Unified Point Of View Research Articles

Monotonicity, asymptotics and level sets for principal eigenvalues of some elliptic operators with shear flow

We investigate the joint effects of diffusion and advection on principal eigenvalues of some elliptic operators with shear flow. Some monotonicity and asymptotic behaviors of principal eigenvalues, with respect to diffusion rate and flow amplitude, are established. These analyses lead to a classification of topological structures of level sets for principal eigenvalues, as a function of diffusion rate and flow amplitude. Our analytical results provide a unifying viewpoint to understand mixing enhancement and dispersal-induced growth, which are apparently two unrelated phenomena, one in fluid mechanics and the other in population dynamics. In our analysis, some limiting Hamilton-Jacobi equations, blowup argument and limiting generalized principal eigenvalue problems play critical roles.

Symplectic topology and ideal-valued measures

We adapt Gromov’s notion of ideal-valued measures to symplectic topology, and use it for proving new results on symplectic rigidity and symplectic intersections. Furthermore, it allows us to discuss three “big fiber theorems”—the Centerpoint Theorem in combinatorial geometry, the Maximal Fiber Inequality in topology, and the Non-displaceable Fiber Theorem in symplectic topology—from a unified viewpoint. Our main technical tool is an enhancement of the symplectic cohomology theory recently developed by Varolgüneş.

Class-Level Logit Perturbation.

Features, logits, and labels are the three primary data when a sample passes through a deep neural network (DNN). Feature perturbation and label perturbation receive increasing attention in recent years. They have been proven to be useful in various deep learning approaches. For example, (adversarial) feature perturbation can improve the robustness or even generalization capability of learned models. However, limited studies have explicitly explored for the perturbation of logit vectors. This work discusses several existing methods related to class-level logit perturbation. A unified viewpoint between regular/irregular data augmentation and loss variations incurred by logit perturbation is established. A theoretical analysis is provided to illuminate why class-level logit perturbation is useful. Accordingly, new methodologies are proposed to explicitly learn to perturb logits for both the single-label and multilabel classification tasks. Meta-learning is also leveraged to determine the regular or irregular augmentation for each class. Extensive experiments on benchmark image classification datasets and their long-tail versions indicated the competitive performance of our learning method. As it only perturbs on logit, it can be used as a plug-in to fuse with any existing classification algorithms. All the codes are available at https://github.com/limengyang1992/lpl.

Differentials of the basis in Clifford Geometric Algebra

In this paper we discuss the dynamic effects of the varying frames. The differential of frame or basis vectors is always equivalent to a linear transformation of the frame, and the linear transformation is not the same in different contexts. In differential geometry, the linear transformation is the connection operator. While in quantum mechanics, the operator algebra corresponds to the differentials of matrices. Corresponding to the variation of the metric, the variation of the frame contains a unusual fourth-order tensor. We also derive the Lie differential of the frame corresponding to the Lorentz transformation group. The definition of differential of the frame is different, so the corresponding linear transformation is also different. In this paper, the unified point of view to deal with the variation of frame or basis vectors will bring great convenience to the research and application of Clifford algebras.

Legal considerations regarding the blood transfusion refusal in cases of minor patients

(1) Background: This study examines the issue of malpractice accusations related to medical procedures in case of minor patients belonging to specific religious sects, focusing on both legal and ethical perspectives. The analysis particularly addresses the consequences of disregarding the refusal of legal guardians to consent to blood transfusions. (2) Methods: The present study is analyzing the opinion of doctors that practie in various hospital units regarding a series of aspects related to the refusal of blood transfusions in the case of minor patients who belong to certain religious sect. These aspects mainly targeted their level of awareness regarding the relevant legislation, the incidence rate of such cases in practice, and the risk of malpractice accusations. For this observational-prospective study, a questionnaire consisting of ten closed-ended questions was delivered to fifty doctors. Before starting to complete the questionnaire, the doctors were asked for their consent to participate in the study, being informed about its purpose. Doctors answers were analysed and interpredeted in order to revel if doctors are informed about the legal aspects, thei protection offered by the law and their attitude regarding the boold transfusions for this cathegory of patients. (3) Results: The results of this study show that most doctors are aware of the Romanian legislation regarding the rules on the expression of consent to the medical act in the case of minor patients by the latter's legal representatives, but they feel threatened by the danger of being exposed to accusations of malpractice when they are put in the situation of providing medical care to minor patients who belong to a certain religious cult, because they are faced with the vehement refusal of their family members who do not accept the idea of medicine based on blood transfusions. Although there is this rule from which the legal representatives of minor patients belonging to a particular religious cult do not deviate, the results showed that doctors believe that the best interests of those seeking medical services must be emphasised, prioritising the fundamental values that protect life or health. (4) Conclusions: Protecting the best interest of minor patients by prioritizing their health should be the main guideline for any legal representative when they need to make a decision regarding the medical care. From a legal perspective, however, it must be accepted that there is no unified viewpoint on this extremely delicate and complex issue, with voices condemning the physician's attitude of violating the will of the legal representatives of minor patients, adherents of a certain religious sect, by applying blood transfusion-based treatments.

Neuropsychological interpretation of disorders of consciousness using data from instrumental (neurophysiological) methods for diagnosing brain activity

The relevance of the problem under consideration is determined by the need to develop and improve interdisciplinary approaches to the diagnosis and rehabilitation of disorders of consciousness in patients with brain pathology. The purpose of the article is an analytical review of the methods of neuropsychological and neurophysiological diagnostics and rehabilitation work with patients in reduced states of consciousness. It is noted that the neuropsychological content of the concept of "consciousness" is insufficiently developed and there is no unified point of view on the brain basis of consciousness, as well as on methodological and procedural limitations that arise when a neuropsychologist works with patients in a vegetative state of consciousness and in a state of minimal consciousness. The problem of consistency of the results of behavioral (neuropsychological) and instrumental (neurophysiological) methods for assessing the level of states of consciousness conducted by different specialists (neuropsychologists, neurologists, neurophysiologists) who are part of a multidisciplinary team is considered. The possibility of combining the procedure of neuropsychological examination and instrumental (neurophysiological) methods in the diagnosis of patients in a vegetative state of consciousness, in a state of minimal consciousness) and the prognosis of restoring the level of consciousness is analyzed. The possibility of an integrated approach to the diagnosis of a state of consciousness associated with a combination of behavioral (observation-based) and objective (instrumental) research methods is confirmed, and possible ways of its implementation are considered.

Severity-Dependent Interhemispheric White Matter Connectivity Predicts Poststroke Neglect Recovery.

Left-sided spatial neglect is a very common and challenging issue after right-hemispheric stroke, which strongly and negatively affects daily living behavior and recovery of stroke survivors. The mechanisms underlying recovery of spatial neglect remain controversial, particularly regarding the involvement of the intact, contralesional hemisphere, with potential contributions ranging from maladaptive to compensatory. In the present prospective, observational study, we assessed neglect severity in 54 right-hemispheric stroke patients (32 male; 22 female) at admission to and discharge from inpatient neurorehabilitation. We demonstrate that the interaction of initial neglect severity and spared white matter (dis)connectivity resulting from individual lesions (as assessed by diffusion tensor imaging, DTI) explains a significant portion of the variability of poststroke neglect recovery. In mildly impaired patients, spared structural connectivity within the lesioned hemisphere is sufficient to attain good recovery. Conversely, in patients with severe impairment, successful recovery critically depends on structural connectivity within the intact hemisphere and between hemispheres. These distinct patterns, mediated by their respective white matter connections, may help to reconcile the dichotomous perspectives regarding the role of the contralesional hemisphere as exclusively compensatory or not. Instead, they suggest a unified viewpoint wherein the contralesional hemisphere can - but must not necessarily - assume a compensatory role. This would depend on initial impairment severity and on the available, spared structural connectivity. In the future, our findings could serve as a prognostic biomarker for neglect recovery and guide patient-tailored therapeutic approaches.

Normalized quandle twisted Alexander invariants

We introduce a quandle version of the normalized (twisted) Alexander polynomial, which is an invariant of a pair of an oriented link and a quandle representation. The invariant can be constructed by fixing each Alexander pair, and we find various invariants in our framework, which include the quandle cocycle invariant and the normalized (twisted) Alexander polynomial of a knot. In this paper, we develop the theory of normalization with row and column relations of matrices. The theory works for several row and column relations, although the twisted Alexander polynomial is defined with one column relation. We give a formula of our invariant for the mirror image of an oriented link, which explains why the Alexander polynomial fails to detect the chirality of knots and why the quandle cocycle invariant effectively detects it from a unified point of view. We also show that cohomologous Alexander pairs yield the same invariant.

The specifics of the representation of speech strategies and tactics in educational audio podcasts

The object of the research is educational audio podcasts presented on the platform Smotrim.ru (Radio Mayak audio podcasts): "100 Minutes" (16 issues), "Literary squabbles" (11 issues), "Understand yourself if you can" (15 issues), "Conversations about Literature" (14 issues), "Diary his Wives" (11 issues), as well as episodes of the audio podcast hosted on the Polka.academy platform – "Between the Lines" (7 issues), published from 2021 to 2023. The subject of the study is the pragmastilistic specificity of media texts represented in empirical material. The purpose of the work is to present various interpretations of the term "audio podcast", to consider definitions of the concepts "speech strategy" and "speech tactics", approaches to their classification, as well as to identify and describe dominant communicative strategies and tactics explicated in educational audio podcasts. To achieve the stated goal, methods of content analysis, linguistic stylistic and pragmastilistic analysis of media texts were applied. Despite the fact that audio podcasts are now in demand among the audience and are presented on various platforms, including on the websites of major radio stations and streaming services, this media phenomenon still needs scientific reflection. Thus, the works of Russian researchers have not yet formulated a generally accepted definition of an audio podcast, nor has a unified point of view been developed on how to consider an audio podcast as a new kind of radio or an independent format. In addition, the communicative and pragmatic specifics of media texts explicated in audio podcasts have been studied very little. This determines the relevance and scientific novelty of the research undertaken. As a result of the analysis of empirical material, dominant speech strategies and tactics implementing them were identified. Conclusions are drawn about the stylistic originality of the analyzed media texts.

On the Optimization Landscape of Dynamic Output Feedback Linear Quadratic Control

The convergence of policy gradient algorithms hinges on the optimization landscape of the underlying optimal control problem. Theoretical insights into these algorithms can often be acquired from analyzing those of linear quadratic control. However, most of the existing literature only considers the optimization landscape for static full-state or output feedback policies (controllers). We investigate the more challenging case of dynamic output-feedback policies for linear quadratic regulation (abbreviated as dLQR), which is prevalent in practice but has a rather complicated optimization landscape. We first show how the dLQR cost varies with the coordinate transformation of the dynamic controller and then derive the optimal transformation for a given observable stabilizing controller. One of our core results is the uniqueness of the stationary point of dLQR when it is observable, which provides an optimality certificate for solving dynamic controllers using policy gradient methods. Moreover, we establish conditions under which dLQR and linear quadratic Gaussian control are equivalent, thus providing a unified viewpoint of optimal control of both deterministic and stochastic linear systems. These results further shed light on designing policy gradient algorithms for more general decision-making problems with partially observed information.

A minimal PBPK model to accelerate preclinical development of drugs against tuberculosis.

Introduction: Understanding drug exposure at disease target sites is pivotal to profiling new drug candidates in terms of tolerability and efficacy. Such quantification is particularly tedious for anti-tuberculosis (TB) compounds as the heterogeneous pulmonary microenvironment due to the infection may alter lung permeability and affect drug disposition. Murine models have been a longstanding support in TB research so far and are here used as human surrogates to unveil the distribution of several anti-TB compounds at the site-of-action via a novel and centralized PBPK design framework. Methods: As an intermediate approach between data-driven pharmacokinetic (PK) models and whole-body physiologically based (PB) PK models, we propose a parsimonious framework for PK investigation (minimal PBPK approach) that retains key physiological processes involved in TB disease, while reducing computational costs and prior knowledge requirements. By lumping together pulmonary TB-unessential organs, our minimal PBPK model counts 9 equations compared to the 36 of published full models, accelerating the simulation more than 3-folds in Matlab 2022b. Results: The model has been successfully tested and validated against 11 anti-TB compounds-rifampicin, rifapentine, pyrazinamide, ethambutol, isoniazid, moxifloxacin, delamanid, pretomanid, bedaquiline, OPC-167832, GSK2556286 - showing robust predictability power in recapitulating PK dynamics in mice. Structural inspections on the proposed design have ensured global identifiability and listed free fraction in plasma and blood-to-plasma ratio as top sensitive parameters for PK metrics. The platform-oriented implementation allows fast comparison of the compounds in terms of exposure and target attainment. Discrepancies in plasma and lung levels for the latest BPaMZ and HPMZ regimens have been analyzed in terms of their impact on preclinical experiment design and on PK/PD indices. Conclusion: The framework we developed requires limited drug- and species-specific information to reconstruct accurate PK dynamics, delivering a unified viewpoint on anti-TB drug distribution at the site-of-action and a flexible fit-for-purpose tool to accelerate model-informed drug design pipelines and facilitate translation into the clinic.

Gradient aggregation based fine-grained image retrieval: A unified viewpoint for CNN and Transformer

The gradients of CNN are traditionally utilized for optimization and visualization. In this paper, we find that a discriminative representation hides in the gradients of convolution filters. Based on this, we propose a corresponding feature extraction and aggregation method for fine-grained image retrieval (FGIR). Firstly, we propose a metric to evaluate manually-designed loss functions and design a loss function originating from Grad-CAM in the testing phase based on it to extract the gradients of the convolution filters. Secondly, we take the gradients as the new features and design a succinct approach to aggregate them into a compact vector, which is named as Convolution Filters Gradient Aggregation (CFGA) feature. CFGA features can be extracted from pre-trained and fine-tuned CNN models. Extensive experiments are conducted on FGIR to verify the effectiveness of our proposed CFGA approach, compared with five supervised state-of-the-art methods and two unsupervised methods on two standard fine-grained retrieval datasets. Moreover, we generalize the CFGA method designed for CNN to Swin Transformer, and propose the Transformer parameter gradients aggregation (TPGA) method, which proves the applicability of the core idea of CFGA/TPGA to mainstream feature extraction models. We achieve state-of-the-art FGIR performance on CUB-200-2011 dataset and CARS196 dataset.

Виды соучастников преступления и особенности квалификации деяний по уголовному законодательству Республики Болгария

The article discusses the features of the institution of complicity under Bulgarian law. In modern science, the problems of complicity are the subject of detailed and extensive research. However, there is no consensus on a wide range of issues. This thesis is also confirmed by the fact that the main problem in defining complicity is the problem of the dual nature of complicity as the actions of each and as the actions of all together. The procedure and limits of bringing to criminal responsibility both directly the perpetrators of the crime and the accomplices and instigators depend on this, the activity of law enforcement agencies in their fight against crimes committed in complicity depends, contributes to the separation of these crimes from individual crime and, as a result, the establishment of legality. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that for a long time the dispute about the classification of accomplices in a crime has not ceased and a unified point of view on this issue has not yet been developed. All this gave rise to the emergence of several concepts of classifying accomplices in a crime such as objective, subjective and mixed. However, despite the existence of different approaches, most scientists are inclined to think that it is necessary to classify accomplices by the nature and degree of participation of persons in the commission of a crime. In this regard, it is very useful to study the institution of complicity in the criminal-legal theory of the Republic of Bulgaria. In this article, the problem of complicity is considered through the prism of complex criminal activity, since complicity continues to be one of the most serious problems of crime, including because in most cases the most dangerous crimes are committed by the joint efforts of several persons.

Виды соучастников преступления и особенности квалификации деяний по уголовному законодательству Республики Болгария

The article discusses the features of the institution of complicity under Bulgarian law. In modern science, the problems of complicity are the subject of detailed and extensive research. However, there is no consensus on a wide range of issues. This thesis is also confirmed by the fact that the main problem in defining complicity is the problem of the dual nature of complicity as the actions of each and as the actions of all together. The procedure and limits of bringing to criminal responsibility both directly the perpetrators of the crime and the accomplices and instigators depend on this, the activity of law enforcement agencies in their fight against crimes committed in complicity depends, contributes to the separation of these crimes from individual crime and, as a result, the establishment of legality. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that for a long time the dispute about the classification of accomplices in a crime has not ceased and a unified point of view on this issue has not yet been developed. All this gave rise to the emergence of several concepts of classifying accomplices in a crime such as objective, subjective and mixed. However, despite the existence of different approaches, most scientists are inclined to think that it is necessary to classify accomplices by the nature and degree of participation of persons in the commission of a crime. In this regard, it is very useful to study the institution of complicity in the criminal-legal theory of the Republic of Bulgaria. In this article, the problem of complicity is considered through the prism of complex criminal activity, since complicity continues to be one of the most serious problems of crime, including because in most cases the most dangerous crimes are committed by the joint efforts of several persons.

Design Principles for Data-Driven Decision Evaluation

Human-machine collaboration has potentially led to higher quality and more informed data-driven decisions. However, evaluating these decisions is necessary to measure the benefits, as well as enable experiential learning and posterior rationalization of the results and consequences. Nevertheless, the multiplicity of human-machine collaboration modes, as well as the multi-faceted nature of data-driven decisions complicates evaluation, and evaluation solutions are lacking both in research and in practice. This is further reflected in the complexity of incorporating evaluation in the design of such data-driven decision making systems, since developers are left without theoretically grounded and practically feasible principles to guide implementation. In this paper, we propose a set of five design principles, explicated from theory and practice, for systems implementing data-driven decision evaluation as the output of design science research cycles. The design principles are: 1) multi-faceted evaluation criteria, 2) unified viewpoint, 3) collaborative rationality, 4) processual ex-post evaluation, and 5) adaptive feedback and learning loops. They are further contextualized in the case of AI-enabled menu design at Antell, an innovative pioneer in the restaurant business in Finland, and consequently evaluated by the development managers of the project. Accordingly, the design principles contribute to the knowledge base on metahuman systems and data-driven decision evaluation, by concretizing existing normative concepts into prescriptive knowledge, also guiding future research and generalizing towards a design theory. Furthermore, they provide implementable statements for designing and developing such systems in practice and can be used as a checklist to compare and evaluate existing systems.

Депрессия, суицидальное поведение и соматические расстройства

The aim of the study is to conduct an analytical review of modern foreign works aimed at studying the phenomena of depression and suicidal behavior associated with somatic diseases. Materials and methods: 50 sources were analyzed. The search was carried out in specialized medical databases, namely: RusMed, Medline, PubMed, and Web of Science, eLibrary.ru, CyberLeninka and the Library of dissertations and abstracts of Russia dslib.net. Materials that dealt with the relationship between depression, suicidal behavior and somatic pathology were analyzed. Results: An attempt has been made to study the phenomena of depression and suicidal behavior in patients with somatic diseases. A significant gap was found in research on depression, suicidal behavior in patients with somatic diseases; the theoretical and methodological basis and principles of comorbidity in connection with depression and suicidal behavior have not been formed; there are no uniform standards for the management of this group of patients, as well as a lack of unified point of view on terminology and methods for diagnosing suicidal behavior in depression-associated somatic diseases, there are still unexplored questions regarding the clinical-psychological, clinical-psychopathological and clinical-dynamic features of depression, suicidal behavior in patients with a somatic profile. Conclusion: Further study of the issues of diagnosis, clinical-psychopathological and clinical-psychological features of depression and suicidal behavior, as well as therapy and evaluation of the effectiveness of preventive programs for the prevention of depressive and suicidal states associated with somatic diseases is required.

АТРИБУТЫ КЛИЕНТООРИЕНТИРОВАННОСТИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЙ СФЕРЫ УСЛУГ

Customer orientation as one of the leading concepts of modern marketing was actively developed in the 1990s. Many theoretical and practical developments in this problematic field require systematization and adaptation to ensure conditions for their practical applicability. This article is devoted to the theoretical justification of the attributes of customer-oriented organizations in the service sector. The research methodology is based on theoretical concepts of market management, as well as on the results of marketing research conducted systematically by global consulting agencies, including in the service sector. It should be noted that academic publications still lack a unified point of view on the interpretation of the concept of customer-oriented organizations, as well as its operationalization in relation to the conditions of specific service and multi-segment markets (meaning B2B and B2C segments) within the framework of separate phases of the life cycle concept. Based on a systematic review of the research results conducted by the largest consulting structures, the article clarifies the basic theoretical model of the organization's customer orientation, which contains the attributes of its customer orientation. The theoretical model has been adapted for the service sector. It is also proposed to group the metrics of the effectiveness of the implementation of a customer-oriented approach in the activities of service sector organizations in the same way as the attributes of customer orientation. The basic theoretical model of customer orientation of a service sector organization presented in the article allows us to take a holistic look at the problem of customer orientation and develop better plans to strengthen it based on focusing on business performance metrics and identifying the most effective measures among alternatives.

企劃論文] 공유와 모방

This study is on the creative method of Printed Ancient Fiction. It analyzes how Printed Ancient Fiction, as ‘storybooks’, had their own territory in modern literature at the time.
 A total of 93 Printed Ancient Fiction were identified from the 1910s to the 1930s. In this paper, it is presented in chronological order.
 Novels do not focus only on stories because they must describe a unified point of view, personal establishment. On the other hand, as a storybook, Printed Ancient Fiction is considered a popular work and pursues the interest that comes from the story itself. In order to understand the characteristics of the Printed Ancient Fiction as a storybook, this paper uses the argument of Walter Benjamin’s 〈The Storyteller〉 to analyze the Printed Ancient Fiction with three characteristics: ‘distant places as well as distant times’, ‘unified world’, and ‘morality’.

Behavior of Infringement of Online Virtual Property --In the Prospective of Criminal Law

Entering the Internet information era, although attached to specific network technology, virtual property has established a close relationship with real property. By selling the wealth created in virtual space, people can convert their virtual property into real wealth, which has led to a high incidence of illegal acquisition of virtual property in recent years. However, the academic community and judicial practice have been debated for many years regarding the infringement of virtual property in cyberspace, and so far, a consensus has yet to be reached. In the academic community, a unified viewpoint on the legal attribute of the virtual property has yet to be formed; whether the virtual property is data or property has yet to be determined. In judicial practice, differences in the selection of the crime and punishment have also been a long-standing issue. Therefore, conducting an in-depth study on the regulation dilemma of infringing on network virtual property is of great importance.

How does AI drive branding? Towards an integrated theoretical framework for AI-driven branding

Brands are transforming with the acceptance, adoption, and use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. AI builds dynamic consumer-brand relationships that help build sustainable businesses for brands to thrive. The brands sustain in competitive markets by crafting engaging brand narratives that holistically influence consumer purchase decisions. The present study comprehensively reviews the theoretical underpinnings of AI-driven branding from the extant literature. The thematic analysis of theoretical premises instrumentalises developing a novel integrated theoretical framework. The intricate analysis of the constellation of theories and the simultaneous amalgamation of concepts allows for a unified viewpoint. The integrated theoretical framework offers an in-depth overview of the drivers, mediators, moderators, and consequences of AI-driven branding. The integrated theoretical framework extends the current theoretical understanding of consumer-brand relational dynamics with AI that practitioners may use to sustainably transform their brands.