Deep Changes Research Articles

CREATIVE INDUSTRY OF CITIES AND REGIONS: MAIN FEATURES

The article focuses on the importance of the developing creative industries in cities and regions as impulses for increasing the economic potential of territories and expanding the range of goods and services produced within territories. They could also be of tremendous importance working as translators of the territory’s local identity to the global world. Analysis of recent research and publications underscores the creative sector's importance as a critical growth factor and a magnet for intellectual, creative personnel in the global arena. Theoretical and methodological foundations of the creative economy, popularized in recent decades, continue to be promising scientific developments in the search for progressive drivers of economic growth. Unresolved components within the creative industry demand meticulous examination, outlining primary challenges that persist and merit further exploration. The objectives of the article are to illuminate the pivotal role of creative industries in urban and regional development, emphasizing their contribution to economic, social, and cultural dynamics. The study explores stimulating conditions and production factors propelling the development of creative spheres, contributing to the ongoing discourse on progressive drivers of economic development in the contemporary world. Beyond economic parameters, the paper elucidates the profound intellectual and cultural implications of the creative industry. It serves as a reservoir for generating new knowledge, ideas, and technologies, preserving cultural heritage, promoting intercultural interaction, and transferring knowledge to subsequent generations. The main material of the research emphasizes the role of creative spheres as a special human activity meeting modern requirements for progressive development. The creative industry, as a branch of the economy, is based on the development of ideas, human intellectual activity, and technologies. It is concluded that the main feature of creative industries is the presence of a source of individual creativity, skills and talent with the potential to create jobs and well–being through the production and exploitation of intellectual property. A number of positive effects of developing creative industries (economic, social, cultural, innovative) are highlighted, allowing flexible integration into the new economic reality and contributing to the implementation of mechanisms for generating the creative potential of cities and regions. The development of creative industries ensures the disclosure of creative, intellectual, and innovative potential, adapting to deep and dynamic changes.

MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF THE THYROID GLAND UNDER CONDITIONS OF MODELED THERMAL SKIN INJURY

The key organ of the peripheral endocrine system, the thyroid gland, shows the ability to adapt and restructure at diff erent levels of structural and cellular organization under the infl uence of various factors. The aim of the study was to determine morphometric changes in the parameters of the structural components of the thyroid gland. The experiment was modeled on 42 male laboratory mature white rats. The burn was modeled with copper plates heated in water at a temperature of 97-100 °C. The size of the aff ected area was 20 % of the animal’s body area, which, according to the current classifi cation, corresponds to a seconddegree burn. Changes in various parameters were studied by morphometric analysis of the obtained histologic sections. Statistical processing of digital data was carried out using the software «Excel» and «STATISTICA» 10.0 using parametric and nonparametric methods of data evaluation. Morphometrically, it was found that the organ contains follicles of three types – large, medium and small, and their quantitative ratio is 1.4: 4,7: 3,9. It was found that the average value of the area of a small follicle is (2342.5498.43) μm2, medium – (3722.53130.44) μm2, large – (5733.77203.67) μm2. The average value of thyrocyte height is (11.430.41) μm. The follicular- colloid index of the thyroid gland of intact animals is the highest for small follicles and is 1.940.08, for medium follicles – 1.81 0.04 and for large follicles – 1.730.05. The average value of the colloid accumulation index for small follicles is the lowest and is 2.600.12, for medium follicles – 4.18 0.19, and for large follicles – 6.270.29. At the light- optical level, on day 7 of the experiment, an increase in the number (1.58 times (p<0.001) compared to the intact index) of large follicles was noted, which are located mainly on the periphery of the lobules and fi lled with a compacted colloid. A decrease in thyrocyte height (1.29 times (p<0.001) compared to the normal value), a signifi cant decrease in the follicular- colloid index and an increase in the colloid accumulation index detected in the early toxemia stage indicate a decrease in functional activity in the organ, disruption of adaptive processes in it and the onset of destructive changes. At the later stages of burn injury (14 and 21 days of the experiment), against the background of a statistically signifi cant (p<0.001) increase in endogenous intoxication, there is a development of deep destructive changes in thyrocytes, organ vessels, proliferation of connective tissue layers, impaired synthesis and secretion of hormones. These conditions are manifested by the dominance of large, overstretched follicles in the parenchyma of the thyroid gland, lined with fl at, degenerating thyrocytes, the height of which at day 21 is 3.31 times signifi cantly (p<0.001) lower than the intact value; a statistically signifi cant decrease in the follicular- colloid index; a signifi cant increase in the colloid accumulation index, as well as a signifi cant deviation from the normal level of pituitary- thyroid system homones, which indicates organ hypofunction.

Change Detection Needs Neighborhood Interaction in Transformer

Remote sensing image change detection (CD) is an essential technique for analyzing surface changes from co-registered images of different time periods. The main challenge in CD is to identify the alterations that the user intends to emphasize, while excluding pseudo-changes caused by external factors. Recent advancements in deep learning and image change detection have shown remarkable performance with ConvNet-based and Transformer-based techniques. However, ConvNet-based methods are limited by the local receptive fields of convolutional kernels that cannot effectively capture the change features in spatial–temporal information, while Transformer-based CD models need to be driven by a large amount of data due to the lack of inductive biases, and at the same time need to bear the costly computational complexity brought by self-attention. To address these challenges, we propose a Transformer-based Siamese network structure called BTNIFormer. It incorporates a sparse attention mechanism called Dilated Neighborhood Attention (DiNA), which localizes the attention range of each pixel to its neighboring context. Extensive experiments conducted on two publicly available datasets demonstrate the benefits of our proposed innovation. Compared to the most competitive recent Transformer-based approaches, our method achieves a significant 12.00% improvement in IoU while reducing computational costs by half. This provides a promising solution for further development of the Transformer structure in CD tasks.

Factors of transformation of political rights in modern globalized society

This scientific article is devoted to the analysis of the factors of transformation of political rights in the modern globalized society.
 It is indicated that globalization causes a rethinking of traditional concepts of national sovereignty and opens up new opportunities for interaction between countries. him.
 The author proved that information technologies provide an opportunity for rapid dissemination and exchange of information, which affects the methods of public discussion and participation in political processes. The technological process is not only the introduction of new technologies, but also deep changes in production processes, communications and ways of life. Their impact on political rights is manifested through changes in communication methods, the ability of citizens to quickly receive and exchange information, as well as to influence political decision-making.
 It is emphasized that the development of society is accompanied by changes in the values and beliefs of citizens, which can lead to the appearance of new demands for political rights, for example, greater emphasis on human rights and civil liberties. Also, changes in the demographic structure of society can affect the perception and needs of citizens in political rights, in particular, taking into account the interests of the younger generation or other demographic groups. Transformations in the structure of the economy and social relations require the adaptation of political rights to ensure fair distribution of resources and protection of the interests of various social groups.
 The following factors of the transformation of political rights in the modern globalized society are summarized: globalization of international relations and anti-globalization national manifestations; technological process and informatization of social relations; changes in social values; economic and social transformations.

FORMATION OF PROTECTIVE COATINGS FOR PARTS OF GROUND LAUNCH COMPLEXES WITH ULTRA-DEEP MODIFICATION WITH MICROPARTICLES

Abstract.The rapid development of the latest technologies necessitates the widespread use of metal materials with unique properties. The main factors that determine the competitiveness of manufacturers of structural materials are a number of indicators, such as the creation of new effective technologies for the production of materials with a new set of physico-chemical and mechanical properties, the reduction of energy costs for the production of new materials and protective coatings for parts of the ground launch complex. The research is aimed at studying the impact of microparticles on metal targets using mass spectrometry and metallography. Experiments revealed the formation of new elements, in particular manganese, in metal structures as a result of bombardment with microparticles. Experimental data confirmed the possibility of reactions occurring in metal targets during bombardment with microparticles. Mass spectrometric analysis revealed the synthesis of new elements that are of interest for obtaining protective coatings on parts of rocket technology for ground-based launch complexes. The study shows deep structural changes in metals under the influence of microparticles, accompanied by the destabilization of atoms and the formation of new compounds. The formation of new elements, in particular manganese, on the surface of metals after exposure to microparticles was revealed. It is shown that the processes of penetration are provided by the formation of plasma in the contact of a microparticle with a target, which occurs due to quantum mechanical effects that cause the breaking of interatomic bonds. These results open prospects for improving the operational properties of ground launch complexes. Potential applications are proposed, including the use of the effect of plasma formation in the processes of obtaining protective coatings on parts of launch complexes and the development of the theory of ultra-deep penetration of microparticles into solid partitions. The obtained results not only supplement experimental data, but also lay the foundation for new research in the field of rocket engineering and materials science. This study makes a significant contribution to science, providing a deep understanding of the physical processes involved in the collision of microparticles with metal structures. The obtained results open new horizons for rocket engineering and stimulate further research in the field of creating materials with unique properties and application in technological processes.

Exchange means change: An unsupervised single-temporal change detection framework based on intra- and inter-image patch exchange

Change detection is a critical task in studying the dynamics of ecosystems and human activities using multi-temporal remote sensing images. While deep learning has shown promising results in change detection tasks, it requires a large number of labeled and paired multi-temporal images to achieve high performance. Pairing and annotating large-scale multi-temporal remote sensing images is both expensive and time-consuming. To make deep learning-based change detection techniques more practical and cost-effective, we propose an unsupervised single-temporal change detection framework based on intra- and inter-image patch exchange (I3PE). The I3PE framework allows for training deep change detectors on unpaired and unlabeled single-temporal remote sensing images that are readily available in real-world applications. The I3PE framework comprises four steps: (1) intra-image patch exchange method is based on an object-based image analysis (OBIA) method and adaptive clustering algorithm, which generates pseudo-bi-temporal image pairs and corresponding change labels from single-temporal images by exchanging patches within the image; (2) inter-image patch exchange method can generate more types of land-cover changes by exchanging patches between images; (3) a simulation pipeline consisting of several image enhancement methods is proposed to simulate the radiometric difference between pre- and post-event images caused by different imaging conditions in real situations; (4) self-supervised learning based on pseudo-labels is applied to further improve the performance of the change detectors in both unsupervised and semi-supervised cases. Extensive experiments on two large-scale datasets covering Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, China, demonstrate that I3PE outperforms representative unsupervised approaches and achieves F1 value improvements of 10.65% and 6.99% to the state-of-the-art method. Moreover, I3PE can improve the performance of the change detector by 4.37% and 2.61% on F1 values in the case of semi-supervised settings. Additional experiments on a dataset covering a study area with 144 km2 in Wuhan, China, confirm the effectiveness of I3PE for practical land-cover change analysis tasks.

Sustainability and the politics of the body in alternative food consumption: An embodied materialist perspective

Health is a key dimension of contemporary food consumption. This preoccupation is beginning to overlap with ecological concerns, as healthy diets are said to largely correspond with sustainable diets. Nevertheless, this link remains rather vague and under-researched in practice. This article adopts an ‘embodied materialist’ perspective to inquire into how the health–sustainability nexus is articulated in the everyday labour of people engaging in alternative food consumption. The interviews, carried out in Milan (Italy), suggest that focusing on health might not always be straightforwardly effective for the promotion of deep and systemic changes. The analysis finds three ways in which the health–sustainability nexus is articulated in daily life. If framed within the dominant articulation of labour and value, health is an individualistic preoccupation with limited potential for socio-ecological transformation. When food labour is guided by the very different logic of care, which emphasises relationality, fragility and the search for a shared wellbeing, more ecological practices emerge, but with some ambivalent implications especially with regards to social justice. Collective engagement in alternative food networks politicises the body more deeply, making it a concrete site of struggle against unsustainable food regimes.

Anatomical substrates and connectivity for bradykinesia motor features in Parkinson's disease after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation.

Parkinsonian bradykinesia is rated using a composite scale incorporating the slowed frequency of repetitive movements, decrement amplitude and arrhythmicity. Differential localization of these movement components within the basal ganglia will drive the development of more personalized network-targeted symptomatic therapies. In this study, using an optical motion sensor, we evaluated the amplitude and frequency of hand movements during a grasping task with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation 'on' or 'off' in 15 patients with Parkinson's disease. The severity of bradykinesia was assessed blindly using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Part III scale. The volumes of activated tissue of each subject were estimated where changes in amplitude and frequency were mapped to identify distinct anatomical substrates of each component in the subthalamic nucleus. The volumes of activated tissue were used to seed a normative functional connectome to generate connectivity maps associated with amplitude and frequency changes. Deep brain stimulation-induced change in amplitude was negatively correlated with a change in Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Part III scale for right (r = -0.65, P < 0.05) and left hand grasping scores (r = -0.63, P < 0.05). The change in frequency was negatively correlated with amplitude for both right (r = -0.63, P < 0.05) and left hands (r = -0.57, P < 0.05). The amplitude and frequency changes were represented as a spatial gradient with overlapping and non-overlapping regions spanning the anteromedial-posterolateral axis of the subthalamic nucleus. Whole-brain correlation maps between functional connectivity and motor changes were also inverted between amplitude and frequency changes. Deep brain stimulation-associated changes in frequency and amplitude were topographically and distinctly represented both locally in the subthalamic nucleus and in whole-brain functional connectivity.

Observing and modelling dynamic changes in temperature and volumetric fluxes within a riverbank aquifer under the influence of seasonal river stage fluctuations

AbstractSeasonal variation causes regular fluctuations in river water levels and water temperatures, which affects the distribution of temperature fields and seepage fields in riparian zones. In this paper, the monitoring device was used to continuously monitor Dongting Lake for a period of 1 year, and the temperature distribution characteristics of the riparian hyporheic zone under seasonal variation were analysed. Ten riparian hydrothermal coupling models based on different soil thermal conductivity models were verified, and the optimal model was used to simulate the influence of the flood process on the temperature field and seepage field of the riparian hyporheic zone. The results show that the changes in groundwater level and temperature in the riparian hyporheic zone had obvious lag and attenuation phenomena compared with the changes in river water level and ambient temperature. The temperature field of the riparian hyporheic zone changed obviously in the year. The vertical temperature gradient was large in summer and winter, the stratification phenomenon was obvious, and the temperature field fluctuation was small. The effect of the flood process on the temperature field and seepage velocity in the riparian hyporheic zone was obviously hysteretic. The effect of the flood‐withdrawing process on the temperature change of the shallow layer was greater than that of the flood‐rising process, while the response of the deep layer temperature change to flood‐rising and flood‐withdrawing processes was the opposite. The effect of floods on the variation in groundwater velocity was that the flood‐rising process was greater than the flood‐withdrawing process.

“Navigating through the digital swamp”: assessing SME propensity for online marketplaces

Digital technology has produced deep changes in the business world. However, companies have a hard time understanding consumers’ changing needs and new consumption patterns, especially small and medium-sized enterprises that currently face growing challenges in an era characterized by a lack of time and information overload. New mechanisms must be found that not only can keep businesses competitive in digital environments but can do so in innovative and sustainable ways. This study sought to address this issue by adopting a process-oriented approach and developing a decision-support tool for SMEs that are considering joining online marketplaces. The proposed analysis model helps these companies decide whether they are ready to take advantage of these digital platforms or whether they have to take action to improve in specific areas of their business operations. The model-building process relied on a combination of cognitive mapping and the best–worst method. An expert panel was recruited to identify the most relevant factors determining SME readiness to join online marketplaces. The model was applied to a set of real companies to assess their propensity for online marketplaces. The practical applicability of this decision-support system was then discussed in a consolidation session with a member of Portugal’s Agência Nacional de Inovação (National Innovation Agency), who acknowledged the strong potential of the proposed model.

Immunological indexes for assessing parameters of cardiovascular system in athletes of different qualification

Timely diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular diseases is based on markers that detect changes in the athlete’s body at an early stage of disease. To implement this task, it is important to use novel laboratory techniques. We have carried out a comparative determination of immunological markers, specific antibodies to angiotensin, bradykinin, histamine, dopamine, serotonin and functional indicators of the cardiovascular system in athletes of various qualifications. The object of study included athletes of the Russian national teams who underwent an in-depth examination (IME) as part of medical survey. The participants were divided into groups depending on the sport arts and qualifications. Representatives of the group “Cyclic sports” included athletes without a category of 30 people and 29 qualified athletes (1st step, Candidate Master, Master of Sports, etc.). The “Combat sports” group consisted of 32 people without a category and 31 athletes with qualifications similar to those indicated above. Athletes of “Speed-strength” sports are represented by a group of 31 people without a category and 29 athletes with qualifications. The functional parameters of the cardiovascular system included analysis of heart rate, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, which were compared with control values established for the athletes. The immunological indexes were determined in blood serum of the athletes and in subjects from control group by means of the solid-phase ELISA method using conjugated antigens of angiotensin, bradykinin, histamine, dopamine, serotonin for absorption on the plates. To compare the indexes, a control group of 30 people without cardiovascular symptoms was examined. Diastolic blood pressure for athletes of cyclic sports and combat sports was below the control values, and, for athletes of speed-strength sports, it was higher than in control group. A decrease in diastolic blood pressure for the above subgroup of athletes may indicate characteristic adaptive physiological changes in myocardium. The levels of immune-related indexes for serotonin, dopamine for the athletes of all groups corresponded to the control values. The only exception concerned qualified athletes of cyclic sports, which significantly differed from the normal values, compared to athletes without a sports category. Significantly high immunological parameters for histamine and angiotensin did not depend on the athlete’s qualification. In athletes involved in speed-strength sports, the levels of indexes for bradykinin did not differ from the normal values, and, for athletes in cyclic sports and combat sports, they significantly exceeded the norm.We have shown that different levels and types of sports activities affect the performance of cardiovascular system in their own way. The changes in immunological parameters reflect regulatory state of cardiovascular system. Accordingly, their simultaneous increase against the control may indicate participation in the development of cardiovascular diseases. The differences in their levels for athletes involved in combat sports, cyclic and speed-strength sporting activities show deeper changes in regulatory systems associated with duration and level of physical activities.

A crisis of ontological security in foreign policy: Iran and international sanctions in the post–JCPOA era

Since the Islamic revolution, Iran has experienced deep identity changes in its foreign policy. The Islamic Republic redefined the way to interact with the world based on the Shi’ite ideas and the historical memory of Iranians. With the growing tensions between Iran and the West, conflicts can be seen between Iran’s defined identity and its foreign policy actions, to the extent that in cases such as Iran’s policy towards Russia and the path of Iran–China relations, the principles of Iran’s identity have been ignored. This article considers why there is a conflict between the positions and actions of Iran and the identity that this country represents, focusing on the period after the withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Using the descriptive-explanatory method, this article tests the hypothesis that although the intensification of sanctions has strengthened the narrative of anti-Westernism in Iran, the transformation of anti-Westernism into a dominant identity discourse has caused other layers of identity to be marginalised and even ignored in some cases. This situation has created a disconnection between Iran’s actions and its biographical narrative.

OCT-Angiography of deep and superficial retinal vascular density changes in diabetes without diabetic retinopathy

To analyze the vascular density values (VD) in the superficial and the deep retinal network and in all perimacular sectors of diabetic eyes without clinical retinopathy, comparing them to that of healthy, nondiabetic control eyes. We investigated the factors that may influence these values. This was a cross-sectional study including diabetics without diabetic retinopathy and healthy control subjects. All subjects underwent OCTA examination (RTVue-XR Avanti; Optovue, Fremont, CA, USA). The scanned area was 3×3mm and centered on the fovea. In the superficial and deep capillary plexus, we evaluated the total VD, parafoveal, temporal, nasal, superior and inferior sectors, as well as the superior and inferior hemi-sector VD. The sectors with the greatest area under the curve (AUC) were determined. We evaluated the correlation between certain risk factors and VD values. VD values in all sectors of the superficial capillary plexus layer and deep capillary plexus layer in the diabetic group were significantly lower than in the control group. Among all the parameters, the superficial total VD and superficial parafoveal VD had the greatest AUC (0.992 and 0.991 respectively). The sector with the greatest AUC was the temporal sector in both the SCP (0.990) and DCP (0.976). Age, creatinine clearance and hyperlipemia correlated with vascular density. Superficial and deep retinal VD are both decreased in diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy. Our results suggest that OCTA might be a promising tool for diabetic retinopathy screening. Quantitative microvascular changes might precede clinical damage.

Funding and financing the zero emissions journey: urban visions from the 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission

Cities play a critical role in delivering emission-free futures, yet the financial capacities, together with the unprecedented estimated capital requirements represent substantial barriers to climate action. In this study, we use data collected through the European Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities to investigate how 362 ambitious, yet differently prepared cities are fostering climate investment, under three aspects of (i) financial readiness, (ii) financial proactiveness, and (iii) financial innovation. On one hand, according to their self-assessment, over 70% of the cities have not yet estimated—not even roughly—the total investment needed to become climate neutral and the majority (i) have experience in financing only a few specific climate projects, (ii) are ill-equipped to tap capital markets, (iii) have developed only marginally co-financing with the private sector, and (iv) have taken no steps to establish an investor-ready pipeline of projects contributing to climate neutrality. On the other hand, cities are at the forefront of financial innovation, creating blueprints and business models that are being tested under a learning-by-doing approach, creating deep and long-lasting transformative change, and establishing coordinating mechanisms with new critical players. In this context, current financial management, regulation, and institutional arrangements are key barriers to unlocking access to financing and creating an enabling environment for investment at the city level. The different levels of maturity in terms of financial readiness and institutional arrangements are discussed as the catalysers of climate financing at the city level.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: An Evolving Scenario through New Perspectives in Diagnosis and Advances in Therapies.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) linked to 5q is a recessive motor neuron disease characterized by progressive and diffuse weakness and muscular atrophy. SMA is the most common neurodegenerative disease in childhood with an incidence of approximately 1 in 6000-10,000 live births, being long considered a leading cause of hereditary mortality in infancy, worldwide. The classification of SMA is based on the natural history of the disease, with a wide clinical spectrum of onset and severity. We are currently in a new therapeutic era, that, thanks to the widespread use of the newly approved disease-modifying therapies and the possibility of an early administration, should lead to a deep change in the clinical scenario and, thus, in the history of SMA. With the aim to achieve a new view of SMA, in this review we consider different aspects of this neuromuscular disease: the historical perspective, the clinical features, the diagnostic process, the psychological outcome, innovation in treatments and therapies, the possibility of an early identification of affected infants in the pre-symptomatic phase through newborn screening programs.

Who wants to change their transport habits to help reduce air pollution? A nationwide study in the caribbean

Given its detrimental role in sustainability and community health, air pollution constitutes a global challenge nowadays, and urban transport has been proven to be a key contributor to the problem. At a population level, and especially in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), measures for reducing contamination usually require deep behavioral changes and “sacrifices” among individuals who may (or may not) be willing to modify their habits. ObjectiveThis research, conducted in the Dominican Republic, aimed to assess the effect of individual factors, transport habits, and pollution-related concerns on the individual's will to act to reduce air pollution. MethodsFor this study, we counted on the participation of a nationwide sample of 1250 adult Dominican citizens (50% females; 50% males) with a mean age of 36.7 years. ResultsOverall, Dominicans tend to self-report a considerably high concern about transport air pollution, especially among women and inhabitants of urban areas. The willingness to act was significantly influenced by demographic factors, travel frequency, and pollution-related concerns. Also, both individual and socially perceived environmental concerns exert a statistical mediation between individual factors and the self-reported predisposition to help reduce pollution through behavioral changes. ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that both individual and social pollution-related concerns influence the personal willingness to act against air pollution, although in different ways. Interestingly, while peoples' own concerns increase their willingness to act, solely perceiving a greater collective concern seems to dispirit individuals’ will to take further action. Accordingly, developing further individual and collective initiatives to increase pollution-related responsiveness could be essential to face this growing problem in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean.

Deep Learning-based Land-cover Change Detection in Remote-sensing Imagery

With the significant advancement in deep-learning methods and their feature representation, deep-learning methods are more prevalent in solving change-detection tasks. The prime purpose of change detection is to detect the changes on the surface of the earth. In this work, an end-to-end encoder-decoder architecture is used to detect the changes in the land cover. The proposed method uses residual U-Net to find land-cover image changes. The UNet structure is used as the backbone of the network. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been experimented through LEVIR-CD datasets. The results showed that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques and gives reliable results. These techniques can be used to examine changes in the earth's crest due to natural events, such as landslides, earthquakes, erosion and geo-hazards or human activity, like mining and development. KEYWORDS: Change detection, Remote sensing, Residual UNet, Deep learning, Land cover, Climate.

Отдаленные последствия γ, n-облучения мышей: снижение длины теломер и развитие опухолей

Purpose: To investigate the telomere length (TL) of bone marrow and thymus cells as a marker of replicative aging late after the prolonged γ, n-irradiation of mice at low and moderate doses and analysis of the appearance of tumors by the end of the experiment − after 14 months. Material and methods: C57Bl/6 and CBA mice were irradiated at doses of 10–500 mGy at the OR-M facility using Pu-Be radionuclide sources at a total absorbed dose rate of neutrons and gamma rays of 2.13 mGy/h, 75 % of which – 1.57 mGy/h – accounted for neutrons with an average energy of 3.5 MeV. Absolute TL in bone marrow and thymus cells was determined using real-time PCR 2 months and 1 year 2 months after irradiation, and the mean TL was calculated. Tumors found during the mice organs examination after autopsy were subjected to histological examination. Results: It was shown that the TL in bone marrow and thymus cells of control CВA mice was 2 times higher than the TL observed in C57Bl/6 mice. Prolonged γ, n-irradiation of C57Bl/6 mice led to a dose-dependent decrease in TL in bone marrow cells 14 months after exposure, which was statistically significant at doses of 100 and 500 mGy. A decreased TL in the thymus was found only at a dose of 500 mGy. During this period, TL in bone marrow cells of CBA mice was reduced in dose-independent manner, starting from as low as 10 mGy, but no statistically significant decrease in TL was found in the thymus. The results obtained indicate the acceleration of replicative senescence of bone marrow cells in mice in the long term period after γ,n-irradiation already at low doses, and in thymus cells only at a dose of 500 mGy. Twenty-four hours after irradiation at doses of 100 and 500 mGy the number of leukocytes in mice of both lines was reduced, which was recovered in C57Bl/6 mice after a week, and in CBA mice – after two weeks. In 14 months after γ, n-irradiation, the appearance of tumors was found in mice of both studied lines: in CBA mice, lung adenocarcinoma at a dose of 50 mGy (in 1 out of 10) and uterine carcinosarcoma at a dose of 500 mGy (in 1 out of 10); in C57Bl/6 mice, keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma of the uterus at a dose of 500 mGy (2 out of 10) was seen in the absence of tumors in control mice. Histological examination of the liver of CBA mice after γ, n-irradiation at a dose of 500 mGy revealed deep dystrophic changes, the causes of which are not clear. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate a high biological hazard of prolonged γ, n-irradiation at doses above 10 mGy, since after irradiation at this dose, an acceleration of replicative senescence of bone marrow cells in the long-term period was found, and the possibility of tumor formation increases after irradiation at a dose of 50 mGy and higher.

AUTOIMMUNE AND HEMATOLOGICAL STATUS OF GRAVES’ DISEASE PATIENTS

Purpose of the study: comparative assessment of hematological and autoimmune status of patients with Graves’ disease (GD). Materials and methods. 43 GD patients aged between 19 and 64 years, 26 of which were women and 17 were men, have been examined. Assessment of hemograms of examined patients helped to reveal anemia in 28(65.1%) examined patients (group I). In 15 (34.9%) patients (group II) anemia was not detected. Mild anemia was diagnosed in 25 (89.3%), moderate anemia – in 3 (10.7%) patients. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte count and erythrocyte indices MCV, MCH, MCHC, serum Fe and ferritin status was chaecked in clinical analysis. The immune status was assessed by the level of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD19+, CD4+/CD8+, CEC, Ef, TSHRAb and hormonal status by the level of TSH, T4 free. Results. Microcytic anemia was determined in 15 (53.6%) patients, normocytic - in 12 (42.8%), macrocytic - in 1 (3.5%) patient due to volume of erythrocytes’ MCV. According to morphological criteria of МСН (mean content of hemoglobin in erythrocyte) anemia hypochromic type of anemia was noted in 15 (53.6%) patients, normochromic - in 12 (42.8%), hyperchromic - in 1 (3.5%) patient. In 15 (53.6%%) patients in the group I microcytic - hypochromic anemia was diagnosed, which is characteristic for iron-deficient anemia; in 12 (42.8%) patients was verified normocyticnormochromic anemia, which has morphological parameters of anemia of chronic diseases and in 1 (3.5%) patient macrocytic-hyperchromic anemia. Comparative assessment of HGB level and indicators of iron metabolism in GD patients with anemia detected decreasing of HGB by 20%, serum Fe by 20%, ferritin by 29% compared to the corresponding control values. More pronounced depletion of the iron depot (ferritin) due to the fact that the development of anemia is preceded by a “latent iron deficiency”, an indicator of which is ferritin. Conclusions. GD is characterized by high frequency of anemia (65.1%), mostly mild form (89.3%), microcytichypochromic (53.6%), characteristic of iron deficiency anemia. The severe hematological disorders, detected among GD patients with anemia are accompanied by deep autoimmune changes and hyperfunction of the thyroid gland.

Strategic management approach to digitalization of business: the impact of Euro-Atlantic integration on the modernization of Ukrainian enterprises

Relevance of the research topic. Changes in legislation and regulation aimed at supporting digital transformation are creating new opportunities for businesses. Ukrainian enterprises need modernization and adaptation to modern conditions of competitive business. Digital technologies are a powerful tool for increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises. Ukraine's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, such as the European Union and NATO, creates new opportunities and requires enterprises to meet standards and requirements. All this creates a basis for discussing the impact of Euro-Atlantic integration on digital modernization. Formulation of the problem. Ukraine, like other countries, faces the need to modernize its business in conditions of deep changes in the world economy. This modernization includes the transition to digital transformation, which is an urgent strategic goal for many Ukrainian enterprises. The implementation of digital technologies and processes confronts enterprises with numerous challenges and problematic issues. Analysis of recent research and publications. In general, this problem attracts considerable attention of both Ukrainian and foreign researchers. They explore various aspects of business digitalization and examine its impact on enterprise modernization in the context of Euro-Atlantic integration. However, the task of further research may be the integration and generalization of the results, the development of specific recommendations for Ukrainian enterprises and the determination of optimal strategies for their development. Selection of unexplored parts of the general problem. The interaction of digital technologies and Euro-Atlantic European integration at the level of individual enterprises and industries, as well as the analysis of practical examples of the implementation of digital initiatives in small businesses, have not been sufficiently studied. Additional research is needed to study cyber security issues, the development of financial models for enterprises, the study of ethical issues related to the collection and processing of data in the digital environment, as well as the impact of Euro-Atlantic integration on legislation in this field. Problem statement, research goals. The research is aimed at studying the impact of Euro-Atlantic integration on the process of digitization of Ukrainian enterprises, as well as determining the key factors that influence this process. The article aims to contribute to the understanding and effective use of opportunities that open up to Ukrainian enterprises due to integration with Euro-Atlantic structures in the context of business digitalization. Methodology of the study. Complex of scientific abstraction, theoretical comparative analysis and synthesis of own innovative ideas. Presentation of the main material (results of work). An overview of the degree of use of digital technologies in Ukrainian business was conducted, including statistical data, the level of infrastructure and the activity of enterprises in this direction. The influence of Euro-Atlantic integration processes on the development of digital technologies in Ukraine is analyzed, in particular in the context of the harmonization of legislation and ensuring access to European markets. Key factors affecting the successful implementation of digital projects in Ukraine and obstacles that may arise in this process have been identified. Based on the obtained results, recommendations were formulated for Ukrainian enterprises and state bodies on issues of speeding up the process of digitization and Euro-Atlantic integration. In conclusion, the main conclusions of the study are given, indicating the relevance and importance of further measures for the development of Ukrainian business in the context of digital modernization and integration with Euro-Atlantic structures. Field of application of results. Training of applicants in the specialty 073 "Management" with medium and long-term strategic vision. Conclusions in accordance with the article. Digitization opens up new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and carry out international operations. However, it also creates challenges in securing investment and training. The development of the digital market in Ukraine promotes the emergence of new innovations and creative services. The digital market in Ukraine is connected with Euro-Atlantic integration through harmonization and increasing the competitiveness of Ukrainian enterprises on European markets. The key technologies of digital transformation in Ukraine include Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, etc. These technologies directly affect the development of business in Ukraine. A SWOT analysis allows you to track the strengths and weaknesses of a business in the context of digitalization, as well as identify opportunities and threats in the market. PEST analysis examines political, economic, social and technological factors affecting business in the context of Euro-Atlantic integration and digital transformation. The digital economy is becoming an increasingly important component of Ukraine's GDP and contributes to the growth of national business and raising the standard of living of the population.