Green infrastructure-based tourism development in a Hungarian case

The importance of green infrastructure (GI) has been particularly felt in the pandemic period: the opportunity to spend time and relax outdoors became more valuable for urban residents. There is a strong link between green infrastructure and tourism and recreation, but the ecosystem services of the GI have so far been less emphasized in tourism development planning. GI network elements can be attractions for tourism and sites for recreational activities. However, elements of the GI (such as a greenway) are also elements of tourism and recreation infrastructure. The aim of the present research was to explore the potential of linking GI development and tourism development in a particular tourist area, the Balatonfüred micro-region in Hungary. In our previous research we have already dealt with the GI of this area, especially with the Nivegy Valley and its landscape based tourism development, therefore we chose this region as a sample area for our research. Some of the experience gained here can be generalised: the diverse landscapes with many small values which are not in themselves of great attraction, planned and managed together as a comprehensive network can be attractive for tourists. The view connections revealing in some places and the pleasant hiking trails offer both tourists and locals such a landscape experience that contributes to their physical and mental health. Our specific proposals for GI development and tourism or recreation development in the Nivegy Valley can serve as an example for other areas, showing how well-planned green network can become a resource to serve the growing needs of tourism. At the same time, the proper design and condition of green infrastructure includes opportunities for recreation as well

SON for LTE-WLAN access network selection : design and performance

Mobile network operators (MNOs) are deploying carrier-grade Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) as an important complementary system to cellular networks. Access network selection (ANS) between cellular and WLAN is an essential component to improve network performance and user quality-of-service (QoS) via controlled loading of these systems. In emerging heterogeneous networks characterized by different cell sizes and diverse WLAN deployments, automatic tuning of the network selection functionality plays a crucial role. In this article, we present two distinct Self-Organizing Network (SON) schemes for tuning the ANS between the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WLAN systems. The SON functions differ in terms of availability of inter-system information exchange and internal algorithm design for traffic load control. System level simulations in a site-specific dense urban network show that the proposed schemes improve significantly the user quality of service (QoS), and network capacity over the reference scheme when offloading to WLAN is performed simply based on signal coverage

Landscape heritage and sustainable development in a border region of Hungary

Landscape functions reflect the goods and services provided by regions, highlighting the cultural, economic and environmental factors.As a complex assessment method, a landscape function analysis can reveal the state of the pillars of sustainability, analyse the potentials, resources and limits of landscapes and land use systems and thus provide a basis for reaching balanced and effective rural development. As study area we chose a peripheric, rural micro-region located along the Hungarian-Slovakian border including settlements of Ipolyvece, Patak, Nagyoroszi, Horpács, Hont, Drégelypalánk. The region is rich in natural and cultural values, large part of the area belongs to Börzsöny, from North as the Hungarian-Slovakian border we find the Ipoly river as one of the most natural rivers in Hungary. The successful rural areas are able to preserve the ecological value of the landscape and at the same time, provide appropriate income for the population. To highlight the connection of landscape functions, landscape heritage and rural development, we have chosen a peripheric micro-region rich in cultural and natural values. Using wide range of indicators we analysed ecological value, agriculture, forestry, tourism, aesthetics, accessibility, and economic value. The landscape function analysis revealed the conflicts, limits of landscape resources and where certain landscape functions can be considered lower than the appropriate level. Natural and cultural assets are unevenly distributed in the area, tourism and the traditional but shrinking high added value fruit production can contribute to increase the income level of the population which is crucial for maintain the population retention capacity of the region

Galactic foreground of gamma-ray bursts from AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor

We demonstrate the use of the AKARI FIS All-Sky Survey maps in the study of extragalactic objects. A quick but reliable estimate of the Galactic foreground is essential for extragalactic research in general. We explored the galactic foreground and calculated hydrogen column densities using AKARI FIS and other recent all-sky survey data, and compared our results to former estimates. Our AKARI-FIS-based foreground values were then used toward gamma-ray burst (GRB) sources as input for X-ray afterglow spectrum fitting. From those fits the intrinsic column densities at the GRB sources were derived. The high-angular-resolution AKARI-FIS-based Galactic foreground hydrogen column densities are statistically very similar, but for most of the tested directions somewhat lower than previous estimates based on low-resolution data. This is due to the low filling factor of high-density enhancements in all galactic latitudes. Accordingly, our AKARI-FIS-based new intrinsic hydrogen column densities are usually higher or similar compared to the values calculated based, e.g., on the low-resolution Leiden/Argentine/Bonn survey data and listed in the Leicester database. The variation, however, is typically smaller than the error of the estimate from the fits of the X-ray afterglow spectra. There are a number of directions where the improvement of the foreground estimates resulted in an overestimate of magnitude or higher increment of the derived intrinsic hydrogen column densities. We concluded that most of the GRBs with formerly extremely low intrinsic hydrogen column densities are in fact normal, but we confirmed that GRB050233 is indeed a non- enveloped long GRB