Correct Definition Research Articles

Has unsustainable groundwater use induced low flow regimes in the Urucuia Aquifer System? An urgent call for integrated water management

Groundwater depletion in the Urucuia Aquifer System (UAS) has concerned the Brazilian water agencies since it is the principal water source in the arid length of the São Francisco river. In contrast, the irrigation fields increasing and uncertainty regarding climate variability have impaired the management of this important hydrograph region of Brazil. Therefore, the proper management of the UAS relies on the correct definition of the factors that are impacting most of the ground and surface waters, i.e., whether they are from climate or anthropogenic activities. Relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI) modeling and hydrological signatures, this study proposed a methodology to disentangle the role of climatic variability and groundwater pumping on streamflow dynamics by rebuilding natural time series in four watersheds within the UAS’s boundaries. By comparing the natural to the observed streamflow time series, the long-term 90th percentile (Q_90) discharge, from which 80% can be granted for multiple uses in the State of Bahia, decreased by up to 50% in the UAS. Yet, the watersheds’ productivity, given by the 90% specific yield, ranged from -52.3% (3.8 L/s.km2 to 1.8 L/s.km2) to -74.0% (23.4 L/s.km2 to 6.1 L/s.km2). Low flow duration was ∼ 1,650 days in natural conditions and increased to 10,354 days in the current land use and cover scenario. Changes in the maximum low flow duration length ranged from 191.7% to 1,315.7%, and in the low flow, deficits were up to 7,150%. These results highlight that groundwater pumping is the principal factor of the UAS’s dryness since climate variability could not track streamflow decreases. However, climate variability is secondary because of the intensification of the atmosphere demand. Although it is a Brazilian application, the proposed methodology can be applied in other aquifer systems to guide decision-makers' management strategies worldwide.

Calibration of Heat Source Models in Numerical Simulations of Welding Processes

This article presents issues related to the methodology of the correct definition of the heat source model in the numerical analyses of welding processes. The problem of determining the input data for the stage of a heat source model definition, obtaining input data from experiments, and their proper interpretation and use in defining the numerical model was discussed. Particular attention is paid to the specificity of the problem of defining the heat source model, the way of interpreting the results of the analyses and the way of comparing them with the results of real experiments. The basic problems related to the mapping of the complex geometry of the molten metal pool and the ways to solve them were indicated. The solutions and guidelines presented in the article allow to improve the accuracy and quality of the obtained results of numerical analyses, as well as to shorten the time of preparation of computational models by reducing the number of computational iterations related to the search for the maximum consistency of the compared values and temperature cycles.

ER and doctors’ preparedness to manage status epilepticus: a multi-institutional survey from the Gaza Strip

BackgroundStatus epilepticus (SE) is a top neurological and medical emergency. Adequate staff knowledge and sufficient hospital resources are mandatory for timely management and better outcomes. This study aims to evaluate Palestinian ER doctors’ knowledge and beliefs towards SE and assess the state and availability of hospital resources needed to manage SE appropriately.MethodsThis cross-sectional study surveyed all ER doctors working in the six governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip during June 2022. A questionnaire assessed the knowledge and beliefs toward SE and the practice of SE knowledge acquisition. Simultaneous field surveys determined the availability of essential medications and resources at each hospital and doctors’ actual awareness about the status of these resources. Linear regression determined predictors of higher knowledge scores.Results137 doctors participated (response rate 81%). Most were males, had graduated within six years of data collection, and 45.3% worked at Shifa Medical Complex. 63.5% of participants recognized the correct operational definition of status epilepticus. 85.4 and 83.9% recognized that it might cause permanent brain damage or death, respectively. Only 10.9% recognized the average mortality rate of a single convulsive SE episode. 44.5% believed that awaiting spontaneous SE resolution is a valid approach to management. Significant defects were noted in the awareness of subclinical SE, including its recognition and prevalence in ciritcally ill patients. Having a higher qualification and graduating from local medical schools predicted higher scores. In field surveys, EEG was unavailable at all hospitals, while CT scans and a neurologist physician were unavailable at two hospitals. IV phenytoin was the only second-line treatment available at all hospitals. IV valproate and levetiracetam were universally unavailable.ConclusionsThe survey revealed significant defects in Palestinian ER doctors’ knowledge and beliefs towards SE. Several hospitals also demonstrated a critical lack of resources to manage this condition appropriately. This should be addressed by the local health authorities to avoid potentially preventable SE-related mortality and morbidity.

The Arena Liga Portugal: aiming for SMART design

The new Portuguese Football League headquarters – Arena Liga Portugal – is a high-profile, prestigious project located in the city of Porto. LAIII was presented with a brief to deliver the architectural vision of a 'floating' cube against a challenging programme, incorporating a diverse range of uses, including office space, auditorium, museum, sports hall, and a vast green podium. The result is a striking head office whose structural design, detailing and complexity are masked by the simplicity of its concept. As engineers, we see ourselves as more than just designers. We believe true value can only be delivered if we share common drivers with other stakeholders and work together to create answers that balance our overall goals, to arrive at the most suitable solutions possible. Throughout the design process, our main goal was to ensure we reached a cost-effective solution for Arena Liga Portugal, by balancing design drivers; in particular, we sought to avoid jeopardising the project vision in any way. This mindset was particularly important during the early stages of the design process. At this point, not only are the opportunities to create an impact the greatest, and the ideas the most abundant, but the exploration of these is the most rewarding. The challenge was to find the 'best' design options for the project. The best structural design is something that is very difficult to define and achieve, since every stakeholder has its own definition of 'best'. Some might define it as the most efficient in terms of cost and time/programme, while others judge it in terms of performance or sustainability credentials. There is not a single correct definition. The best solution is the one that gathers the most value among all the stakeholders for a given project. The entire building aims to be a fluid and open space, with strong links to the city and the local community. Arena Liga Portugal HQ will be an urban beacon, visible day and night. Expected to be completed by the end of 2024 as a landmark institutional building that is simultaneously a sports, cultural and leisure facility. it will raise the profile of an area of the city that is sometimes forgotten.

FEATURES OF THE USE OF THE TERMS “OVERSEAS STUDENT”, “FOREIGN STUDENT” AND “INTERNATIONAL STUDENT” IN DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS

The article analyzes the peculiarities of using the terms “overseas student”, “foreign student” and “international student” in various educational and cultural contexts. It was found that British scientists prefer to use the term “international student”, because it better reflects the realities of globalization, internationalization and student mobility, which meets the modern needs of educational institutions and the international community. It is emphasized that the term “foreign student” remains the dominant term in Ukrainian education due to its legal certainty and established practice, however “international student” is also gradually coming into use, especially in the context of European integration and educational exchanges. Analysis of the use of the terms “foreign” and “international” student on the example of the British Council and HESA shows how important is the correct definition of students in international education statistics. A change in the HESA counting methodology in 2009, when students were classified by nationality rather than place of residence, revealed a significant difference in the number of international students in the UK (a difference of 32%), highlighting the extent to which counting methodology can influence research outcomes and state policy.

Studying and Collecting Coins of the Golden Horde in the Russian Empire in the Late 17th – Early 19th Centuries

Introduction. The purpose of the article is to find out the state of Jochi numismatics in the Russian Empire by the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. The novelty of the research. For the first time in one work, the currently known information about the origin of the study of the coins of the Golden Horde in the 18th century is presented. The beginning of systematic coin collecting in Russia was laid by Peter I, who himself was one of the first Russian collectors and collected coins, including “Tatar” (i.e. Golden Horde) coins in his collection. Methods and materials. Numismatics is based on information from a number of human sciences: paleography, chronology, etc. Numismatics is characterized by a complex study of coins and attention to their role in historical processes. The materials for writing the article were mainly publications of the late 17th century – early 19th century, containing information about the coins of the Golden Horde. Analysis. In 1714, the Cabinet of Curiosities – the Kunstkamera – was founded in St. Petersburg. Before the emergence of the Hermitage, it was the Kunstkamera, which had its own Mintskabinet, that was the main numismatic treasury of Russia; coins from its collection later entered the Hermitage. There is evidence that Golden Horde coins were also stored in the Kunstkamera of the 18th century. The origin of private coin collecting in Russia, including Juchid coins (collections of Y.V. Bruce, A.P. Volynsky, P.I. Musin-Pushkin, etc.), belongs to the first half of the 18th century. Readings of inscriptions on coins (and, accordingly, definitions) were often erroneous. Rather, the exception is the activity of the orientalist Georg Jacob Kehr (1692–1740), who was in many ways ahead of the level of science of his time and who, judging by the surviving prints, made many correct definitions. Results. There was no systematic fixation of coin finds in the 18th century; only fragmentary information about the places of coin finds (Bolgar and Selitrennoe settlements, etc.) was preserved. At the same time, the base created in the 18th century (the development of private coin collecting, the Mintskabinet in the Kunstkamera, the activities of G.J. Kehr, etc.) contributed to bringing research to a qualitatively new level in the first half of the 19th century.

Анализ изменения стойкости бетонных конструкций в промышленности при химическом воздействии с учетом потенциальных рисков для работников и окружающей среды

The requirements for industrial facilities’ resistance to external impacts and reliability are higher when compared with other facilities. The most common construction material, inter alia, in various industrial sectors is concrete due to its easy production and use, relatively low cost, and wide application. The environmental cleanliness is traditionally considered one of the advantages of concrete. All lifecycle stages of concrete, however, from the production process until the end of the service life of ready-to-use objects, imply serious environmental risks. Therefore, already at the design stage of (ferro)concrete structures, it is necessary to consider, in addition to the functions of the future object, the external impacts it will be exposed to. Concrete properties are not constant and change from the moment of mixing, during the transportation, and until its complete hardening. Apart from the composition and compliance with standards, many factors affect the properties. One of the main factors is an aggressive environment, whose impact can not only damage but completely disable building structures. The design service life of structures must exceed the operation lifecycle or comply with it. Concrete is considered durable if, during the design service life, it withstands loads and negative impacts of external factors and remains undamaged, taking into account industrial operation and timely maintenance. Already at the beginning of design jobs, the duration of the design service life must be estimated correctly. Both under- and overestimation of the design service life of ferroconcrete structures reduce safety and reliability and cause an unjustified rise in production and operating costs. The authors of the study analyze problems that may arise at the plants of the chemical industry in case of destruction of concrete under the impact of the aggressive liquid medium by conducting a practical study in conditions as realistic as possible. Within the framework of accelerated study, the authors examined the changes in concrete strength by control samples under pressure impacted by hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Test trials have clearly demonstrated the importance of the correct definition of concrete class in accordance with the medium of application. This must be considered during the practical work of employees of disaster protection agencies at industrial facilities with tanks to collect and store aggressive liquids, including firewater.

Determining general and specific subject matters of proving in cases on establishing child’s place of residence

The scientific article is focused on studying the topical issue of determining the general and specific subject matters of proving in cases on establishing child’s place of residence. It has been noted that the number of family disputes on establishing children’s place of residence has increased due to the ongoing armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The author of the article has proved that the correct definition of the subject matter of proving in cases on establishing child’s place of residence has important practical and theoretical significance. The author of the work supports the position of scholars (Ya. M. Sadykov and others) regarding the possibility of distinguishing the general subject matter of proving within a specific category of civil cases and the specific subject matter of proving depending on the circumstances of a certain civil case. Determining the general subject matter of proving in cases on establishing child’s place of residence it is necessary to ensure the best interests of a child (preamble to the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Childhood”). The author of the article has supported the conclusion (V.O. Kucher) about the possibility of distinguishing the following general subject matter of proving in cases on establishing child’s place of residence: the circumstances characterizing the parties in the case (personal and moral characteristics of a mother and a father, availability of permanent income, proper living conditions, etc.). Characteristics that can negatively affect the upbringing of a child, as well as establishment of his / her place of residence, can be: abuse of alcoholic beverages, narcotic substances, being under dispensary supervision, being brought to criminal or administrative liability, immoral behavior, bad habits; relations between parents and a child (fulfilment by parents of duties defined by law; mutual understanding between each parent and a child; the possibility of creating proper and safe conditions for a child’s life, upbringing, development and education); circumstances related to a child (age of a child, his / her health status, special needs of a child, consent of a child to live with one of the parents, personal loyalty of a child to each of the parents); other circumstances that are important for the case. The author of the work has concluded that the specific subject matter of proving depends on the circumstances of a certain civil case.

Night shift work and female breast cancer: a two-stage dose-response meta-analysis for the correct risk definition

IntroductionThe hypothesis of this study is night shift work exposure can increase the risk of female breast cancer. To validate this hypothesis, the authors conducted a two-stage dose-response meta-analysis with improved quality on this topic.MethodsThe medical librarian searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library on December 30th, 2022. The eight inclusion criteria were determined and strictly applied to the selection process. A reliable dose-response meta-analysis methodology was applied.ResultsReliable 10 cohort (total cases: 15,953, and total person-years: 6,812,138) and 11 case-control reports (total cases: 9196, and total controls:12,210) were included in the final analysis. The pooled risk ratio (RR) of female breast cancer (from cohort studies) for 1, 10, 20, and 30 years of night shift work exposure was 1.0042 (95% CI 1.0014–1.0070), 1.0425 (95% CI 1.0138–1.0719), 1.0867 (95% CI 1.0278–1.1490), and 1.1328 (95% CI 1.0419–1.2317), respectively. The pooled odds ratio (OR) of female breast cancer (from case-control studies) for 1, 10, 20, and 30 years of night shift work exposure was 1.0213 (95% CI 1.0108–1.0319), 1.2346 (95% CI 1.1129–1.3695), 1.5242 (95% CI 1.2386–1.8756), and 1.8817 (95% CI 1.3784–2.5687), respectively.DiscussionThis study has several strengths from the perspective of a dose-response meta-analysis: Strictly applied eight inclusion criteria, separately synthesized RRs from cohort studies and ORs from case-control studies, clearly defined exposure dose, years of night shift work for each risk estimate, a reliable dose-response meta-analysis methodology, and careful considering of selection, exposure, and outcome biases and confounder adjustment for each study. This careful consideration of potential biases and confounding led to the exclusion of unreliable two cohort and five case-control studies.

Learning the Randleman Criteria in Refractive Surgery: Utilizing ChatGPT-3.5 Versus Internet Search Engine.

Introduction Large language models such as OpenAI's (San Francisco, CA)ChatGPT-3.5 hold immense potential to augment self-directed learning in medicine, but concerns have risen regarding its accuracy in specialized fields. This study compares ChatGPT-3.5 with an internet search engine in their ability to define the Randleman criteria and its five parameters within a self-directed learning environment. Methods Twenty-three medical students gathered information on the Randleman criteria. Each student was allocated 10 minutes to interact with ChatGPT-3.5, followed by 10 minutes to search the internet independently. Each ChatGPT-3.5 conversation, student summary, and internet reference were subsequently analyzed for accuracy, efficiency, and reliability. Results ChatGPT-3.5 provided the correct definition for 26.1% of students (6/23, 95% CI: 12.3% to 46.8%), while an independent internet search resulted in sources containing the correct definition for 100% of students (23/23, 95% CI: 87.5% to 100%, p = 0.0001). ChatGPT-3.5 incorrectly identified the Randleman criteria as a corneal ectasia staging system for 17.4% of students (4/23), fabricated a "Randleman syndrome" for 4.3% of students (1/23), and gave no definition for 52.2% of students (12/23). When a definition was given (47.8%, 11/23), a median of two of the five correct parameters was provided along with a median of two additional falsified parameters. Conclusion Internet search engine outperformed ChatGPT-3.5 in providing accurate and reliable information on the Randleman criteria. ChatGPT-3.5 gave false information, required excessive prompting, and propagated misunderstandings. Learners should exercise discernment when using ChatGPT-3.5. Future initiatives should evaluate the implementation of prompt engineering and updated large-language models.

Linguistic tools of manipulation in russian language translations Of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and its “Sisters” resolutions

One of the ways to clarify national terminology and to enshrine correct definitions of concepts related to various aspects of gender issues in the legal framework is using the official translations of international documents on women’s rights and gender equality in Ukrainian language. The issue of the correctness of translations of international documents in general and in the field of human rights and gender equality in particular is not only an important subject of scientific research, but also has great practical significance in the context of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. Russian language is an official language of the UN. All documents from the working languages of the UN General Assembly (English and French) are translated into Russian and used by regional international organisations, as well as by countries beside the russian federation where this language has status of the official or state language. In addition, many translations of international documents into Ukrainian have been made using Russian translations as basis. This also applies to such important documents in the field of women’s rights and gender equality as UN Security Council Resolution 1325 “Women. Peace. Security” and related Security Council resolutions, in particular, 1888, 2467, 2493 and others. Based on a comparative analysis of the original texts of the above-mentioned UN Security Council resolutions and their russian translations, the article offers a classification of directions of linguistic manipulation in the translation of documents, illustrated by specific examples; draws conclusions about the consequences and impact of the using of incorrect translations on the policy of ensuring women’s rights and gender equality at both the international and national levels; offers recommendations for identifying linguistic manipulation during translation process.

FORMATION OF MARKETING STRATEGIC ANALYSIS IN THE FIELD OF TOURISM

This article is devoted to the important topic of marketing strategic analysis in the field of tourism. The authors examine methods and approaches that help tourism companies and organizations effectively develop their business in a competitive environment. The article considers such key aspects as the definition of marketing strategies, which describes the methods of defining marketing strategies that allow tourism enterprises to determine competitive positioning and target audience, emphasizes the importance of correct market segmentation and definition of the target audience for effective marketing. Formation of marketing strategic analysis in the field of tourism is a very urgent and important task. The tourism industry is becoming increasingly competitive, new players and tourist regions are emerging that offer similar services. Marketing strategic analysis allows you to identify both internal and external reserves of competitive potential. The theory and practice of evaluating the competitive potential of a tourist enterprise operates with a significant number of various methods, which differ in the complexity of use and feasibility of application depending on the scale of production and the specifics of the tourism company's field of activity. Such methods can be classified: according to the direction of information base formation (criteria and expert methods); according to the method of displaying the final results (graphical, mathematical and logical methods); by suitability for the development of management decisions (simultaneous and strategic assessment methods); by assessment method (indicative and matrix methods). Strategic analysis helps to develop unique offers for tourists and increase competitiveness. Today's tourists are increasingly emphasizing unique experiences, sustainable activities, and are increasingly demanding how their needs are met. Marketing analysis allows you to adapt offers to these changes. The Internet and digital technologies have transformed the way tourists search for, book and consume travel services. An effective digital strategy and analysis is required to ensure a presence in the online environment. Issues of sustainability and environmental responsibility are becoming increasingly important in the tourism industry. The analysis helps to develop strategies aimed at conserving natural resources and reducing the impact on the environment. Tourism is a global industry, and tourism businesses must consider the international context in their strategies and analyses. Therefore, the formation of marketing strategic analysis in tourism remains an urgent task for enterprises and organizations in this field. It helps to adapt to market changes, innovate and compete effectively, ensuring a quality experience for tourists and business sustainability. Keywords: strategy, strategic analysis, stages of strategic analysis, marketing strategies in tourism.

Momentum dependent flavor radiative corrections to the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering for the neutrino charge-radius determination

Despite being neutral particles, neutrinos can have a non-zero charge radius, which represents the only non-null neutrino electromagnetic property in the standard model theory. Its value can be predicted with high accuracy and its effect is usually accounted for through the definition of a radiative correction affecting the neutrino couplings to electrons and nucleons at low energy, which results effectively in a shift of the weak mixing angle. Interestingly, it introduces a flavour-dependence in the cross-section. Exploiting available neutrino-electron and coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) data, there have been many attempts to measure experimentally the neutrino charge radius. Unfortunately, the current precision allows one to only determine constraints on its value. In this work, we discuss how to properly account for the neutrino charge radius in the CEνNS cross-section including the effects of the non-null momentum-transfer in the neutrino electromagnetic form factor, which have been usually neglected when deriving the aforementioned limits. We apply the formalism discussed to a re-analysis of the COHERENT cesium iodide and argon samples and the NCC-1701 germanium data from the Dresden-II nuclear power plant. We quantify the impact of this correction on the CEνNS cross-section and we show that, despite being small, it can not be neglected in the analysis of data from future high-precision experiments. Furthermore, this momentum dependence can be exploited to significantly reduce the allowed values for the neutrino charge radius determination.

NEW ECONOMIC REALITY AS A SUBJECT MATTER OF RESEARCH

The article reveals the trends of modern crisis processes in the economy, which more and more clearly highlight the signs of a new reality. The authors note that in recent years, political and economic contradictions have been growing at an accelerated pace, integration interactions are slowing down, social paradigm is aggravating, the environmental crisis is taking on global proportions, and the stagnation of the economy is increasing. These crisis processes alternate, intersect, are being resolved, however, the range of opportunities for solving accumulated problems and conditions for further development becomes critical. The authors explore many specific manifestations of the new economic reality, including the deepening gap between economic theory and practice, identifying the contradictions that arise here and attracting the possibilities of political economy theory, system economics, and the potential of interdisciplinary knowledge. These manifestations are considered in a continuous set of space and time of the subject matter of research. The authors demonstrate the necessity to comply fundamental developments in the field of economic theory with the need to develop the foundations of state economic policy, risk management assessment, and creative approach to human capital. Based on this, conclusions are drawn on the need for a holistic theoretical and methodological description of the new economic reality, the definition of its subject area, the use of the achievements of scientific and technological progress for the intensive development of the economy and the correct definition of methods and tools for solving the problems of the new reality. The authors believe that the new reality that emerged in the socio-economic system after the financial crisis of 2008–2009 and clearly manifested in strong shocks that hit the world community in 2020–2022 is pushing economic theory to move as quickly as possible to the level of development, meeting practical requirements. In the process of research, the authors used the possibilities of a dialectical method, systemic and evolutionary approaches, as well as such theories as: the mode of production; socio-economic transformations; creative and innovative economy; threshold measures in phenomenon development.

Investigating the Suitability of Various Silver(I) Complexes for Use in a Cyanide-Free Silver Electrolyte

The suitability of various nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and phosphorus compounds as complexing agents in a silver electrolyte was examined by using potentiometric titration under practical conditions. The setup consisted of three electrodes to measure the pH and the activity of the silver ions simultaneously. Different ratios of silver to complexing agent from 1:10 to 1:1 at a constant ionic strength of 0.2 mol/L were investigated. The type of the complexes and their corresponding critical stability constants were evaluated by fitting the measured data using a self-developed algorithm. The pH and Nernst potential curve were calculated for the assumed complexes based on the law of mass action to find the best approximation. The correct definition of the occurring species is challenging and can lead to significant changes in the calculation of stability constants. For this reason, the measured silver potential curves were primarily used for the rating of the complexing agents. An evaluation of the measurements shows that the donor atom of the complexing agent and its ligand field strongly affected the stability and type of the complexes. Only a few complexing agents were found to be suitable for use in the cyanide-free silver electrolyte.

기업 HRD 관점에서 본 마이크로러닝의 실천적 정의 및 활용 특징 탐색

Objectives This study was conducted to identify the definition of microlearning, misconceptions and corrections, differences from traditional e-learning, and characteristics of microlearning as recognized by the corporate HRD. Methods To identify and analyze the reality of microlearning, 16 microlearning experts from companies and universities were nominated and conducted a Delphi Survey in three rounds. Results We were able to define microlearning from three perspectives: purpose of utilization, learning method, and learning form. Second, we provided corrective opinions on the misconceptions of microlearning (“It's just a short lecture,” “Learning time should not exceed 15 minutes,” “It only includes videos,” etc. Third, we compared the characteristics of microlearning with traditional e-learning and explored our own characteristics. These features were presented in terms of learning goals, learning content, learning activities, and learning time. Conclusions Through this study, we have prepared basic data to promote the proper understanding and practice of microlearning and to activate microlearning as a digital learning solution in the corporate HRD.

Full pose measurement system for industrial robots kinematic calibration based on a sensorized spatial linkage mechanism

This paper presents a low-cost pose measuring device capable of simultaneously measuring all six coordinates (3 translations and 3 rotations) of a rigid body with respect to a given reference frame. The proposed system consists of a mechanical chain of rigid bodies and two encoders. The mechanism is a spatial four-bar linkage system with a symmetrical Revolute-Spherical-Spherical-Revolute (RSSR) kinematic structure, where two encoders measure the rotation of the revolute joints. The mechanism is investigated theoretically and solved kinematically using a numerical estimation method. The uncertainty of the pose determination, caused by the repeatability of the sensors, is estimated, as well as the achievable measurement range. A low uncertainty is achieved by a suitable design of the proposed kinematic chain. The mechanism is easy to realize with low tolerances and the correct definition of the length of the links allows a quite large workspace. The system can be profitably used in the calibration of robots or multi-axis machine tools where the actual pose of the gripper or spindle must be measured over the workspace of the machine. An experimental prototype is described, and the first experimental results are reported.

Milestoning estimators of dissipation in systems observed at a coarse resolution

Many nonequilibrium, active processes are observed at a coarse-grained level, where different microscopic configurations are projected onto the same observable state. Such "lumped" observables display memory, and in many cases, the irreversible character of the underlying microscopic dynamics becomes blurred, e.g., when the projection hides dissipative cycles. As a result, the observations appear less irreversible, and it is very challenging to infer the degree of broken time-reversal symmetry. Here we show, contrary to intuition, that by ignoring parts of the already coarse-grained state space we may-via a process called milestoning-improve entropy-production estimates. We present diverse examples where milestoning systematically renders observations "closer to underlying microscopic dynamics" and thereby improves thermodynamic inference from lumped data assuming a given range of memory, and we hypothesize that this effect is quite general. Moreover, whereas the correct general physical definition of time reversal in the presence of memory remains unknown, we here show by means of physically relevant examples that at least for semi-Markov processes of first and second order, waiting-time contributions arising from adopting a naive Markovian definition of time reversal generally must be discarded.

Towers and the First-order Theories of Hyperbolic Groups

This paper is devoted to the first-order theories of torsion-free hyperbolic groups. One of its purposes is to review some results and to provide precise and correct statements and definitions, as well as some proofs and new results. A key concept is that of a tower (Sela) or NTQ system (Kharlampovich-Myasnikov). We discuss them thoroughly. We state and prove a new general theorem which unifies several results in the literature: elementarily equivalent torsion-free hyperbolic groups have isomorphic cores (Sela); if H H is elementarily embedded in a torsion-free hyperbolic group G G , then G G is a tower over H H relative to H H (Perin); free groups (Perin-Sklinos, Ould-Houcine), and more generally free products of prototypes and free groups, are homogeneous. The converse to Sela and Perin’s results just mentioned is true. This follows from the solution to Tarski’s problem on elementary equivalence of free groups, due independently to Sela and Kharlampovich-Myasnikov, which we treat as a black box throughout the paper. We present many examples and counterexamples, and we prove some new model-theoretic results. We characterize prime models among torsion-free hyperbolic groups, and minimal models among elementarily free groups. Using Fraïssé’s method, we associate to every torsion-free hyperbolic group H H a unique homogeneous countable group M {\mathcal {M}} in which any hyperbolic group H ′ H’ elementarily equivalent to H H has an elementary embedding. In an appendix we give a complete proof of the fact, due to Sela, that towers over a torsion-free hyperbolic group H H are H H -limit groups.

Differentially Private Functional Encryption

We address the question of realizing privacy preserving analysis of user data. The abstract scenario considered is that an analyst aims to evaluate a function f on some user data X. To achieve comprehensive privacy, it is necessary to protect the input X directly. However, it is known that f(X) may leak too much information about X as well. A common approach to mitigate such risks is to make the computation differential private. In practice, this is often accomplished by replacing f by a noisy variant f^*. We investigate the use of multi-input functional encryption (MIFE) for achieving input- and output-privacy in one cryptographic mechanism. In a MIFE scheme, a setup authority can generate restricted decryption keys which enable to learn specific functions of encrypted messages, without revealing any additional information. To achieve differential privacy in this process, we introduce as a new cryptographic primitive: noisy multi-input functional encryption (NMIFE). It extends the concept of MIFE such that the decryption key may also encode a noisy function where the noise value is secret. While the change from MIFE to NMIFE is rather straightforward, the challenge is to come up with precise and workable definitions of correctness and security definition that we propose and explain in this work. Here, the security definition is tailored to the use case of differential privacy. As it is a special case of the established notion of full-hiding security, we present a generic transformation that allows to turn any full-hiding MIFE scheme into a secure NMIFE scheme that has practically the same performance as the initial MIFE scheme. Moreover, we make use of the fact that the proposed security definition is less restrictive and present a new concrete NMIFE scheme for evaluating the inner product. It is dubbed DiffPIPE (short for DIFFerentially Private Inner Product Evaluation). DiffPIPE is not the result from the transformation and outperforms all from existing full-hiding MIFE schemes constructed NMIFE schemes. In experiments, we demonstrate its applicability for realizing privacy preserving counting queries on data sets.