Target Priority Research Articles

МЕЖІ ПОЛІТИЧНОЇ ВЛАДИ В УМОВАХ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЇ ПОСТСОЦІАЛІСТИЧНИХ СИСТЕМ

Attention is focused on the limits of political power in the context of the economic transformation in post-socialist countries. It is indicated that the question of political power's limits remains relevant and should be studied by scientists even today. The content political power's boundaries in Ukraine, as well as other post-socialist countries, has been studied. The research of political power's limits was carried out using the historical and comparative methods. The essence and content in such categories as "political power" and "transformation" are considered, as well as the emergence of political power's limits in connection with the transformational processes that took place in post-socialist systems. The interaction, relationship and interdependence between the economic transformation and limits of political power are determined. The results of the study testify the presence of negative effects that arose during the reforms at the first stages of the post-socialist transformation and affected limits of political power and search for an effective policy that would limit its role in economic processes. It was emphasized that the influence of political power had a significant impact on the development of transformational processes in Ukraine. Based on functions of political power and parameters of its limits in the system, the main characteristics of its influence on economic transformation, as well as differences between Ukraine and other post-socialist countries, are considered. Contradictions that arose as a result of changes in priorities and functions of political power are indicated, as well as how it is affected on development of the process of post-socialist transformation. The role and significance of political power's limits in conditions of post- socialist transformation are determined. Target priorities for development of political power are formulated, which should include social optimization, smoothing consequences of reforms, public and self-control. Conclusions are made regarding the need to change functions of power, based on the current state of the Ukraine's economic system and the continuation of post-socialist transformation process.

Modern higher education through the prism of conceptual priorities

All the characteristic features of a particular historical development of society objectively and naturally apply to almost both the social institution and higher education, which is an integral part of the social environment. However, higher education is expected not only to follow in the fairway of certain trends specific to a particular era and a particular society but higher education is also associated with hopes for qualified awareness of risks and threats, as well as providing professional proposals for crisis management and overcoming negative trends. Although this aspect is quite obvious, the research community usually does not pay due attention to it, and therefore the detailing and systematization of this aspect have all the hallmarks of scientific novelty. In the context of the outlined research needs, the aspects of the quality and efficiency of education, as well as the types of intelligence that modern higher education is designed to cultivate and generate, are understood. The humanistic ideal of the university and its correspondence to the marketing model of modern higher education, as well as controversial ideas about equality and justice in education, are studied. The ideological and conceptual priorities that underlie leadership-type education are analyzed. The notion of critical thinking, creativity and heuristics as the target priorities of modern higher education is systematized, the key obstacles in this way and means of overcoming them are revealed. Factors and conceptual priorities that can significantly increase the capacity of modern higher education as a generator of human capital, a model of intensive and innovative development of society, are outlined.

Hypha essential genes in Candida albicans pathogenesis of oral lichen planus: an in-vitro study

BackgroundHypha essential genes (HEGs) of Candida Albicans have been emerging into scholar’s attention, little known about their functions in oral lichen planus (OLP) with an uncovered etiology. This research aimed to observe necessary genes in biphasic C. albicans from OLP and study their relevance in pathogenesis, so as to evaluate possible roles of morphologic switching in etiology of OLP.MethodsSamples were collected from OLP lesions of patients, mycelia were cultured and total RNA was extracted then subjected to reverse transcription-PCR and real-time PCR.ResultsHWP1 and HGC1 were significantly expressed in hyphae phase and weakly detected in yeast phase, while there was no significant difference of EFG1, ALS3, and ECE1 between in yeast and mycelia.ConclusionHGC1 and HWP1 were confirmed to be hypha essential genes, with HGC1 for hypha morphogenesis and HWP1 for adhesion invasion in pathogenesis of C. albicans in OLP. ALS3, ECE1 and EFG1 played minor roles in hyphae maintenance and adhesion for hyphae. These might be deemed as hints for the etiology of OLP and indicate HGC1 and HWP1 to be a priority of potential drug target.

Ukrainian regulatory policy’s target priorities to ensure decent working conditions in a platform economy

The article explores and reveals the key trends in the system of social and labor relations related to the impact of digitalization and the platform economy. These include individualization, increased competitiveness, lack of personal connections and traditional work teams, one-time, short-term and informal relationships. These trends generate a number of challenges and threats to traditional mechanisms for implementing public policy in the social and labor sphere, which are based – at the core – on the fundamental inconsistency of the institutional framework for the functioning of traditional regulatory mechanisms in the field of labor and employment (which are focused on long-term formal employment and stable labor collectives) and the system of social and labor relations, which is formed by the platform economy (which is characterized by informality, short duration and individualization of social and labor relations that arise). That is, the platform economy does not create those subjects on which the traditional system of implementation of state policy in the social and labor sphere is based. The article reveals the essence of the main problems for the traditional regulatory mechanisms of state policy for the development of social and labor spheres that have emerged in the context of the spread of the platform economy. The main emphasis is on transformational changes in the system of social and labor relations; on the problems and opportunities for the formation of mechanisms for representing the collective interests of platform workers and employers; on the regulatory and legal uncertainty of the status and unregulated activities of labor platforms; on the "erosion" of jurisdiction on transnational labor platforms, etc. The main target priorities for ensuring balanced social and labor development in the conditions of platform economy spreading are substantiated. They are: updating the existing system of contractual and state regulation of the social and labor sphere; implementation of modern systems and mechanisms for representing the collective interests of platform workers and employers; implementation of the National Platform for Social Dialogue and Socially Responsible Partnership; ensuring a comprehensive regulatory framework for platforms, development and implementation of policies of state and contractual regulation for the harmonization of socio-economic, labor, digital, neo-industrial and sustainable development in modern conditions.

Sustainable Development of Oil and Gas Resources: A System of Environmental, Socio-Economic, and Innovation Indicators

Following the principles of sustainable development in the development of oil and gas fields in the Arctic will ensure that hydrocarbon production and transportation operations comply with stringent environmental regulations, the economies of the northern regions become integrated into the national economy of Russia, production systems in the oil and gas sector are upgraded in an innovative manner, and further development of this region is balanced from the environmental perspective. The purpose of the study is to develop and provide a rationale for a balanced system of environmental, socio-economic, and innovative indicators for assessing whether the development of the Arctic’s unique hydrocarbon reserves is sustainable. The theoretical framework of the study draws upon the foundations and key principles of the sustainable development concept and upon modern approaches and methods for assessing the sustainability of production systems. The study presents an analysis of conceptual approaches to defining sustainable development in reference to oil and gas resources, including those found in the Arctic, defines target priorities for the sustainable development of the Arctic’s resource potential, and identifies the relationship between the environmental, socio-economic, and innovative domains of sustainability in the context of Arctic resource development. The results of the study demonstrate how large-scale gas projects can influence regional development and provide for making informed conclusions about whether the development of the Arctic’s oil and gas reserves can be considered sustainable (in accordance with the basic principles of the sustainable development concept).

Class-Modeling of Septic Shock With Hyperdimensional Computing.

Sepsis arises when a patient's immune system has an extreme reaction to an infection. This is followed by septic shock if damage to organ tissue is so extensive that it causes a total systemic failure. Early detection of septic shock among septic patients could save critical time for preparation and prevention treatment. Due to the high variance in symptoms and patient state before shock, it is challenging to create a protocol that would be effective across patients. However, since septic shock is an acute change in patient state, modeling patient stability could be more effective in detecting a condition that departs from it. In this paper we present a one-class classification approach to septic shock using hyperdimensional computing. We built various models that consider different contexts and can be adapted according to a target priority. Among septic patients, the models can detect septic shock accurately with 90% sensitivity and overall accuracy of 60% of the cases up to three hours before the onset of septic shock, with the ability to adjust predictions according to incoming data. Additionally, the models can be easily adapted to prioritize sensitivity (increase true positives) or specificity (decrease false positives).

Modelling the distribution of fishing-related floating marine litter within the Bay of Biscay and its marine protected areas

Sea-based sources account for 32–50 % of total marine litter found at the European basins with the fisheries sector comprising almost 65 % of litter releases. In the south-east coastal waters of the Bay of Biscay this figure approaches the contribution of just the floating marine litter fraction. This study seeks to enhance knowledge on the distribution patterns of floating marine litter generated by the fisheries sector within the Bay of Biscay and in particular on target priority Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to reinforce marine litter prevention and mitigation policies. This objective is reached by combining the data on geographical distribution and intensity of fishing activity, long-term historical met-ocean databases, Monte Carlo simulations and Lagrangian modelling with floating marine litter source and abundance estimates for the Bay of Biscay. Results represent trajectories for two groups of fishing-related items considering their exposure to wind; they also provide their concentration within 34 MPAs. Zero windage coefficient is applied for low buoyant items not subjected to wind effect. Highly buoyant items, strongly driven by winds, are forced by currents and winds, using a windage coefficient of 4 %. Results show a high temporal variability on the distribution for both groups consistent with the met-ocean conditions in the area. Fishing-related items driven by a high windage coefficient rapidly beach, mainly in summer, and are almost non-existent on the sea surface after 90 days from releasing. This underlines the importance of windage effect on the coastal accumulation for the Bay of Biscay. Only around 20 % of particles escaped through the boundaries for both groups which gives added strength to the notion that the Bay of Biscay acts as accumulation region for marine litter. MPAs located over the French continental shelf experienced the highest concentrations (>75 particles/km2) suggesting their vulnerability and need for additional protection measures.

Impact of the dog population and household environment for the maintenance of natural foci of Leishmania infantum transmission to human and animal hosts in endemic areas for visceral leishmaniasis in Sao Paulo state, Brazil.

When it comes to visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazil, one of the main targets of public health policies of surveillance is the control of domestic canine reservoirs of Leishmania infantum. This paper aims to evaluate the effect of the dog population and household environment for the maintenance of natural foci in the transmission to human and animal hosts in an endemic city for VL, Bauru, in Brazil. We collected 6,578 blood samples of dogs living in 3,916 households from Nov.2019 to Mar.2020 and applied geospatial models to predict the disease risk based on the canine population. We used Kernel density estimation, cluster analysis, geostatistics, and Generalized Additive Models (GAM). To validate our models, we used cross-validation and created a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. We found an overall canine VL (CVL) seroprevalence of 5.6% for the sampled dogs, while for the households, the positivity rate was 8.7%. Odds ratios (OR) for CVL increased progressively according to the number of canines for >2 dogs (OR 2.70); households that already had CVL in the past increased the chances for CVL currently (OR 2.73); and the cases of CVL increase the chances for human VL cases (OR 1.16). Our models were statistically significant and demonstrated a spatial association between canine and human disease cases, mainly in VL foci that remain endemic. Although the Kernel density ratio map had the best performance (AUC = 82), all the models showed high risk in the city’s northwest area. Canine population dynamics must be considered in public policies, and geospatial methods may help target priority areas and planning VL surveillance in low and middle-income countries.

Interprofessional collaboration between general practitioners and primary care nurses in Belgium: a participatory action research

ABSTRACT Given the sociodemographic challenges facing the Belgian primary care system, it is essential to strengthen interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between healthcare providers. Therefore, our aims for this study were to assess IPC between general practitioners (GPs) and nurses; identify target priorities for improving IPC; and facilitate the planning and implementation of the proposed improvement strategies. Based on diversity criteria, six groups of GPs and nurses were chosen for a participatory action research. Participants performed a SWOT analysis of their IPC to identify strengths and weaknesses of their collaboration practice configurations. Main factors limiting IPC were related to the type of financing system which impeded or facilitated multidisciplinary team meetings, a weak functional integration, and a lack of interprofessional education. Overall, communication and task delegation were co-identified as common priorities. Actions prioritized by each group were related to these two priorities and accounted for local, specific needs. Communication could be supported through improved tools and dedicating time for multidisciplinary team meetings. Task delegation was more challenging and raised questions related to nurses’ training, legislation, and payment systems. IPC seems to be easier to achieve when healthcare professionals belong to the same organization and consider themselves a team.

The Pediatric Precision Oncology INFORM Registry: Clinical Outcome and Benefit for Patients with Very High-Evidence Targets.

INFORM is a prospective, multinational registry gathering clinical and molecular data of relapsed, progressive, or high-risk pediatric patients with cancer. This report describes long-term follow-up of 519 patients in whom molecular alterations were evaluated according to a predefined seven-scale target prioritization algorithm. Mean turnaround time from sample receipt to report was 25.4 days. The highest target priority level was observed in 42 patients (8.1%). Of these, 20 patients received matched targeted treatment with a median progression-free survival of 204 days [95% confidence interval (CI), 99-not applicable], compared with 117 days (95% CI, 106-143; P = 0.011) in all other patients. The respective molecular targets were shown to be predictive for matched treatment response and not prognostic surrogates for improved outcome. Hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes were identified in 7.5% of patients, half of which were newly identified through the study. Integrated molecular analyses resulted in a change or refinement of diagnoses in 8.2% of cases. SIGNIFICANCE: The pediatric precision oncology INFORM registry prospectively tested a target prioritization algorithm in a real-world, multinational setting and identified subgroups of patients benefiting from matched targeted treatment with improved progression-free survival, refinement of diagnosis, and identification of hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes.See related commentary by Eggermont et al., p. 2677.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2659.

Management and Prospects for the Development of Cultural Tourism in the Sea of Azov Region

The cultural potential of the Sea of Azov region for the development of cultural tourism is analysed. There are three groups of cultural resources of the region: 1) objects of cultural material heritage and museum resources; 2) objects of intangible cultural heritage; 3) festival and event resources. The institutional capacity and attendance of the museum cluster of the Azov region are illustrated. A SWOT-analysis of the resources for the development of cultural tourism in the Azov region is conducted. The main problems and challenges of development of the tourist sector of the Sea of Azov region are identified: short tourism season; lack of information about the cultural potential of the Azov Sea region; unused cultural and historical resource; focus on budget beach holidays; non-perception by the inhabitants of the Azov region as a cultural center («inferiority complex»); low level of hospitality and service; unformed cultural tourism product; lack of tourist information centers, as well as authentic souvenirs, guides, navigation and pointers to cultural sites; unformed museum network and museum infrastructure; lack of conference seats to meet the needs of the industrial region; lack of quality unique festivals and large-scale interesting events for tourists, etc. The need to use significant cultural resources of the Sea of Azov region to increase the tourism attractiveness of the region is substantiated. Variants of cultural products of the Sea of Azov region are given: 1) event product (festivals; religious holidays and ceremonies, MICE-products); 2) art product (art tours, art vacations, photo tours); 3) film tourism (filming and tours of the filming locations); 4) cultural and cognitive tourism (city tours, industrial tours, sentimental tours, sacred tours). Methodological guidelines for creation and promotion of cultural tourism products in the region, in particular, recommendation of targeting priority of target audiences, conducting a large-scale marketing campaign to promote cultural tourism products for target audiences, organizing information tours for tour operators, bloggers and media, using digital marketing and online platforms are improved.

Implementation of Six Sigma to Minimize Reject Gusset Difference and Fold in the Blowing Process

PT. Elastis Reka Aktif including companies engaged in manufacturing made from rHDPE (recycling High Density Polyethylene). The problem that often occurs is that the achievement of the Not Good Key Point Indicator exceeds the tolerance given by management by 1%. Therefore, improvements were made using the Six Sigma method and the Failure Mode Effect Analysis method in order to get the priority of improvement targets. The first improvement proposal given to the company is for RPN 280, namely the material characteristics are not homogeneous by proposing a re-design of the silo which is in the pelletizing process and the fourth is RPN 252 where the roll takeup and winder positions are not parallel, namely by providing area boundaries in order to minimize the position not being aligned. parallel. After providing a proposal for each potential problem and socializing it to the production side, it is hoped that it can reduce the reject rate in the blowing process.

Deadlock-free and path coordination algorithm for Cooperative Multi-task Allocation Problem with Target Priority Constraints

In this paper, we propose a cooperative multi-task allocation problem with target priority constraints (CMTAPTPC) for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For solving the deadlock problem, a deadlock detection and elimination method, including target priority constraints, is introduced in the graph representation framework. Furthermore, an innovative waitable path coordination (WPC) algorithm is proposed to coordinate the flight path that violates time constraints. It adopted some strategies to reduce the complexity of coordination and save the energy of the UAVs. In the simulation part, a representative complex scenario is designed to illustrate the rationality and effectiveness of the CMTAPTPC model and WPC algorithm.

Integrating Ecological Assessments to Target Priority Restoration Areas: A Case Study in the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China

The identification and management of ecological restoration areas play important roles in promoting sustainable urban development. However, current research lacks a scientific basis for the scope and scale of ecological restoration. Further, the absence of a framework to assess policy goals and public preferences that leads to identification of ecological restoration areas across the science-policy interface is difficult, and the existing frameworks’ performance has little applicability. We proposed a transdisciplinary framework to combine ecological quality, ecological health, and ecosystem services as an assessment endpoint to identify priority restoration areas. Further, we classified the ecological restoration areas on a township scale by K-means. Based upon policy goals and public preferences of the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration, we chose air quality, biodiversity, soil fragility, recreation quality, ecosystem vigor, landscape metrics, and the water supply ecosystem service as elements of the evaluation system. This study showed that priority restoration areas accounted for 10.8% of the urban agglomeration area and classified township, largely in the difference between natural and semi-natural ecosystems and the human environment. Policymakers can use this framework comprehensively and flexibly to identify and classify ecological restoration areas to achieve policy goals and fulfil public preferences.

Trends in hepatitis C virus seroprevalence and associated risk factors among men who have sex with men in Montréal: results from three cross-sectional studies (2005, 2009, 2018)

ObjectivesTo eliminate the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030, Canada must adopt a microelimination approach targeting priority populations, including gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM)....

Conceptual foundations for the functioning of the consumer market

The article is devoted to clarifying the conceptual basis for the development of the consumer market, taking into account the specifics of the current stage of social relations. The authors claim that the interconnections of participants in this market should be built on the principles of efficiency and social justice and be intended on improving the performance of the national economy. The essence of understanding these principles from the point of view of target priorities of activity of suppliers of consumer goods, subjects of trade, the enterprises of real sector of economy which are not directly involved in manufacture of consumer goods, and also activity of financial and credit institutions, the state and interests of the end buyer is opened. The purpose and objectives of the consumer market and the tools for their implementation are outlined. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of price regulation measures and the need for them to comply with the principles of efficiency and social justice. The most important factors of personal consumption goods pricing are considered: supply and demand balance, production and sales costs, consumer value, availability of warehouse stocks, state of the monetary sphere, growth of the global economic integration, application of economic sanctions and competition level. The conclusion was drawn that it is advisable to take a comprehensive approach to studying the stated topics.

Collaborative processing and data optimization of environmental perception technologies for autonomous vehicles

Purpose Autonomous driving depends on the collection, processing and analysis of environmental information and vehicle information. Environmental perception and processing are important prerequisite for the safety of self-driving of vehicles; it involves road boundary detection, vehicle detection, pedestrian detection using sensors such as laser rangefinder, video camera, vehicle borne radar, etc. Design/methodology/approach Subjected to various environmental factors, the data clock information is often out of sync because of different data acquisition frequency, which leads to the difficulty in data fusion. In this study, according to practical requirements, a multi-sensor environmental perception collaborative method was first proposed; then, based on the principle of target priority, large-scale priority, moving target priority and difference priority, a multi-sensor data fusion optimization algorithm based on convolutional neural network was proposed. Findings The average unload scheduling delay of the algorithm for test data before and after optimization under different network transmission rates. It can be seen that with the improvement of network transmission rate and processing capacity, the unload scheduling delay decreased after optimization and the performance of the test results is the closest to the optimal solution indicating the excellent performance of the optimization algorithm and its adaptivity to different environments. Originality/value In this paper, the results showed that the proposed method significantly improved the redundancy and fault tolerance of the system thus ensuring fast and correct decision-making during driving.

ISCOUT: Science-task planning and formation maneuver design for the IRASSI space interferometer

Abstract IRASSI is an astronomy mission aimed at observing stellar disks and protoplanetary regions using a constellation of five free-flying telescopes operating around the Sun-Earth/Moon L2 point. In these regions of the cosmos, important chemical/physical phenomena can be observed in the far-infrared, which may advance our current understanding of how pre-biotic conditions in Earth-like planets are formed. The distinguishing aspect of the IRASSI interferometer, however, is its free-flying concept. Rather than relying on a fixed formation configuration and relative position control, IRASSI relies on continuously drifting baselines (e.g., inter-satellite distances) and the knowledge of these baselines during the science observations. However, not all IRASSI targets require the same formation strategy and therefore the planning of the sequence of observation tasks and of the corresponding reconfiguration and science maneuvers has been investigated. The manuscript provides thus an overview of the planning architecture devised for IRASSI, called iSCOUT, composed of different modules: 1) Target Planner Module (TPM), 2) Reconfiguration Module (ReM), 3) Collision- and invisibility Avoidance Module (CAM), 4) Baseline Pattern Module (BPM). The first module (TPM), generates an optimized sequence of targets within a specified window period, taking into account variables such as visibility of the targets at each time step, retargeting time based on the current state, target priority or number of previously observed targets of the same type. The second module, ReM, assigns positions to the telescopes based on the target sequence generated by the TPM. Each translation maneuver is optimized to achieve a specified initial formation configuration, which is both perpendicular to the target direction and three-dimensional. Parameters such as fuel use and fuel-balance as well as ΔV and ΔV-balance are used for optimizing the reconfiguration of the formation. The third module, CAM, ensures that the telescopes following the ReM trajectories do not violate relative proximity restrictions or intervisibility requirements during the reconfiguration. In such an event, the CAM computes a new path in order to avoid collisions and invisibility instances. The last module, BPM, calculates the drifting trajectories that achieve the required patterns in the so-called ‘(U, V)-plane’ during the science observations. (U, V)-plane projection metrics and several operational constraints are used for the optimization of the trajectories. Each module has been individually optimized and the paper describes the main outcomes thereof. Results concerning and end-to-end iSCOUT simulation for the IRASSI mission are presented and future work goals complete the paper.

Cancer risk assessment for exposure to hazardous volatile organic compounds in Calgary, Canada

Oil and natural gas (O&G) extraction operations emit hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in quantities that have adverse effects on human health. Our current understanding of the exposure risks associated with upstream O&G exploitations remains limited, and very few quantitative on-site remediation strategies have been proposed. To this end, we assessed the health risks associated with the emission of hazardous VOCs and presented a set of remediation goals for the city of Calgary, which is a major center of the Canadian oil industry. Results from probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) suggested that although VOCs had a negligible impact on chronic non-cancer-associated risk, inhalation-associated cancer risk remained a significant concern. Carbon tetrachloride, benzene, and 1,3-butadiene were the dominant VOCs, representing 88% of the integrated inhalation cancer risk (= 7.8 × 10−5); background, solid fuel combustion, and O&G extraction were among the primary sources that posed the greatest threat to human health. Results of a Monte Carlo simulation revealed that the probability of developing cancer due to inhalation of hazardous VOCs was ∼13.1% on clean air days and 45.9% on days with significant levels of air pollution. Preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) included reductions of 24.2–65.1% and 11.4–50.9% targeting priority VOCs and their sources, respectively. Taken together, our findings suggest that stringent control of the sources of VOCs, particularly fossil fuel combustion, is an urgent priority. PRA coupled with PRGs provides informative risk assessments and suggests quantitative remediation strategies that can be applied toward improved management of hazardous pollutants.

An adaptive multi-sensor resource allocation algorithm based on efficiency function

In this paper, combined with the Kalman filtering algorithm, the linear weighted sum of the normalized prediction information increment DI and the norm of target filter error covariance matrix ║ cP ║ is used to represent the pairing function of the target-sensor combination and the assignment and automatic updating of the pairing function between sensor and target are realized. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), an adaptive sensor resource allocation algorithm is proposed. The simulation results show that the algorithm can effectively integrate various evaluation factors and is compatible with different types of targets. The algorithm has simple structure and good versatility. The limited sensor resources can be dynamically adjusted according to the priority of targets, making the sensor allocation strategy more reasonable and effective.