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Studying past landscapes existing before the modern era (pre-1945) carries great difficulty. Historical maps can offer insight to researchers, but the two-dimensional cartographic features on these maps remain largely inaccessible for geospatial analyses. This study investigates the idea of unlocking the data within historical maps to be utilized by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). To realize this goal, the cartographic features must be extracted and converted into digital vector (line) and raster (grid) data. For the purposes of this study, we focus on the extraction of elevation contour lines in United States Geological Survey (USGS) historical topographic maps. These lines are converted into Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), thus creating historically accurate digital landscapes. To ensure a high-quality result, the topographically derived DEMs (TOPO-DEMs) are compared to modern satellite-derived DEMs. The implications of this study can be directly applied to historical, archeological, and environmental research.

A generalised model of biological topographic map development is presented which combines both weight plasticity and the formation and elimination of synapses (synaptic rewiring) as well as both activity-dependent and -independent processes. The question of whether an activity-dependent process can refine a mapping created by an activity-independent process is investigated using a statistical approach to analysingmapping quality. The model is then implemented in custom mixed-signal VLSI. Novel aspects of this implementation include: (1) a distributed and locally reprogrammable address-event receiver, with which large axonal fan-out does not reduce channel capacity; (2) an analogue current-mode circuit for Euclidean distance calculation which is suitable for operation across multiple chips; (3) slow probabilistic synaptic rewiring driven by (pseudo-)random noise; (4) the application of a very-low-current design technique to improving the stability of weights stored on capacitors; (5) exploiting transistor non-ideality to implement partially weightdependent spike-timing-dependent plasticity; (6) the use of the non-linear capacitance of MOSCAP devices to compensate for other non-linearities. The performance of the chip is characterised and it is shown that the fabricated chips are capable of implementing the model, resulting in biologically relevant behaviours such as activity-dependent reduction of the spatial variance of receptive fields. Complementing a fast synaptic weight change mechanism with a slow synapse rewiring mechanism is suggested as a method of increasing the stability of learned patterns.

The field study examines the effect of the simulation game Battle Squares on the learning of the map reading skill of grid-reference determination by year 7 students. The effect of ability level and sex differences on the acquisition of gridreferencing skills were also examined. The simulation game developed is a modification of the traditional children's game Battleships. The modifications produced the major features of the grid system used on Australian Survey Map sheets without substantially altering the characteristics of the game Battleships. Two treatment groups played the simulation game, one group having experienced both a pre test and a post test and the other group only the post test. A third treatment did the pre test and post test without experiencing the simulation game. Students in both treatment groups which experienced the simulation game showed significant gains in the learning of grid-referencing skills. Students in upper ability level groups gained significantly better scores on the post test than students in lower ability level groups. Both upper and lower ability level groups showed significant gains. Girls performed significantly better than boys on the post test. Both boys and girls showed significant gains as a result of the simulation game experience. Ability level was a more important moderating variable than sex difference in producing variations in performance on the post test of grid-referencing skills. The explicit educational aims of the simulation game were effectively achieved in a short period of time, while maintaining student motivation and interest. The success of the simulation game in producing significant changes in grid referencing skills would appear to have resulted from the frequent practise of these skills the simulation game playing experience offers.

Generalization of Road Network in Topographic Map Abstract The diploma thesis presents automated selection of the elements of path network. The review deals with this term and describes its position in map generalization process; the ways of path thinning apllied in the main Czech cartography institutions are reviewed too. Next part of the thesis describes the data and the tools that are applied in the proposed method. The main part introduces the suggested method of selecting elements of path network which was implemented on the test data. Keywords: map generalization, path network, path thinning, graph theory, ZABAGED, ArcGIS, Python, NetworkX

The thesis aims to analyze the altitude interpretation of the topographic maps of the U.S. and to compare them with Czech topographic maps. I have obtained the source materials for completion of the thesis during the Work and Travel exchange program in the U.S. in 2012, which also inspired me to deal with this thesis topic. The most important producer of U.S. topographic maps is the national company United States Geological Survey, which uses the U.S. customary units based on the Anglo-American measurement system that make a significant difference when interpreting the altitude of U.S. topographic maps and Czech ones. The fact that American society does not use the metric system very much, results in the use of map scales that are unique and very unusual for topographic maps. Another important producer is the company Army Map Service. Since the U.S.A. and the Czech Republic are both member states of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the production of military topographic maps strictly adheres to the NATO standards.

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[Truncated abstract] Formation and consolidation of the retinotectal projection during optic nerve regeneration has been associated with two major interlinked processes. Initially, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons are guided by molecular guidance cues, such as the Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ligands, the ephrins, to their approximately correct location and form a coarse topographic map in the optic tecum. Such axon guidance occurs in the absence of neural activity and is considered to be activity-independent. The second process involves glutamatergic excitation, whereby correctly located connections are strengthened by correlated neural activity, whilst removing inappropriately located ones thereby sharpening the topography.The second process is considered to be activitydependent. Here, a number of experiments were undertaken to further examine the interrelationships of activity-dependent and independent processes with respect to functional outcomes. Two models of optic nerve regeneration were studied. In goldfish, following optic nerve crush, regeneration is successful. … In goldfish, guidance along the medio-lateral tectal axis may occur through preordering of axons prior to entering the tectum via the appropriate medial and lateral brachium, with EphA/ephrin-A then guiding axons over the rostral-caudal axis establishing gross topography. The increase in involvement of NMDA-mediated transmission during the period of activity-dependent refinement consolidated the role of this receptor in synapse plasticity. However what triggers NMDA-mediated activity to increase is still largely unresolved, although as the factors governing receptor trafficking during development and synaptic plasticity become better understood, these can be applied to the period of plasticity associated with regenerating axons. And finally, as GABAergic inhibition appears to suppress activity-dependent refinement, means of overcoming this inhibition through 4 such methods as visual training or pharmacological intervention may have significance for mammalian regeneration.

Large topographical map of the northeast Tennessee region around Johnson City published in 1955. Prepared by the Army Map Service, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington D.C. Compiled in 1951 from United States Quadrangles, U.S. Geological Survey, and county highway maps. Planimetric detail partially revised by photo-planimetric methods. Control by USC & GS, TVA, and CE. Roads, railroad and aeronautical data verified by state authorities, 1954. Legend denotes populated places, types of roads, and railroads. Topography, names of roads, communities, and waterways can be found on the map itself. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. Scale - 1: 250,000 / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1043/thumbnail.jpg