Expert Estimates Research Articles

Supporting the Development of Digitally Competent VET Teachers in Serbia and Russia

Introduction. In the modern educational space, an intensive digital transformation is currently taking place, which imposes new requirements for teacher competencies. This determines the relevance of setting goals and solving problems in order to develop up-to-date models for improving the qualifications of teachers of vocational education and training (VET). The paper discusses the current state of the development of digital competencies of teachers and teachers of Serbia and Russia in line with the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) and the European Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigСompЕdu). The paper includes an analysis of the peculiarities of vocational education and training systems, as well as the directions of further training of teachers, conducted by participants in the international project “Professional Development of Vocation Education Teachers with European Practices (Pro-VET)”. In order to better understand national contexts, the content of the reports of the participating countries of the project was analysed in the context of the EU policy and strategy for the development of digital competency of VET teachers. In this article, the authors focus on exploring digital competencies required of VET teachers within the European Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigСompЕdu) to identify digital competencies and development needs of Serbian and Russian VET teachers when working in online learning environments. The aims of the research are the following: 1) to compare the educational needs of Russian and Serbian VET teachers in the development of their digital pedagogical competencies; 2) to identify the theoretical and practical base for VET teachers’ digitally competent development programme design in the context of online learning according to the best European practices in the field of VET. Methodology and research methods. The development of the model was based on learning theories, didactics and practical approaches to soft skills development in online learning environments. The research has been conducted by the means of document analysis, theoretical analysis and synthesis methods, comparative method, modelling method and expert estimation method. Results and scientific novelty. Key aspects of VET teacher training systems in Russia and Serbia are compared and needs in development of digital pedagogical skills of Russian and Serbian VET teachers are identified. A developed model of VET teachers’ digitally competent development programme design in the context of online learning according to best European practices in this fields is represented by two components: structural and functional. The structural component of VET teachers’ digitally competent development model contains: learning theories and didactics, adult learning theories, soft skills development approaches in online learning, learning outcomes development approaches. The functional component of the model contains: national and European educational policy, strategies in the field of digitalisation of education and the development of digital competencies of teachers, European Union policies related to online learning; pedagogical, psychological and didactical design parameters of the content of advanced training programmes in the context of e-learning. Practical significance. The demonstrated model is being tested in the framework of the implementation of the international Pro-VET project supported by ERASMUS+. Methodological approaches, procedure and tools of VET teachers’ digitally competent development are being developed and tested. The application of digitally competent development programmes ensures the transparency of training and allows for the correlation of national and international training programmes as well as the development of academic and professional mobility of VET teachers. The process of designing such educational training programmes in online environment for VET teachers has begun at some universities in Russia and Serbia (participants of the project). The developed online training programmes can be used as a basis to design more quality online courses beyond the Pro-VET project in the sphere of professional development for VET teachers.

Перспективні напрямки використання геотермальних ресурсів в Україні

Geothermal resources are an almost inexhaustible environmentally friendly source of renewable energy. In Ukraine, there are large reserves of hot thermal waters, which are practically not used for the needs of heat power engineering. Analysis of literature data and previous developments carried out at the institutes of IET and IVE NAS of Ukraine made it possible to correct the general and technically possible potential of geothermal energy in Ukraine and determine the most promising directions for the development and implementation of geothermal energy. According to expert estimates, the theoretically possible energy potential of geothermal energy in Ukraine is more than 40 GW in capacity, and the economically viable potential is about 10 GW. The main area of application of geothermal energy in Ukraine is small-scale energy, within which it is possible to create local geothermal energy complexes for the production of electrical and thermal energy, the extraction of useful mineral compounds. The list of modern technologies that are successfully used in the world, and which, in our opinion, must be applied in Ukraine should include: - introduction of technologies of geothermal circulation systems (GCS) with the injection of spent (cooled) geothermal fluid into the aquifer; - introduction of technologies for double-circuit geothermal power supply systems using corrosion-resistant heat exchangers and preinsulated pipelines made of high-strength composite materials; - introduction of GCS technologies with the use of a downhole coaxial heat exchanger of the “pipe-in-pipe” type; - development of technologies for the construction of high-rate wells with horizontal or inclined shafts in an aquifer; - conversion of a significant number of individual idle wells of oil and gas fields to the extraction of geothermal energy using deep coaxial heat exchangers of the “pipe in pipe” type and creating a circulation loop with an intermediate heat carrier; - introduction of modern binary GeoPPs of medium and low power on the basis of serial power modules, for example, “Obcon Powerbox”, Sweden or “Ormat”, Israel and the organization of production of such equipment in Ukraine; - introduction of heat pump technologies to increase the temperature potential of the coolant on the basis of vapor compression heat pumps or absorption thermotransformers; - development and implementation of integrated technologies for the utilization of geothermal energy and the extraction of useful hydromineral resources. A significant reserve for the extraction of geothermal energy is suspended wells in the territory of gas fields, of which there are several thousand on the territory of Ukraine. The developed oil and gas fields, even after their complete closure for the production of hydrocarbons, remain an important energy resource, primarily in the regions of their location, and in the development of state policy and appropriate measures at the state level, and the resource of the entire fuel and energy complex of Ukraine.

Methods of organizing the preliminary selection of projects and works in the business portfolio of a multidisciplinary enterprise

A review of the structural and functional model of development and an analysis of market conditions that are taken into account when choosing a project based on a group of influencing factors when choosing project options. The necessity of the analysis of the basic indicators concerning management of a subject area of ​​the project, management of cost, time management, and other component functions of management of the project of development is defined. From the standpoint of the structural approach, the real estate market is analyzed and classified by indices of value, price expectations, etc. It is revealed that the method of distribution of funds from the regional development fund, based on the analysis of a number of indicators of the region, the main of which are industrial output, budget and financial security, the ratio of per capita income and subsistence level, social structure, social security. and engineering infrastructure. The method of the list of criteria concerning the method of selection of projects for realization which consists in conformity of indicators of the project to each criterion is investigated, and on each criterion the expert estimation is given. The method allows to analyze all the advantages and disadvantages of the evaluated projects and ensures that none of the criteria will be forgotten, even if there are difficulties with the initial evaluation or with the formalization of the data. The developed mechanism influencing the project implementation allows to select in the portfolio such projects that are highly likely to be successfully implemented by the enterprise, and will really improve the internal processes at the enterprise and increase its competitiveness in the future, ie the portfolio is not just focused on in the near future, it aims to increase competitiveness in the long run. The advantages for companies that use the developed tools are to increase competitiveness based on accurate calculation of economic indicators of projects, ensuring a clear relationship between current project activities and management of enterprise strategy (due to concentration on strategic goals), use of strengths of internal development. the environment of the enterprise and the leveling of the weak (due to the importance of projects to improve business processes of the enterprise).

A reactive nitrogen budget for forest land and wetlands in Latvia and Estonia

ABSTRACT Human intervention in global nitrogen cycling has led to excess reactive nitrogen (Nr) flows to the environment, impacting terrestrial ecosystems as well as the quality of the atmosphere and waterbodies. This paper presents the results of a study that quantified and compared the main flows of Nr through forest land and wetlands in Latvia and Estonia using substance flow analysis approach based on data from statistics, research results, reports, monitoring programmes, data bases and expert estimations. Input and output flows to and from the forest land and wetlands both in Latvia and Estonia are well balanced, with a trend to be a Nr sink (+1.2 kT N yr−1) for Latvia and a Nr source (−6.5 kT N yr−1) for Estonia. Major input flow to the studied pools in Estonia is a soil nitrogen stock used for forest growth, while in Latvia, it is atmospheric deposition and biological fixation. Major output flow of Nr in both countries occurs via wood and peat for industrial uses. Emissions of Nr to the atmosphere and hydrosphere from forest land and wetlands are significantly lower compared to human-related emissions such as industries, energy production, agriculture, human settlements, and transport.

Reliably predicting pollinator abundance: Challenges of calibrating process‐based ecological models

Abstract Pollination is a key ecosystem service for global agriculture but evidence of pollinator population declines is growing. Reliable spatial modelling of pollinator abundance is essential if we are to identify areas at risk of pollination service deficit and effectively target resources to support pollinator populations. Many models exist which predict pollinator abundance but few have been calibrated against observational data from multiple habitats to ensure their predictions are accurate. We selected the most advanced process‐based pollinator abundance model available and calibrated it for bumblebees and solitary bees using survey data collected at 239 sites across Great Britain. We compared three versions of the model: one parameterised using estimates based on expert opinion, one where the parameters are calibrated using a purely data‐driven approach and one where we allow the expert opinion estimates to inform the calibration process. All three model versions showed significant agreement with the survey data, demonstrating this model's potential to reliably map pollinator abundance. However, there were significant differences between the nesting/floral attractiveness scores obtained by the two calibration methods and from the original expert opinion scores. Our results highlight a key universal challenge of calibrating spatially explicit, process‐based ecological models. Notably, the desire to reliably represent complex ecological processes in finely mapped landscapes necessarily generates a large number of parameters, which are challenging to calibrate with ecological and geographical data that are often noisy, biased, asynchronous and sometimes inaccurate. Purely data‐driven calibration can therefore result in unrealistic parameter values, despite appearing to improve model‐data agreement over initial expert opinion estimates. We therefore advocate a combined approach where data‐driven calibration and expert opinion are integrated into an iterative Delphi‐like process, which simultaneously combines model calibration and credibility assessment. This may provide the best opportunity to obtain realistic parameter estimates and reliable model predictions for ecological systems with expert knowledge gaps and patchy ecological data.

Calculation of time to complete a task by a group of employees using fuzzy sets for the sustainable development of the enterprise

The article considers the use of fuzzy sets in determining the execution time of tasks. An approach is proposed that makes it possible to obtain an expert estimate of the time taken to complete a task by a specific employee in the form of a fuzzy set. A procedure is proposed for generalizing fuzzy sets defined on different bearing sets. To apply the proposed procedure, fuzzy sets are subject to continuity and monotonicity restrictions. The generalization procedure is based on the process of finding the value of a fuzzy set for a certain value of its membership function. For piecewise linear functions, the operation of calculating the points of the resulting function is defined. Piecewise nonlinear functions are considered and an algorithm for searching for individual values of the generalized membership function is described. In addition to generalizing fuzzy sets, an approach to calculating the interaction time of workers is proposed. Various approaches to defuzzification of fuzzy sets of task execution time are considered. The proposed approach will improve the work planning for sustainability of enterprise.

ВЛИЯНИЕ СОСТОЯНИЯ АВТОТРАНСПОРТНОЙ ИНФРАСТРУКТУРЫ НА ЭКОЛОГИЮ ГОРОДА ВЛАДИКАВКАЗ

Effective regulation of traffic flows within the urban area is of great importance for the cleanliness of the atmospheric air of cities and megacities. The article presents the most relevant problems related to the city's transport infrastructure, which entails both an increase in chemical emissions and physical pollution of the city's environment, primarily increased noise. Due to the growth of the automobile fleet, according to expert estimates and research conducted in Vladikavkaz, especially in its historical part, there is more than a twofold shortage of Parking spaces. The real lack of space for vehicles forces drivers to Park vehicles in clear violation of traffic Rules, which leads to a significant reduction in the capacity of streets and the occurrence of congestion. And as a result, pollution of the environment.

A score assignment method for factors in mineral prospectivity modeling

Mineral prospectivity mapping (MPM) is a multi-factorial modeling process, which requires score assignments for individual evidential layers to use as their weights. The procedure of score assignment involves the measurement of weight values that reflect the favorable degree between each evidential layer and ore deposits. To achieve good mineral prospectivity results, an appropriate score needs to be assigned to each layer. The Expert estimation method, which assigns scores to evidential layers with the guidance of expert opinions, has been widely used. However, this kind of method requires expert knowledge and inevitably involves cumbersome trial-and-error steps. Moreover, the method will introduce bias into the prediction results. Proper score assignment is crucial for achieving reasonable prediction results, this study proposes a novel score assigning method, namely, the logarithmic mineralizing opportunity index (LMOI), to determine reasonable scores for each layer class in MPM. The LMOI makes use of a priori knowledge such as known mineral deposits in score determination. Additionally, it utilizes the distribution density information of the known deposits and the area ratio information of a layer class to enhance the correlation between the layer class and mineral deposits. To evaluate the effectiveness of the LMOI, a comparison experiment of MPM using a support vector machine (SVM) model was performed. Both the LMOI and Expert estimation method were applied to gold MPM in the Zhuji-Shaoxing area, Zhejiang Province, China. The aim of our experiment was to prove that different layer scoring methods have different effects on prediction results. The results demonstrated that the proposed LMOI can contribute to MPM and is easy to implement.

Audit and accounting considerations on cryptoassets and related transactions

Introduction. The rapid rise and volatility of cryptoassets have led to increased global interest by governments, investors, regulators. In 2020, the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies increased to USD 758.06 billion by expert estimations. Each of the cryptoassets has its own unique features and characteristics which makes their accounting and auditing challenging. The lack of official accounting and auditing guidance for cryptoassets and related transactions impose additional audit risks that should be measured properly before the client-acceptance stage and planning audit procedures. We developed a model which links financial statement assertions, identified cryptoassets’ risks that should be considered during the audit, and related controls in response to such risks. The purpose of this paper is to identify cryptoassets framework for audit planning and gathering audit evidence to support management assertions regarding their financial statements. Methods. This paper adopts an empirical research approach with application of auditing and analytical procedures. In a comprehensive analytical overview of trends in cryptoassets market capitalization, the authors have used statistical methods and structural analysis, the selected sample includes daily data of cryptoassets market capitalization during January 2016 - February 2020. Results. According to the conducted research, the auditors have to consider whether to accept or continue an audit engagement when an entity has engaged in material cryptocurrency transactions; the auditors have to identify and assess risks of material misstatement in financial statements related to cryptoassets transactions and balances. We suggested a possible substantive audit procedures for cryptoassets and related transactions, such as: inspection of the wallets and verification the balances on them; confirmation by a third party (traders); inspection of documents supporting ownership of the asset (white papers, agreements with crypto-traders); testing client internal controls system and controls that are implemented to ensure the security of the private key of crypto-wallet. Conclusions. It is becoming common for financial statements to show cryptoassets balances and reflect the results of cryptoassets transactions, however, many auditors may have little or no experience with cryptoassets and therefore may not fully appreciate the challenges that auditing these items may present. The auditors need to identify and assess risks of material misstatement throughout the process of obtaining an understanding of the entity and its control environment, and evaluate the potential effect of that risks on financial statements.

THE METHOD OF ALTERNATIVE RANKING FOR A COLLECTIVE EXPERT ESTIMATION PROCEDURE

Context. The actual problem of constructing a mathematical model of a collective multi-criteria expert estimation of alternatives, which is an integral part of the automation of the intellectual decision-making process, has been solved. Objective. The goal of the work is to develop a method for determining relative collective multi-criteria estimation of alternatives and their subsequent ranking based on information about personal preferences of experts. The object of research is the process of analysis and decision-making in multi-criteria conditions. The subject of the research are the methods of structural and parametric identification of the model of multi-criteria estimation of alternatives.Method. The paper proposes an approach to constructing a model of collective multi-criteria estimation of alternatives based on information about partial-order relationships established by experts on the set of available alternatives. A method for structural and parametric identification of a model of multi-criteria estimation, which based on the ideas of the theory of comparator identification is proposed. It is shown that the solution to the problem of choosing the structure of a model of optimal complexity should be carried out in the class of Kolmogorov-Gabors polynomial. To find the parameters of the estimation model, it is proposed to use a method that is based on the calculating of the Chebyshev point. It is shown that in this case, the parametric identification problem of the model can be reduced to the standard linear programming problem. The scalar collective multi-criteria estimates of alternatives obtained on the basis of the synthesized mathematical model make it possible to compare them with each other in terms of “quality” and, thus, select the “best” of them or rank them.Results. An approach has been developed to construct a mathematical model of collective multi-criteria expert estimation, on the basis of which it is possible to determine group generalized estimates of alternatives, as well as to rank them. The results of simulation modeling, which demonstrate the practical feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach are presented.Conclusions. A significant advantage of the approach is the ability to use only non-numerical information about the preferences of experts. This allows you to partially solve the problem of subjectivity of expert opinions in the process of decision-making and reduce the cost of a collective expert estimation of alternatives. The synthesized model of collective expert estimation can serve as the basis for solving the problems of estimating the quality of various projects, investment management, strategic planning, and the development of problem-oriented decision support systems. In the future, it is worth considering the possibility of supplementing the presented approach with the possibility of taking into account estimates of the qualitative composition and competence of individual experts, which are included in the group.

Digital orientalism in Russia

The authors analyze the digital component in the Oriental studies in Russia in the context of key trends and parameters of the growing digitalization of the humanities. The analysis of digitalization in the Oriental studies in Russia is based on the observation of more than 30 Internet resources of the last 10 years. The methodological basis of the work is the analytical and systematic approach to the study using the methods of logical and causal analysis, as well as expert estimates and systematized data. The classification of electronic resources in the relevant field of scientific research is given. Internet resources with a relatively rich database of digitized materials have been analyzed. At the same time, the short period of activity of many Internet resources and the lack of their updating result in a decreased scientific value of these resources. Considering the digital component of the Russian Oriental studies, the development of digital materials complexes takes place, however the digital studies are not conducted. The array of information is fragmented and lacks systematization. The authors conclude that a generalizing system should be created that would activate the available resources and make them work for the development of science.

Prospects for the legalization of self-employment in the context of innovative development

Currently, a difficult stage of institutionalization of self-employment in the Russian economy is taking place. The authors conducted a study of the ways of legalizing the self-employed in conditions of the development of digital technologies and assessed its role in innovative development. Self-employment, according to the authors, acts as a way of adaptation of employed and unemployed to changing socio-technical systems in the labor market. Using historical, statistical and regulatory analysis, the authors investigated the problem of determining self-employment and ways to legalize it in Russia and other countries. The article explores the relationship between its distribution and innovative development by means of the analysis of legislation regulating self-employment in different countries. Using the analysis of official statistics, the article reveals a tendency towards an increase in the number of citizens wishing to legalize their self-employment status. The article studies the legislative pilot related to the legalization of self-employment in Russia, assesses the prospects for the expansion of this pilot in terms of the appropriateness of the proposed measures. According to the professional structure, based on statistical data and expert estimates, a low proportion of people receiving professional income from intellectual work was identified and the causes of this phenomenon were determined.

Assessing the Enterprise Informatization Level in Digital Economy Conditions

During the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the enterprises which have begun, in due time, to introduce modern approaches to the manufacture organization, including digital technologies, obtain an essential advantage over the competitors. One of the stages of planning the changes is assessing the enterprise informatization level. Evaluating the enterprise informatization level is required for appropriate and effective choosing digital transformation technologies and approaches during the enterprise digitalization. The given assessment represents a multi-criterion problem, demanding the development of the mathematical apparatus and the principles of its use as well. The developed procedure of evaluating the level of the industrial enterprise informatization in digital economy conditions includes the procedure of organizing the assessment of the industrial enterprise informatization level and also the mathematical model of conducting an expert estimation of criteria (indicators) of the organization digitalization. The procedure of assessing the informatization level is performed by the multiplier convolution of criteria. The weights of criteria are defined by the modified T.L. Saaty’s analytic hierarchy process. Also evaluating the weights of each expert’s individual estimation and defining the error of their assessment is conducted. The approach to the proved formation of the enterprise informatization levels is developed. The given technique allows to evaluate the informatization level in some areas and to allocate those which demand the development, to forecast occurring risky situations while introducing information technologies at the industrial enterprise.

WEB-система оцінювання рівня регіонального розвитку

This article focuses on the automation tools development for evaluating the socio-economic development of Ukraine regions. In this work we present a method for automated determination of integral indicators based on factor analysis and expert estimation methods is presented. The method application improved the calculation results reliability and the opportunity provided to analyze the relationships between indicators in terms of their impact on the general regional socio-economic situation. The information-analytical Web-based system for evaluating the socio-economic development of Ukraine regions has been developed and implemented. The Web-based system has a three-level architecture of technical tools and intended for processes automation of socio-economic level development evaluating of Ukraine regions based on expert-statistical method. The Web-based application is designed to work with three user groups and provides access to control elements depending on the access level of user.

Development of a procedure for expert estimation of capabilities in defense planning under multicriterial conditions

Improving the decision-making efficiency in defense planning based on the capabilities of military forces and means for performing purposeful tasks requires new methodological approaches and their implementation in the form of software information-analytical tools. Given the complex information environment of defense planning, it is appropriate for the variants of capabilities development options to be chosen by experts on the methodological basis of multicriterial analysis. The research result is the development of a procedure, in which it is proposed to generate criteria and evaluate alternative options by integrating ontology, the Analytical Hierarchy Process, and the method of directed graphs. The ontological representation of the data ensures the construction of the hierarchical taxonomy of a domain and the formation of the criteria vector. The Analytical Hierarchy Process is used to conduct an expert evaluation of capabilities by their pairwise comparison against determined criteria. Experts’ judgments are visualized and controlled using directed graphs. Application of the procedure will make it possible to ensure efficiency, versatility, and simplicity of technical implementation of a procedure of decision making support. The procedure was tested on the example of choosing a capability to conduct reconnaissance for the benefit of ground artillery. It was shown that the evaluation process in the expert activity is considerably simplified due to the graph visualization. The proposed procedure introduces an innovative tool to achieve strategic goals and accomplish the basic tasks of the defense reform, which is relevant for many countries. The versatility of the procedure creates the basis for its application not only in defense but also in other force departments

Scientific objectives of research on road machines life cycle in modern conditions

Introduction. Many tasks in the field of operation of road machines in modern conditions have become irrelevant from a scientific point of view. This is due to the emergence of new regulatory documents that contribute to the solution of many problems, for example, the tasks of forming fleets of road machines for road maintenance. In addition, the active implementation of CALS-technologies; modern monitoring systems for road machines; the commitment to automate and robotic work processes; change in the volume and pace of road construction; increasing requirements for the quality of work performed; extension of the warranty period of road service; the existence of mega road organizations; the absence to date of generally accepted criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of one form or another of organizing maintenance and repair work (unscheduled repairs) of road machines; active development of a network of toll roads, etc. they require a radical review and systematization of issues related to the formulation of scientific problems in the study of the life cycle system of road vehicles in modern conditions.Materials and methods. The well-known methods of mathematical, factor analysis and expert estimates of parameters were used that determine the main differences that affect mainly on the rational operation of road machines. 218.2.018-2012 ‘Methodological recommendations for determining the necessary fleet of road maintenance equipment for the maintenance of roads in the development of road maintenance projects’ industry road methodology (IRM) contributes to the integrated solution of the main tasks of forming parks with vehicles for road maintenance. Today, the ERA-GLONASS system and similar systems are actively used in all areas of the road economy and allow tracking the position and other technical parameters of road machines over a long period of time. In addition, automation and robotization of production processes are actively used.Results. The factor analysis and the method of expert assessments made it possible to identify the main differences between the modern life cycle system of road machines used for the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of highways than a similar life cycle system of road machines 10-20 years ago. Some features have been identified in the study of the life cycle system of road machines in modern conditions. The main tasks of modern research on the road machines life cycle system are outlined. It has been established that the basis of the industry road guidance documents that have been published at present, as well as those preparing to be published in the nearest future, are largely based on the scientific research conducted 10-20 years ago by Russian scientists. The current industry documents are advisory in modern conditions, which is not always applicable to specific construction objects and sets of road machines, and the installation of tracking systems on road machines only contributes to the scientific research.Discussion and conclusions. In the course of the study, a vector was determined for the further development of such a scientific direction as the study of the life cycle system of the road machines in modern conditions. Some ways are proposed for solving scientific problems, taking into account the modern features of the road machines operations for the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of roads, which allows scientists, especially the young ones, to more accurately and correctly formulate their scientific problems when setting them at the beginning of the research in this area.

Improving the human-machine-environment monitoring system and operation rules for increasing operational tractor reliability

During fieldwork, machines and technical personnel work almost to the limit of their capabilities, while there is an urgent need for comprehensive monitoring of the interaction of the "Human-machine-environment" system and the operating rules for improving the operational reliability of tractors. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in developing a prototype of an electronic digital system that will help the operator to control changes in operational factors for improving the reliability of the entrusted equipment. (Materials and methods) The article presents conducted research on the use of the Galileo Sky+ terminal, which works together with additional programmable contactless sensors. This made it possible improving the system for increasing operational reliability. (Results and discussion) The article present examples and describes the accounting process for the human factor in the Human-machine-environment system. Authors have found that using the monitoring helps the operator and owner in reducing the share of subjective assessments in the efficiency of tractor operation and the readiness to work. (Conclusion) Using the proposed solutions for improving monitoring of the "Human-machine-environment" system will minimize the negative impact and risks of failures caused by the human factor in the operation of equipment. According to preliminary expert estimates, the efficiency of using the system will reduce operating costs and prevent gross errors in the operation of tractors.

Impact of image size reducing for image quality assesment

The article describes studies of the effect of image reduction on the quantitative assessment of their quality. Image reduction refers to the proportional reduction of horizontal and vertical image resolutions in pixels. Within the framework of these studies, correlation analysis between quantitative assessments of image quality and subjective assessments of experts was performed. For the experiments, we used images from the public TID2013 database with a resolution of 512 × 384 pixels and expert estimates of their quality, as well as photographs taken with a Nikon D5000 digital camera with a resolution of 4288 × 2848 pixels. All images were reduced in 2, 4 and 8 times. For this two methods were used: bilinear interpolation and interpolation by the nearest neighbor.22 measures were selected to evaluate image quality. Quantitative assessment of image quality was calculated in two stages. At the first stage, an array of local estimates was obtained in the vicinity of each pixel using the selected measures. At the second stage, a global quality assessment was calculated from the obtained local ones. To summarize local quality estimates, the parameters of 16 distributions of random variables were considered.According to the results of the experiments, it was concluded that the accuracy of the quality assessment for some measures decreases with image reduction (for example, FISH, GORD, HELM, LOEN measures). BREN and SHAR measures are recommended as the best. To reduce images, it is better to use the nearest neighbor interpolation method. At the same time, the computation time of estimates is reduced on average by 4 times while reducing images by 2 times. When images are reduced by 8 times, the calculation time decreases on average by 80 times. The amount of memory required to store the reduced images is 25 times less.

Estimation of professionals’ conformity for oil production cut (in the order of discussion)

The oil industry of Azerbaijan passed a long way of development. With the execution of the Contract of the Century at the end of XX century, new perspectives for the development of the economy of the country opened. However, since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, as an OPEC+ member Azerbaijan has assumed corresponding responsibilities on the oil production cut. As a result, oil production cut is planned from the beginning of the middle of 2020 for 96 thousand barrels through May-June, for 63 thousand barrels through July-December, as well as 30 thousand barrels during January 2021 – April 2022. According to this, SOCAR has developed strategic approaches on the measures including oil production cut, capital investment and well suspension. To prevent unexpected risks in the stage of rate decline of oil production, it is necessary to choose a mechanism of making-decision with leading professionals of the field, who should consider the complex of technical, geological and organizational measures, as well as the consistency of their execution in pandemic and after it ends. It is also significant to consider such qualities as their professional competence, far-sightedness, which, therefore, should play an important role in reviewed issue. Using the “Method of expert estimation” the professionals’ conformity with the fulfillment of evaluation calculation are reviewed.

How much does leaf leaching matter during the pre-drying period in a whole-tree harvesting system?

In European temperate forests, whole-tree harvesting increases nutrient exports and could compromise soil fertility in long term, especially when leaves, nutrient-rich compartments (leaves, fine and small wood) are exported. Pre-drying felled trees may allow leaves, twigs and branches to fall down or break during skidding, thereby remaining in the stand. However, the recommended pre-drying time is often based on expert estimates, and currently ranges from two to three months.In this study, we developed an experimental device to quantify nutrient leaching via rainfall (pH: 6.8 ± 0.4) from fully developed leaves (collected in summer period) of four broadleaf species. We first set up an outdoor experiment under natural rainfall conditions to monitor the kinetics of nutrient leaching over around two and a half months. Second, we set up two controlled experiments under simulated rainfall conditions to investigate the effect of rainfall intensity and frequency on nutrient leaching.Foliar K was highly leached 60–79%, followed by Mg: 19–50%, P: 22–30% and only small proportions for Ca and N, <16%. Nutrient leaching was positively correlated with rainfall amounts of <30 mm but small rainfall amounts <4 mm were more effective in leaching per unit (mm) than heavier rainfalls. More nutrients were leached out when the same rainfall amount was fractioned into small rainy events over several days.However, leaf leaching remains unsatisfactory because a large part of nutrients is still exported by foliage. Total nutrient exports by whole-tree harvest including foliage increased nutrient exports by 1.2–1.6 times compared to conventional harvesting. The exports by foliage are of equal importance as fine and small wood exports and thus leaving the foliage on the forest would increase significantly nutrient saving. We therefore recommend harvesting during the leafless period when possible and otherwise, letting all the leaves fall to the ground before skidding not only for nutrient returns but also because easily degradable organic matter is very important for soil biological activity.