoj prošlo je više od 40 godina. U tom razdoblju mnogo toga novoga dogodilo se u svijetu, što su autori pokušali obuhvatiti ovim rječnikom za područje kartografije.

The concept of „cover studies” (Polish: okladkoznawstwo) as a multidisciplinary research field is relatively young in Poland, despite the fact that research in this field has been conducted earlier. The article extensing some of the theses from the author’s earlier works, it is also the first attempt to describe the music-sheet covers from a bibliological perspective (as a protection of a document, adapted to its form and content with specific functions and structure) and cover studies (as a publishing product, with specific editorial, aesthetic, historical, cultural, sociological and semiotic features aimed at evoking a specific reaction in the receiver). The overview of the functions of the music-sheet covers allowed to present the benefits of research on them and to ask the question whether this kind of covers has any specific functions, unknown to other types of documents (it has been shown that the answer requires further research).

This paper presents the design concepts and basis for using a thin layer cover (TLC) of sand to restore historically impacted wetlands in Georgia’s Brunswick estuary. The project site is a mix of tidal creeks, marshes, brackish estuary, and an adjacent upland area that has been affected by historical industrial operations. A pilot project to test cover placement methodology and performance in advance of future full-scale TLC implementation was completed in 2018. It involved placing 6-9 inches of material in a 2/3-acre marsh area. Two material types — sand and higher organic content fines — were tested. The contractor, Sevenson Environmental Services, identified the appropriate equipment, means, and methods to hydraulically convey and place the TLC material within the pilot area in accordance with stated performance objectives. A mat-based access road was installed to enable equipment to move the pipeline and spray nozzle for fine placement control within the pilot marsh area. The thin cover placed in the field ranged from 6-12 inches thick (versus the design thickness of 6-9 inches) to meet the minimum required thickness and account for over placement. A 30- to 45-degree spray yielded the best distribution of materials for the equipment used. Placement of sandy material was faster and more uniform than fines due to the material’s enhanced settling characteristics and ease of distribution. A modified topsoil-fines mix with a baffle plate eventually permitted optimal placement of fines within the study area while maintaining the target organic content. Turbidity in the water discharged from the pilot area was minimized by environmental controls (e.g. perimeter hay bales) installed by the contractor. The mat-based access road initially experienced some settlement due to loading on the soft sediments and marsh root mat; the road required restoration following project completion. Physical and vegetative monitoring conducted in six-month increments over a two-year period indicated strong natural recolonization of vegetation and the re-establishment of benthic species including fiddler crab. This paper presents lessons learned, design implications, and best management practices for future thin cover placement projects in estuarine settings.

A record cover can be described and analyzed, to some extent independently, on three levels: as an item of packaging, a source of information and an object of artistic value. The presented order reflects the way its perception has been evolving over time. Without losing its practical function, an album cover has become the subject of aesthetic appraisal. We take a closer look at the role of a cover design in gaining brand recognition by a record company on the phonographic market. To this end, record labels can use an outstanding logo (Deutsche Grammophon), a characteristic pattern (For Tune) or a general decorative concept (Blue Note). Releasing series of records devoted to individual players/composers, musical styles or forms in uniformly designed covers is yet another way of establishing and promoting a label. Another important issue discussed here is the correspondence between music and the record covers accompanying it. Intuition would suggest some sort of affinity between the two or a record cover being a complementary addition to the musical content. In many cases, however, any such connections are hard to find. What we will see more often is a random nature of a body of music and a record cover juxtaposition.

Telescopic covers are components which can have a potentially large impact on machine tool feed drive capabilities. Generally speaking, frictional force modelling is a well-established field of interest in which many approaches and challenges have been identified. This paper addresses frictional force modelling of machine tool feed drive telescopic covers. A sequential assembly approach and control system data acquisition are used for friction model parameter estimation and verification. Models of telescopic covers may be used in virtual machine tools. Furthermore, feed drive accuracy and dynamics may be enhanced by compensation of frictional forces in the control system. Other possible applications include component commissioning during machine tool assembly and predictive maintenance.

The study analysed land cover change and its trajectory in the study area using 300m CCI-land cover data for three epochs (2000, 2005 and 2010) respectively. Five sampling sites were selected and analysed land cover change trajectories. The findings show a continued decline in closed forest and sparse vegetation and increase in cropland; an indication of land degradation. This pattern of land cover change is accelerated by the increasing number of human populations which is estimated to be growing at the rate of 2-3% in Africa by the year 2100. This nature of population growth is expected to increase the size of croplands to support food security, which will exert more pressure on the ecosystem. However, the land cover trajectories presented in the five sampling points does not portray much changes. This can be attributed partly to the temporal extent of the study (15-years) and the spatial resolution of the data. Overall, the land cover change trajectories in the five sampling sites shows that the major changes in the land cover have been caused by human activities and to some extent natural climatic variations especially along the marginal areas, where the size of bare surface have increased. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a comprehensive land cover assessment at local level to ascertain the major local driving forces and biophysical drivers of land cover degradation in the study area

In this paper, a practical study is presented to improve the hemispheric solar still system by adding zinc oxide. Nanoparticles of various concentrations for 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3% with cooling the glassy cover with a variable flow rate of 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 L/h. So, three hemispheric solar stills were built to study. The performance of a hemispheric solar still with nano-ZnO (HSS-Zn), and a hemispheric solar still with nano-ZnO with cooling the glassy cover (HSS-ZnC) are studied and compared with a conventional hemispheric solar still (CHSS) as a reference still. The results showed that integrating ZnO nanoparticles and cooling the glassy cover with hemispheric still enhances productivity. From tests, the daily accumulated productivity of HSS with ZnO nanoparticles (0.3%) and cooling the glassy cover with a flow (2.5 L/h) is 8.15 L/m2/day, which is 117.33% higher than CHSS. In that case, the daily efficiency of HSS with ZnO nanoparticles (0.3%) and cooling the glassy cover with a flow (2.5 L/h) and CHSS are approximately 74.57% and 79%, respectively.

Lichens are composed of symbiotic slow-growing organisms and are often exposed to extreme microenvironmental conditions, resulting in the production of unique secondary metabolites. One of the most commonly produced secondary metabolites is usnic acid, which is thought to be produced by two genes. The objectives of the present study were to compare polyketide synthase (PKS) gene expression and usnic acid concentration in Cladonia uncialis (L.) Weber ex F.H. Wigg., with two environmental factors. Seventy-five lichen samples were collected from three locations in Newfoundland, Canada, using a strip transect method (×5 transects, ×5 quadrats). Usnic acid concentration was measured using the liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometric method and gene expression of two PKS genes (methylphloracetophenone oxidase (MPAO) and methylphloracetophenone synthase (MPAS)) was examined using quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that percent ground cover of C. uncialis was affected by soil pH level but not soil moisture, and usnic acid concentration was not affected by either soil pH or soil moisture. MPAO gene expression level was significantly affected by soil pH level but not soil moisture, and MPAS gene expression level was not affected by either soil pH level or soil moisture. There was no significant relationship between MPAS and MPAO gene expression levels and usnic acid concentration. These findings suggest that soil pH may be important for the production of usnic acid by C. uncialis but the genes involved require further study.

This paper investigated the impact of land use/cover changes on the flow of the Zarqa River in Jordan over a period of twenty-eight years. The land use/cover maps were derived using a set of medium spatial images with full scenes for the years 1989, 2002, 2011 and 2017. These images correspond to the river flow data for the same hydrological rainy seasons. The component of the river flow consists of the base-flow, flood and contribution of effluent from treatment plants. Base-flow was separated from hydrographs and effluent contribution was obtained. Runoff coefficient was determined as the ratio of flood volume to rainfall volume. The land use/cover maps were classified as urban fabrics, bare rocks, open rangelands and bare soils, agricultural areas, agro-forestry, and water bodies. During the study period, urban areas increased from 4.87% to 16.14%, and agricultural areas increased from 21.69% to 31.66%. The areas of rangelands and bare soil decreased from 34.91% to 22.57% and bare rocks from 35.98% to 27.57%, respectively. The increase in urban and agricultural areas resulted in runoff coefficient improvement from 1.89% in 1989/1990 to 2.72% for 2016/2017. The results could be useful for planners and decision makers for future flow management in the Zarqa River Basin. The approach and results of this study confirm the findings of similar studies for land and water management.

The knapsack problem with conflicting items arises in several real-world applications. We propose a family of strong cutting planes and prove that a subfamily of these cuts can be facet-defining. Computational experiments show that the proposed cuts are very effective in reducing integrality gaps, providing dual bounds up to 78% tighter than formulations strengthened with traditional combinatorial cuts. We also show that it is possible to adapt a recently proposed lifting procedure to further strengthen the proposed cuts.

In this paper we study a specific type of structured reinsurance deals, for which the indemnification scheme is contingent upon the performance of the cedent, for instance measured in terms of his loss ratio compared to the average loss ratio of the market. We show that this type of deals may be efficiently used to manage risk in the presence of financial distress cost when the cover is provided to a cohort of insurers with positively correlated loss experience. In addition to theoretical results we quantitatively illustrate the potential performance improvement in a numerical example.

The participation of species of the family Polytrichaceae in the formation of bryocenoses of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine is analyzed in the article. The part of the syntaxonomic scheme of moss vegetation of Ukraine, in the syntaxons of which the species of the studied family take part, is given. In the bryoflora of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine we (Gapon S., 2011) found 10 species, namely: Atrichum tenellum, A. undulatum, Pogonatum urnigerum, Polytrichum commune, R. formosum, P. juniperinum, P. longisetum, P. perigoniale, R. piliferum, P. strictum.According to the results of our research, it is established that the epigeal bryogroups of the region include 6 species of the family, each of which has a different coenotic role. Epigeous bryogroups with species of the family Polytrichaceae are represented by four classes, five orders, 7 unions, two sub-unions, 11 associations, four sub-associations and 5 rankless groups.In the bryocenoses of the associations Racomitrio-Polytrichetum piliferi ceratodontetosum purpurei, Polytrichetum juniperini and the rankless group Atrichum undulatum – somm. classes Seratodonto purpurei-Polytrichétea piliferi, Cladonio digitatae-Lepidozietea reptantis species Polytrichum piliferum, Polytrichum juniperinum, Atrichum undulatum are edificators and are diagnostic species. In the composition of other syntaxons of epigeal groups of classes Seratodonto purpurei-Polytrichétea piliferi, Cladonio digitatae-Lepidozietea reptantis, Pleurochaeto squarrosae-Abietinelletea abietinae, Hylocomietea splendentis, these and other species: Рolytrichum commune, P. formosum, P. longisetum, P. strictum detected infrequently and sporadically., У статті проаналізовано участь видів родини Рolytrichaceae в утворенні бріоценозів Лісостепу України. Наведено частину синтаксономічної схеми мохової рослинності України, в складі синтаксонів яких беруть участь види досліджуваної родини. У бріофлорі Лісостепу України нами (Гапон С., 2011) виявлено 10 видів, а саме: Atrichum tenellum, A. undulatum, Pogonatum urnigerum, Polytrichum commune, Р. formosum, P. juniperinum, P. longisetum, P. perigoniale, Р. piliferum, P. strictum.За результатами наших досліджень встановлено, що до складу епігейних бріоугруповань регіону входить 6 видів родини, кожен з яких має різну ценотичну роль.Епігейні бріоугруповання з участю видів родини Рolytrichaceae репрезентовані чотирма класами, п’ятьма порядками, 7 союзами, двома підсоюзами, 11 асоціаціями, чотирма субасоціаціями та 5 безранговими угрупованнями.У бріоценозах асоціацій Racomitrio-Polytrichetum piliferi ceratodontetosum purpurеі, Polytrichetum juniperini та безрангового угруповання Atrichum undulatum – сomm.класів Сеratodonto purpurei-Polytrichеtea piliferi, Cladonio digitatae-Lepidozietea reptantis види Polytrichum piliferum, P. juniperinum, Atrichum undulatum є едифікаторами та виступають діагностичними видами. У складі інших синтаксонів епігейних угруповань класів Сеratodonto purpurei-Polytrichеtea piliferi, Cladonio digitatae-Lepidozietea reptantis, Pleurochaeto squarrosae-Abietinelletea abietinae, Hylocomietea splendentis ці та інші види: Рolytrichum commune, P. formosum, P. longisetum, P. strictum виявлені зрідка та спорадично.

Climate change has large effects on population dynamics of fish species in high latitude ecosystems. Arctic fish stocks experience multiple pressures with changing abiotic living conditions and increased competition and predation from boreal species. However, there are many unknowns regarding how environmental change influences the dynamics of those populations. Here, we focused on the Barents Sea polar cod, a pan-Arctic zooplanktivorous key fish species physiologically and ecologically adapted to the presence of sea ice. We developed an age-resolved Bayesian state-space model of the dynamics of polar cod based on 30 yr of survey data (1986-2015). Using this model, we quantified how inter-annual changes in abundance were associated with abiotic variables (temperature and sea ice cover) and biotic variables (prey biomasses and a predation index). Using the model output, we used a hindcast scenario approach to investigate to which degree the observed variations in total population size were related to the abiotic or biotic variables. Our results showed that variation in abundance of young polar cod (ages 0 and 1) was best explained by abiotic variables while variation in the older age groups (ages 3 and 4) was best explained by predation. Hindcast scenarios showed that the abiotic variables had a more evident effect than predation on population dynamics, but none of the variables we considered could explain the drastic population decline observed in recent years. Our work shows the advantages of studying age-specific responses as a stepping stone to understand changes at the population level.

Urban Growth and its Impact on Urban land cover change in Akure South Local Government area was investigated to bridge the knowledge gap created by data deficiency on the nature, scope, and magnitude of urban threat on the land use/land cover type, most especially the agricultural land in the area. This was done through the analysis of Landsat images of three epochs from 2000 through 2010 to 2020. The processing of the satellite images was done in ArcGIS 10.8, while the analysis and 2030 projection were done in Microsoft office excel using the result from the analysis. QGIS was used to remove the scan lines error on the 2010 image. The result showed increasing urban growth (built-up area), reducing vegetation and farmlands, and increasing rock outcrops. The changes vary among the different classification characteristics. Both farmlands and vegetation increased in the first epoch and reduced in the second epoch due to man's urbanization and other socio-economic activities. The increasing change in the second epoch was higher in built-up areas while rock outcrops increased throughout the study period. The research was able to assess the magnitude of farmland and vegetation that have been converted for urban uses over time. It also proved the efficiency of Remote Sensing and GIS technology in urban growth studies.