Main Core Research Articles

AFA–Mamba: Adaptive Feature Alignment with Global–Local Mamba for Hyperspectral and LiDAR Data Classification

The joint classification of hyperspectral imagery (HSI) and LiDAR data is an important task in the field of remote sensing image interpretation. Traditional classification methods, such as support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), have difficulty capturing the complex spectral–spatial–elevation correlation information. Recently, important progress has been made in HSI-LiDAR classification using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Transformers. However, due to the large spatial extent of remote sensing images, the vanilla Transformer and CNNs struggle to effectively capture global context. Moreover, the weak misalignment between multi-source data poses challenges for their effective fusion. In this paper, we introduce AFA–Mamba, an Adaptive Feature Alignment Network with a Global–Local Mamba design that achieves accurate land cover classification. It contains two main core designs: (1) We first propose a Global–Local Mamba encoder, which effectively models context through a 2D selective scanning mechanism while introducing local bias to enhance the spatial features of local objects. (2) We also propose an SSE Adaptive Alignment and Fusion (A2F) module to adaptively adjust the relative positions between multi-source features. This module establishes a guided subspace to accurately estimate feature-level offsets, enabling optimal fusion. As a result, our AFA–Mamba consistently outperforms state-of-the-art multi-source fusion classification approaches across multiple datasets.

The impact of the filling technique with two sealers in bulk or associated with gutta-percha on the fatigue behavior and failure patterns of endodontically treated teeth.

The present in vitro study aimed to evaluate the fatigue behavior of teeth filled with a calcium silicate-based sealer (Bio-C Sealer, BC) or an epoxy resin-based sealer (AH Plus, AH), in bulk or associated with gutta-percha as main core material. Seventy-two sound human maxillary anterior teeth were initially selected. Sixty of them, were randomly chosen, and had their root canals prepared using nickel-titanium reciprocating instruments, being again randomly assigned to five experimental groups (n = 12): C+ (control + prepared but not filled); BC-B (BC in bulk); BC-GP (BC+ gutta-percha); AP-B (AH in bulk); AP-GP (AH+ gutta-percha). An additional negative control group (C-) was considered (n = 12), consisting only on sound teeth, without preparation and filling. The specimens were submitted to a survival analysis after the cyclic fatigue test. Sound teeth (C-) presented the best fatigue performance (P < 0.05), being similar only to the AP-GP group (P > 0.05). Despite that, all experimental groups showed similar fatigue behavior (P > 0.05) to C+ (BC-B = BC-GP = AP-B = AP-GP = C+). Based on that, it can be seen that the use of gutta-percha, as a main core material, associated with the AH Plus sealer, reestablished the mechanical fatigue performance of endodontically treated teeth comparable to sound teeth, still consisting on the most promising approach to rehabilitate such scenario. Teeth filled in bulk, had discreetly higher risk of premature failures and inferior fatigue performance.

Therapeutic mechanism and key active ingredients of Yinxing Mihuan Oral Solution in coronary heart disease comorbidity with anxiety: A network pharmacology and molecular docking approach.

Yinxing Mihuan Oral Solution (YMOS) is a Chinese patent medicine for treating coronary heart disease combined anxiety (CHDCA), but the molecular mechanism of its treatment is still unclear. This article aims to understand the molecular mechanism, optimize clinical drug use, and guide new drug development. Using the Swiss Target Prediction database, we obtained the main chemical composition of YMOS. Then we used network pharmacology to identify their potential targets. Network construction, coupled with protein-protein interaction and enrichment analysis was used to identify representative components and core targets. Finally, molecular docking simulation was conducted to further refine the drug-target interaction. Forty-two active chemicals were found in YMOS and 91 target genes related to CHDCA. The treatment effect was found to be associated with 1908 biological processes and 160 pathways, as revealed by the outcomes of the enrichment analysis. The potential therapeutic mechanisms of the drug are closely related to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and vascular function regulation pathways, and the main core targets include albumin, tumor necrosis factor, TP53, AKT serine/threonine kinase 1, interleukin 1 beta, and vascular endothelial growth factor A. The potential molecular mechanisms of YMOS in CHDCA treatment were identified using network pharmacology and molecular docking approaches. The results reveal the systemic biological implications of YMOS. This study has systematically uncovered the molecular mechanism of YMOS for the first time, offering fresh insights for evidence-based clinical applications.

Locus Coeruleus Is Associated with Higher Openness to Experience and IQ: Implications for the Noradrenergic System for Novelty Seeking in Daily Life.

Novelty exposure and the upregulation of the noradrenergic (NA) system have been suggested as crucial for developing cognitive reserve and resilience against neurodegeneration. Openness to experience (OE), a personality trait associated with interest in novel experiences, may play a key role in facilitating this process. High-OE individuals tend to be more curious and encounter a wider range of novel stimuli throughout their lifespan. To investigate the relationship between OE and the main core of the NA system, the locus coeruleus (LC), as well as its potential mediation of IQ-a measure of cognitive reserve-MRI structural analyses were conducted on 135 healthy young adults. Compared with other neuromodulators' seeds, such as dorsal and median raphe-5-HT, ventral tegmental area-DA-, and nucleus basalis of Meynert-Ach-, the results indicated that higher LC signal intensity correlated with greater OE and IQ. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that only the LC played a mediating role between OE and IQ. These findings shed light on the neurobiology of personality and emphasize the importance of LC-NA system integrity in a novelty-seeking behavior. They provide a psychobiological explanation for how OE expression can contribute to the maintenance of the NA system, enhancing cognitive reserve and resilience against neurodegeneration.

Effects of P-delta and spectral shape of ground motion records on strength reduction factor and inelastic displacement ratio of SDOF systems with deterioration

Force-based design, due to its usefulness and simplicity with reasonable accuracy, is the main core of current seismic design codes. In this method, the behavior factor and deflection amplification factor are major elements that play a key role in linking linear and nonlinear behavior. This article examines the strength reduction factor due to ductility (Rμ) and inelastic displacement ratio (Cμ), which are important parts of the codes coefficients, considering the spectral shape of ground motion records and the P-delta effect. The nonlinear response history analysis (NL-RHA) is conducted for an extensive range of single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems with different periods by categorizing the ground motion records based on ε, SaRatio, and Np. The most important emphasis of the paper, to which attention has not been paid previously, is to study the effect of spectral shape of ground motion records as an input excitation indicator and the P-delta effect as a structural parameter on strength reduction factor and inelastic displacement ratio of SDOF systems. In addition, the effects of some other structural parameters, including the ductility factor, deterioration, post-capping stiffness ratio on strength reduction factor and inelastic displacement ratio are evaluated. The results demonstrate that the values of Rμ and Cμ change by changing ε in the range of short periods than long periods. However, they vary more clearly with the change in SaRatio and Np. Furthermore, with the increase in θ-αs as an index of the P-delta effect, the system requires more design strength, and Cμ increases as well.

Journalism in the Digital World: The Confl ict of Institutional Logics

With the entry of humanity into the stage of digital development, all social institutions are undergoing profound changes. Journalism as an institution that arose as a result of information technology development in the XVI–XVII centuries, as a result of the digital revolution, is losing its dominant role in the new media space. The main core of the media system’s existence, its institutional nature, is undergoing signifi cant changes in the context of increasing technological convergence and the development of the economic phenomenon of platform capitalism. The appeal to the problem is actualized by the need for updates in substantiating the ontological and functional characteristics of the institutionality of journalism in the context of rapid digitalization of the social environment. The purpose of the article is to study journalism as a transforming social institution in a competitive institutional environment. The methodology of the article is based on a dialectical approach in understanding the current state of the Institute of journalism, considering the existing contradictions and collisions as a moment in progressive development. One of the methods of analysis chosen is the direction of institutionalism, which is relevant to the sphere of functioning of social institutions – institutional logic. The system-structural and system-functional methods are used as an analysis tool. The results of the study indicate the identifi ed ontological and functional changes in the state of the Institute of journalism. It is established that the loss of the status of a monopoly entity by journalism is caused not only by the impact of exogenous factors: a technological explosion, the emergence of new institutional and non-institutional subjects but also endogenous ones: structural changes, as well as a crisis of normative and value foundations. The novelty of the article is revealed in the understanding of journalism as a convergent ontological model, which forms the basis of its changing institutional status at the digital stage of its development. Keywords: journalism as a social institution, institutional approach, institutional and non-institutional subjects, institutional logic, media system, functional complex, digital platform

It Is Time to Take Complaints Seriously? An Exploratory Analysis of Communications Sent by Users to a Public Healthcare Agency before, during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

Taking due account of users’ perspectives is crucial for improving the quality of healthcare services. This study aimed to analyse the representations and evaluation criteria that users of a public health agency express towards care and treatment services and to explore whether and how the content and meaning of their communications varied according to pre-pandemic, pandemic or post-pandemic periods. A total of 501 communications sent to the public relations office of an Italian health agency were collected. An automatic content analysis procedure was applied to the textual corpus. Four main thematic cores were identified concerning the request for care and respect, the value of the doctor–patient relationship and the difficulties in contacting services and accessing care. Two main latent dimensions of meaning were identified, which capture the dialectic between the demand for relationships and the demand for access to care, and between attention to the relational competence of health workers and attention to the needs and rights of users. Communications collected during the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods mainly concern the difficulty of access to care; those collected during the pandemic period mainly concern the doctor–patient relationship. Interpersonal aspects and timely access to care appear to be crucial in users’ assessment of the quality of care.

Model optimization and mechanism analysis of two-stage ejector considering nonequilibrium condensation

Two-stage ejectors are widely used in multi-effect distillation and refrigeration systems owing to their vacuum and pressurization capabilities. However, most studies on two-stage ejectors are based on the dry-gas hypothesis, which neglects the universal physical phenomenon of condensation. A wet-steam model of two-stage ejectors is established and compared to the dry-gas model in this paper. Simulation results indicate that the proposed wet-steam model more accurately describes the performance and complex flow field characteristics of the two-stage ejector. Moreover, the nonequilibrium condensation mechanism of the fluid within the two-stage ejector under variable conditions is revealed. The results show that as the two-stage main nozzle pressure increases from 300 kPa to 550 kPa, the liquid mass fraction increases, and the droplet nucleation rate of the two stages decreases by 14.17 % and 13.14 %. When the first-stage actuating pressure is increased, the first-stage fluid restricts the expansion state of the second-stage main jet core and weakens the vapor condensation in the region of the shock chain. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrate that compared with the dry-gas model, the prediction error of entrainment ratio and the secondary flow obtained by the proposed model are reduced by 26.67 % and 43.04 %, respectively.

Exploring the therapeutic mechanism of Yuebi decoction on nephrotic syndrome based on network pharmacology and experimental study.

This study aimed to explore the material basis of YBD and its possible mechanisms against NS through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and in vivo experiment. Active ingredients and potential targets of YBD were obtained through TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction. NS-related targets were obtained from GeneCards, PharmGKB, and OMIM databases. The herb-ingredient-target network and PPI network were constructed by Cytoscape 3.9.1 and STRING database. GO and KEGG analyses were performed by DAVID database and ClueGO plugin. The connection between main active ingredients and core targets were revealed by molecular docking. To ascertain the effects and molecular mechanisms of YBD, a rat model was established by PAN. We collected 124 active ingredients, 269 drug targets, and 2089 disease targets. 119 overlapping were screened for subsequent analysis. PPI showed that AKT1, STAT3, TRPC6, CASP3, JUN, PPP3CA, IL6, PTGS2, VEGFA, and NFATC3 were potential therapeutic targets of YBD against NS. Through GO and KEGG analyses, it showed the therapeutic effect of YBD on NS was closely involved in the regulation of pathways related to podocyte injury, including AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications and MAPK signaling pathway. Five key bioactive ingredients of YBD had the good affinity with the core targets. the experiment confirmed the renoprotective effects of YBD through reducing podocyte injury. Furthermore, YBD could downregulate expressions of PPP3CA, STAT3, NFATC3, TRPC6, and AKT1 in rats. YBD might be a potential drug in the treatment of NS, and the underlying mechanism is closely associated with the inhibition of podocyte injury.

Isomerism in Molecular Metal Carbonyl Clusters

The present microreview focuses on different typologies of isomerism documented along the years for metal carbonyl clusters (MCCs), and outlines their analogies to other classes of ligand‐protected molecular clusters and nanoclusters. Isomerism in molecular MCCs is discussed within two main categories, that is, surface isomerism and core isomerism. The first Section presents some representative examples of surface isomerism involving inorganic (carbonyls and hydrides) and organic ligands, as well as isomerism due to ML fragments decorating the cluster surface. The second Section focuses on three major categories of core isomerism, that is: (1) isomers that mainly differ on M‐M distances; (2) isomers displaying different structures of the metal kernels; (3) isomers possessing almost identical metal kernels and ligand shells, but differing for the positions of different types of metal atoms within the metal kernel. The third Section briefly discusses two related and very rare cases of isomerism, that is, polymerisation and coordination isomerism. General conclusions are outlined in the final Section.

Slowing Down a Coherent Superposition of Circular Rydberg States of Strontium.

Rydberg alkaline earth atoms are promising tools for quantum simulation and metrology. When one of the two valence electrons is promoted to long-lived circular states, the second valence electron can be optically manipulated without significant autoionization. We harness this feature to demonstrate laser slowing of a thermal atomic beam of circular strontium atoms. By driving the main ion core 422nm wavelength resonance, we observe a velocity reduction of 50 m/s without significant autoionization. We also show that a superposition of circular states undergoes very weak decoherence during the cooling process, up to the scattering of more than 1000 photons. This robustness opens new perspectives for quantum simulations over long timescales with circular atoms, while simultaneously cooling their motional state. It makes it possible to mitigate the harmful effects of unavoidable heating due to spin-motion coupling during a quantum simulation.

Supersonic Waves Generated by the 18 November 2023 Starship Flight and Explosions: Unexpected Northward Propagation and a Man‐Made Non‐chemical Depletion

AbstractOn 18 November 2023, SpaceX launched the Starship, the tallest and the most powerful rocket ever built. The Super Heavy engine separated from the Starship spacecraft and exploded at 90 km of altitude, while the main core Starship continued to rise up to 149 km and exploded after ∼8 min of flight. In this work, we used data from ground‐based GNSS receivers and we analyzed total electron content (TEC) response to the Starship flight and the two explosions. For the first time, we observed large‐distance northward propagation of intensive 2,000 km V‐shaped ionospheric disturbances from the rocket trajectory. The observed perturbations, most likely, represent shock waves propagating with the cone angle of ∼14° on the North and ∼7° on the South against the flight track that corresponds to the Mach angle of the shock waves in the lower atmosphere. The Starship explosion also produced a non‐chemical depletion in the ionospheric TEC.

Early postoperative core symptoms and their relationship with resilience in oesophageal cancer patients-A multicentre cross-sectional study.

To assess early postoperative core symptoms in oesophageal cancer patients and their relationship with resilience. Patients with oesophageal cancer face a high number of severe symptoms in the early post-operative period and require the development of an effective symptom management programme. Identifying core symptoms through network analysis helps in accurate patient care. A multicentre cross-sectional study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August 2022 to August 2023 at three hospitals in Anhui Province, China. A total of 469 patients were recruited for this study and 418 (89.1%) patients completed this investigation. Using network analysis to find early post-operative core symptoms in oesophageal cancer patients. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse resilience factors affecting core symptoms. Sadness was the most core symptom in oesophageal cancer patients in the early post-operative period (rs = 1.41), followed by incision pain and difficulty breathing while resting (rs = 1.20, rs = 1.08). Resilience was significantly associated with patients' feelings of sadness, with optimism having the greatest impact on sadness (p < .01). Sadness is the most core symptom in patients in the early post-operative period and special attention should be paid to improving their level of resilience. Local symptoms and dysfunction in the early post-operative period should be treated in a synergistic manner. This study identifies core symptoms and their relationship to resilience in patients with oesophageal cancer in the early post-operative period. Symptoms as the main core symptom in patients in the early post-operative period, which was sadness and was significantly associated with resilience. Precise interventions can be made to target patients' core post-operative symptoms, which can help improve the effectiveness of symptom management. We have complied with the relevant EQUATOR research reporting checklist. No patient or public contribution in the study.

Network Pharmacology-Based and Molecular Docking combined with GEO gene chips to Investigate the Potential Mechanism of Duhuo Jisheng Decoction against Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background： Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with various symptoms in patients. Duhuo Jisheng Decoction (DHJSD) has been used to treat RA in China for a long history as a classic TCM formula. However, the underlying pharmacological mechanism still needs to be elucidated. Purpose： In the current study, we combined network pharmacology with molecular docking to investigate the potential mechanism of DHJSD treating RA. Methods: The active compounds and related targets of DHJSD were obtained from the TCMSP database. The RA targets were retrieved from the GEO database. The PPI network of overlapping targets was constructed, whereas the core genes were selected by CytoNCA for molecular docking. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were used to further explore the biological process and pathways of overlapping targets. On this basis, molecular docking was carried out to verify the interrelations of the main compounds and core targets. Results： In this study, we found 81 active components corresponding to 225 targets of DHJSD. Moreover, 775 RA-related targets were obtained, of which 12 were shared between DHJSD targets and RA genes. From GO and KEGG analysis, there were 346 GO items and 18 signaling pathways. As the molecular docking showed, the binding of components was stable with the core gene. Conclusion： In conclusion, our works revealed the underlying mechanism of DHJSD for treating RA using network pharmacology and molecular docking, which provided a theoretical basis for further clinical application in the future.

Ditching the Queue: Optimizing Coprocessor Utilization with Out-of-Order CPUs on Compact Systems on Chip

The growing demand for high-performance and energy-efficient processing in edge-oriented Systems-on-Chip is driving the adoption of dedicated integrated circuits that accelerate computationally intensive workloads. To minimize area and performance overhead, low-power, general-purpose CPUs are often tightly coupled with domain-specific coprocessors implementing custom instructions, thereby delivering higher throughput and reduced memory traffic. However, commonly used in-order CPUs are not optimized for instruction-level parallelism, leading to stalls in the instruction stream while waiting for long-latency coprocessor operations and under-utilization of the coprocessor while executing other instructions. This work investigates the benefits of replacing simple in-order cores with a more complex out-of-order architecture to dynamically schedule instructions for the main core and coprocessor, optimizing resource utilization and reducing execution time. To ensure generality, an in-depth analysis was carried out by offloading instructions to a custom dummy coprocessor capable of emulating iterative and pipelined operations with arbitrary latency. Various workloads simulating real-world applications were executed on two variants of an open-source microcontroller equipped with a recent out-of-order core and the state-of-the-art CV32E40X in-order core, respectively. Results from Register Transfer Level simulations show that the former configuration executes up to 60% more instructions per cycle, with a modest 12% system area overhead on a 65 nm CMOS technology node.

Iron Loss and Temperature Rise Analysis of a Transformer Core Considering Vector Magnetic Hysteresis Characteristics under Direct Current Bias.

Direct current (DC) bias induced by the DC transmission and geomagnetically induced current is a critical factor in the abnormal operation of electrical equipment and is widely used in the field of power transmission and distribution system state evaluation. As the main affected component, the vector magnetization state of a transformer core under DC bias has rarely been studied, resulting in inaccurate transformer operation state estimations. In this paper, a dynamic vector hysteresis model that considers the impact of rotating and DC-biased fields is introduced into the numerical analysis to simulate the distribution of magnetic properties, iron loss and temperature of the transformer core model and a physical 110 kV single-phase autotransformer core. The maximum values of B, H and iron loss exist at the corners and T-joint of the core under rotating and DC-biased fields. The corresponding maximum value of the temperature increase is found in the main core limb area. The temperature rise of the 110 kV transformer core under various DC-biased conditions is measured and compared with the FEM (Finite Element Method) results of the proposed model and the model solely based on the magnetization curve B||H. The calculation error of the temperature rise obtained by the improved model is approximately 3.76-15.73% and is much less than the model solely based on magnetization curve B||H (approximately 50.71-66.92%).

Efficacy and Mechanism of Core Traditional Chinese Medicines for Treating Malignant Lymphoma based on Efficacy Studies: A Study Supported by Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

The burden of malignant lymphoma in China is greater than the global equivalent. The randomized controlled trials provide medical evidence that TCM can improve the response and survival in patients with lymphoma. However, the mechanisms underlying remain undefined. Evidence-based data mining for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on improving response and survival in malignant lymphoma treatment was performed in this study. In addition, the mechanisms of TCM through network pharmacology and molecular docking were explored. The China national knowledge infrastructure, Wanfang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched to select TCM formulas with response and survival benefits in the treatment of malignant lymphomas. We then analyzed and visualized the tropism of taste, frequency of drug use, dosage, clustering, association rules mining (minimum support threshold as 0.20, the minimum confidence threshold as 0.80 and lift >1), and complex networks for potential core herb compositions using Excel, IBM SPSS Statistics 26, and IBM SPSS Modeler 18. TCM systems pharmacology, GeneCards, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, and other databases were used to screen potential core active ingredients and malignant lymphoma-related targets. The intersection targets were used to construct a protein interaction network using Cytoscape to obtain the key targets. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment were used to analyze the core target, and molecular docking of key components and targets was performed using CB-Dock2. Twenty-four Chinese herbal formulae were included, encompassing 107 herbs with mainly cold and warm properties and bitter and sweet flavors. They were associated with the yin meridians of the liver, spleen, and lungs. The TCMs underwent association rule analysis, identified 27 association rules, including 12 herb pairs and 13 angle medicine, and clustered into eight classes by clustering analysis. Combined with the results from mining analysis, Pinelliae (Ban-xia), Poria (Fu-ling), Atractylodis macrocephalae (Bai-zhu), Curcumae (E-zhu), and Sparganii (San-leng) were the potential core herbs According to network pharmacology and molecular docking, the main core components of the potential core drugs are hederagenin, cerevisterol, 14- acetyl-12-senecioyl-2E,8E,10E-atractylentriol, 12,13-epoxy-9-hydroxynonadeca-7,10-dienoic acid, cavidine, and baicalein. These core drugs are mainly involved in the pathways of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance, PD-1/L1, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, NF-κB, epithelial cell signaling in H. pylori infections, and Th17 cell differentiation. They aid in regulating the transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase signaling pathway, ERBB signaling pathway, PI3K signaling pathway, and phosphorylation process. Ten key components and eight key targets, including baicalein and hederagenin, demonstrated strong binding activity. Collectively, some core herbs exerted anti-tumor effects through immune and inflammatory pathway modulation, inhibition of immune escape, and induction of cell apoptosis. These findings support future evidence-based research on malignant lymphoma treatment using TCM.

Extension of K-nearest neighbors and introduction of an applicable prediction criterion for a novel Monte Carlo simulation-based method in structural reliability

Efficiency is an important issue in structural reliability analysis. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to increase the efficiency of Monte Carlo Simulation by means of a machine learning algorithm. Using K-nearest neighbors method, the safe or failure region of many generated samples can be predicted without evaluating the limit state function. The proposed method represents three novel parts as its main core. In the first part of the proposed method, the classical K-nearest neighbors algorithm has been extended to a new fuzzy level such that the proposed method could predict even if all K neighbors are not in the same region. In previous similar methods, there is a prerequisite that K neighbors must be all in the failure region or all in the safe region. This extension to the fuzzy level is carried out by assigning a specific failure weight to each neighbor. In the second part of the proposed method, an innovative diagnostic criterion has been defined to check whether the region of a sample could be predicted or the sample has to be evaluated in the limit state function. The criterion describes the relative position of the newly generated sample with respect to the neighbors. This newly defined criterion is an effective alternative for the laborious action of drawing the convex hull around K neighbors, which is done as a time-consuming part in previous similar methods. Promotion of the accuracy or efficiency in the proposed method could be set using the adjusting parameter of the represented criterion. Since the implementation of the algorithm for each individual sample needs much time, in the third part, the proposed method introduces a technique to perform function evaluations or predictions in clusters. This part effectively reduces the computational burden, i.e. the number of function evaluations and run time. The performance of the proposed method, applying three novel and newly represented parts, has been verified using a number of mathematical and structural examples.

Cities facing the European green deal: Urban policy and locals’ perspective in the post-socialist area

The European Green Deal (EGD) is a comprehensive and ambitious strategy to achieve climate neutrality in the European Union. Cities play a crucial role as places of accumulation of resources, as well as increased consumption. This study attempts to respond to whether the largest cities in Poland (the main development cores of the country and, more broadly, Central Europe) address the development challenges of the EU articulated in the EGD and derived from the concept of a smart city.In this study, not only the theory behind the smart city concept but also the strategic documents of the largest Polish cities in that matter are analysed. The socio-spatial analyses identified the existing discrepancies between the perspectives of local authorities and inhabitants in implementing contemporary development concepts. There were indicated SHS (smart hot spots) - which are those located in the city centre and places that act as mobility hubs, as well as SCS (smart cold spots) - which are remote from the centre or degraded and decapitalised places. The crucial challenge for urban policymakers is to level internal environmental and socio-economic inequalities and prevent the formation of “emerald islands” in the city interior.The proposed inclusive approach offers a tool that could be used in many similar case studies, including the need for dialogue with local society, the special consideration of the local context, heterogeneity and greater attention to the new sources of knowledge, including GIS tools, enabling the building of a viable local system.

К флоре верховья р. Озерное Горло (Чукотка, северные отроги Чуванского хребта)

The survey conducted in August 2021 revealed the main core of the local flora in the upper reaches of the Ozyornoe Gorlo River (southern Chukotka, Anadyr River basin, northern spurs of the Chuvansky Ridge), which had not previously been studied botanically. The peaks in the Chuvansky Ridge system within the research area vary from (900) 1200 to 1300 (1400) m above sea level. On the mountain slopes, cedar elfin loci are spread, higher up transforming into shrubby and lichen tundra. 127 species from 77 genera and 38 families were identified within the flora of the research area. As a consequence of the low anthropogenic impact, the flora here is represented exclusively by the aboriginal fraction, no introduced species identified. Interesting finds, rarely found in adjacent territories, include Poa aff. tuonnachensis, Juncus brachyspathus, Luzula wahlenbergii, Aruncus kamtschaticus, Pyrola minor, Phyllodoce caerulea, Rhododendron camtschaticum, Antennaria angustata, Saussurea oxyodonta, and Taraxacum sibiricum.