Informal Model Research Articles

The Benefits of Hierarchical Ecosystem Models: Demonstration Using EcoState, a New State‐Space Mass‐Balance Model

ABSTRACTEcosystem models predict changes in productivity and status for multiple species, and are important for incorporating climate‐linked dynamics in ecosystem‐based fisheries management. However, fishery regulations are primarily informed by single‐species stock assessment models, which estimate unexplained variation in dynamics (e.g., recruitment, survival, fishery selectivity, etc) using random effects. We review the general benefits of estimating random effects in ecosystem models: (1) better representing biomass cycles and trends for focal species; (2) conditioning interactions upon observed biomass for predators and prey; (3) easier replication of model results using formal estimation rather than informal model “tuning;” and (4) attributing process errors via comparison amongst different models. We then demonstrate these by introducing a new state‐space model EcoState (and associated R‐package) that extends mass balance dynamics from Ecopath with Ecosim. This model estimates mass balance (Ecopath) and time‐dynamics (Ecosim) parameters directly via their fit to time‐series data (biomass indices and fisheries catches) while also estimating the magnitude of process errors using RTMB. A real‐world application involving Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) in the eastern Bering Sea suggests that fluctuations in krill consumption are associated with cycles of increased and decreased pollock production. A self‐test simulation experiment confirms that estimating process errors can improve estimates of productivity (growth and mortality) rates. Overall, we show that state‐space mass‐balance models can be fitted to time‐series data (similar to surplus‐production stock assessment models), and can attribute time‐varying productivity to both bottom‐up and top‐down drivers including the contribution of individual predator and prey interactions.

Asymmetric arms races between predators and prey: a tug of war between the life-dinner principle and the rare-enemy principle.

Antagonistic co-evolution can be asymmetric, where one species lags behind another. Asymmetry in a predator-prey context is expressed by the 'life-dinner principle', a classic informal model predicting that prey should be in some sense ahead in this arms race, since prey are running for their lives, while predators lag as they only run for their dinner. The model has undergone surprisingly little theoretical scrutiny. We derive analytical models that show coevolutionary outcomes do not always align with the life-dinner principle. Our results show that other important asymmetries can easily reverse the outcome, especially the rare-enemy principle: predators are usually outnumbered by their prey, sometimes substantially (trophic asymmetry), which can make selection on prey relatively weak. We additionally show that the antagonists typically exhibit different evolutionary responses to a situation where both predator and prey start out as equally fast runners. Although predators sometimes become so efficient that attacks always succeed, attack success often reaches a stable intermediate value. We conclude that the life-dinner principle has some validity as a metaphor, but its effect is of an 'all else being equal' type, which is surprisingly easily overridden by other features of the evolutionary dynamics.

Understanding the dynamics of national business culture: a stationarity analysis for the case of South Korea

ABSTRACT Understanding national business culture – and its subsequent influence on organizational practice – continues to draw scholarly attention. However, being drawn primarily from static, comparative taxonomies, existing research cannot adequately explain and predict the process of cultural evolution (e.g. towards convergence, divergence, or crossvergence). In addressing this caveat, this paper proposes a novel way of understanding changing national business culture using stationarity analysis based on shifting frequency, sentiment, and meanings of representative key terms. Using the big data keywords collected from the Maekyung Daily published over three decades (1991–2021) in Korea, our findings show that cultural changes can be measured based on the four dimensions of ‘conscious vs. unconscious’ on the one hand and ‘political vs. economic’ on the other. Further, we show how the economic and the unconscious dimensions have changed more rapidly than the political and the conscious, reflecting an informal model of cultural changes. We then discuss the practical implications of these findings for MNEs in the cross-border design and implementation of strategy, policy, and process, providing valuable insights for their operations in diverse cultural contexts.

An Exploration of Spatial Visualization Skills: Investigating Students' Use of 3D Models in Science Problems during Think-Aloud Interviews.

Effective spatial visualization and reasoning skills are often credited for students' success in science and engineering courses. However, students enrolled in these science courses are not always exposed to or trained properly on the best ways to utilize models to aid in their learning. Improving spatial visualization techniques with 3D models, such as molecular and DNA modeling kits, is often suggested to facilitate students' ability to conceptualize compounds in two and three dimensions. Here, we investigate what techniques students use to conceptualize 2D representations of various biomolecules with the use of 3D models by interviewing undergraduate students from various natural science and engineering disciplines in task-based, think-aloud sessions. After scoring and analyzing the participant data we explored some of the techniques used among successful scoring participants, including the use of informal models to transition between 2D and 3D. Additional techniques used by students who were able to successfully conceptualize 3D images included starting with smaller, granular details to inductively make conclusions when thinking between two and three dimensions. We find that (1) students who anchor their thinking in 3D models show a deeper level of understanding in initially solving science problems successfully, and (2) proper 3D model use and spatial visualization techniques may improve students' abilities to accurately visualize 2D and 3D representations of molecules in science courses. Our results demonstrate that implementing spatial visualization training to teach students how to effectively use 3D models may improve students' problem-solving techniques in science curricula.

Legal security of mediation in Ukraine: shortcomings and prospects for improvement through the prism of the experience of the countries of the European Union

In the content of the article, the author investigated the peculiarities of the legal provision of mediation in Ukraine and the countries of the European Union. Despite the fact that today in legal science, a significant body of scientific works has been formed, which relate to certain aspects of mediation, it is worth noting that the issue of legal support for mediation in Ukraine has not been properly studied scientifically. Modern studies of the legal provision of mediation are especially relevant, given the high degree of its variability in Ukraine. On the basis of a critical analysis of the provisions of Ukrainian legislation in the field of mediation, its shortcomings and prospects for improvement were determined. The following are noted as shortcomings of the legal provision of mediation in Ukraine: a) the absence of provisions that would regulate the issues of mediation procedures, in particular before submitting an appeal to the court, during court proceedings, as well as during the execution of a court decision, etc.; b) inconsistency of its categorical and conceptual apparatus with established legislative terminology (for example, the terms "conflict” and "dispute”); c) inaccuracy of the legal provision of mediation principles; d) superficial, too general regulation of the mediation process itself; e) failure to take into account the European standard of mediation transparency, etc. The analysis of the peculiarities of the legal provision of the EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Austria, etc.) made it possible to substantiate the prospects for improving the legal provision of mediation in Ukraine. It is summarized that the Ukrainian legislation has experienced legal transformations in the field of mediation, moving from the least effective and least reliable informal model to a specialized model by adopting the framework Law of Ukraine "On Mediation”. In our opinion, the most effective model of legal support for mediation is the specialized model chosen by Ukraine, which, among other things, should be complemented by effective mechanisms of self-regulation of this legal activity through the development and application of acts of the so-called "unofficial law” adopted by professional associations of mediators. The combination of the legal regulation of mediation in Ukraine was noted: a) the typicality of the law "On Mediation”, which established the legal foundation of mediation and regulated the most general and important issues in this area; b) self-regulating mechanisms of mediation, designed to ensure a quick response to the dynamic development of mediation and relations where it should be applied.

Strategies for solving multiplicative problems using a conceptual model-based problem-solving approach. A case study with a student with autism spectrum disorder

This study examines the multiplicative problem-solving strategies used by a 14-year-old student with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities during an instructional process based on the Conceptual Model-based Problem Solving (COMPS) approach. The instruction aimed to enhance conceptual comprehension of problem-solving by the use of model diagrams representing mathematical relations involved in word problems. These diagrams aid in selecting the appropriate operation for each type of multiplicative problem, including equal-groups, multiplicative comparison, and combination problems. We further discuss how the instructional process promoted conceptual understanding for the three problem types, highlighting the development of strategies (modeling, counting, and operations) and the pivotal role of the COMPS methodology components in this progression. The results indicate that the student adeptly adopted the COMPS approach, facilitating the transition from informal modeling to written operations, with his choice of strategies varying depending on the type of problem. While there was a higher utilization of modeling strategies in equal-groups and combination problems, modeling was not as frequently employed in comparison problems. We speculate how this differentiated strategy preference could be associated with certain characteristics of the disorder.

The Use of Sensors in Complement to Industry 4.0 Technologies to Optimize Production Operations An analysis of the industry technologies and model for their relations with optimized production

Industry 4.0 is the revolution of the industry where all machines and their systems are combined together through complex networks in order to achieve higher degree of machine autonomy. Now there are 9 major technological advancements that marks i4.0’s advent. Out of these, 3 (Sensor, AI, AR/VR) have been taken as the most easily industry assimilable and thus their influence on the efficiency of manufacturing industry has been studied in the paper and an Informal model has been presented showing how they positively effect lean production in a modern industry and how their complexity cost and Advancements have a moderating impact on the industry and lean production. Keywords: Industry 4.0, AR and VR, AI, Sensors, Lean Automation, Lean Optimization, Cyber-Physical systems

Совершенствование профессиональных компетенций преподавателя иностранного языка в условиях непрерывного педагогического образования

Pedagogy is currently a priority area of Russian higher education. The authors analyzed research publications, regulatory documents, and international foreign language assessment standards to determine professional competencies of a foreign language teacher. Pedagogical qualifications were studied in the context of pedagogical education as a structure. Any complete level of pedagogical education allows for professional activity; however, each level has a different pedagogical trajectory. Bachelor’s degree is the basic level of teacher education while Master’s degree provides a universal pedagogical trajectory for any education level. Competence is defined as a set of competencies that allow the teacher to organize an effective academic process. Pedagogical competence is a combination of professional and methodological competencies, which are of utmost importance for any teacher. The article introduces a number of ways to improve these competencies in line with formal and informal models. For a foreign language teacher, foreign language communication is the core competence. Its improvement is effective if it follows the system of international exams, e.g., the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages. Higher pedagogical education provides a foundation for continuous professional development in an informal learning model, i.e., advanced training programs based on international exams.

Informal coordination of care in Praktyka Lekarza Rodzinnego (PHC facility)- the auto-ethnographic study on building the theoretical model of integrated care based on grassroots initiative

Since the adoption of the 2017 bill on primary health care (PHC) introducing a model of integrated care in PHC in Poland, family doctors have been obliged to coordinate the care and to manage the PHC teams. Till now only a small number of PHC facilities decided to conclude contracts on coordinated care with National Health Fund (NHF). There are serious reservations over rural and remote PHC facilities' capabilities to meet all the NHF's criteria regarding coordinated care. This auto-ethnographic study presenting the case of a family doctor in remote area in lubuskie voivodeship shows that mechanisms and models of integrated care are rooted in the primal idea of family medicine and may be successfully adopted and developed aside legally imposed solutions. These mechanisms create a specific grass-rooted system of organising the process of delivering care which is called informal coordination. The study presents the theoretical framework of informal model of integrated care based on 5 principles guaranteeing achieving the two most important goals of coordinated care: its complexity and continuity. It has been conducted as a participatory observation in PHC facility with active involvement of PHC facility's staff members. As long as there is still enough space in healthcare systems for new initiatives regarding coordination of care and new solutions are being developed, this perspective may be valuable for international audiences. The results will serve to develop alternative theoretical model of coordinated care which my be found useful in small, individual, self-sufficient facilities. 

FORMATION OF BUSINESS EDUCATION IN INDEPENDENT UKRAINE: CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM

The article analyses the concept of "business education" during its formation period in independent Ukraine for the purpose of establishing a scientifically grounded definition. The availability of scientific research on the problem of business education in economics or management and their actual lack in pedagogy is noted. The traditional and modern models of business education in the world practice are analyzed, which also affects the definition of the concept. The conclusion that the definition of business education depends on the basic scientific approaches is made. The approaches are: andragogical (business education is considered as a necessary component of lifelong learning), institutional (this type of educational services is defined as a social educational institution with a different ratio of formal and informal components depending on a specific public demand), pedagogical (business education is defined as a type of educational services and economic education provided under educational programmes (formal model) or without relevant licensed educational programmes (non-formal model) in a traditional or innovative form). The article analyses the specifics of the interpretation of the concept of business education within different scientific paradigms – axiological (business education as a system of personal values), procedural (as a learning process in a formal or informal model), target (as a result of obtaining a set of knowledge, skills and soft skills in the learning process), systemic (as a systemic formation with a corresponding set of components). The definition of business education is based on scientific definitions of the concept of education, highlighting the specific properties of business as a scope of knowledge, skills and personal characteristics. On the basis of the carried out categorical and conceptual analysis, the author formulates a definition of business education as a process and result of providing educational services of formal or non-formal type (in the form of a traditional or modern model) within specially created educational institutions under licensed foreign or national educational programs, with the corresponding educational degrees recognized by Ukraine.

Improving National Digital Identity Systems Usage: Human-Centric Cybersecurity Survey

ABSTRACT National digital identity systems (NDIDs) are increasingly important for users’ authentication and secure access to e-government services. However, there is insufficient research on human-centric cybersecurity (HCCS) that impacts the use of NDIDs. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior and technical formal informal model, this paper proposes and validates a research model that depicts how HCCS affect the use of NDIDs. Data were collected from 203 Australian residents and analyzed using structural equation modeling and multiple linear regression analysis. The findings revealed that security, privacy, perceived risk, usability, flexibility, and cultural and social interference significantly impact the use of NDIDs. Considering HCCS in NDIDs usage, especially in risk-conscious cultures, is crucial. Low cybersecurity awareness and trust impede NDIDs adoption, emphasizing the need for cybersecurity education and awareness. The insights benefit policymakers, governments, and cybersecurity practitioners, providing a valuable understanding of human-centric cybersecurity influence on the use of NDIDs.

Toward a Secure Smart-Home IoT Access Control Scheme Based on Home Registration Approach

The extensive application of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence technology has greatly promoted the construction and development of smart cities. Smart home as the foundation of smart cities can optimize home lifestyles. However, users access the smart home system through public channels, and the transmitted information is vulnerable to attack by attackers, and the privacy and data security of the home user will be difficult to be guaranteed. Therefore, how to protect users’ data and privacy security becomes critical. In this paper, we design a provably secure authentication scheme for the smart home environment, which ensures that only legitimate users can use smart devices. We use the informal model to verify the security of the scheme and formally analyze the security and correctness of the scheme through the Real or Random model. Finally, through the comparison of security and performance analysis, it is proven that our scheme has higher security under similar performance.

Discovering hybrid process models with bounds on time and complexity: When to be formal and when not?

Discovering process models from event data is a highly relevant, but also a notoriously difficult, problem. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the biggest share of process mining research is devoted to process discovery. While techniques reported in scientific literature tend to produce process models that are formal, i.e., which mathematically describe the possible behaviors, commercial process mining tools return informal models (merely a “picture” not allowing for any form of formal reasoning). Hybrid process models aim at combining the best of both worlds: they capture behavior that is strongly supported by data and that can be used for formal reasoning, as well as behavior that cannot be represented in clear-cut process constructs or that does not have enough evidence in the data. This paper presents an approach for discovering hybrid Petri nets, which, unlike existing techniques, produces models that have both formal and semi-formal constructs so that even if the behavior in the data is noisy and irregular or it does not fit predefined constructs, causal relationships are still captured. Our evaluation demonstrates the advantages of combining such “deliberate vagueness” with formal guarantees. The ideas presented here are fairly general, and can serve as a foundation for other, new hybrid discovery techniques.

Организационные модели контрактного фермерского производства

One of the disadvantages of traditional approaches to stimulating entrepreneurial activity in agriculture is the unresolved issue related to the sale of products, which limits the sustainable development of small businesses in this area. The strategy of contract production can become an effective tool for solving the issue of product sales. . It allows businesses to focus on their core competencies, manufacturing and improving the quality of their products. The article discusses three main models of contract farming depending on the supplier of resources. These models are universal for different markets and regions. Alternative models of contract farming are also presented, such as: centralized, a model with a main field, a multilateral model, an informal model, and an intermediary model. The organizational mechanism of interaction in each of them is determined. Based on the results of the analysis of foreign and Russian contract companies, the peculiarities in their business models are highlighted. The specific features of the contract agreement between farmers and the customer company are indicated. A list of advantages and disadvantages of contractual relations has been compiled for both the farmer and the customer.

Soviet stadium as a space of competition of official and informal models of behavior on the example of Kyiv (1950–1980)

The article considers the peculiarities of the strategies of behavior of fans in Soviet stadiums in the postwar period. On the example of the city of Kyiv and the “Republican” stadium, an analysis of the competition between officially permitted, acceptable models of behavior and alternatives to them, which took place during football matches, is conducted. The Soviet stadium during football matches was a kind of point of “inaccessibility” for the authorities. Watching matches at the stadium was accompanied by a more intense public display of emotions, in contrast to other sports spectacles (for example, a physical culture parade).Before the start of «perebudova» and the announcement of “glasnist”, the official press kept silent about the real situation in the stadiums and the scale of the conflicts that arose after the matches. Also, it ignored any unusual forms of manifestation by fans of their football-related identity (for example, a march of spectators through the city after the match). Violence in stadiums, “incorrect behavior” (such as insulting football players, songs with obscene language) could not be part of the official Soviet spectator culture. The deconstruction of the image of the “good” fan created by Soviet propaganda and its comparison with the materials of oral historical interviews leads to the conclusion that the practices of Soviet fans in and out of the stadium on the day of the match undermined the government’s monopoly on the city.The widespread popularity of football in the Soviet Union and its widespread discussion contributed to the construction of fan communities, the identity of which was formed by opposing the support of “our” against “foreign”, hostile teams. The principled nature of football matches for interested Soviet citizens turned the review of games at the stadium into a place of emotional demonstration of the fans’ identity. Violations of public order, collective “celebrations” or demonstrations of dissatisfaction with the results of the game, spontaneous marches from the stadium after the match became part of the unconscious resistance to the established models of “correct behavior”.The context of “perebudova”, the lack of prepared reaction of law enforcement officers led to the escalation of the conflict and, in fact, to the actual and symbolic appropriation of urban space by Kyiv fans during the clashes.

Taste perceptual circuit for the generation of autonomous responses in virtual creatures

BraLearning is one of the most complex cognitive processes that living beings have. This process is distributed within the brain and each independent cognitive function contributes to a small or large extent to it. Particularly, affective learning is a process that allows us to identify stimuli in the environment and discriminate them based on our tastes or preferences. Within this work we will address a type of affective evaluation generated by the perceptual circuit of taste that allows us to determine flavors from the environment and how this information becomes part of the perceptual affective evaluation. We will start this work by identifying other computational works that address affective processes oriented to taste or that involve some other affective evaluation. Subsequently, we analyze of neuroscientific information that allows us to build an informal model of the perceptual circuit of taste. Finally, we propose a cognitive architecture for the generation of autonomous responses oriented to taste in virtual creatures and we will demonstrate its functionality through an implementation of this model in some case studies through distributed modules and discuss the results obtained.

Adversarial Formal Semantics of Attack Trees and Related Problems

Security is a subject of increasing attention in our actual society in order to protect critical resources from information disclosure, theft or damage. The informal model of attack trees introduced by Schneier, and widespread in the industry, is advocated in the 2008 NATO report to govern the evaluation of the threat in risk analysis. Attack-defense trees have since been the subject of many theoretical works addressing different formal approaches. In 2017, M. Audinot et al. introduced a path semantics over a transition system for attack trees. Inspired by the later, we propose a two-player interpretation of the attack-tree formalism. To do so, we replace transition systems by concurrent game arenas and our associated semantics consist of strategies. We then show that the emptiness problem, known to be NP-complete for the path semantics, is now PSPACE-complete. Additionally, we show that the membership problem is coNP-complete for our two-player interpretation while it collapses to P in the path semantics.

STATUS AND PECULIARITIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF NON-FORMAL AND INFORMAL EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

The article reveals trends in organizing educational process on the principles of formal, non-formal and informal models. Nowadays non-formal and informal education is becoming relevant. Unlike formal education, these forms are free from strict rules and regulations, can satisfy educational needs of citizens to a greater extent, regardless of their age, gender, educational level. They also expand professional competences, realizing the most important human need for impressions, for personal development, which leads to professional growth of a person. The article substantiates the idea that non-formal and informal models of education are available to people of all ages, are important part of socialization of a person, help master new social roles, contribute to spiritual development.
 During the study, interest and preferences in various forms of adult education were revealed. The article touches upon the issues of evaluation, recognition and certification (accreditation) of the results of non-formal and informal education in Armenia. The obtained results show that interest in various forms of adult education is growing both from science and from practitioners, especially in the era of information society. Recognized results may be a sufficient condition to enter the labor market, realize a particular job or occupation.

Non-Spatial Data and Modelling Multiscale Systems in Archaeology

Abstract This article discusses the multiscale nature of modelling in archaeology and its relationship with higher-level spatial analysis. The application and purpose of modelling in archaeology is as varied as the multidisciplinary field itself. With the increasing integration of geographical information systems (GIS) and other digital methods into the archaeological workflow, both new opportunities and potential pitfalls present themselves. The struggle of balancing informal inferences of human behaviour in a formal system, such as GIS, has been the subject of much discussion, as well as the questioning of whether some modelling tasks would be better suited for implementation outside the GIS environment. Higher-level spatial analysis is dependent on a number of lower-level models, each building on the other, inheriting both information and uncertainties. These nuances can be difficult to demonstrate clearly once they have been incorporated into another model, potentially obscured further when restricted by the “geographical space” that is central to GIS. Rather than forcing informal models into a formal environment, an alternative would be to opt instead for the visualization of these within the more flexible “variable space,” where the data are front and centre, and spatial and temporal concepts can function as a means of explaining patterns in the model. This article discusses aspects of the challenges and opportunities involved in these types of analysis and provides examples of alternate approaches that could be considered non-spatial.

The Heresy of Didactic Art

The Heresy of Didactic Art