The object of the study is new design solutions for metal protective screens based on elements made of rolled sheets, half-pipes and guide pipes. Metal protective screens are used in the construction of underground transport structures using a closed method. The protective screen prevents deformations and subsidence of the surface of overlying soil layers, road and railway bed. During the construction of tunnel-type structures under existing transport communications, the conditions for the safe operation of roads and railways must not be violated. In this case, special attention is paid to subsidence of the overlying soil layers. The magnitude of subsidence affects the possibility to operate roads and reduce the speed or completely stop traffic on the railway. Therefore, the stress-strain state of the proposed metal protective screens was studied using a calculation model developed on the basis of the finite element method. To improve the accuracy of calculating internal for-ces on punching individual structural elements of a metal protective screen, the Romberg method was used. The proposed designs and technologies of protective screens retain the advantages of those currently used, while simultaneously reducing the costs of constructing a protective screen, since the design solutions under study require less effort to push through indivi-dual elements, and, as a consequence, use less powerful equipment. Calculations of the stress-strain state of the proposed designs of protective screens have shown their viability. As a criterion for checking the operability, the maximum stresses perceived by individual parts of the structures were considered; they do not exceed the yield strength of the selected steel, and the maximum vertical and horizontal displacements of individual parts of the screens were calculated, which do not exceed those specified in the requirements of the Rules for Technical Operation of Railways in the Republic of Belarus and the Instructions for Current Maintenance of Railway Tracks in the Russian Federation. This confirms the operability of the proposed metal protective screens.

The article touches upon the concept of “life strategies”, which is widely used in various scientific disciplines, but lacking a single definition. The authors of the article make an attempt to systematize the main theoretical approaches to the study of this phenomenon, presented in Russian and foreign science. In many ways, re-search in this area is based on the concept of “life course studies”. Foreign authors primarily use the dynamic concept of individual behavior and decision-making as the main theoretical framework. Russian researchers, in developing the issues of life strategizing, emphasize subject-activity and systemic-institutional directions. In general, the approaches available in modern science to studying life strategies are very diverse, and their indi-vidual elements can be combined in various ways depending on theoretical and practical research tasks.

Successful data-driven science requires complex data engineering pipelines to clean, transform, and alter data in preparation for machine learning, and robust results can only be achieved when each step in the pipeline can be justified, and its effect on the data explained. In this framework, we aim at providing data scientists with facilities to gain an in-depth understanding of how each step in the pipeline affects the data, from the raw input to training sets ready to be used for learning. Starting from an extensible set of data preparation operators commonly used within a data science setting, in this work we present a provenance management infrastructure for generating, storing, and querying very granular accounts of data transformations, at the level of individual elements within datasets whenever possible. Then, from the formal definition of a core set of data science preprocessing operators, we derive a provenance semantics embodied by a collection of templates expressed in PROV, a standard model for data provenance. Using those templates as a reference, our provenance generation algorithm generalises to any operator with observable input/output pairs. We provide a prototype implementation of an application-level provenance capture library to produce, in a semi-automatic way, complete provenance documents that account for the entire pipeline. We report on the ability of that reference implementation to capture provenance in real ML benchmark pipelines and over TCP-DI synthetic data. We finally show how the collected provenance can be used to answer a suite of provenance benchmark queries that underpin some common pipeline inspection questions, as expressed on the Data Science Stack Exchange.

The authors of this article analyze the existing methods and models of technological preparation of machine-building industries. The structure of a three-level simulation model with network-centric control, the structures of individual elements of the simulation model, and the process of simulation modeling are described. The criteria for choosing a rational option for the processing technological route have been determined. During this research, a simulation program was implemented in C++. It allows you to select the optimal scenario for the operation of a production site based on two criteria: time and cost. The volume of implementation is about 2 × 103 lines of code. A diagram of the modeling algorithm for the implemented program and a description of the classes and their interactions are given in the article. The developed simulation model was tested at a machine-building enterprise using the example of the “Pusher” part, manufactured under single-unit production conditions. The technological equipment used for the manufacture of this part was formed in the form of input data of the simulation model. The results of simulation modeling for the selected part are described. For each variant of the technological processing route, the values of variable costs and the duration of the production cycle were determined.

Increasing interest among agricultural producers in Sarepta spring mustard as a promising, multi-purpose crop requires improving the elements of its cultivation technology to obtain consistently high yields. The current study was carried out in 2021–2022 on the experimental fields of the central experimental base of the FSBSI “FRC “All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Oil Crops by the name of Pustovoit V. S.”. The purpose of the research was to study and scientifically substantiate individual elements of the technology (sowing time, seed sowing rate and level of mineral nutrition) for Sarepta mustard’s cultivation on seed productivity of the crop grown on leached blackearth (chernozem) of Western Ciscaucasia. There has been established that the highest yield (1.42 t/ha) and oil yield (0.60 t/ha) of the crop is obtained at an early sowing time (the first term (early) is in the 2nd decade of April) with a minimum seed sowing rate (1.3 million units/ha). Sarepta spring mustard’s single feeding of with ammonium nitrate at a dose of N60 in the seedling phase has helped to obtain maximum yield of 2.08 t/ha and 0.87 t/ha of oil. But the largest oil content in seeds (47.1 %) was identified in the variant with the application of nitrogen fertilizer at a dose of N30 fractionally in equal parts, i.e. in the stages of germination (N15) and booting (N15). Foliar treatment of Sarepta spring mustard with helium mixtures (Micro gel at a dose of 1 l/ha and Brassica gel at a dose of 2 l/ha) in the booting stage allowed obtaining the highest yield of 1.85 t/ha, with 47.9 % of oil in seeds and 0.80 t/ha of oil yield.

Boolean-logic driven Markov processes (BDMPs) is a prominent dynamic extension of static fault trees to model repairable and complex dynamic systems. While BDMPs are intensively used in an industrial context for dependability analysis of energy systems, its formal semantics has not been systematically treated. To date, BDMPs are defined as a library of the domain-specific dependability-modelling language Figaro, a library that is neither open source nor publicly available. A rigorous semantic underpinning of BDMPs is indispensable for (1) developing BDMP analysis tools and (2) comparing its expressive power to other related reliability modelling languages. This paper presents a formal semantics to BDMPs using Markov automata (MA), an extension of continuous-time Markov chains (CTMCs) with action transitions that can be used to compose complex MA from smaller MA. This enables us to provide a compositional semantics. That is, we express the semantics of each individual BDMP element as an MA and obtain the MA for the entire BDMP by combining the MA of its elements. This makes the semantics comprehensible, for those who are familiar with automata theory, and easily extensible with new BDMP elements, e.g., to model security aspects. After the entire BDMP is considered, the actions in its MA that were used to "glue" the MA of BDMP elements, are ignored. This results in a CTMC that is amenable to exact numerical analysis by, e.g., efficient probabilistic model-checking techniques. We report on a prototypical implementation of our semantics and empirically show that our semantics yields dependability metrics that correspond to the interpretation by the Figaro knowledge base of BDMPs.

Most modern urban areas strive to realize a sustainable and smart urban mobility system. In the Republic of Croatia, no study has provided an analysis of the state of urban mobility therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to determine the level of smart urban mobility in the cities of the Republic of Croatia. Based on the indicators provided by ISO standards (ISO 37120:2018 and ISO 37122:2019), the state of smart urban mobility in the Republic of Croatia was evaluated and a comparative analysis of small, medium-sized, and large cities was conducted. Moreover, correlations were found between individual indicators, within the categories of small, medium, and large cities, to determine whether there is a connection between individual indicators. The obtained results show that the state of smart urban mobility in the territory of the Republic of Croatia is at a very low level. The highest level of smart urban mobility was achieved by large cities, but it was not significantly different from the level in small and medium-sized cities. The correlation between the indicators also highlights the strong links between individual elements in the city. Therefore, to achieve smart urban mobility, it is necessary to manage all elements in an integrated manner.

The escalation of ground-level ozone (O3) pollution presents a significant challenge to the sustainable growth of Chinese cities. This study utilizes advanced machine learning algorithms to investigate the intricate interplay between urban socioeconomic growth and O3 levels. Surpassing traditional environmental chemistry, it assesses the effectiveness of these algorithms in interpreting socioeconomic and environmental data, while elucidating urban development's environmental impacts from a novel socioeconomic perspective. Key findings indicate that factors such as urban infrastructure, industrial activities, and demographic dynamics significantly influence O3 pollution. The study highlights the particular sensitivity of urban public transportation and population density, each exerting a unique and substantial effect on O3 levels. Additionally, the research identifies nuanced interactions among these factors, indicating a complex web of influences on urban O3 pollution. These interactions suggest that the impact of individual socioeconomic elements on O3 pollution is interdependent, being either amplified or mitigated by other factors. The study emphasizes the crucial need to integrate socioeconomic variables into urban O3 pollution strategies, advocating for policies tailored to each city's distinct characteristics, informed by the detailed analysis provided by machine learning. This approach is essential for developing effective and nuanced urban pollution management strategies.

The aim of this study was to assess the potential health risks of radioactive elements and heavy metals ingested through the consumption of various types of tea imported to the Polish market (black, green, red, oolong and white). The concentrations [Bq/kg] of radionuclides (40K, 137Cs, 226Ra, 210Pb and 228Th) in tea leaves before and after brewing were measured using γ-ray spectrometry with high-purity germanium (HPGe). The concentrations [mg/kg] of the studied elements (Fe, Cr, Cu, Mo, Al, Mn, Ni, P, V, Cd and Pb) were determined using a microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometer (MIP-OES). The results presented here will help to expand the database of heavy metals and radioactivity in teas. With regard to the potential health risk, the percentage of leaching of individual elements in different types of tea infusions was determined, and the assessment of the consumption risk was estimated. Since the calculated exposure factors, namely the HQ (Hazard Quotient) and THQ (Target Hazard Quotient), do not exceed critical levels, teas can still be considered health-beneficial products (most of the radionuclides as well as elements remain in the leaves (65-80%) after brewing).

Maintenance planning plays a key role in power system operations under uncertainty as it helps providers and operators ensure a reliable and secure power grid. This paper studies a short-term condition-based integrated maintenance planning with operations scheduling problem while considering the possible unexpected failure of generators as well as transmission lines. We formulate this problem as a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer program with failure scenarios sampled from the sensor-driven remaining lifetime distributions of the individual system elements whereas a joint chance constraint consisting of Poisson Binomial random variables is introduced to account for failure risks. Because of its intractability, we develop a cutting-plane method to obtain an exact reformulation of the joint chance constraint by proposing a separation subroutine and deriving stronger cuts as part of this procedure. We also derive a second-order cone programming-based safe approximation of this constraint to solve large-scale instances. Furthermore, we propose a decomposition algorithm implemented in parallel fashion for solving the resulting stochastic program, which exploits the features of the integer L-shaped method and the special structure of the maintenance and operations scheduling problem to derive valid and stronger sets of optimality cuts. We further present preprocessing steps over transmission line flow constraints to identify redundancies. To illustrate the computational performance and efficiency of our algorithm compared with more conventional maintenance approaches, we design a computational study focusing on a weekly plan with daily maintenance and hourly operational decisions involving detailed unit commitment subproblems. Our computational results on various IEEE instances demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed approach with reliable and cost-effective maintenance and operational schedules. History: Accepted by Andrea Lodi, Area Editor for Design & Analysis of Algorithms—Discrete. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/ijoc.2022.0154 .

Semi-flexible pavement (SFP) material is a composite comprising cement, coarse aggregates and asphalt mortar, which has complex mechanical properties. Traditional experimental methods struggle to accurately quantify the effect of each phase and their interfaces on the SFP's mechanical properties. Micromechanical modelling based on finite element method offers a promising solution. In this study, a new micromechanical model for SFP is proposed, idealizing the material by representative volume elements. SFP mesostructure is represented as a simplified five element composite consisting of cement, asphalt mortar, aggregate, pore and cement-asphalt mortar interface. Periodic boundary conditions are used to simulate an infinite repetitive structure within a finite computational domain. The resulting model allows evaluating the stiffness and damage resistance of SFP in a computationally efficient manner. This model is utilized to explore the mechanical properties of SFPs and the results are compared with the experimental findings. The results show that the model captures the uniaxial compressive strength and stiffness for all materials examined. The model is further used to evaluate the effect of properties of individual elements of SFP on its stiffness and strength. The feasibility of using the proposed modelling approach to optimize the material design of SFP is discussed.

Mechanical alloying of AlCoCrFe and AlCoCrFeNi: Design and experimental evaluation of medium- and high-entropy alloy particles for cold spraying

The PCA correction method consists of a global analysis of turn-by-turn data obtained from beam position monitors (BPMs). One of its main advantages is speed of operation and the ability to detect pulsating power supplies. Along with this, a wide range of applications characterizes the PCA method: determination of perturbations of the accelerator magnetic structure, calculation of transport matrix elements and optical functions, and determination of the magnitude of the transverse coupling. A software prototype implementing the proposed correction method was written and tested on the electron-positron collider VEPP-4M for experimental validation. In the experiments, perturbations were introduced one by one into individual elements of the skew-quadrupole and quadrupole corrections. In one case, the excitation of betatron oscillations was carried out by the kick of the inflector. In another case, the oscillations were excited by resonant swing with a depolariser. It was found that, despite the simplicity of practical implementation, the examined method has some nuances that make it difficult to obtain and identify correct results. Nevertheless, it was possible to identify the introduced perturbations of quadrupole and skew-quadrupole corrections. Moreover, it was possible to detect a magnet with low-frequency pulsations by characteristic changes in the estimated invariants. In addition, the possibility of determining the integral coupling parameters in experiments on the observation of resonantly excited eigen modes having the shape of ellipses in the plane transverse to the beam motion axis is considered.

Extracting rare earth elements (REEs) from wastewater is essential for the growth and an eco-friendly sustainable economy. However, it is a daunting challenge to separate individual rare earth elements by their subtle differences. To overcome this difficulty, we report a unique REE nanotrap that features dense uncoordinated carboxyl groups and triazole N atoms in a two-fold interpenetrated metal-organic framework (named NCU-1). Notably, the synergistic effect of suitable pore sizes and REE nanotraps in NCU-1 is highly responsive to the size variation of rare-earth ions and shows high selectivity toward light REE. As a proof of concept, Pr/Lu and Nd/Er are used as binary models, which give a high separation factor of SFPr/Lu = 796 and SFNd/Er = 273, demonstrating highly efficient separation over a single step. This ability achieves efficient and selective extraction and separation of REEs from mine tailings, establishing this platform as an important advance for sustainable obtaining high-purity REEs.

This paper presents the demonstration of underwater thermoacoustic (TA) sound generation using three-dimensional graphene (3D-C). 3D-C is able to interface with water as the immediate acoustic medium, resulting in reduced attenuation across solid packaging encapsulation due to favorable acoustic impedance matching. This is shown using array configurations of 2*2 and 4*4 individual 3D-C elements prepared onto printed circuit boards and secured within a watertight cuboid Delrin container with deionized water. Comparisons of underwater acoustic performance between internal medium of water and air shows significant improvement in measured sound pressure level (SPL) with internal water medium, in contrast with internal air medium where SPL were below noise floor. This demonstration opens up new possibilities of 3D-C for underwater acoustic applications. Simulations are conducted using 3D finite element model generated with COMSOL Multiphysics and validated with experimental results. A revised formulation of transmission voltage response (TVR) specific to TA sound generation is proposed due to the difference in power scaling of TA sound generation and subsequently validated using simulation.

The article analyzes expressive ways of creating new lexical units. The material consists of contexts of various contents extracted from the open resources of the Telegram messenger in the space of 2021–2023. Research methods and techniques include continuous sampling, the descriptive method with elements of interpretive analysis, word-formation analysis. New nominations formed with the help of contamination have been identified. Such word-forming neologisms are used to create a comic effect. The contaminated innovations that participate in the strategy of discrediting Orthodoxy are analyzed. New lexical units indicate a low communicative competence of the addresser. Tmesis nominations are characterized. It is proved that these media innovations have a special expressiveness, attract the user’s attention. The new nominations that have arisen as a result of the inter-word overlap are considered. It is confirmed that media innovations created with the help of inter-word overlay express evaluation and are a means of language play. The new nominations formed as a result of graphixation and its varieties are analyzed. Graphic hybrids participate in the creation of intentional ambiguity, express an individual element, stimulate the imagination of readers. New lexical units based on precedent phenomena are registered. It is established that such new nominations attract the attention of the addressee, disrupt predictability, enhance the expressiveness of the title. Such media innovations are noted, which have expletive and obscene lexemes in their structures as derivational bases. Aggressive nominations cause users to backlash, to violate ethical norms of speech behavior. The results of this paper may be of interest to teachers, students, cadets, as well as to anyone interested in active processes in the field of word formation.

Relevance. For the manufacture of high-quality pasta, durum wheat grain is used. Improving the productivity of hard spring wheat is an urgent task. The formation of a powerful root system is the key to the full supply of nutrients and plastic substances to the plant. Increased productivity, the number of spikebearing shoots. Plants become more resistant to adverse environmental factors, which is important for spring durum wheat, which is more demanding than spring soft wheat. The timing of sowing and especially the application of mineral fertilizers are a significant factor affecting not only the formation of individual elements of the crop structure, which subsequently form the productivity of plants, but also the formation of the root system. To do this, it is necessary to choose the optimal sowing time, at which the critical phases of plant development fall under the most favorable agrometeorological conditions and the formation of the most powerful root system.Results. The conducted studies allow us to recommend the most optimal terms of sowing and the use of fertilizers to ensure the efficiency of growing durum spring wheat. In dry conditions, when sowing crops without applying fertilizers, sowing in the second ten days of May is most effective. If it is possible to apply nitrogen fertilizers and nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers, it is better to sow durum spring wheat in the second and third decades of May.

Triggering efficient Mn active centers by tuning the localized Sr2+ sites in high-entropy ABO3 oxygen electrocatalysis

Visual pollution refers to the negative impact of various environmental elements on the visual experience of individuals and the quality of the surroundings. This includes unsightly buildings and other man-made structures that disrupt natural beauty. The design of building facades plays a significant role in determining visual pollution. This study aimed to assess the impact of facade design on visual pollution by testing which facade design considerations most contribute to visual pollution in Peshawa-Qazi Street (100 m) in Erbil City. An online survey was conducted with 283 participants in six architectural departments within engineering colleges and other online engineering platforms in Erbil, Duhok, and Suleimani. Respondents included architectural students from the 3rd to 5th stage, academic staff, and professional architects. They rated the impact of individual facade elements, contextual integration, and other factors on visual pollution. A one-sample T-test was used to compare mean scores to a test value of (2.5). Results showed that all three categories of façade design considerations significantly increase visual pollution compared to the test value (p < 0.05). Considerations regarding the overall context of a facade had the most significant impact (mean of 1.93 higher than the test value), followed by other factors (mean of 1.79 higher) and individual elements (mean of 0.71 higher). To decrease visual pollution, it is recommended to the policymakers and municipalities to develop regulations, façade design guidelines and for architects to follow the principles of architectural form and composition regarding the integration of building facades with their surroundings, façade practical considerations, and refined composition of façade elements.

The application of age progression to the search for missing persons demonstrates its usefulness in being able to reconstruct the aged face based on the current age of a person who has been missing for many years. Age progression takes into account facial physiognomic elements and their changes over time. Based on these premises, the present study aims to investigate the evolution of somatic features, from childhood to adulthood, of one of the authors' father using photos at different ages of him.Sixteen photos were collected depicting an individual of Italian origin between the age of 1 and 72. The photos were processed in Adobe© Photoshop software to graphically highlight the shape development of individual physiognomic elements. The shape of the face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks were analysed in detail using a morphological approach. The ageing processes that occurred in this case were discussed on the basis of the literature.The present study demonstrates the in-depth analysis of the dynamics of facial growth in a single case. Nonetheless, aging is different for each individual, so further studies are necessary to observe facial development on as many subjects as possible.