Topical Subject Research Articles

Examination of pre-service teachers' perceptions of the concept of fraction using the word association test

In this study, it is aimed to examine the perceptions of the mathematics teacher candidates regarding the concept of fraction. 32 teacher candidates participated in the research carried out in the screening model. The word association test was used as a data collection tool and the obtained data were analyzed by content analysis method. According to the results of the analysis, it is seen that the perceptions of teacher candidates regarding the concept of fraction are mostly concentrated in the themes of meanings of fractions, operations in fractions, and representation of fractions. In addition, the themes of numbers, notation, and other mathematical topics in which it is used are other themes that emerged. It was seen that the teacher candidates expressed the quotient meaning at most, they did not mention the percent meaning. It was seen that they mostly expressed the addition operation in fractions and the type of compound fraction. As a result, it is seen that pre-service teachers' perceptions about the concept of fraction are limited. Pre-service teachers can be given a more comprehensive and relational education on the concept of fraction.

Investigating the interplay of the hydrometeorological and seasonal forest vegetation role in regulating the nitrate flushing in a small torrential catchment

Forest vegetation is a very topical research subject as part of nature-based solutions for flood protection, soil erosion, water quality improvement, etc. However, limited capabilities of such measures are rarely investigated. Therefore, in this paper, study on the interplay of the hydrometeorological and seasonal forest vegetation role in regulating the nitrate‑nitrogen (NO3-N) flushing from a forested, torrential catchment is presented. For the 43 identified rainfall events it was found that there are no statistically significant seasonal differences in NO3-N concentrations; however, during baseflow conditions such differences were noted. The rainfall events were described by 17 hydro-meteorological and vegetation variables to investigate similarities between the events from the NO3-N export point of view using clustering methods. Additionally, the relationship between explanatory and dependent variables, i.e. NO3-N concentration and export variables, was modelled. In the models, the first four principal components were used as explanatory variables after the reduction of the initial number of variables. It was found that phenological phases as indicators of the forest vegetation seasonal activity are generally not able to considerably influence the NO3-N concentration and flushing dynamics. The results indicate that during baseflow conditions, the influence of the forest vegetation in the torrential catchment becomes predominant. During rainfall events, the role of vegetation is blurred and might be generally considered as insignificant. The characteristics of rainfall events apparently exceed the limits of a forest's ability to control NO3-N flushing. Given the pronounced impact of rainfall intensity on NO3-N flushing, the challenge for the future will be to mitigate the potential negative effects of climate change related impacts, especially through measures able to reduce the intensity of rainfall-runoff formation. The seasonal role of vegetation in diminishing the intensity of nutrient flushing in natural torrential catchments might be relatively constrained and probably also overwhelmed by the hydrometeorological conditions.

Decision-making model for failure modes and effect analysis based on rough fuzzy integrated clouds

Risk assessment is one of the key topical subjects to identify and eradicate potential failures from system, design and structure at the early stage of production process. As different kinds of uncertainties such as diversity, randomness, vagueness coexist, single uncertainty based decision models are not sufficient to evaluate risk priority of failure modes. However, the existing mathematical approaches usually utilize single models ignoring the coexistence of intrapersonal and interpersonal uncertainties in experts’ judgements. The weights computed from relative importance of risk factors are essential information to capture the relation of various factors in decision system. Most of the current references do not consider the objective and subjective weights simultaneously which effects the rationality of results. In the present study, a novel linguistic assessment model , namely rough fuzzy integrated clouds (RFICs), is developed to handle uncertain information by integrating rough fuzzy numbers with cloud model theory. Then a significant decision support model for the analysis of failure modes is constructed based on RFICs, hybrid weighting method and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. The positive and negative ideal solutions are determined using statistical deviations and arithmetic operations of clouds to rank the failure modes. The proposed model is implemented on a real-world application to detect the failures of steam valve system in a power generation plant. The simulation and sensitivity of the proposed model is also analyzed for different variations of control parameters. The proposed approach is compared with four existing approaches to show its effectiveness, out-performance and improved accuracy.

Substituting Intelligence

The development of ChatGPT is a topical subject of reflection. This short paper focuses on the (possible) use of ChatGPT in academia and some of its (possible) ramifications for users’ cognitive abilities and, dramatically put, their existence.

Reddit Users' Questions and Concerns about Anesthesia

Background. Patients utilize social media in search of support networks. Reddit is one of the most popular social media sites and allows users to anonymously connect. Anesthesia patients are actively using Reddit to discuss their treatment options and experiences within the medical system. Methods. Posts published on an active Reddit forum on Anesthesia (i.e., /r/Anesthesia) were used. Big Query was used to collect posts from /r/Anesthesia. We collected 3,288 posts published between December 2015 and August 2019. We collected a control group of 3,288 posts from a Reddit forum not related to Anesthesia. Using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) we extracted 20 topics from our data set. The LDA topic themes most associated with posts in /r/Anesthesia compared to the control group were determined. Results. LDA analysis of posts in /r/Anesthesia relative to a control group produced 6 distinct categories of posts (Table 1). The posts most associated with /r/Anesthesia when compared to a control group were posts belonging to the “Physician-Patient Experience” category (Cohen’s d= 0.389) while the posts least associated with /r/Anesthesia were from the “Uncertainties” category of posts (Cohen’s d= 0.147). Example experiences from members of the /r/Anesthesia forum highlight subjective experiences of patients undergoing anesthesiology. Conclusions. The language used on social media can provide insights into an individual's experience with anesthesia and inform physicians about patient concerns. Anesthesiologists are poised to address these concerns and prevent anonymous misinformation by providing verified physician insights on the forum /r/Anesthesia.

Reddit Users' Questions and Concerns about Anesthesia

Background: Patients utilize social media in search of support networks. Reddit is one of the most popular social media sites and allows users to anonymously connect. Anesthesia patients are actively using Reddit to discuss their treatment options and experiences within the medical system. Methods: Posts published on an active Reddit forum on Anesthesia (i.e., /r/Anesthesia) were used. Big Query was used to collect posts from /r/Anesthesia. We collected 3,288 posts published between December 2015 and August 2019. We collected a control group of 3,288 posts from a Reddit forum not related to Anesthesia. Using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) we extracted 20 topics from our data set. The LDA topic themes most associated with posts in /r/Anesthesia compared to the control group were determined. Results: LDA analysis of posts in /r/Anesthesia relative to a control group produced 6 distinct categories of posts (Table 1). The posts most associated with /r/Anesthesia when compared to a control group were posts belonging to the “Physician-Patient Experience” category (Cohen’s d= 0.389) while the posts least associated with /r/Anesthesia were from the “Uncertainties” category of posts (Cohen’s d= 0.147). Example experiences from members of the /r/Anesthesia forum highlight subjective experiences of patients undergoing anesthesia. Conclusions: The language used on social media can provide insights into an individual's experience with anesthesia and inform physicians about patient concerns. Anesthesiologists are poised to address these concerns and prevent anonymous misinformation by providing verified physician insights on the forum /r/Anesthesia.

The Topical Theme Depicted in the Talks of Education in Indonesian’s TEDx

The education-related TEDx presentations delivered by Indonesian speakers are a distinct linguistic phenomenon. It is a language in use where the message is communicated entirely through spoken speech as opposed to speaking itself. In light of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), this study examines the management of topical theme in relation to the message organisation of TE in TEDx. The aim of this study was to pinpoint and define the message's current theme in the TEDx format. Using the documentation method, the information was gleaned from an official TEDx broadcaster online. Two methods of analysis have been used: detailed text fragmentation and transcription. Following the analysis, the findings were presented and their theoretical SFL-based interpretation was given. This study shows that the phrasal and clausal forms of language, which are the constructional units of language, have taken on the topical theme in TE of TEDx. Phrasal constructs can be categorised into four different categories: noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP), adjective phrase (AP), and prepositional phrase (PP). The topical theme has also been functionalized as a component of other themes and the chain for coherence. This study recommended more examination of the organisation of the other component of the message. To ensure that the entire description of the thematic structure of TE in TEDx is respected, the combinatory analysis of theme and rheme will be essential.

Particle Debris Generated from Passenger Tires Induces Morphological and Gene Expression Alterations in the Macrophages Cell Line RAW 264.7

Air pollution in the urban environment is a topical subject. Aero-suspended particles can cause respiratory diseases in humans, ranging from inflammation to asthma and cancer. One of the components that is most prevalent in particulate matter (PM) in urban areas is the set of tire microparticles (1-20 μm) and nanoparticles (<1 μm) that are formed due to the friction of wheels with asphalt and are increased in slow-moving areas that involve a lot of braking actions. In this work, we studied the effect that microparticles generated from passenger tires (PTWP, passenger tire wear particles) have in vitro on murine macrophages cells RAW 264.7 at two concentrations of 25 and 100 μg/mL, for 24 and 48 h. In addition to the chemical characterization of the material and morphological characterization of the treated cells by transmission electron microscopy, gene expression analysis with RT-PCR and active protein analysis with Western blotting were performed. Growth curves were obtained, and the genotoxic effect was evaluated with a comet assay. The results indicate that initially, an induction of the apoptotic process is observable, but this is subsequently reversed by Bcl2. No genotoxic damage is present, but mild cellular abnormalities were observed in the treated cells.

The Link between Digitization and the Sustainable Development in European Union Countries

Digitalization and sustainable development represent two highly topical subjects, each of them being primarily debated in the literature. Although it is evident that digitalization brings new opportunities and challenges for the management of organizations and for meeting their sustainable strategies, there are relatively few studies analyzing the relationship between the two. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to analyze the relationship between digitalization and sustainable development in the European Union (EU) countries, between 2019 and 2021, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. On this matter, the link between Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), on one side, and Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG Index) and Spillover Index (SS Index), on the other side, has been analyzed using correlations. While DESI refers to the monitoring of digital advancement of the EU member states, SDG Index and SS Index are based on many indicators and give a multidimensional perspective regarding sustainable development. Results show a positive and significant relationship between DESI and SDG Index, and the effect gradually decreases during the analyzed period. Regarding the relationship between DESI and SS Index, the correlation was negative, but significant in 2020 and 2019 only. At the level of each geographical region, the relationship between DESI and SDG Index was positive, with a larger effect in the Northern and Western region and the Southern region compared to the Central and Eastern region, but this effect was not statistically significant. In addition, the relationship between DESI and SS Index was negative and significant at the level of the Central and Eastern region and the Southern region but positive and not statistically significant at the level of the Northern and Western region. In addition to previous papers on this field, this study adds the analysis between digitalization and the Spillover Index. In addition, while previous studies seek to identify the relationship between digitalization and sustainability at a single country level or region, this study presents the correlation analysis at the EU level and compares the results for each EU region. Following the results, our study gives arguments for reshaping the concept of sustainable development given that digitalization is becoming an essential business component.

A Contrastive Analysis of Thematic and Information Patterning in English and Arabic Contexts

Language acquisition is a remarkable and crucial aspect of human evolution because it is a means of communication. One of the main problems in which language is implicated is when speakers of different languages communicate. A possible solution for speakers of different languages is to learn the other’s language or to employ a translator. Contrastive analysis is the study and comparison of two different languages, such as English with Arabic. It compares the structural similarities and differences between the two languages. In this regard, it is utilized to compare the Thematic and Information Structures in English and Arabic, which is the most common focus of this study. This article aimed to examine the theme and Information structures of English and Arabic from contrastive analysis perspectives. Multiple sentences from daily language are included in the analysis, which is based on Halliday’s practical theme-rheme paradigm applied to conversational English and Arabic clauses. The researcher, an ESL instructor, used a descriptive-analytical technique to critically assess the similarities and differences in the structural aspects of themes and rheme in English and Arabic to help ESL students be well prepared for the translation job after graduation and now while learning at the college. While Arabic and English clauses are distinct, they can express the same concepts in dramatically more diverse ways, according to the findings of this study. This study also revealed the alignment of themes could alter across various ESL learners’ understanding. Personal experience or ability, among other factors, can impact topical subjects, regardless of whether they are written or spoken. Because the two systems are so dissimilar, it is critical to understand the linguistic differences between English and Arabic to help recognize the difference in meaning between them.

A Novel, Highly Potent NADPH-Dependent Cytochrome P450 Reductase from Waste Liza klunzingeri Liver.

The use of marine enzymes as catalysts for biotechnological applications is a topical subject. Marine enzymes usually display better operational properties than their animal, plant or bacterial counterparts, enlarging the range of possible biotechnological applications. Due to the fact that cytochrome P450 enzymes can degrade many different toxic environmental compounds, these enzymes have emerged as valuable tools in bioremediation processes. The present work describes the isolation, purification and biochemical characterization of a liver NADPH-dependent cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) from the marine fish Liza klunzingeri (LkCPR). Experimental results revealed that LkCPR is a monomer of approximately 75 kDa that is active in a wide range of pH values (6-9) and temperatures (40-60 °C), showing the highest catalytic activity at pH 8 and 50 °C. The activation energy of the enzyme reaction was 16.3 kcal mol-1 K-1. The KM values for cytochrome C and NADPH were 8.83 μM and 7.26 μM, and the kcat values were 206.79 s-1 and 202.93 s-1, respectively. LkCPR displayed a specific activity versus cytochrome C of 402.07 µmol min-1 mg1, the highest activity value described for a CPR up to date (3.2-4.7 times higher than the most active reported CPRs) and showed the highest thermostability described for a CPR. Taking into account all these remarkable catalytic features, LkCPR offers great potential to be used as a suitable biocatalyst.

What motivates the purchasing of green apparel products? A systematic review and future research agenda

AbstractThe contemporary business landscape is witnessing an ever‐increasing concern for environmental sustainability, which has also surfaced in the apparel industry through the introduction of green apparel. Whether the adoption of green apparel is as a result of growing external pressures on firms to adopt green practices or due to deliberate strategies to incorporate sustainable orientation in the making of products, it remains a topical subject—making a comprehensive account of the existing academic literature indispensable. Furthermore, while academic research on green apparel is undoubtedly at an all‐time high, the literature is largely disjointed, necessitating a robust synthesis of the exiting literature to illuminate the existing shortcomings and to provide direction to the future research efforts. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to gauge the existing literary work in this field and to identify research gaps. After the critical review of 90 selected studies, four major themes were extracted: consumer apparel purchase, circular economy, consumer awareness, and barriers. After we identified theme‐based critical knowledge gaps in the existing literature, we posed corresponding research questions that provide avenues for future research. The study also constructed a framework with significant practical and theoretical implications. Researchers can obtain a comprehensive understanding of the broader contours of this academic field and, with our meticulously tabulated gaps and potential research questions, explore new dimensions and broaden the horizons of this field.

Public perception on 'healthy ageing' in the past decade: An unsupervised machine learning of 63,809 Twitter posts

The World Health Organization (WHO) started the initiative on healthy ageing from 2016 to 2020, which has now continued into the United Nations (UN) Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030. Research into healthy ageing and healthy ageing communities have emphasized that the concept of healthy ageing encompasses a plurality of views and has multiple dimensions. Anchored in a transdisciplinary approach, the present report thus aimed to investigate public perceptions of healthy ageing via a deep analysis of social media posts on Twitter. Original tweets, containing the terms “Healthy Ageing” OR “healthy aging” OR “healthyageing” OR “healthyaging”, and posted in English between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2022 were extracted. Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) Named Entity Recognition was applied to select for individual users. Topic modelling, specifically BERTopic was used to generate interpretable topics and descriptions pertaining to the concept of healthy ageing. Subsequently, manual thematic analysis was performed by the study investigators, with independent reviews of the topic labels and themes. A total of 63,809 unique tweets were analyzed and clustered semantically into 16 topics. The public perception of healthy ageing could be broadly grouped into three themes: (1) healthy diet and lifestyle, (2) maintaining normal bodily functions and (3) preventive care. While most perceptions dovetail WHO's definition, there are some points regarding skin appearances, beauty and aging that should be closely considered in the design of initiatives in the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing and beyond.

Effects of a blended design of closed-book and open-book examinations on dental students’ anxiety and performance

BackgroundWhile closed-book examinations (CBEs) have traditionally been implemented in dental education, open-book examinations (OBEs) are being introduced for the purpose of acquiring higher levels of knowledge and promoting long-term memory. This study examines whether it is effective to use a blended assessment of CBEs and OBEs for dental students to reduce test anxiety and enhance academic performance.MethodsUsing a quasi-experimental research method, a blended assessment that combined CBEs in class and OBEs online was designed for a dental course. In 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak, student assessment was ineffective, and the 2020 cohort was omitted for our study; instead, two cohorts of predoctoral dental students (N = 178) enrolled in Restorative Dentistry in the spring semesters of 2019 and 2021 were included in the study. These students were informed about the experimental design, and they provided written consent for data collection, thereby voluntarily participating in the survey. Their self-perceived responses to open-ended survey questions on assessment methods were qualitatively analyzed.ResultsThere was no significant difference in test anxiety between the CBEs and OBEs at the p-values of 0.001 in all items. Traditional and blended assessment showed a similar trend of lower scores in midterm exams compared to higher scores in final exams, thus discriminating against students’ performances. In particular, a low-achieving group was better predicted by a blended assessment. An analysis of the students’ self-perceived responses produced highly topical themes, including exam burden, learning effects, and fairness issues.ConclusionsThis study confirmed the feasibility of blended assessment that can be implemented in online and in-person educational environments. Moreover, it can be used as the groundwork to develop new models of assessment in dental education.

The Phenomenon of Imperial Patriotism in German Political Pamphlets of the 1670s – 1680s

During the reign of Leopold I, the Holy Roman Empire faced serious foreign policy challenges: the wars of the Ottoman Empire and the wars of Louis XIV. Both threats were reflected in German journalism. German publicists came out in defense of the Empire, as a result, a huge number of works with pro-imperial motives appeared. Speaking from the standpoint of imperial patriotism, German publicists strove to create an image of a common danger that threatened not only the entire Empire, but every German. Imperial patriotism was manifested in three topical subjects of German political journalism of the last quarter of the 17th century: French politics, the struggle against the Ottoman Empire and uprisings in Hungary. All three plots were presented from the position of a threat to the existing order. An important component of the negative image of France was its desire to seize the imperial throne and destabilize the internal situation in the Empire. The successes in the struggle against Turkey were demonstrated as the successes of the Empire and the Emperor. The Hungarian uprisings were condemned as a betrayal of the emperor, and therefore of the Empire. The surge in imperial patriotism was beneficial to the imperial power, which used it to strengthen their authority within the Empire.

Exploring cultural determinants to be integrated into preterm infant care in the neonatal intensive care unit: an integrative literature review

BackgroundCultural practices are an integral part of childrearing and remain a significant aspect for healthcare professionals to ensure culturally sensitive care, particularly in the neonatal intensive care unit.ObjectiveTo synthesise literature on the cultural determinants that can be integrated into care of preterm infants admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit.MethodsThe current review followed the integrative literature review steps proposed by Lubbe and colleagues. The registration of the review protocol was in PROSPERO. There was a literature search conducted in the EBSCOhost, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Scopus databases using the search string developed in collaboration with the librarian. Three reviewers employed a three-step screening strategy to screen the articles published in English between 2011 and 2021 that focused on culturally sensitive care. The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Evidence critical appraisal toolkit assessed the methodological quality of the articles included at the full-text screening level.ResultsThere were 141 articles retrieved, and 20 included on the full-text screening level; the exclusion of one article was due to a low critical appraisal grade. Four topical themes emerged from 19 articles: spiritual care practices, intragenerational infant-rearing practices, infant physical care practices, and combining treatment practices.ConclusionOverall, the findings indicated that parental cultural beliefs and practices mostly influenced infant-rearing practices, emphasising the significance of integrating cultural practices when rendering healthcare services. The recommendation is that healthcare professionals understand various cultural determinants, mainly those specific to the community they serve, to provide culturally sensitive care.

‘Be a game changer and keep the ball rolling’: exploring linkages between football clubs, charitable foundations and doing good

PurposeThere has been limited research on why football clubs contribute to charity. This paper examines how football clubs and their charitable conduits report information when discussing their connectedness. In addition, it explores reasons why, and the extent to which, football clubs support altruism via such charitable vehicles.Design/methodology/approachCase studies of four major football teams (Manchester City/Manchester United in England and AC Milan/Inter Milan in Italy) are discussed, with formal reports of the clubs and their associated charitable conduits being analysed.FindingsBoundaries between the clubs and their charitable conduits are frequently blurred. Evidence suggests that acknowledging the co-existence of different factors may help to understand what is reported by these organisations and address some of the caveats in terms of autonomy and probity of their activities and reporting practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe research uses case studies of four major ‘powerhouses’ of the game and their associated charitable spinoffs. While this is innovative and novel, expanding the research to investigate more clubs and their charitable endeavours would allow greater generalisations.Practical implicationsThe study provides material that can be used to reflect on the very topical subject of ‘sportswashing’. This has the potential to input to deliberations relating to the future governance of the game.Originality/valueThe paper explores relationships between businesses and charities/nonprofits in a sector so far little investigated from a charitable accountability perspective. It suggests that motives for engaging in charitable activity and highlighting such engagement may extend beyond normal altruism or warm-glow emotions.

Analysis of Metafunction in Nick Vujicic's Motivational Speech “Hear the Heart” on YouTube

This study aims to analyze the language metafunctions in Nick Vujicic’s Hear the Heart speech using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory by M.A.K. Halliday and supported by other Systemic Functional Linguists’ theories. This study employed the qualitative method. 499 data clauses are investigated in this study. The result shows that in terms of ideational metafunction, the dominant process used by Nick was the mental process (33,07%) which indicates that he involved his senses to represent his experiences of the outer world as well as the inner world of his thoughts and feelings. In interpersonal metafunction, declarative mood (72,34%), high value of modality (38,50%), and second personal pronoun (58,62%) are the most frequently used in the speech, which shows his high commitment and certainty of the information he uttered and also to show his care and respect for the audience; thus, a close intimate relationship is maintained. Through textual metafunction, which is dominated by topical theme (52,70%), Nick attempts to get the audience’s attention to focus on the message of what is being said and gives many statements to tell the audience about his experiences in life. To conclude, by using the three metafunctions, Nick could organize his language choice properly to create meaning and achieve his purpose in the speech.

Computational model to estimate new energy solutions in existing buildings

Mainly due to actions that aim to decelerate climate change, existing buildings are actively updated with new energy solutions. These typically aim to increase energy efficiency and to enhance the utilization of renewables. When the possibilities to produce, to consume and to store energy are manifold, and when the topical themes of peak shaving and demand response are taken into account, we a dealing with a complex field and vast number of variables in building’s energy management. To find optimal solutions for these situations, Smart Case NZEB (Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings) was initiated. Smart Case NZEB is a Finnish-German joint-project, which aimed to find optimized energy solutions for modern buildings. The project was carried out in collaboration between Universities of Applied Sciences in Tampere (Finland) and in Munich (Germany), several companies were also involved. The development of the model presented in this paper bases on the simulation requirements set by the project. In order to support detailed and quite complicated IDA ICE modelling, we needed a simple and reliable model to simulate the effects of new energy solutions in existing buildings. Such solutions include, for example, electric and thermal energy storages for peak shaving of grid power and district heating. Reliable operation of simple computational model is based on calibration with measured data, after which the model can be used to estimate the effects of new energy solutions. In this paper we present the principle of the model and simulation results of the target building used in the project.

Evaluation of operational performance parameters of rolling stock when driving over bumpy roads

The current situation on the railway network of Russia and the East Siberian Railways in particular, the increase in the number of wagon cuts and unsatisfactory condition of the track and rolling stock, require the search for optimal solutions to these problems. Considering this topical subject it is necessary to touch upon the issues of modern strategies and trends in the development of railway transport with the introduction of modern technologies and technological equipment. As a result of a detailed consideration of the cause-and-effect relationship of the occurrence of factors affecting the dynamics of the car passing the track irregularities, the starting point will be an in-depth analysis of the system of interactions between the wheel and the rail. This analysis will make it possible to objectively assess the causes of existing problems in the field of operation, describe the emerging phenomena with a sufficient degree of justification, offer progressive topical solutions and possible promising developments in this industry. Turning to the statistics on failures over the past 3 years, one can trace the growth of malfunctions associated with defects in the rolling surface of wheel sets. Indeed, an increase in the speed of rolling stock, and in the volume and quantity of transported goods resulted in an increase in the intensity of rolling stock operation. Consequently, there was an increase in loads on the main components of the rolling stock and in the intensity of parts wear.