Theoretical Developments Research Articles

Genomic surveillance strategy. Problems and perspectives

The topic of epidemiologic surveillance is one of the basic concepts in the theory and practice of epidemiologic science. In Russia, generalization of the accumulated factual material and theoretical developments have allowed us to formulate a number of provisions on the nature of the epidemic process. The pandemic of a new coronavirus infection has forced adjustments in all spheres of society, including the activities of the infectious disease epidemiological surveillance system, requiring the development and implementation of innovative solutions. Based on the experience of prompt response to the tasks set by the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors raised the problem of development and implementation of a system of molecular genetic monitoring for pathogens of emerging and re-emerging infections as a priority vector of epidemiological surveillance development. The introduction of modern molecular biological technologies for the identification of pathogens with epidemic potential, taking into account their genetic diversity, into the system of epidemiologic surveillance has been substantiated based on the experience of using platform solutions created by the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor. The strategy of genomic epidemiologic surveillance as a powerful tool to ensure readiness for response measures and management of the epidemic process by implementing and adjusting preventive and anti-epidemic measures was developed. The Russian platform for aggregation of information on virus genomes (VGARus) developed at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor as a technological, scientific, organizational and infrastructural base of genomic epidemiological surveillance, acting as an interdepartmental consortium, has been introduced into practice. The efficiency of VGARus was shown to assess the mutational variability of SARS-CoV-2, the influence of evolutionary development of circulating pathogens on the characteristics of the epidemic process, the implementation of operational and retrospective analysis of morbidity and prediction of the spread of genetic variants of pathogens.

(Im)mobile autobiography: the mobilisation of life without children auto/biography and its significance

The paper contributes to the theme of the special issue by making auto/biography the focal point of analysis and theorising its potential to be mobile or immobile. The theoretical developments of the paper are grounded in a mobilisation of life-without-children auto/biographical non-fiction across the last 10–15 years, in which those who do not have children, whatever the reason, have opened-up about their stories and found ways to share them with one another. The paper explicates an original concept immobile autobiography defined as: ‘life narratives that are invisible and side-lined, essentialized or not told in first person, and whose circulation both within (intra) and between (inter) generations is structurally limited’; and its converse mobile autobiography. (Im)mobile auto/biographies include, but cannot be reduced to, digital and physical mobilities. The potential of the concept lies in its ability to consider how lives, and the stories told about them, evolve, circulate and perform transformation, as they intersect with, transgress and re-shape changing cultural climates of a mobile world.

Establishing an inverted U-shaped pattern of violence and war from prehistory to modernity: towards an interdisciplinary synthesis

AbstractHow have broad patterns of violence and war changed from the dawn of humanity up to present time? In answering this question, researchers have typically framed their arguments and evidence in terms of the polarized debate between Hobbes (or hawks) and Rousseau (or doves). This article moves beyond the stalemated debate and integrates the most robust existing theoretical developments and empirical findings that have emerged from various disciplines over the past 20 years– primarily sociology, political science, anthropology, and archaeology– to answer the question. Drawing on carefully curated violent lethality data for pre historically appropriate hunter-gatherers, as well as historical pre-state and state societies, it shows that simple narratives of violence and war decreasing through history from ostensibly high levels in the human state of nature, on the one hand, and the obverse insistence that the once mostly peaceful communities became highly belligerent with the transition to modernity, on the other, are both wrong. Instead, multiple lines of existing evidence and theoretical perspectives suggest a complex, non-linear, Kuznets-style relationship between violence and the passage of history.

RELATIVITY OR NOT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO SILENCE

This Article brings out specific and deepened approach to the right to silence, examining the hypothesis according to which the aforementioned constitutional and fundamental right would be relative or not. With the aim of scrutinizing the right to silence, based on an investigative stimulus provoked by a concrete situation resulting from a court decision, the present study starts from the analysis of the idea of ​​complementarity and interdisciplinarity between Public Law and Private Law, as well as among varied branches of law. This is because the right to silence itself, better explored in the second chapter, depending on interpretations and theoretical developments, can gravitate and transit, sometimes more, sometimes less, along with Public and Private Laws. And because the right to silence is, at the same time, another right to freedom found in the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, its specific research in this article is preceded by directed evaluation of other fundamental freedoms, such as the expression of thought, among others developed in the text. Finally, considering the analytical-deductive methodology used, supported by theories, legislation, legal norms and current concrete decisional examples, this research revisits classical themes, but strengthens and innovates them with a peculiar and specific epistemological and hermeneutic exercise.

Non-destructive evaluation of the steel fibre content and anisometry in thin UHPFRC elements

The tensile response of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced composites (UHPFRC) is decisive in many applications and depends on the steel fibre content and orientation. These vary troughout the structural element and may differ from those in the laboratory specimens used to characterize the material behaviour. This work presents the developments on a non-destructive test method based on the measurement of the magnetic inductance, substantiating its use for the determination of the fibre content and orientation in thin UHPFRC elements and allowing the estimation of the directionally dependent post-cracking tensile strength of the material in the structure. Starting from a probabilistic description of the fibre orientation, an existing physical model of the magnetic circuit composed of a U-shaped inductor and the composite is generalized and is used to derive the relations between the magnetic inductance measurements, the fibre volumetric fraction and the fibre orientation factor. A second-order tensor approximation of the relative magnetic permeability of the composite is proposed to determine the in-plane fibre orientation factor along any direction based on any three non-collinear measurements. Experimental evidence is presented supporting the theoretical developments. The factors that may affect the measurements are experimentally quantified. The paper concludes with an application example.

Quantum optimization algorithms: Energetic implications

SummarySince the dawn of quantum computing (QC), theoretical developments like Shor's algorithm proved the conceptual superiority of QC over traditional computing. However, such quantum supremacy claims are difficult to achieve in practice because of the technical challenges of realizing noiseless qubits. In the near future, QC applications will need to rely on noisy quantum devices that offload part of their work to classical devices. One way to achieve this is by using parameterized quantum circuits in optimization or even in machine learning tasks. The energy requirements of quantum algorithms have not yet been studied extensively. In this article, we explore several optimization algorithms using both theoretical insights and numerical experiments to understand their impact on energy consumption. Specifically, we highlight why and how algorithms like quantum natural gradient descent, simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximations or circuit learning methods, are at least to more energy efficient than their classical counterparts; why feedback‐based quantum optimization is energy‐inefficient; and how techniques like Rosalin can improve the energy efficiency of other algorithms by a factor of 20. Finally, we use the NchooseK high‐level programming model to run optimization problems on both gate‐based quantum computers and quantum annealers. Empirical data indicate that these optimization problems run faster, have better success rates, and consume less energy on quantum annealers than on their gate‐based counterparts.

Impact of disc magnetisation on magnetohydrodynamic disc wind signature

Observations of blue-shifted X-ray absorption lines indicate the presence of wind from the accretion disc in X-ray binaries. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) driving is one possible wind-launching mechanism. Recent theoretical developments have made self-similar magnetic accretion-ejection solutions much more generalised, showing that wind can be launched at a much lower magnetisation than the equipartition value, which had previously been the only possibility. In this work, we model the transmitted spectra through MHD-driven photoionised wind models with different levels of magnetisation. We investigate the possibility of detecting absorption lines by upcoming instruments, such as XRISM and Athena. We investigate the robustness of the method of fitting asymmetric line profiles by multiple Gaussians. We used the photoionisation code XSTAR to simulate the transmitted model spectra. To cover the extensive range of velocity and density of the wind spanned over a large distance ($ gravitational radii), we divided the wind into slabs following a logarithmic radial grid. Fake observed spectra are finally produced by convolving model spectra with instrument responses. Since the line asymmetries are apparent in the convolved spectra as well, this can be used in future XRISM and Athena spectra as an observable diagnostic to fit for. We applied some amount of rigor in assessing the equivalent widths of the major absorption lines, including the Fe XXVI Lyalpha doublets, which will be clearly distinguishable thanks to the superior quality of future high-resolution spectra. Disc magnetisation stands as another crucial MHD variable that can significantly alter the absorption line profiles. Pure MHD outflow models at low magnetisation are dense enough to be observed by the existing or upcoming instruments. Therefore, these models can serve as simpler alternatives to MHD-thermal models. Fitting with multiple Gaussians is a promising method for handling asymmetric line profiles, as well as the Fe XXVI Lyalpha doublets.

Overlapping Functions: Volunteering and Other Forms of Civic Participation in the COVID-19 Disaster

AbstractFunctional motivations are closely linked to important volunteer outcomes, yet more socio-political forms of civic participation (CP) besides volunteering are growing. There is little attention on the applicability of functional motivations to such CP, including in disasters. Using a critical realist grounded theory methodology, 39 in-depth interviews were conducted with Singapore residents who had engaged in a diverse range of CP before and during COVID-19. A key mechanism, fulfilling personal functions, was found to relate to functional motivations. Overlapping functions were found, but there are differences in how these functions were fulfilled depending on the form of CP. Perceived accessibility, the subjective mental state about one’s potential to engage, mediated the effectuation of motivations in actual engagement. COVID-19 contributed to emergent CP by increasing perceived accessibility. Participating citizens pre-COVID-19 made adaptations to maintain perceived accessibility to continue CP during the pandemic. These theoretical developments inform policy and research agenda in understanding and leveraging CP.

De Casteljau's algorithm in geometric data analysis: Theory and application

For decades, de Casteljau's algorithm has been used as a fundamental building block in curve and surface design and has found a wide range of applications in fields such as scientific computing and discrete geometry, to name but a few. With increasing interest in nonlinear data science, its constructive approach has been shown to provide a principled way to generalize parametric smooth curves to manifolds. These curves have found remarkable new applications in the analysis of parameter-dependent, geometric data. This article provides a survey of the recent theoretical developments in this exciting area as well as its applications in fields such as geometric morphometrics and longitudinal data analysis in medicine, archaeology, and meteorology.

Experimental study on an enhanced integral force feedback controller for active damping

In this paper, an enhanced integral force feedback controller is proposed for implementing active damping. Compared with the classical integral force feedback, the pure integrator is replaced with a combination of a first-order low-pass filter and a proportional term. The control performance of the proposed controller is examined on a single-degree-of-freedom host system. In order to better understand the physics behind, a full equivalent mechanical model is derived. It is found that the first-order low-pass filter is mechanically equivalent to a spring and a damper connected in parallel. The proportional term mechanically represents a spring which is connected in series with the inherent actuator spring. The optimal control parameters are numerically obtained with the ℋ∞ optimisation criterion. The analysis shows that the optimal feedback gain can be practically taken the same as that of the classical integral force feedback controller in the sense that the difference between the resultant control performance is negligible. The numerical study is also experimentally validated. The obtained results are found to correspond well with the theoretical developments.

Building a thematic framework of cybersecurity: a systematic literature review approach

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the factors affecting cybersecurity implementation in organizations in various countries and develop a cybersecurity framework to improve cybersecurity practices within organizations for cybersecurity risk management through a systematic literature review (SLR) approach.Design/methodology/approachThis SLR adhered to RepOrting Standards for Systematics Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) publication standards and used various research approaches. The study’s article selection process involved using Scopus, one of the most important scientific databases, to review articles published between 2014 and 2023.FindingsThis review identified the four main themes: individual factors, organizational factors, technological factors and governmental role. In addition, nine subthemes that relate to these primary topics were established.Originality/valueThis research sheds light on the multifaceted nature of cybersecurity by exploring factors influencing implementation and developing an improvement framework, offering valuable insights for researchers to advance theoretical developments, assisting industry practitioners in tailoring cybersecurity strategies to their needs and providing policymakers with a basis for creating more effective cybersecurity regulations and standards.

Sonata Form as Temporal Process: the First Movement of Bruckner's Sixth symphony

ABSTRACTThe timeworn view that Bruckner's sonata form is a motionless architecture devoid of dynamic processes has long contributed his isolation from the mainstream post‐Beethovenian tradition. Taking inspiration from August Halm's (1914) and Ernst Kurth's (1925) approaches, which were aimed at overcoming this view, this article seeks to elucidate the processual aspects of Bruckner's symphonic form in light of recent theoretical developments in musical form. Specifically, it combines William Caplin's form‐functional theory (1998), especially its beginning–middle–end paradigm, with Matthew Arndt's (2018) reconception of formal functionality to construct a new framework for the analysis of Bruckner's symphonic forms.By way of an analytical case study of the first movement of Bruckner's Sixth Symphony, the article reveals that the expression of continuous motion occurring across discrete formal entities, often further dramatised by ‘wave dynamics’ (Kurth 1925), is fundamental to Bruckner's reinvigoration of sonata form's inherent temporal process in a post‐Romantic context. In the exposition, the inter‐thematic beginning, middle and end paradigms are redistributed to the three thematic groups, which express their unique temporal domain while delineating a continuous tonal journey from the home key to the subordinate key. The remainder of the movement articulates a gradual journey of homecoming, with each subsequent large‐scale part addressing previously suggested tonal implications. Ultimately, the modified form‐functional approach adopted in this study sheds light on Bruckner's exceptional care for formal syntax on various levels of structure, and its close association with an overarching, though unconventional, tonal plot.

Crisis resilience assessment and management of public utility companies

Currently, the most frequently used models for forecasting the probability of company bankruptcy in the housing and utilities sector lack accuracy. The hypothesis is put forward that crisis resilience of a company can be assessed based on its adaptive capabilities. The paper aims to construct a more accurate compared to the known regression model for predicting bankruptcies, as well as develop models for assessing the quality of crisis adaptation management at public utility companies allowing for the stakeholders’ interests and peculiarities of their interface. The methodological basis of the study consists of the theory of crisis management and a stakeholder approach. The methods include multiple regression analysis, stakeholder mapping, sociological survey, and expert assessments. The evidence comes from the accounting and statistical reporting of 49 public utility companies, materials of arbitration cases, survey results of 33 heads of organisations obtained in the period from February to March 2023. The theoretical developments are implemented within the empirical studies of public utility companies. To improve crisis adaptation and resilience of public utility companies the findings recommend to launch staff training programmes, establish mechanisms for horizontal intra-sectoral connections and maintain cooperation at the level of public authorities in order to control investments in the housing and utilities sector.

МАЛА АЙДЕНТИКА ВУЛИЦЬ ЯК ІНСТРУМЕНТ УПРАВЛІННЯ БРЕНДОМ МІСТ ТА ТЕРИТОРІЙ

Formulation of the problem. This has already become the norm for Ukraine, when the city takes an active position in the competition for tourist and/or investment attractiveness with other cities. A necessary component of this struggle is the city brand. The city brand is the result of – impressions received, whether from communication, from one's own experience, or from a combination of the first and second. One of the tools for strengthening and influencing the impression of being in the city is the small identity of the streets. The aim of the research determining the small identity of streets as one of the tools of brand management of cities and territories. The оbject of the research was the identity of the streets. By the small identity of the streets, we understand the system of symbols, designations, names, objects that a person meets while moving through the streets of the city. The methods of the research. Among the methods we used in the research, we can single out the method of scientific abstraction in the construction of the research concept and the formation of a model of the relationship between the design process of the graphic part of the city brand, the small identity of the city streets and the perception of the target audience of the city brand communication and urban space. They also used the method of office research, the method of analysis and synthesis when studying the theoretical developments of researchers in the field of city and territory branding. The hypothesis of the research. The lack of a small identity of the city's streets makes the city's branding ineffective. The management of the city's brand should be strengthened by measures to form an appropriate system of small identity of the city's streets. The statement of basic materials. A city working on its brand must have material confirmation of what the brand is talking about. The visualization of the city brand should reflect the identity of the city, embodied in various artifacts that can be found physically in the city – from souvenir products to architecture, events and selfie songs. If they are missing – they must be created according to the concept of the city brand. If they are –, they must be adapted to the concept of the city brand to create the prerequisites for effective branding. The originality and practical significance of the research lies in proving the need for active use of a small street identity in city brand management. The originality and practical significance of the research. The small identity of the streets has high potential as a tool for managing the city's brand. The method of its use in city branding, in our opinion, is the subject of separate studies.

Probing baryogenesis in f(Q) gravity

The origin of matter domination in the Universe is one of the most exciting open puzzles in particle physics and cosmology. Despite many theoretical developments, the actual reason behind baryon-antibaryon asymmetry is still unknown. Our aim here is to examine this phenomenon in the framework of modified gravity theories, which have impressively elucidated the contemporary accelerated expansion of the Universe as well as the early phase. Consequently, this letter sets its sights on the task of constraining a specific variant of modified gravity, namely, f(Q) gravity, in conjunction with gravitational baryogenesis. The power law model and recently proposed DGP-like f(Q) models are considered to find the baryon-to-entropy ratio and compare them with the observed value, that is . Furthermore, we impose constraints on the additional degrees of freedom introduced by this modified theory of gravity.

Fractal networks: Topology, dimension, and complexity.

Over the past two decades, the study of self-similarity and fractality in discrete structures, particularly complex networks, has gained momentum. This surge of interest is fueled by the theoretical developments within the theory of complex networks and the practical demands of real-world applications. Nonetheless, translating the principles of fractal geometry from the domain of general topology, dealing with continuous or infinite objects, to finite structures in a mathematically rigorous way poses a formidable challenge. In this paper, we overview such a theory that allows to identify and analyze fractal networks through the innate methodologies of graph theory and combinatorics. It establishes the direct graph-theoretical analogs of topological (Lebesgue) and fractal (Hausdorff) dimensions in a way that naturally links them to combinatorial parameters that have been studied within the realm of graph theory for decades. This allows to demonstrate that the self-similarity in networks is defined by the patterns of intersection among densely connected network communities. Moreover, the theory bridges discrete and continuous definitions by demonstrating how the combinatorial characterization of Lebesgue dimension via graph representation by its subsets (subgraphs/communities) extends to general topological spaces. Using this framework, we rigorously define fractal networks and connect their properties with established combinatorial concepts, such as graph colorings and descriptive complexity. The theoretical framework surveyed here sets a foundation for applications to real-life networks and future studies of fractal characteristics of complex networks using combinatorial methods and algorithms.

Alpha-band Brain Dynamics and Temporal Processing: An Introduction to the Special Focus.

For decades, the intriguing connection between the human alpha rhythm (an 8- to 13-Hz oscillation maximal over posterior cortex) and temporal processes in perception has furnished a rich landscape of proposals. The past decade, however, has seen a surge in interest in the topic, bringing new theoretical, analytic, and methodological developments alongside fresh controversies. This Special Focus on alpha-band dynamics and temporal processing provides an up-to-date snapshot of the playing field, with contributions from leading researchers in the field spanning original perspectives, new evidence, comprehensive reviews and meta-analyses, as well as discussion of ongoing controversies and paths forward. We hope that the perspectives captured here will help catalyze future research and shape the pathways toward a theoretically grounded and mechanistic account of the link between alpha dynamics and temporal properties of perception.

Development of methods of structural reliability

The growth of structural reliability theory and applications, along with a recognition of its role in guiding the structural engineering profession in addressing some of the most important issues in design of the built environment, represents one of the key engineering achievements during the past five decades. Structural reliability provides a unifying framework for managing uncertainties affecting performance of structures and a quantitative link between the practice of structural engineering and its social consequences. Such links perhaps are most obvious in probability-based codified design and performance evaluation but there are numerous other applications, which are summarized in this special issue. As the field has matured, researchers in reliability have worked with structural engineers to elevate both the practice of structural engineering and the quality of research to levels that otherwise would not have been possible. The Joint Committee on Structural Safety has played a central role in this historic development and it will inspire future opportunities for the reliability community to build upon past successes to improve structural engineering and construction practices. This paper surveys the key theoretical developments and milestones that enable these opportunities.

INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE OF COMMUNICATIVE AND ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS IN PSYCHOLOGY

Understanding communicative and organizational abilities in contemporary psychological theories is crucial, particularly in an era dominated by information and technology. Enhancing communication effectiveness and interaction skills is a pressing challenge, making the study of communicative competence and organizational abilities highly relevant. This paper systematically reviews key theoretical developments in this field. Russian psychologists, such as S.L. Rubinstein, A.G. Kovalev, and others, have contributed to the research on communicative abilities, employing various terms like communicative competence and socio-psychological competence. However, a clear differentiation between these terms is yet to be achieved. According to the personality-activity approach, communicative abilities are socio-historically rooted and shaped through practical communication. They are individual-psychological traits reflecting success in communicative tasks. G.S. Vasilyev and A.A. Kidron offer early insights into communicative abilities. Vasilyev defines them as facilitating successful communication, while Kidron views them as a general capacity linked to personality substructures. Kidron identifies levels of communicative ability manifestation, including cognitive, cognitive-expressive, expressive, expressive-interactional, and interactional abilities.

Quantifying soil microbial effects on plant species coexistence: A conceptual synthesis.

Soil microorganisms play a critical role in shaping the biodiversity dynamics of plant communities. These microbial effects can arise through direct mediation of plant fitness by pathogens and mutualists, and over the past two decades, numerous studies have shined a spotlight on the role of dynamic feedbacks between plants and soil microorganisms as key determinants of plant species coexistence. Such feedbacks occur when plants modify the composition of the soil community, which in turn affects plant performance. Stimulated by a theoretical model developed in the 1990s, a bulk of the empirical evidence for microbial controls over plant coexistence comes from experiments that quantify plant growth in soil communities that were previously conditioned by conspecific or heterospecific plants. These studies have revealed that soil microbes can generate strong negative to positive frequency-dependent dynamics among plants. Even as soil microbes have become recognized as a key player in determining plant coexistence outcomes, the past few years have seen a renewed interest in expanding the conceptual foundations of this field. New results include re-interpretations of key metrics from classic two-species models, extensions of plant-soil feedback theory to multispecies communities, and frameworks to integrate plant-soil feedbacks with processes like intra- and interspecific competition. Here, I review the implications of theoretical developments for interpreting existing empirical results and highlight proposed analyses and designs for future experiments that can enable a more complete understanding of microbial regulation of plant community dynamics.