Separate Objects Research Articles

Positive discrimination in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

The study of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has shown that, in general, the ECtHR’s practice demonstrates its cautious approach to positive discrimination measures as a controversial, ambiguous issue, and one that to some extent contradicts the fundamental principle of the universality of human rights. This is the reason why the ECtHR considers positive discrimination measures primarily as a discretion of national governments, and not as a separate object of protection by the ECtHR. The ECtHR’s case law on affirmative action is based on an attempt to strike a balance between achieving social justice and preventing new forms of discrimination. The Court recognizes the importance of affirmative action measures to remedy injustice or restrictions that are caused by the objective vulnerability of certain categories of the population or that have occurred in the past in relation to certain categories of society. At the same time, the ECtHR emphasizes that these measures must be proportionate and must not violate the rights of others. Positive discrimination in the context of the ECtHR case law is justified only when its application is consistent with the principles of legal certainty and equality, and when it is necessary to ensure the common good. The ECtHR recognizes the need to use positive discrimination in specific situations to correct social inequality and ensure equality in various spheres of life. The ECtHR judgment in Thlimmenos v. Greece (2000) paved the way for a more detailed interpretation of discrimination, recognizing that formal equality does not necessarily lead to substantive equality. However, the ECtHR retains certain restrictions on positive discrimination measures. Such measures must be temporary, proportionate, and should not lead to unjustified privileges for groups of the population. Positive discrimination should serve as a means of achieving real equality, not perpetuating differences. In its case law, the ECtHR defines the limits of positive discrimination by a number of criteria: 1) Legitimate aim: Are the measures aimed at achieving a socially important goal? 2) Proportionality: Are the measures not excessive in relation to persons outside the group receiving the benefits? 3) Necessity in a democratic society: Is positive discrimination the only way to achieve the goal? Thus, the ECtHR case law demonstrates that positive discrimination may be justified and necessary to ensure the principle of equality among all persons, as actual inequality may require the application of special measures (positive action) in favor of vulnerable groups who are discriminated against or have been oppressed in the past.

Quantum Entanglement in Classical Systems: so what is the Subquantum Medium Made of?

As astounding as it may still seem to many, Bell’s theorems do not prove nonlocality. Non separable multipartite objects exist classically, meaning with local physics, the statistical state measurement of which violates the famous inequalities. Alleviating the almost century old confusion, the correct laws of statistics and logic pinpoint the true oddity of quantum objects: duality. As it is shown in the first part of this short essay, duality plus conservation laws allow the violation of Bell’s inequalities for any spatio-temporal separation. To dig deeper into particle dualism, in the second part, a class of models is proposed as a working framework. It encompasses some chaotic excitable reaction-diffusion systems, whose generalized susceptibilities make them compatible with quantized fields and excitations, of any desired symmetry group including the renormalization semigroup. Particles are supposed topological in nature. Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization takes place thanks to topological invariants stemming from densely dispersed defects generated by a multifractal background. Entanglement phenomenology arises because latent variables exist that are carried away, along with the moving particles that have interacted, and by which correlations are preserved. Conservation is assumed to be born in the phase, just as momentum is for instance. In other words, all known phenomena in physics are deterministic, classical and real, in the sense that information does propagate locally and experiments conducted statistically do hide latent variables.

Pricing and Demand Management for Integrated Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery Systems

We study a system in which a common delivery fleet provides service to both same-day delivery (SDD) and next-day delivery (NDD) orders placed by e-retail customers who are sensitive to delivery prices. We develop a model of the system and optimize with respect to two separate objectives. First, empirical research suggests that fulfilling e-retail orders ahead of promised delivery days increases a firm’s long-run market share. Motivated by this phenomenon, we optimize for customer satisfaction by maximizing the quantity of NDD orders fulfilled one day early given fixed prices. Next, we optimize for total profit; we optimize for a single SDD price, and we then set SDD prices in a two-level scheme with discounts for early-ordering customers. Our analysis relies on continuous approximation techniques to capture the interplay between NDD and SDD orders and particularly the effect one day’s operations have on the next, a novel modeling component not present in SDD-only models; a key technical result is establishing the model’s convergence to a steady state using dynamical systems theory. We derive structural insights and efficient algorithms for both objectives. In particular, we show that, under certain conditions, the total profit is a piecewise-convex function with polynomially many breakpoints that can be efficiently enumerated. In a case study set in metropolitan Denver, Colorado, approximately 10% of NDD orders can be fulfilled one day early at optimality, and profit is increased by 1% to 3% in a two-level pricing scheme versus a one-level scheme. We conduct operational simulations for validation of solutions and analysis of initial conditions. History: This paper has been accepted for the Transportation Science Special Issue on TSL Conference 2023. Funding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [Grant DGE-1650044]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2023.0381 .

Symmetric Separable Convex Resource Allocation Problems with Structured Disjoint Interval Bound Constraints

Motivated by the problem of scheduling electric vehicle (EV) charging with a minimum charging threshold in smart distribution grids, we introduce the resource allocation problem (RAP) with a symmetric separable convex objective function and disjoint interval bound constraints. In this RAP, the aim is to allocate an amount of resource over a set of n activities, in which each individual allocation is restricted to a disjoint collection of m intervals. This is a generalization of classic RAPs studied in the literature in which, in contrast, each allocation is only restricted by simple lower and upper bounds, that is, m = 1. We propose an exact algorithm that, for four special cases of the problem, returns an optimal solution in [Formula: see text] time, where the term nF represents the number of flops required for one evaluation of the separable objective function. In particular, the algorithm runs in polynomial time when the number of intervals m is fixed. Moreover, we show how this algorithm can be adapted also to output an optimal solution to the problem with integer variables without increasing its time complexity. Computational experiments demonstrate the practical efficiency of the algorithm for small values of m and, in particular, for solving EV charging problems. History: Accepted by Antonia Frangioni, Area Editor for Design & Analysis of Algorithms–Continuous. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2023.0263 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2023.0263 ). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .

New watershed methods for isolating and characterizing discrete objects in 3D data sets

This paper introduces new algorithms for conducting and improving watershed analysis, implemented with the particular goal of improving the ability to measure the shapes of mineral grains to be subsequently be analyzed by mass spectrometry. This application requires a high degree of accuracy and fidelity in terms of both separating all touching grains and preserving their shapes. The algorithms are designed to take advantage of a vector-based programming environment. A new implementation of the Euclidean distance transform utilizes the fact that the distance from any adjacent pair of voxels to the nearest boundary must be within one voxel of each other. In practice, however, this algorithm is outperformed by a smoothed approximate distance transform that is faster to compute and results in less irregular watershed boundaries. A one-pass rainfall-based watershed algorithm is introduced that runs in linear time with the number of segmented voxels, and requires no priority queue. Unlike marker-based watershed algorithms based on the basin-filling approach, the rainfall approach finds watersheds associated with all local maxima in the distance map, even if a marking algorithm is used. A post-watershed smoothing algorithm improves watershed boundaries and eliminates small spurious watersheds. The one-pass watershed and post-watershed smoothing algorithms run in times superior or comparable to basin-fill watershed algorithms implemented in other environments, and offers excellent ability to separate touching objects efficiently while placing watershed boundaries that maximize the preservation of details of particle shape. Further time improvement could come from implementing them in a vector-based environment that allows explicit multi-threading.

In Situ Stability Analysis of Oxygen Evolution Reaction Via Mass Spectrometry

There is a growing evidence suggesting that design principles in various fields, particularly in electrochemistry, should encompass considerations of both activity and stability. Achieving high activity alongside stability is important, yet many studies still treat these aspects as separate objectives. To overcome this limitation, establishing functional links between activity and stability based on underlying reaction mechanisms is essential. Through in situ (operando) analysis, this study aims to elucidate the interplay between activity and stability, particularly in the context of the oxygen evolution reaction, utilizing real-time mass spectrometry. By conducting comprehensive investigations, we can unveil the intricate relationships between stability and activity in electrochemical environments, thus paving the way for the design of new materials that exhibit both heightened activity and robust stability.

Increasing the capabilities of a test ballistic missile to separate test objects

The subject of this study is the trajectory characteristics of the long-range test ballistic missile (TBM). The purpose of the study is to increase the capabilities of TBM in separating test object (TO). At the same time, as a generalized quantitative measure of this increasing the post-boost vehicle (PBV) fuel reserve consumed for separation of TO is taken. The design-ballistic task of rationalizing the distribution of the available fuel of the TBM DS between the following main characteristic section of its flight has been set and numerically and analytically solved: final sustainer stage underperformance compensation; turns with subsequent angular stabilization, retreats and lead away; TO disconnection (separation section). As a result, it is shown that without reducing the quality of TBM launch tasks, it is permissible to redistribute the consumed fuel of the PBV between these section relative to the distribution for a standard ballistic missile (SBM), leading to a significant increase in its reserve consumed in the section of disconnection of the TO (when flying along the ballistic vertical). At the same time, the purpose of the study is achieved – the capabilities of the TBM in the separation of the TO are increased, which, while direct planning of launches is evaluating, can be expressed in an increase in the number and/or total mass of the TO and/or an increase in speed or time intervals in the order of sequential disconnections of the TO. The given numerical examples (using a converted three-stage SBM as a TBM) also show a significant dependence of the amount of fuel increment of the PBV consumed at the TO disconnections of the trajectory conditions of test launches (the corresponding initial data (ID) for calculations are borrowed from the author’s previously published work): length of the route; kinematic parameters of launch at the moment of independent PBS flight beginning determined by the launch task. During the study, methods of flight theory and design ballistics of LR missiles were used. As a conclusion, it can be noted that the considered task and methods for its solution can be useful (of course, taking into account the necessary specialized improvements) in works of the executive ballistics level when planning and evaluating the result of TBM launches.

Multiple-objective control of stormwater basins using deep reinforcement learning

ABSTRACT Stormwater basins are important stormwater control measures which can reduce peak flow rate, mitigate flooding volume, and improve water quality during heavy rainfall events. Previous control strategies for stormwater basins have typically treated water quality and quantity as separate objectives. With the increasing urban runoff caused by climate change and urbanization, current single-objective control strategies cannot fully harness the control potential of basins and therefore require improvement. However, designing multi-objective control strategies for basins is challenging because of the conflicting operation goals and the complexity of the dynamic environmental conditions. This research proposes a novel real-time control strategy based on deep reinforcement learning to address these challenges. It employs a deep Q-network to develop an agent capable of making control decisions. After being trained on three different rainfall events, the reinforcement learning agent can make appropriate decisions for previously unseen rainfall events. Compared to the other two rule-based control scenarios and a static state scenario, the deep reinforcement learning method is more effective in terms of reducing total suspended solids, reducing peak flow, minimizing outflow flashiness, and controlling effort, striking a good balance between conflicting control objectives.

Implementation of the international standard for the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts: implications for financial monitoring entities

Problem setting. From July 1, 2023, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the implementation of the international standard of automatic exchange of information on financial accounts" dated March 20, 2023 No. 2970-IX financial institutions of Ukraine, including subjects of primary financial monitoring, are obliged to carry out due diligence measures on financial accounts to determine whether such accounts are accountable, and subsequently submit a report to the State Tax Service of Ukraine on accountable accounts. Тhe introduction by Law No. 2970-IX of amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts of Ukraine provides for the implementation of the specified standards, the transformation of national legislation for their application, etc. Purpose of research is determining the consequences of such implementation on the financial monitoring system in Ukraine in general and on the activities of primary financial monitoring entities in particular. Аnalysis of recent researches and publications. The issue of financial monitoring is studied by scientists of various fields, both science (legal, economic, criminological) and law, from financial, tax, economic to administrative, criminal and criminal procedural law. Such a discrepancy is caused by the broad subject (object) of relations, the number of subjects of these relations, and the method of their regulation (imperative). Financial monitoring is studied both as an activity of state authorities (subjects of state financial monitoring) along with the activities of private organizations/institutions (subjects of primary financial monitoring), and as a way of combating crime. Аrticle’s main body. The article is devoted to the study of the reasons and prerequisites for Ukraine's implementation of the international standard for the exchange of information on financial accounts. The author uses classical empirical (description), general logical (analysis and synthesis) methods of scientific knowledge and special methods of studying law (formal legal and logical legal methods). This study chronologically traces Ukraine's path to the implementation of the international standard for the exchange of information on financial accounts. In addition, the literature of other scholars on the issue of financial monitoring and the international standard for the exchange of information on financial accounts was analyzed. The authors have analyzed legislative changes to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts on the implementation of the international standard for the exchange of information on financial accounts. In the process of analyzing and synthesizing legislative changes regarding the implementation of the international standard for the exchange of information on financial accounts, the researchers identified the most significant ones and briefly noted them. The highlighted legislative innovations were aimed at illustrating the role of primary financial monitoring entities in the process of such automatic exchange of information on financial accounts between the competent authorities. Conclusions and prospects for the development. An important outcome of this article is the establishment of consequences for the subjects of primary financial monitoring. These are an increase in the scope of functions of the primary financial monitoring entities and a slight expansion of the subject composition of the primary financial monitoring entities. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the allocation of a new separate object of financial monitoring - accountable financial accounts. Ukraine's implementation of the international standard for the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts entails a number of consequences: legislative changes, including the issuance of subordinate regulatory legal acts for the implementation of amended laws; preparation of executive authorities for the practical application of such changes (organization of conducting and monitoring the results of audits of financial accounts, submission of reports and, accordingly, further exchange of such information by the State Tax Service of Ukraine with foreign tax authorities, etc.); practical implementation of the specified changes by the State Tax Service of Ukraine, financial agents, including subjects of primary financial monitoring; analysis of the first practical results, etc.

Frequency dependence of reflections on radar landmarks

Purpose. Reducing the dispersion of radar reflections from local objects, with multi-frequency sensing, to solve the problem of orientation by radar reflections from objects. Methodology. Reflections from local objects in the entire frequency range of the radar station (RS) at the same radio engineering position were measured by three independent radars of the same type on different days and at different antenna elevations. The deviation of the radar stations in the position did not exceed 500 meters. Coordinates (azimuth, range) of reflections of several separate local objects were allocated for each radar. The average values of reflections from local objects and their dispersion in the frequency range were calculated. Using various algorithms, individual frequencies were sampled and the reflected signals were averaged at these frequencies. The decrease in the dispersion of the reflected signal from the number of frequencies at which reflections were measured and from the algorithm for selecting these frequencies was investigated. Findings. Averaging the values of reflections from local objects for several frequencies leads to a decrease in dispersion and, as a result, to a more accurate correspondence of the reflected signal level to the geometric size of the local object. The variance decreases most rapidly for a small number of frequencies selected for averaging when selecting frequencies located in an interval of at least 1% relative to each other. Originality. To solve the problem of orientation based on radar reflections from local objects, it is necessary to identify the landmarks selected on a digital terrain model. Due to the fact that local objects (hills) are a collection of many reflectors falling into the allowed volume of the radar, with different levels of reflections and random phases, there may not be radar reflection from a local object at a certain frequency, or it may be very small. In order to unambiguously identify all landmarks, measurements must be carried out at several frequencies. The work has established how many frequencies measurements should be performed at and on what principle these frequencies should be selected. Practical value. The advent of digital terrain models made it possible to solve the problem of terrain orientation by comparing radar reflections from local objects with reflection models based on digital terrain maps. Radar reflection models use mathematical expectations of reflection values, unlike real reflections, which have random deviations in signal levels depending on the operating frequency. Reducing the variance of these deviations increases the accuracy of identifying characteristic local objects (landmarks) used to orient the radar in the absence of data from satellite navigation systems.

End-to-end multiple object tracking in high-resolution optical sensors of drones with transformer models

Drone aerial imaging has become increasingly important across numerous fields as drone optical sensor technology continues to advance. One critical challenge in this domain is achieving both accurate and efficient multi-object tracking. Traditional deep learning methods often separate object identification from tracking, leading to increased complexity and potential performance degradation. Conventional approaches rely heavily on manual feature engineering and intricate algorithms, which can further limit efficiency. To overcome these limitations, we propose a novel Transformer-based end-to-end multi-object tracking framework. This innovative method leverages self-attention mechanisms to capture complex inter-object relationships, seamlessly integrating object detection and tracking into a unified process. By utilizing end-to-end training, our approach simplifies the tracking pipeline, leading to significant performance improvements. A key innovation in our system is the introduction of a trajectory detection label matching technique. This technique assigns labels based on a comprehensive assessment of object appearance, spatial characteristics, and Gaussian features, ensuring more precise and logical label assignments. Additionally, we incorporate cross-frame self-attention mechanisms to extract long-term object properties, providing robust information for stable and consistent tracking. We further enhance tracking performance through a newly developed self-characteristics module, which extracts semantic features from trajectory information across both current and previous frames. This module ensures that the long-term interaction modules maintain semantic consistency, allowing for more accurate and continuous tracking over time. The refined data and stored trajectories are then used as input for subsequent frame processing, creating a feedback loop that sustains tracking accuracy. Extensive experiments conducted on the VisDrone and UAVDT datasets demonstrate the superior performance of our approach in drone-based multi-object tracking.

Improving transparency and adaptability of undersea object recognition systems

Side-scan sonars are commonly deployed on autonomous underwater vehicles for seafloor imaging and search applications. In recent years, deep neural networks have become a common solution for object recognition problems with these systems, achieving impressive performance. However, adaptability and interpretability of these systems remain a challenge. The models used in these systems are typically tuned for recognition of specific categories of objects and, due to the labor required to create segmentation mask labels, are often limited to bounding box prediction. Meta's Segment Anything Model (SAM), released in 2023, provides a solution to add instance segmentation capabilities to existing object recognition systems. SAM may be fine-tuned on side-scan sonar data to predict separate object and acoustic shadow masks, allowing for automatic and robust measurement of undersea objects. In addition, this fine-tuned variant of SAM may then be integrated with existing object recognition algorithms tuned for side-scan sonar image analysis to transform them into instance segmentation algorithms. The end result is a highly descriptive recognition system with customizable reporting behavior based on the dimensions of the object(s) of interest.

Investigating Alternative Representations of Building Structures in Traffic Noise Modeling

This paper presents the results of an investigation of various traffic noise modeling techniques with the Traffic Noise Model (TNM) 2.5 software package, with specific focus on the representation of traffic noise shielding from residences parallel to the freeway. A comprehensive traffic noise field study was undertaken in a neighborhood adjacent to Interstate 270 in Columbus, Ohio. Data collection activities occurred in three “waves” accounting for the pre-clearing, no barrier, and with barrier conditions. Measured noise levels at the study site indicated that there was some noise shielding effect of the residential structures; this effect was most readily perceptible behind the first row of residences. Separate TNM layouts were developed to represent the neighborhood’s residential structures as either a TNM building row object or as separate TNM barrier objects for each structure. The analysis found that modeling each individual residential structure as a separate TNM noise barrier object (single building façade that is closest to the freeway) produces the most accurate modeled noise levels, as compared to the building row representation or simply omitting the shielding from structures altogether. Based on these findings, it is recommended that traffic noise practitioners consider modeling each residential structure in noise-sensitive areas as TNM noise barrier objects.

Modern problems of existence of city public spaces

The dynamic nature of the development of cities around the world, the rapid growth of their number, their overall importance in economic development, and the tendency for the urban population to constantly increase prove that the issue of the functional and spatial organization of urban open public space is extremely important. Attention to urban open public spaces as a separate object is necessary to understand their formation, organization, functioning and solving existing problems in cities. The basis for this study is the work of domestic and foreign scholars who prove that the issue is well researched and covered in the works of architects, urbanists, philosophers, geographers, sociologists, ethnographers, and economists, but requires even more attention for the further development of the scientific and methodological base. All modern problems of the functioning of the city's open public space can be divided into several groups: urban planning, transport, functional, compositional, socio-economic, aesthetic and environmental, and information technology. The main urban planning issues that need to be studied include the lack of attention to people and their proportionality to the open public spaces of cities; transport - motorization, development of transport routes and the use of open public spaces of cities only for transport purposes; functional - mono-functionality of open public spaces of cities; compositional - chaotic location in the city and lack of hierarchical structure; socio-economic - lack of activity due to the lack of physical and functional content; aesthetic - oversaturation of open public space with information, lack of stylistic and figurative unity; environmental - lack of greenery; information technology - transition of many social functions to the online space.

Enhancing resilience and reducing waste in food supply chains: a systematic review and future directions leveraging emerging technologies

ABSTRACT The sustainability of food supply chains is gaining increasing attention, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. A food supply system that simultaneously prioritises resilience and minimises wastage is crucial. It is found that many studies have explored reducing food waste and increasing supply chain resilience as separate objectives, but research is scarce investigating both objectives in conjunction. This paper presents a comprehensive systematic review focusing on existing solutions to reducing food waste and enhancing resilience. It discusses future directions, particularly leveraging emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The studies are categorised into three main topics: crisis resilience solutions, food waste reduction solutions, and integrated solutions. The literature review reveals a lack of empirical and practical solutions for concurrently improving resilience and decreasing food waste. Further in-depth investigations are necessary to propose practical and integrated approaches that tackle both challenges jointly.

Oppositional arithmetic optimization algorithm for network reconfiguration and simultaneous placement of DG and capacitor in radial distribution networks

AbstractThe prime objective of this study is the simultaneous network reconfiguration with distributed generation (DG) and capacitor placement in radial distribution networks (RDN) to get the techno and economic benefits for two separate objectives, which are the minimization of actual power loss and annual economic loss as well as a multi objective combining these two single objectives using an oppositional arithmetic optimization algorithm (OAOA). It is an improved version of the currently suggested arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA) used in the field of engineering for the optimization task. Though the recently developed AOA shows its efficacy in different optimization tasks but to improve the quality of solutions, convergence behavior, and to avoid the local optima, oppositional behavior is added to AOA. The efficacy and exactness of OAOA are tested on three test systems (33‐bus, 69‐bus, and 118‐bus). For the reduction of power loss and annual economic loss as well as the multi objective optimization, two scenarios with different cases are executed using OAOA in RDNs. In scenario 1, the installation of the capacitor (case 1), the installation of unity power factor (UPF) based DG (case 2), and the placement of optimal power factor (OPF) based DG (case 3) have been executed. In scenario 2, allocation of UPF based DG and capacitors simultaneously (case 1), placement of OPF based DG and capacitors simultaneously (case 2) and simultaneous reconfiguration with installation of OPF based DG and capacitor (case 3) has been executed. This recommended OAOA algorithm provides the percentage improvement in real power loss and yearly economic loss for all cases of 33‐bus, and 69‐bus systems (34.28%, 65.50%, 94.43%, 93.26%, 94.89%, and 95.11%), (28.54%, 56.69%, 83.42%, 79.62%, 83.65%, and 83.71%), and (35.51%, 69.16%, 98.10%, 97.52%, 98.22%, and 98.25%), (30.26%, 61.68%, 88.75%, 85.42%, 88.81%, and 88.98%), respectively. The results and comparative study reveal that the OAOA is better than several optimization algorithms in terms of solution quality and good results. This algorithm has a good speed of response and convergence behavior.

Money sign as a legal means of payment and an object of civil rights

The statistics have identified penny marks as a legal payment method and an object of civil rights. On the basis of the analysis of the norms of the legislation of Ukraine, doctrinal sources, the general characteristics of monetary signs in civil law are provided, the place of monetary signs in the system of objects of civil rights, etc. is determined. In the course of the research, the author determines the economic and legal functions of money signs. Based on the conducted research, the author draws the following conclusions. 1. The absence of norms in the legislation of Ukraine that would imperatively prevent the situation when payments for significant amounts were made in coins is a shortcoming of the legislation of Ukraine that needs to be eliminated. 2. Payment tokens have the economic functions of a means of circulation, payment, accumulation, measure of value, as well as the main legal function — a legal means of payment. 3. Money signs are symbolic or fiat money, due to the lack of their provision by any monetary standard. 4. Although money is a separate object of civil rights, different from things, the law extends the legal regime of property to banknotes, which indicates the need for further research into this legal phenomenon. 5. The provisions of the law, which define currency signs as an «unconditional obligation of the NBU», should be understood as a public legal obligation of the state regulator aimed at ensuring the stability of the purchasing power of the hryvnia and the functioning of money circulation on the territory of Ukraine. Key words: money, cash, cashless money, unprepared money, digital money, legal means of payment, bank, non-banking payment establishment, a thing, obligation, right of demand.

Sparse Integer Programming Is Fixed-Parameter Tractable

We study the general integer programming problem where the number of variables n is a variable part of the input. We consider two natural parameters of the constraint matrix A: its numeric measure a and its sparsity measure d. We present an algorithm for solving integer programming in time [Formula: see text], where g is some computable function of the parameters a and d, and L is the binary encoding length of the input. In particular, integer programming is fixed-parameter tractable parameterized by a and d, and is solvable in polynomial time for every fixed a and d. Our results also extend to nonlinear separable convex objective functions. Funding: F. Eisenbrand, C. Hunkenschröder, and K.-M. Klein were supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) within the project “Convexity, geometry of numbers, and the complexity of integer programming” [Grant 163071]. A. Levin and S. Onn are partially supported by the Israel Science Foundation [Grant 308/18]. A. Levin is also partially supported by the Israel Science Foundation [Grant 1467/22]. S. Onn is also partially supported by the Dresner Chair at the Technion. M. Koutecký is partially supported by Charles University project UNCE 24/SCI/008, and by the project 22-22997S of the Grantová Agentura České Republiky (GA ČR).

Правовое регулирование возмещения вреда, причиненного преступлением в энергетической сфере

The article considers the issues of sufficiency of legal protection of the fuel and energy complex. Based on the method of comparative legal research and analysis of statistical information using formal logic, it was concluded that it is necessary to develop institutional foundations for compensation for harm from criminal acts to certain energy objects. It is proposed to single out the fuel and energy complex as a separate object of criminal law protection; clarify the procedural form of compensation for harm in the commission of crimes in the field of energy; at the local level, build and revise internal legal models in accordance with the risks of each individual company.

Posterior approach to correct for focal plane offsets in lattice light-sheet structured illumination microscopy.

Lattice light-sheet structured illumination microscopy (latticeSIM) has proven highly effective in producing three-dimensional images with super resolution rapidly and with minimal photobleaching. However, due to the use of two separate objectives, sample-induced aberrations can result in an offset between the planes of excitation and detection, causing artifacts in the reconstructed images. We introduce a posterior approach to detect and correct the axial offset between the excitation and detection focal planes in latticeSIM and provide a method to minimize artifacts in the reconstructed images. We utilized the residual phase information within the overlap regions of the laterally shifted structured illumination microscopy information components in frequency space to retrieve the axial offset between the excitation and the detection focal planes in latticeSIM. We validated our technique through simulations and experiments, encompassing a range of samples from fluorescent beads to subcellular structures of adherent cells. We also show that using transfer functions with the same axial offset as the one present during data acquisition results in reconstructed images with minimal artifacts and salvages otherwise unusable data. We envision that our method will be a valuable addition to restore image quality in latticeSIM datasets even for those acquired under non-ideal experimental conditions.