BackgroundWhen coming to a new social environment, many people unfortunately are under the mental burden of perceived discrimination. The Chinese international student returnees in the post-COVID-19 era present a special case where they experienced considerable discrimination issues during both the processes of acculturation in the host countries as well as reacculturation after returning to China. This study aims to investigate group-based influences on the impacts of discrimination-related perceptions toward social integration (and reintegration) degrees through different psychological pathways of trust.AnalysisEmploying Bayesian analyses aided by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms on survey data of 1,014 Chinese international student returnees, the study examines the multi-layered influences of perceived discrimination and trust (both generalized and personalized) on social integration.FindingsWe found that in the foreign social environment, interestingly, the degree of acculturation and perceived discrimination has a positive association. Generalized trust positively moderates this association while personalized trust has a negative moderating effect. In the domestic social environment, perceived discrimination is positively associated with the degree of negative mental health induced by concerns about whether to stay in China or emigrate. Generalized trust positively moderates this association, while personalized trust negatively moderates it.ConclusionThe findings suggest the possible information exchange pathways where different types of trust and group-based perceptions interact.
This work presents measurements of local HII environment metallicities of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) in hosts with redshifts up to z$\sim$0.025. 139 SNe environments were observed at the Isaac Newton Telescope and data of an additional 268 SNe environments were found in archival data of MUSE, MaNGA and PISCO. The project focuses on SNe with clean Type IIP, Type Ib and Type Ic classifications. We present the largest spectroscopic sample to date, evaluating environment metallicities of 79 Type Ib, 66 Type Ic and 93 Type IIP by N2 and O3N2 strong emission line methods. The cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of the SN environment metallicities show Type Ib and Type Ic SNe tending towards higher metallicity than Type IIP. We test the null hypothesis that Type Ib/Ic/IIP progenitors are drawn from the same parent population. There is no statistically significant difference between progenitors of Type Ib and Type Ic SNe. However, when comparing Ib/Ic with IIP SNe, the tests indicate strong statistical significance (significance level better than 1\%) to reject our null hypothesis suggesting that the samples are not drawn from the same parent population. The significance is even higher (level better 0.1\%) when testing Type IIP vs. the combined Type Ib+Ic sample. These results support a different physical nature of Type IIP and Types Ib/Ic progenitors. It challenges stellar evolution and SNe explosion models to reproduce the distinct CDFs found.
Kambiz Sadeghi, Shri H. Viswanathan, Ankit Joshi
et al.
Outdoor built environments can be designed to enhance thermal comfort, yet the relationship between the two is often assessed in whole-body terms, overlooking the asymmetric nature of thermal interactions between the human body and its surroundings. Moreover, the radiative component of heat exchange-dominant in hot and dry climates-is typically lumped into a single artificial metric, the mean radiant temperature, rather than being resolved into its shortwave and longwave spectral components. The shortwave irradiation distribution on the human body is often highly anisotropic, causing localized thermal discomfort in outdoor environments. However, no existing methods effectively quantify shortwave and longwave irradiation distributions on the human body. To address this gap, we developed two methods to quantify these processes. The first approach uses an outdoor thermal manikin with a white-coated side, enabling the separation of spectral components by subtracting measurements from symmetrically corresponding surface zones of tan color. The second hybrid approach converts radiometer measurements in six directions into boundary conditions for computational thermal manikin simulations. We evaluated irradiation distributions for various body parts using both methods during outdoor measurements across sunny, partially shaded, and fully shaded sites under warm to extremely hot conditions. In most cases, the two methods produced closely aligned results, with divergences highlighting their respective strengths and limitations. Additionally, we used the manikin to quantify irradiation attenuation provided by five long-sleeve shirts with colors ranging from white to black. These advanced methods can be integrated with airflow and thermoregulatory modeling to optimize outdoor built environments for enhanced human thermal comfort.
In the paper, equipment for shallow electromagnetic mapping Geoviser, the design and dimensions of special non-magnetic sledges, as well as the features of their use in the field, in combination with a high-precision positioning system are described. Based on the results of the study of archaeological sites of various types (fortified settlement, burial mound), and their comparison with the data of other remote sensing methods, conclusions were made about the efficiency of the used technology: equipment and approaches to its application. A significant increase in the productivity of electromagnetic mapping is shown, while maintaining high data density, opening up prospects for the widespread implementation of the proposed method as the first stage of studying the geoelectric properties of the environment. In the study of archaeological sites, electromagnetic mapping significantly complements aerial photography data, allowing to identify objects that are not expressed in the relief. Successful testing of the described technology on archaeological sites of the Novosibirsk Region demonstrates the need for its implementation in such areas as archeology, engineering and environmental geophysics, precision agriculture.
Introduction. Computational thinking is one of the categories that currently assess the quality of people’s preparedness for life, educational and professional activities in the modern world, saturated with information technologies and digital tools. Many issues related to university students’ computational thinking remain insufficiently studied as applied to general education.Aim. The present research aims to discuss the essence of the concept of “computational thinking” and, mainly, the composition of its structural elements, methods of their formation and assessment at the level of higher education; and to compare the requirements for university students’ computational thinking and digital competencies, which have similarities and differences.Methodology and research methods. The present review article has theoretical and applied aspects. Except for several fundamentally important works of general studies, which reveal the concept of “computational thinking”, the author analysed mainly review articles published in the past five years in order to identify and systematise modern solutions related to the purpose of the work.Results and scientific novelty. An analysis of the basic concepts associated with computational thinking showed that at the level of definitions, due to their certain abstractness, the computational thinking of university students does not have much specificity compared to the computational thinking of schoolchildren. This specificity is manifested at the level of the list of cognitive and non-cognitive skills associated with computational thinking, requirements for the level of their development and assessment methods. In computational thinking, cognitive skills include abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithmisation, visualisation, logical thinking, communicative competence, the ability to present, structure and analyse data, and some others skills. Non-cognitive skills include self-confidence, communication skills, flexibility, and others.Methods for assessing the maturity of students’ computational thinking include the results of solving problems in block programming environments such as Scrath; knowledge/skill tests, self-assessment scales/surveys; tests on knowledge of the basics of computational thinking, interviews and observations; interviews, grades for assignments/courses, surveys/questionnaires, solving problems external to the class; the use of a special software environment, the use of criteria for assessing computational thinking and/or psychometric tools; assessments based on solving robotic problems or evaluating artifacts created during the game, and others.A comparison of computational thinking with digital competencies at the skill level leads to the conclusion that in computational thinking, skills represent a certain fixed set of meta-skills needed by a student regardless of solving specific problems (for example, abstraction skills). In digital competencies, skills are specified according to numerous types and are more specific.Practical significance. The results of this study can be used in the design of programmes for developing computational thinking and digital competencies of university students.
The karst area in the south of China is one of the three major karst distribution areas in the world. But the economic development of the karst mountainous area is severely restricted by the fragility of its environment and unreasonable disturbance of human activities. As quantitative data reflecting the intensity of karstification, karst dissolution rates can be studied to facilitate the restoration of karst ecosystem and control of rocky desertification. Especially in recent years, research on rocky desertification control and ecological restoration in karst areas of Southwest China has been achieved with fruitful results, and hence is widely concerned by many domestic scholars on karst ecological characteristics and vulnerability, rocky desertification control and other issues. The Qinba area of Shaanxi Province is an important dividing line between the north and south of China in a climate of subtropical continental monsoon. It is also known as the "central water tower" and has a large sinkhole group at high latitude. Its special geographical location obviously differentiates the climate and ecological environment between the north and south. At the same time, carbonate rocks are widely exposed in the Qinba area, especially in places such as Zhen'an, Shanyang, etc. Unreasonable human activities have destroyed the karst ecological environment, making rocky desertification prominent. By analyzing dissolution rates from the aspects of vegetation, climate, and human factors, we explore the impact of regional environmental changes on karst formation, which may provide data support for ecological restoration, karst carbon sequestration, and rocky desertification control, and may also fill the gap in the study of karst formation in the Qinba area of Shaanxi Province.The three representative vegetation types—woodland, shrub and grassland—were selected in field dissolution tests in the study area. In this study, we used standard dissolution specimens (square test pieces with the side length of 4 cm and thickness of 0.3 cm) of crystalline limestone from the Late Triassic Wujiaping Formation (P3w) in Xiaonanhai town, Hanzhong City. Each vegetation type was divided into 5 layers (100 cm in the air, surface, 20 cm under the soil, and 50 cm and 100 cm under the soil). Three standard dissolution test pieces were places in each layer. After a full hydrological year from March 31, 2021 to October 20, 2022, a total of 806 dissolution specimens were retrieved, and the amount and rate of dissolution of each specimen were obtained. The effects of vegetation types, depths, rainfall and temperatures on the karst process and the relationship between karst dissolution rates and degrees of rocky desertification were comprehensively discussed.The results showed that there were significant differences in subsurface dissolution rates among vegetation types. The average underground dissolution rate of forest land was the highest, followed by that of shrub land. The rate of grassland was the lowest. It was found that the dissolution rate of forest land in the same layer was higher than those of shrub and grassland, and the underground dissolution rate of shrub was higher than that of grassland. The organic carbon contents of different vegetation types and the changes of soil physical and chemical properties by vegetation are the fundamental factors that affect the direction and intensity of the karst process. At the same time, we analyzed the influence of rainfall and temperatures on dissolution rates in different regions. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between rainfall and dissolution rates (R=0.84), indicating that rainfall plays a key role in karstification. Rainwater absorbed CO2 from the air during the process of falling to the surface. During infiltrating from the surface to the soil, rainwater combined with CO2 released by plant root respiration and produced by microbial metabolism to form carbonic acid after it absorbed CO2 in the process of falling to the surface. Consequently, the continuous dissolution of carbonate rocks by both surface water and groundwater containing carbonic acid led to the development of rocky desertification. The correlation coefficient between temperatures and corrosion rates is 0.45, which indicates that the temperature is not an important factor affecting the dissolution rate.The formation of rocky desertification is the result of the joint action of natural factors and human factors, and unreasonable human activities are the main factors. A comparative study on dissolution rates of different degrees of rocky desertification in the Qinba area shows that dissolution rates increase with the increase of rocky desertification degrees as follows, severe rocky desertification>moderate rocky desertification>mild rocky desertification. This phenomenon is more obvious in areas with mild rocky desertification, for example, the dissolution rates of Beiyang Mountain in Zhen'an are three times as much as those of the areas mostly distributed with mild rocky desertification. Besides, the aggravation of rocky desertification is often accompanied by extensive agricultural production patterns and severe ecological environment damage. It can be seen that in densely populated areas of karst mountainous areas, people's transformation of the karst environment is the main reason for the aggravation of rocky desertification, and the higher the dissolution rate is, the higher the degree of rocky desertification becomes.The study of dissolution rates in the Qinba area of Shaanxi Province shows that with the forward succession of vegetation, dissolution rates of carbonate rocks will increase. Rainfall can promote the dissolution of carbonate rocks, which is one of the important factors affecting karstification. Moreover, rocky desertification is the result of the interaction of carbonate rock dissolution and human disturbance, and human factors play the main role.
This special feature, dedicated to Michael J. Duff FRS on the occasion of his 70th birthday, concerns topics in 'Quantum gravity, branes and M-theory'. These three intertwining subjects have been central to Duff's work; indeed many of his contributions have come to define significant aspects of what we actually mean by these terms. From the discovery of Weyl anomalies to recognising superstrings in 10 dimensions as a special case of membranes in an 11-dimensional M-theory, Duff's insights have shaped major developments across these themes. So it is an apposite setting for such a celebration and we are delighted to be able to include in this collection contributions from many of the pioneers of quantum gravity, branes and M-theory. The breadth of these topics has placed little constraint on the multiplicity of ideas appearing in these pages, from astrophysical black holes to chaotic condensed matter. Again, this is fitting as Duff's scientific remit spans a remarkable diversity of motifs, from the fundamentals of M-theory to entanglement in quantum information.
The article analyses the experience of European countries in counteraction to academic dishonesty and plagiarism, as well as the attitude of Ukrainian students to the problem. The specific examples of the counteraction against academic fraud in universities abroad have been studied, in particular, in the United Kingdom at the University College London, in Sweden at the Karolinska Medical University, and in higher education institutions in Poland. The article examines the attitude of Ukrainian students to various issues of academic integrity by questionnaires for its development in higher education institutions to prevent plagiarism in Master's theses.
The purpose of the research is to study the European experience in counteraction to the manifestations of academic dishonesty and plagiarism among students to apply the experience in Ukrainian higher education institutions.
Methodology. A survey among Master's students in H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University was conducted, which revealed the level of students’ knowledge about such concepts as academic integrity, plagiarism, as well as its types and reasons that motivate students to academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Results. The results of the survey show that, unfortunately, most students do not consider plagiarism a fraud. According to them, posting a text on the Internet makes it common and accessible to all, “nobody's”, and academic dishonesty and plagiarism in the student environment by majority of students is still perceived as the norm.
Conclusions. To develop the academic integrity for Ukrainian students, it is necessary to implement a set of various measures. Promoting academic integrity and counteraction to plagiarism should take place at the level of the national ministry, higher education institutions, University faculties, departments, teaching staff, and the students themselves. Such work must be systematic, have a strategy, technology, ways of implementation at all levels of the scientific and educational process. It is expedient to conduct mass, explanatory, preventive work in each university, instill in Ukrainian students the principles of academic integrity, conduct special lessons to prevent plagiarism, work with common electronic programs of text self-checking, and teach training modules.
Lacustrine mudrocks are important hydrocarbon source rocks due to their high contents of organic matter (OM). An accurate determination of the origins of OM in the rocks can contribute greatly to the identification of the sedimentary environment and the evaluation of the hydrocarbon generation capacity of the mudrocks. In this study, the lacustrine mudrocks of the Eocene Shahejie Formation in the Dongying Sag of China were sampled for further discussion of the types and origins of OM and the hydrocarbon generation capacity of the mudrocks. On that basis, the classical palynofacies classification scheme was improved, and five palynofacies types (PF1 to PF5) were classified to accurately reflect different lacustrine environments. Among them, PF1 to PF3 are rich in various amorphous organic matter (AOM), including benthic microbial mats, organic aggregates and algal aggregates, which are part of the lake environment in which aquatic organisms bloom. The hydrocarbon generation abilities of the three palynofacies are different but generally strong. PF5 and PF4 have abundant terrestrial plant fragments and macrophyte fragments, respectively, indicating a shallow, near-provenance lake environment and a shallow, macrophyte-flourishing lake environment. These two types of palynofacies have weaker hydrocarbon generation capacities than the former three. Due to the enrichment of different types of palynofacies, each formation of the Dongying Sag shows distinct hydrocarbon generation potentials. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to the origin of OM and its influences on the hydrocarbon generation capacity of lacustrine mudrocks for a better understanding of the deposition and hydrocarbon generation potential of source rocks.
Since it was first launched in 2001, the Scottish Vision Group (SVG) has been a key meeting for vision scientists in Scotland, and has attracted vision scientists from the United Kingdom, Europe and beyond. This small conference is held annually at different places in Scotland. Its friendly atmosphere and stunning Scottish sceneries provide a great environment for relaxed scientific discussions. In particular, it is an excellent opportunity for scientists at an early stage of their career to give a talk about their work. The 2022 edition of SVG was held in St Leonard’s Hall at the University of Edinburgh. The meeting started with a panel discussion on camouflage led by Prof Nick Scott-Samuel (University of Bristol), Dr George Lovell (Abertay University) and Dr Rebecca Sharman (Abertay University). Research into camouflage has expanded remarkably over the last decade or so, with interdisciplinarity proving to be a key feature for progress. The discussion focussed on the different types of objectives and research techniques that are prominent in the field. The round table was sponsored by Meta Reality Labs. In the keynote lecture, sponsored by MDPI Vision, Prof Ute Leonards (University of Bristol) discussed the outcomes of her research programme investigating the crosstalk between visual cognition research and locomotion research. The outcomes of this Gibsonian approach do not just provide important insights into active vision but also outline the promising possibilities of sustainable urban design inspired by vision sciences. The rest of the conference was dedicated to talks on a variety of topics, including, but not limited to, attention, eye movements, visual search, motion perception, multisensory perception, colour and 3D vision. We present a selection of these abstracts. An associated Special Issue captures in fuller detail some of the research presented at SVG’s 2022 edition.
In this paper, we present methods for two types of metacognitive tasks in an AI system: rapidly expanding a neural classification model to accommodate a new category of object, and recognizing when a novel object type is observed instead of misclassifying the observation as a known class. Our methods take numerical data drawn from an embodied simulation environment, which describes the motion and properties of objects when interacted with, and we demonstrate that this type of representation is important for the success of novel type detection. We present a suite of experiments in rapidly accommodating the introduction of new categories and concepts and in novel type detection, and an architecture to integrate the two in an interactive system.
Region-based type systems are a powerful tool for various kinds of program analysis. We introduce a new inference algorithm for region types based on an abstract notion of environment transformation. It analyzes the code of a method only once, even when there are multiple invocations of the method of different region types in the program. Elements of such an abstract transformation are essentially constraints for equality and subtyping that capture flow information of the program. In particular, we work with access graphs in the definition of abstract transformations to guarantee the termination of the inference algorithm, because they provide a finite representation of field access paths.
The research is carried out in line with the current problems of modern document linguistics, related to the study of formation peculiarities, design and functioning of new types of documents. It is shown that currently there is a change in the structure of the document in two directions: the unification of the document form and the creation of documents without a clear structure. The concept of "interactive document" is introduced. It refers to a form of hypertext representation, a special material structure (code, program, existing in an electronic environment) created by a person to store and transmit information in space and time, adapted for reading the text (as a logical or associative sequence of speech or non-speech signs). The types of interactive documents (business portal, business website, paper work automation and electronic document management program) are identified. The specifics of the material carrier and the information component of the interactive document are characterized. It is shown that non-rigid structure is characteristic of interactive documents. It is established that information in interactive documents is transmitted through verbal and nonverbal components. The terminological richness of the verbal component of an interactive document and the tendency to move from official to less formal communication in an electronic environment, regardless of the business situation, are revealed. The classification of nonverbal features is developed. It is stated that they are more diverse in comparison with traditional hard copies.
The paper presents the use of the Landsat TM image processed by the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Tool for environmental mapping of southwestern Iceland, region of Reykjavik. Iceland is one of the most special Arctic regions with unique flora and landscapes. Its environment is presented by vulnerable ecosystems of highlands where vegetation is affected by climate, human or geologic factors: overgrazing, volcanism, annual temperature change. Therefore, mapping land cover types in Iceland contribute to the nature conservation, sustainable development and environmental monitoring purposes. This paper starts by review of the current trends in remote sensing, the importance of Landsat TM imagery for environmental mapping in general and Iceland in particular, and the requirements of GIS specifically for satellite image analysis. This is followed by the extended methodological workflow supported by illustrative print screens and technical description of data processing in ArcGIS. The data used in this research include Landsat TM image which was captured using GloVis and processed in ArcGIS. The methodology includes a workflow involving several technical steps of raster data processing in ArcGIS: 1) coordinate projecting, 2) panchromatic sharpening, 3) inspection of raster statistics, 4) spectral bands combination, 5) calculations, 6) unsupervised classification, 7) mapping. The classification was done by clustering technique using ISO Cluster algorithm and Maximum Likelihood Classification. This paper finally presents the results of the ISO Cluster application for Landsat TM image processing and concludes final remarks on the perspectives of environmental mapping based on Landsat TM image processing in ArcGIS.The results of the classification present landscapes divided into eight distinct land cover classes: 1) bare soils; 2) shrubs and smaller trees in the river valleys, urban areas including green spaces; 3) water areas; 4) forests including the Reykjanesfólkvangur National reserve; 5) ice-covered areas, glaciers and cloudy regions; 6) ravine valleys with a sparse type of the vegetation: rowan, alder, heathland, wetland; 7) rocks; 8) mixed areas. The final remarks include the discussion on the development of machine learning methods and opportunities of their technical applications in GIS-based analysis and Earth Observation data processing in ArcGIS, including image analysis and classification, mapping and visualization, machine learning and environmental applications for decision making in forestry and sustainable development.
Nikolaeva Ekaterina, Pletnev Dmitri, Kozlova Elena
A strategy is an integral part of the corporate governance and planning process in companies. Today, in a period of high uncertainty in most markets, strategic planning allows companies to pay special attention to the most effective development directions, point out priorities, and assess the effectiveness of company management and its decisions. The study aims to assess the comparative performance of various types of corporate strategies based on identifying their types and strategy markers. The study of existing approaches to the classification of companies' strategies made it possible to identify their advantages and disadvantages and, on this basis, propose an alternative typology of companies' strategies. The proposed alternative typology of strategies is based on the characteristics of the corporation's environment, the characteristics of the corporation's response to external stimuli, and the planning methods used by corporations. Eight types of corporate strategies were identified and analyzed - classic planned, classic process, classic ideological, adaptation, formation strategy, visionary, renewal strategy. Strategy markers are identified for each type of strategy - indicators that allow one or another implemented strategy to be attributed to a specific type following the adopted typology. The empirical analysis methods of the 40 most significant Russian corporations data were applied, their strategies and performance indicators were studied concerning each of the types of strategies. It was found that the most common among the most significant Russian corporations is the classic process type of strategy, which is based on a clear vision of the expected results, their process-by-process planning. Also, many corporations are implementing the classic planning strategy, which is more formal: developing plans without clearly indicating the directions and ways of their implementation. To identify the most effective type of strategy, an analysis of performance indicators (revenue and market capitalization) of corporations was carried out within the framework of individual strategies. It was found that the revenue growth of the companies surveyed over ten years (from 2010 to 2019) did not differ significantly for groups of companies with different types of strategies. However, the market capitalization growth for the period from 2010 to 2020 was different for various groups of corporations, depending on the strategy type, and sometimes the indicator growth differed by 2.5 times. The directions of further research are the inclusion of a larger number of companies in the analysis, addition and more detailed analysis of the results of companies adhering to different types of strategy, international comparisons in the frequency of distribution and industry specificity of the strategies used, assessment of the impact on strategies and the results of their implementation of technological transformations and implementation of achievements Industry 4.0.
There is a remarkable formula for the principal specialization of a type A Schubert polynomial as a weighted sum over reduced words. Taking appropriate limits transforms this to an identity for the backstable Schubert polynomials recently introduced by Lam, Lee, and Shimozono. This note identifies some analogues of the latter formula for principal specializations of Schubert polynomials in classical types B, C, and D. We also describe some more general identities for Grothendieck polynomials. As a related application, we derive a simple proof of a pipe dream formula for involution Grothendieck polynomials.