scholarly journals Procedural Method for Fast Table Mountains Modelling in Virtual Environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2352
Author(s):  
Korneliusz K. Warszawski ◽  
Sławomir S. Nikiel ◽  
Marcin Mrugalski
Keyword(s):  
Geological Structure ◽  
Step Function ◽  
Field Representation ◽  
Final Model ◽  
Terrain Model ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Procedural Method ◽  
Table Mountains

Natural terrains created by long-term erosion processes can sometimes have spectacular forms and shapes. The visible form depends often upon internal geological structure and materials. One of the unique terrain artefacts occur in the form of table mountains and can be observed in the Monument Valley (Colorado Plateau, USA). In the following article a procedural method is considered for terrain modelling of structures, geometrically similar to the mesas and buttes hills. This method is not intended to simulate physically inspired erosion processes, but targets directly the generation of eroded forms. The results can be used as assets by artists and designers. The proposed terrain model is based on a height-field representation extended by materials and its hardness information. The starting point of the technique is the Poisson Faulting algorithm that was originally used to obtain fractional Brownian surfaces. In the modification, the step function as the fault line generator was replaced with a circular one. The obtained geometry was used for materials’ classification and the hardness part of the modelled terrain. The final model was achieved by the erosive modification of geometry according to the materials and its hardness data. The results are similar to the structures observed in nature and are achieved within an acceptable time for real-time interactions.

Research for a sustainable European sugar sector

2010 ◽  
pp. 487-495
Author(s):  
Martin Bruhns ◽  
Peter Glaviè ◽  
Arne Sloth Jensen ◽  
Michael Narodoslawsky ◽  
Giorgio Pezzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Sustainable Chemistry ◽  
Technology Platforms ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Manufacturing Applications ◽  
European Technology

The paper is based on the results of international project entitled “Towards Sustainable Sugar Industry in Europe (TOSSIE)”. 33 research topics of major importance to the sugar sector are listed and briefly described, and compared with research priorities of the European Technology Platforms: “Food for Life”, “Sustainable Chemistry”, “Biofuels”, and “Plant for the Future”. Most topics are compatible with the research themes included in the COOPERATION part of the 7th Framework Program of the EU (2007-2013). However, some topics may require long-term R&D with the time horizon of up to 15 years. The list of topics is divided into four parts: Sugar manufacturing, Applications of biotechnology and biorefinery processing, Sugarbeet breeding and growing, Horizontal issues. Apart from possible use of the list by policy- and decision makers with an interest in sugarbeet sector, the description of each research topic can be used as a starting point in setting up a research project or other R&D activities.

scholarly journals The Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Religious Exercise: Preliminary Remarks

Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Adelaide Madera
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Legal Contexts

Since 2020, the spread of COVID-19 has had an overwhelming impact not only on our personal lives, but also on domestic regulatory frameworks. Influential academics have strongly underlined that, in times of deep crisis, such as the current global health crisis, the long-term workability of legal systems is put to a severe test. In this period, in fact, the protection of health has been given priority, as a precondition that is orientating many current legal choices. Such an unprecedented health emergency has also raised a serious challenge in terms of fundamental rights and liberties. Several basic rights that normally enjoy robust protection under constitutional, supranational, and international guarantees, have experienced a devastating “suspension” for the sake of public health and safety, thus giving rise to a vigorous debate concerning whether and to what extent the pandemic emergency justifies limitations on fundamental rights. The present paper introduces the Special Issue on “The crisis of the religious freedom during the age of COVID-19 pandemic”. Taking as a starting point the valuable contributions of the participants in the Special Issue, it explores analogous and distinctive implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in different legal contexts and underlines the relevance of cooperation between religious and public actors to face a global health crisis.

Intensified paraglacial slope failures due to accelerating downwasting of a temperate glacier in Mt. Gongga, Southeastern Tibet Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhong ◽  
Qiao Liu ◽  
Yong Nie ◽  
Matthew Westoby ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Slope Failure ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Type B ◽  
Current State ◽  
Triggering Factor ◽  
Type C ◽  
Glacier Ablation ◽  
Glacial Denudation

<p>Topographic development via paraglacial slope failure (PSF) represents a complex interplay between geological structure, climate, and glacial denudation. Where debris generated by PSFs is deposited on the surface of a glacier, this debris can increase the extent or thickness of a supraglacial debris-cover, in turn modifying glacier ablation and affecting meltwater generation. To date, little attention has been paid to intensity and frequency of PSFs and their significance as a geomorphic agent and hazard in glacierised, monsoon temperate regions of Southeast Tibet. We mapped PSFs along the 5 km-long, west-east trending ice tongue of Hailuogou Glacier (HLG), Mt. Gongga, using repeat satellite- and UAV-derived imagery between 1990 and 2020. Three types of PSF were identified: (A) rock fall, (B) slide and collapse of sediment-mantled slopes, and (C) gulley headwards erosion. We analyzed the formation, evolution and current state of these PSFs and discuss these aspects with relation to glacier dynamics and paraglacial geomorphological history. South-facing slopes (true left of HLG) showed more destabilization and higher PSF activity than north-facing slopes. We observed annual average rates of downslope sliding for type B PSFs of 1.6-2.6 cm d<sup>-1</sup>, whereas the average upward denudation rate for type C PSFs was 0.7-3.39 cm d<sup>-1</sup>. We show that type A PSFs are non-ice-contact rock collapses that occur as a long-term paraglacial response following glacier downwasting and the exposure of steep rocky cliffs and which could also be influenced by precipitation, freeze-thaw cycling, earthquakes or other factors. In contrast, type B and C PSFs are a more immediate response to recent glacier downwasting. We further argue that the accelerating downwasting of glacier are used as a preparatory or triggering factor, which could directly or indirectly cause the PSFs.</p>

scholarly journals Decision making in reverse logistics using system dynamics

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Georgiadis ◽  
D. Vlachos
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
System Dynamics ◽  
Reverse Logistics ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
System Modeling ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Helpful Tool ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Decision Making Tool

Reverse logistics is a modern field of consideration, research and study, providing helpful information on the operation of the closed-loop supply chain. Although the starting point of this field is traced back to the early 90?s, no standard method has been suggested, neither prevailed. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new approach on the study of reverse logistics. It is actually a review on how System Dynamics (SD) can be a helpful tool when it is used in the reverse logistics field. The paper explains the basic theory of the system modeling and next it utilizes the reverse logistics model. Finally, an illustrative example shows how SD modeling can be used to produce a powerful long-term decision-making tool.

scholarly journals FDI in the Post-Soviet Space Three Decades after the Disintegration of the Soviet Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 30-60
Author(s):  
K. Kalotay ◽  
A. Sulstarova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Transition Economies ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Outward Fdi ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The former Soviet Union disintegrated three decades ago. That momentous 1991 was not only the starting point for independence of the countries of the post-Soviet space but also the starting point for their transformation from centrally planned economy to capitalism, often with local specificities. At the moment of writing this article aiming at analysing the long-term, structural characteristics of inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI), these 12 economies are facing new COVID-19-related challenges, different from the problems of transformation undertaken in the past decades. After a brief literature survey, in which the main issues raised by academic research are highlighted, the article analyses the long-term trends and the main characteristics (geographical and sectoral) of FDI, with special reference to greenfield project announcements from 2003 on (the starting year of data availability). It also explores how much economic development was based on either attracting inward or promoting outward FDI or both. The performance of the 12 post-Soviet economies is controlled against the performance of other transition economies such as the Baltic States, South-East Europe and/or the Visegrad Group. The article concludes that indeed efforts towards using inward or outward FDI for development has been modest, even if in inflows one can observe some convergence with the other transition economies, which have been relying more wittingly using FDI for their development.

An unlevel playing field: national income estimates and reciprocal comparison in global economic history

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Jerven
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
National Income ◽  
Global History ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
Industrial Societies

AbstractIf we take recent income per capita estimates at face value, they imply that the average medieval European was at least five times ‘better off’ than the average Congolese today. This raises important questions regarding the meaning and applicability of national income estimates throughout time and space, and their use in the analysis of global economic history over the long term. This article asks whether national income estimates have a historical and geographical specificity that renders the ‘data’ increasingly unsuitable and misleading when assessed outside a specific time and place. Taking the concept of ‘reciprocal comparison’ as a starting point, it further questions whether national income estimates make sense in pre-and post-industrial societies, in decentralized societies, and in polities outside the temperate zone. One of the major challenges in global history is Eurocentrism. Resisting the temptation to compare the world according to the most conventional development measure might be a recommended step in overcoming this bias.

Visualising the invisible: performing chaos theory

Leonardo ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Emma Weitkamp
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Chaos Theory ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
Butterfly Effect ◽  
Long Term Behavior ◽  
The Invisible

Edward Lorenz, the pioneering figure in the field of chaos theory coined the phrase “butterfly effect” and posed the famous question “Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” In posing the question, Lorenz sought to highlight the intrinsic difficulty of predicting the long term behavior of complex systems that are sensitive to initial conditions, like, for example, the weather and climate; these systems are often referred to as chaotic. Taking Lorenz' butterfly as a starting point, Chaos Cabaret sought to explore the nuances of chaos theory through performance and music.

A progressive strategy for Bioethics

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittoradolfo Tambone ◽  
Nicola Di Stefano
Keyword(s):  
Global Target ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
Linguistic Level ◽  
Way Of Thinking

In this paper, we aim to show that behind the utilization of a progressive rhetoric always lies a progressive existential behavior. Therefore, starting from the linguistic level of rhetoric, we move to the anthropological one. Here we present three fundamental elements for promoting a progressive strategy for bioethics: 1. to strongly desire that the world should develop in a specific way, which represents the starting point for any further progressive attitude towards life. For this reason, we react against any standardized way of thinking, which really destroy the necessity of a personal thinking; 2. to have a long-term-mission in bioethics, or “Meta-Project”. The Meta-Project shows a clear target and orients every single project toward the global target; 3. to translate medieval terms of the debate into more understandable and common terms. It is a worthwhile goal, if bioethics wish for a real dialogue with modern sensitivity. In conclusion, we underline the importance of having a deep and personal way of thinking, from which a progressive attitude towards life should properly grow. For this reason, the analytic methodology may help in facing classical problems.

A brief overview of Materials Science in Uruguay

MRS Advances ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (61) ◽  
pp. 3535-3541
Author(s):  
Ivana Aguiar ◽  
Livia Arizaga ◽  
Santiago Botasini ◽  
María Andrea De León ◽  
Sofia Favre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Steady State Regime ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Scopus Database ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
Funding Opportunities

ABSTRACTMaterials science is a growing research area in Uruguay. In order to obtain a brief overview of the research done we collected information about research in this field. As a starting point, we searched in the Scopus database for the keywords: affiliation country: “Uruguay” and subject: “Materials Science” (using the “Timbó” platform). We inspected the records and we analyzed them to construct a timeline. The data show that we are in a steady state regime of number of publications that we expect to increase together with the number of students in the area, with the generation of long term policies (grants, funding opportunities), and, if we get involved in a community that promotes this area of interest.

scholarly journals Reconstructing long-term gully dynamics in Mediterranean agricultural areas

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Hayas ◽  
Tom Vanwalleghem ◽  
Ana Laguna ◽  
Adolfo Peña ◽  
Juan V. Giráldez
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Gully Erosion ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
Erosion Processes

Abstract. Gully erosion is an important erosive process in Mediterranean basins. However, the long-term dynamics of gully networks and the variations in sediment production in gullies are not well known. Available studies are often conducted only over a few years, while many gully networks form, grow, and change in response to environmental and land use or management changes over a long period. In order to clarify the effect of these changes, it is important to analyse the evolution of the gully network with a high temporal resolution. This study aims at analysing gully morphodynamics over a long timescale (1956–2013) in a large Mediterranean area in order to quantify gully erosion processes and their contribution to overall sediment dynamics. A gully network of 20 km2 located in southwestern Spain has been analysed using a sequence of 10 aerial photographs in the period 1956–2013. The extension of the gully network both increased and decreased in the study period. Gully drainage density varied between 1.93 km km−2 in 1956, a minimum of 1.37 km km−2 in 1980, and a maximum of 5.40 km km−2 in 2013. The main controlling factor of gully activity appeared to be rainfall. Land use changes were found to have only a secondary effect. A new Monte Carlo-based approach was proposed to reconstruct gully erosion rates from orthophotos. Gully erosion rates were found to be relatively stable between 1956 and 2009, with a mean value of 11.2 t ha−1 yr−1. In the period 2009–2011, characterized by severe winter rainfalls, this value increased significantly to 591 t ha−1 yr−1. These results show that gully erosion rates are highly variable and that a simple interpolation between the starting and ending dates greatly underestimates gully contribution during certain years, such as, for example, between 2009 and 2011. This illustrates the importance of the methodology applied using a high temporal resolution of orthophotos.

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