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The present study contributes to the morphogenesis of the Miresii Cave, located in Cheia Mare of Dâmbovița in the area of the Bran—Dragoslavele Corridor, an important tourist axis in Romania. The main aim of the research is the proposal to the Scientific Council of Piatra Craiului National Park to bring to the attention of the national decision-making commissions that the cave be declared a natural monument. The inventory of this speleological geomorphosite suggested its inclusion in a thematic geotouristic circuit integrated into national and EU-protected natural areas. The novelty of the present research lies in the fact that the cave has never been studied before, being difficult to access. This cave, spatially found in the strict protection zone of the national park, is not included in its management plan. When being integrated into other nature protection areas, it is necessary to exclude any form of recreational tourism so that the cave can be exploited as a geotouristic resource strictly for research and educational purposes. The morphogenetic analysis of the cave, based on the information synthesized from geomorphological and geological literature, allowed us to decipher the morphological individualization of Miresii Cave in the local and regional geocronomorphological context, in accordance with the chronological separation of the karstification phenomenon manifested first in phreatic and later in vadose karst. The diversified typology of speleothems has been rendered according to the geomorphologic generating processes. The identification of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum chiropteran colony and observations of its biotope highlighted the ecological significance of the cave. The inventory of the individuals of the colony led to the conclusion that the cave harbors one of the first two largest bat communities of this species in the national park and the adjacent depressional corridor. The present study may allow the documentation of the photographs and description of the geomorphosite integrated into the proposed thematic circuit to be included on billboards and in promotional brochures. Thus, it could also be useful for the decision-making authorities of Rucar and Podu Dâmboviței villages, which are interested in making decisions related to the promotion of geotourism, especially due to the existence of numerous geological and geomorphological tourist resources in the administrative territories.

The pedological resources of a territory lay at the basis of agricultural potential, because they have a direct influence on the favorability or restrictiveness of a territory for a certain use. Therefore, the study of the physical-chemical and morphological characteristics of soils becomes very important when one proposes economically viable agricultural crops. The restrictive climatic and morphological factors may have isolated or cumulative negative effects on the agricultural sector in a certain territory, but the pedological risks are most difficult to mitigate. The purpose of this study is to analyze the distribution of pedological risk classes across Romania, assessing the scientific literature in the field, and to highlight the regions comprising the largest areas affected by soil-related risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creative industries, by their nature of innovation through creativity, add value to any territory by giving it spatial functionality, and at the same time, they favour sustainable development through the sustainability of the urban centres in which they operate. This paper develops a GIS methodology based on the implementation of a spatial analysis model that captures, in a comparative way, the spatial functionality of two different urban centres—(Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and Pécs (Hungary))—in terms of spatial extent based on the impact of the spatial distribution of creative industries. The spatial analysis model is based on the management of alpha-numeric databases representing the addresses of the creative industries, based on geolocation, for the development of spatial analyses of pedestrian accessibility. The main aim is to identify the specific areas of 15 and 5 min model cities. The comparative analysis was carried out by implementing a deterministic methodology through which the areas with certain degrees of accessibility were analysed in relation to the total analysed area, with the main aim of standardising the scale of analysis due to the difference between the two urban centres, thus facilitating the use of qualitative boning in the final comparison process. The results obtained highlight the local behaviour, at the same time making it possible to conduct a realistic deterministic comparative analysis of the two urban centres, which are also identifiable from the point of view of local territorial functionality, thereby validating the GIS model implemented in the present study.

Identifying the susceptibility of the land to contemporary geomorphological processes is an essential aspect to be pursued within the proper territorial planning process of the Iara Depression. Recently, within the Iara Depression, multiple areas were affected by geomorphological processes and these had both natural and anthropogenic triggers. In the present study, we choose to assess the Iara Depression exposure to hazards by including its territory in the landslides probability occurrence classes defined by the 447/2003 Governmental Decision, using GIS technology that allows the running of this type of complex analyzes. To obtain the necessary specialized information, we used geomorphological mapping on site and in the laboratory, to detect the contemporary geomorphological processes, which than was used as a validation method for the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of current article is not to provide a psychological explanation of human reaction to the music, but rather to follow the idea of music phenomena explanations throughout time. It encompasses three main aspects: human perception, certain music elements, and historical transformations based on the evolution of music theory. These aspects are illustrated through the subjective and objective features of perception. Music elements are described the way they were explained by several remarkable theorists throughout time. The elucidation of some aspects of perception in music occurs via different interpretations that theorists provide as the basis of historical evolution of musical thinking and understanding

The multitude of sensors, transducers and data acquisition systems used in the ever-increasing domains of today’s industry, were designed and created on a purpose-based agenda. Most of these technologies were rarely used for different purposes then the ones they were meant for. This research, explores the possibility of using those technologies for the purpose of motion capture. The results of the motion capture data acquisition can further be used for other purposes, itself. Because the motion capture data isn’t calculated, but only captured, the compression algorithms may result in mathematical formulas of motion, which can be the same formulas of calculating the motion synthetically. The same way the parameters and formulas are being calculated for a robot’s movement, motion can be captured, and the key position parameters can be selected, and implemented on the movement, while not only making the movement more natural, but saves time during the programming process.

This study represents a comparison between two independent models used to evaluate landslide susceptibility in Romania: first, the model derived from the Romanian Governmental Decision no. 447/2003 (H.G. 447) and second, the bivariate statistical analysis. Considering the numerous objections to the first approach, which is also imposed by law, the accuracy of the results was analyzed using an alternative method which takes into consideration the reality from the field to a greater extent (the inventory of the existing landslides). The case study is focused on the Niraj catchment area (658 km2), a representative area for frequent landslide occurrence. The H.G. 447 model implies the estimation of the importance of eight factors involved in landslide occurrence: lithology, geomorphology, structure, hydro-climatic factors, hydrogeology, seismicity, forest cover and the anthropogenic factor. A thematic map was generated and analyzed for each one of the eight factors influencing slope instability and a specific coefficient was assigned. The statistical model, based on the bivariate probability analysis, was applied in order to predict the spatial distribution of the susceptibility classes. The probability of landslide occurrence was estimated based on the assumption that the prediction of the spatial distributions of landslides starts from the existing ones. In order to validate the model, the resulting maps were compared with the existing landslide maps: the relative landslide density index (R) and the relative operation curve (ROC) value were calculated, which indicate that the statistical model emphasizes a better correlation between the susceptibility classes and the active landslides (ROC value 0.972), the causative factors selected being relevant for the applied models.

Industrial environments with potentially toxic atmospheres such as research laboratories or test centers are at increased risk for human operator health, especially due to the very short time they need to act to prevent fatal events at work place. In this paper we propose a solution with industrial applicability based on human arm modelling and simulation that is capable of replacing human operator’s direct intervention in manipulating substances that can generate toxic vapors that affect air quality or contain substances with high epidemiological risk, or others that, in case of inappropriately manipulated, can produce potentially explosive situations. Based on an EEG-EMG solution, the human operator can control the human artificial arm remotely from a safety location only by using own electrical signals generated by the brain and the neurons network.

Nowadays, finding a way to quickly respond to industrial accidents due to human errors or unforeseen situation is high, for example in the petrochemical industry where are handled with toxic and flammable substances, is a priority for the safe coordination of rescue teams based on-real time knowledge of the situation on the ground. Thus, the rapid identification of potential victims, the prevision of post-deflagration work space and the prevention of the new emergencies to limit damage should become a priority. In this paper we propose a quickly solution for rescue intervention based on use of the drone equipped with camera and sensors network capable of transmitting data in real time over the post-explosive environmental conditions to command center for the rapid identification of victims both in open and closed spaces. The paper presents the methods of using drones to explore and identify accident sites. There are modelled and simulated the control system and the image identification unit.

The Computer Brain Interface (BCIs) is a new type of user interface designed to recognize real-time user-specific intentions based on user brain mapping. Gradual advancing technology behind the BCI interface has made it possible to develop gaming applications that use directly brain input instead of well-known traditional control methods. This paper presents the Mental Pool Game, a brain-controlled computer game powered by Unity3D, which uses a commercial BCI device based on a network of electroencephalography (EEG) sensors placed on the scalp capable of creating brain patterns only by capturing conscious thoughts from a user that can be easily reproduced as mental actions to control strength and speed on which the user can project on the white ball to hit any of the eight balls on the pool table. Mental PoolGame, powered by Unity3D, is a platform that provides all tools necessary for a developer to develop three-dimensional games that has been designed so that the end user no longer uses classical commands that depend on the use of well-known peripheral input devices present on any PC, such as a keyboard, mouse and more recently a joystick to control the movement of space in an object in a virtual environment.

The flash floods analysis, representative for Niraj River between 1970-2008. The need to know the characteristics of the flash floods is derived from the number and the intensity of floods occurred in the drainage basin of the Niraj river. Therefore, there were analyzed only the flash floods representatives for the years: 1970, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2008.The classification of the floods was realized according to the genesis and the flash flood hydrograph shape for the period 1970-2008, before and after the completion of the drainage basin planning/management depending on climatic, morphometric and morphological factors.

In this paper, we analyze the principles of brain computer interface that convert the electrical activity of the human brain into commands for a computer of any embedded device. For this reason, we present the existing devices and applications from the area of brain-computer interfaces with advantages and disadvantages. Further, we propose a solution for brain control of a robotic arm. We develop the model and simulate the entire system functioning, both the robotic arm control and the brain signals processing. The final purpose of our research is to achieve a brain-computer system that controls a robotic arm that can replace a human arm.

The risk associated with extreme hydrological processes (flash floods, floods) is more present than ever, taking into account the global climatic changes, the expansion of inhabited areas and the changes emerging as a result of inadequate land management. Of all the hydrological risks, slope flash floods represent the processes that have the highest impact because of the high speed of their development and their place of origin, which makes them difficult to predict. This study is performed in an area susceptible to the emergence of slope flash floods, the Valea Rea catchment area, spatially located in Northwest Romania, and exposed to western circulation, which favours the development of such processes. The entire research is based on a methodology involving the integration of spatial databases, which indicate the vulnerability of the territory in the form of a weighted average equation to highlight the major impact of the most relevant factor. A number of 15 factors have been used in raster spatial databases, obtained by conversion (land use, soil type, lithology, Hydrologic Soil Group, etc.), derived from the digital elevation model (slope, aspect, TWI, etc.) or by performing spatial analysis submodels (precipitation, slope length, etc). The integration of these databases by means of the spatial analysis equation based on the weighted average led to the vulnerability of the territory to FFPI, classified on five classes from very low to very high. The final result underlines the high and very high vulnerability (43%) of the analysed territory that may have a major impact on the human communities and the territorial infrastructure. The results obtained highlight the torrential nature of the analysed catchment area, identifying several hotspots of great risk, located mainly within the built-up areas of intensely inhabited regions; a fact which involves a major risk and significant potential material damage in the territory. The model was validated by directly comparing the results obtained with locations previously affected, where the flood effects have been identified, highlighting the fact that the model may be taken into account to be applied in practice, and also to be implemented in territories that share the same features.

To meet the global challenges of climate change and human activity pressure on biodiversity conservation, it has become vital to map such pressure hotspots. Large areas, such as nation-wide regions, are difficult to map from the point of view of the resources needed for such mapping (human resources, hard and soft resources). European biodiversity policies have focused on restoring degraded ecosystems by at least 10% by 2020, and new policies aim to restore up to 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. In this study, methods developed and applied for the assessment of the degradation state of the ecosystems in a semi-automatic manner for the entire Romanian territory (238,391 km 2 ) are presented. The following ecosystems were analyzed: forestry, grassland, rivers, lakes, caves and coastal areas. The information and data covering all the ecoregions of the Romania (~110,000 km 2 ) were analyzed and processed, based on GIS and remote sensing techniques. The largest degraded areas were identified within the coastal area (49.80%), grassland ecosystems (38.59%) and the cave ecosystems (2.66%), while 27.64% of rivers ecosystems were degraded, followed by 8.52% of forest ecosystems, and 14.05% of lakes ecosystems. This analysis can contribute to better definition of the locations of the most affected areas, which will yield a useful spatial representation for future ecological reconstruction strategy.

The Transylvanian region of Romania is a place of rich history since ancient times, where the original natural environment around architectural heritage sites or buildings has not been severely altered by urban development. Unfortunately, many such places are left by the authorities to degrade or totally collapse for lack of funds, vision or initiatives. The current paper addresses the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the assessment of a viable and feasible prospect of restoration on a 19th century mansion that belonged to a nobiliary family. UAV use is rising in many industries and has become very popular in the last decade, but for survey engineering and related domains they represent a quantum leap in technology. Integrating UAV-acquired data and structure from motion software, has enabled modern techniques to obtain useful metrics from the field, accurate photorealistic 3D models for visual inspection, structural damage analyses, architectural rehabilitation-restoration, conservation and spatial analysis of the surrounding area. In this work a socio-cultural planning and design process is explored and presented to improve the local community and inclusion in a tourist circuit based on the regional potential, as well as an evaluation of accessibility derived from a vector-raster database that highlights the central position of the cultural heritage in regards to the axis of circulation between the important metropolitan areas and the local tourist attractions. This established workflow of modern topographic and construction measurements is fully integrable into the architectural process, building information modelling, heritage conservation and reconstruction.