Unified Point Of View Research Articles

Some comments on the spread of the Black Death in Russia and Eurasia

The article analyzes the process of the «Black Death» in the spaces of Eurasia and Russia. In the light of the latest advances in Yersinia pestis paleogenetics, epidemiology, climatology, and the study of historical sources, a host of scientific questions were resolved. This first affected a number of well-established historical facts since the bombing by troops of the Golden Horde Khan of Janibik in 1346 of the besieged Italian colony in the Crimea of Kafa. Many of them, despite all the scientific advances that have been made to date, have received little critical consideration. At the same time, the biggest shortcomings of the study of the Black Death until recently were the lack of a unified theoretical point of view. The article therefore focused on the convergence of the existing concepts of the emergence and spread of the second plague pandemic in Eurasia in the middle Ages. The study identified in pandemic processes the role of different types of plague hotspots, climate change, anthropogenic factors, urban development in densely populated areas and the road network of the Eurasian space. The poly variate start and implementation of the pandemic waves «Black Death» was recognized. The data thus obtained have allowed the motorist to rethink some of the issues related to the chronological interpretation of the events of the second plague pandemic.

Atomic Stress State Inside fcc and bcc Random Alloys: A First-Principles Approach

The stress state at an atomic level and its governing physics inside a random alloy are essential elements in developing a model for solid solution strengthening in random alloys, which is one of the primary strengthening mechanisms of high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Through first-principles calculation, we investigated the atomic stress in fcc and bcc random alloys that were subsets of CrMnFeCoNi and VNbMoTaW HEAs, respectively. The results showed a correlation between the atomic pressure dispersion and the experimental yield stress for the bcc random alloys, as observed in a previous study on fcc alloys. By focusing on the charge transfer and volume change with respect to a bulk crystal, we examined whether the internal stress fields in the fcc and bcc alloys could be interpreted from a unified viewpoint in terms of these physical quantities. Regression analyses using the random forest method revealed that the charge transfer and volume change simultaneously govern the stress state inside an alloy, albeit with varying degrees of intensity.

Lamplighter groups, median spaces and Hilbertian geometry

AbstractFrom any two median spaces $X$ and $Y$, we construct a new median space $X \circledast Y$, referred to as the diadem product of $X$ and $Y$, and we show that this construction is compatible with wreath products in the following sense: given two finitely generated groups $G,\,H$ and two (equivariant) coarse embeddings into median spaces $X,\,Y$, there exist a(n equivariant) coarse embedding $G\wr H \to X \circledast Y$. The construction offers a unified point of view on various questions related to the Hilbertian geometry of wreath products of groups.

Wearable Wrist Photoplethysmography for Optimal Monitoring of Vital Signs: A Unified Perspective on Pulse Waveforms

To track vital signs on the wrist, a wearable system, named WrisTee, has been developed for remote health monitoring. Using three optical sensors with four light sources, WrisTee allows users to measure 12 photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals at three locations on the radial artery. Two types of PPG signals with opposite polarities were discovered and designated as in-phase and invert-phase signals. We provided a unified viewpoint regarding their differences based on the Beer <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-$</tex-math></inline-formula> Lambert law, and showed that both signals can be used for heart monitoring using data analyzed from a selected subject. Using reflective pulse-transition time (R-PTT) and the standard deviation of R-PTT ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sigma _{R\text{-}PTT}$</tex-math></inline-formula> ), we proposed a method for selecting the optimal wavelength to achieve the best quality signal, thus minimizing storage requirements, power resources, and computational costs. We conducted an experiment on ten subjects to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method. Our results demonstrated that WrisTee is capable of finding the optimal positions and wavelengths for monitoring vital signs. To automatically detect the PPG phases, six machine learning (ML) models were explored to assess their accuracy for PPG-phase classification. The experimental results show that a convolutional neural network can be the best candidate for phase classification. Hence, it can be integrated into WrisTee for noninvasive health monitoring such as heart rate, heart rate variability, or blood pressure. Our work paves a new direction in bio-signal medical researches by adopting in-phase and invert-phase PPGs for healthcare monitoring.

On dynamic analysis method for large-scale train–track–substructure interaction

Train–track–substructure dynamic interaction is an extension of the vehicle–track coupled dynamics. It contributes to evaluate dynamic interaction and performance between train–track system and its substructures. For the first time, this work devotes to presenting engineering practical methods for modeling and solving such large-scale train–track–substructure interaction systems from a unified viewpoint. In this study, a train consists of several multi-rigid-body vehicles, and the track is modeled by various finite elements. The track length needs only satisfy the length of a train plus boundary length at two sides, despite how long the train moves on the track. The substructures and their interaction matrices to the upper track are established as independent modules, with no need for additionally building the track structures above substructures, and accordingly saving computational cost. Track–substructure local coordinates are defined to assist the confirming of the overlapped portions between the train–track system and the substructural system to effectively combine the cyclic calculation and iterative solution procedures. The advancement of this model lies in its convenience, efficiency and accuracy in continuously considering the vibration participation of multi-types of substructures against the moving of a train on the track. Numerical examples have shown the effectiveness of this method; besides, influence of substructures on train–track dynamic behaviors is illustrated accompanied by clarifying excitation difference of different track irregularity spectrums.

(n,α) Reaction Cross Sections and Angular Distributions for Several MeV Neutrons

In this work from the unified viewpoint using the TALYS code we analysed the experimental (n,α) cross sections, angular distributions of 39K and 64Zn, and the ratio of forward/backward cross-sections of 95Mo, 143Nd, 147Sm and 149Sm isotopes at the 4.0-6.5MeV energies of neutrons.

La Critique du préjugé au prisme de l’herméneutique (1680–1780). Sous la direction de Muriel Brot et Claire Fauvergue

In the Introduction, editors Muriel Brot and Claire Fauvergue state the aim of their volume: to nuance, by drawing on Hans-Georg Gadamer’s re-evaluation of prejudice as the necessary ground of thought and experience, the prevailing assumption that Enlightenment is single-mindedly antagonistic to prejudices. Demonstrating the complexity of approaches to prejudice in Enlightenment writing, the collection seeks to show that post-war criticism of ‘le préjugé contre le préjugé’ by Gadamer and Theodor W. Adorno (discussed in Paolo Quintili’s closing article) might in fact be congruent with much eighteenth-century thought. At the heart of the volume is the claim that Enlightenment thinkers indeed sought to free themselves as far as possible from the distortions of prejudice to understand phenomena, but not by rejecting situated points of view in favour of an all-conquering universal reason: rather, by the inhabitation of multiple perspectives. The volume thus applies the ‘prisme de l’hermeneutique’ to the light of Enlightenment. In the opening articles, Jean-Christophe Abramovici and Céline Spector trace Bayle’s and Montesquieu’s ambivalence towards certain prejudices, while Stéphanie Géhanne Gavoty asks exactly what contemporaries understood by the phrase ‘préjugé légitime’, frequently encountered in apologist and anti-philosophe writing. Christophe Martin reintegrates the imagination into the critique of prejudice, arguing that philosophers from Descartes and Cyrano de Bergerac to Rousseau, via Fontenelle, Montesquieu, and Diderot, used critique not to banish the fabulous from the world, but rather to speculate on what might be possible against the prejudice of the vraisemblable. This careful volume is not an introductory work, but Martin’s article would be invaluable to students keen to get a handle on the ambiguities of critique as it operates across a spread of genres (fundamental to our teaching of the Enlightenment). The volume then focuses in on a couple of key thinkers, treating Diderot and his collaborators in five articles, and Holbach in two. All are informative and stimulating within their narrower purview, with Fauvergue and Brot’s own pieces offering the most expansive takes on Diderot’s deployment of prismatic perspectives. Both argue that Diderot’s ‘universal’ constituted an opening out to the other, not a refusal of difference: as Brot writes, citing Gadamer, ‘comprendre revient à comprendre autrement’ (p. 171; original emphases). The penultimate article, by Luigi Delia, deserves particular mention for advancing the thesis of the volume through a less familiar case study: the Swiss Christian encyclopaedia project Code de l’humanité. Delia argues that the contributors to this revisionist encyclopaedia also evoked multiple perspectives, but that they took revelation as their unifying viewpoint, rather than the bird’s-eye view of the philosopher/historian. Reading the article ‘Homme’, Delia suggests that the contributors’ prejudice against materialism was not an unreflecting bias, but rather, per Gadamer’s definition, a fixed point of departure from which to reason. Their arguments against materialism actually incorporate some of Holbach’s optimistic assertions as unmarked citations, an incorporation which should be understood as an example of Gadamer’s ‘médiation et […] fusion d’horizons’ (p. 228). This unexpected encounter reminds us of the continued humanist orientation of many Enlightenment writers, who aimed ‘moins à séparer les individus sur la base de leurs croyances et de leurs préjugés, qu’à enseigner aux hommes à être humains, c’est-à-dire, […] “bienveillants et bienfaisants”’ (p. 228).

ПРОБЛЕМНІ ПИТАННЯ ДОПУСТИМОСТІ ДОКАЗІВ, ЯКІ СТАНОВЛЯТЬ ТАЄМНИЦЮ У КРИМІНАЛЬНОМУ... ПРОВАДЖЕННІ

The article examines the problematic issues of the key features of the definition of evidence that constitutes a secret protected by law in criminal proceedings, admissibility, the determination of the empirical basis of the theoretical and legal regulation of certain categories of evidence and the criteria by which they can be considered admissible when making procedural decisions within the framework of criminal proceedings. It was revealed that there is no unified point of view among scientists regarding the essence of the categories of evidence and the admissibility of evidence that constitute a secret protected by law and must be subjected to a «special» investigation by all participants in criminal proceedings. At the same time, the adoption of legal and justified procedural decisions is possible only when they are based on verified and correctly assessed factual data obtained in accordance with and in the form specified by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. It has been proven that the admissibility of evidence is a procedural institution, the essence of which is violated in that the appropriate factual data must be obtained together with a source established by law, authorized for this subject of the criminal process and fixed in the manner specified in the criminal procedural law. It is noted that provisions regarding the admissibility of such categories of evidence as those that confirm a secret protected by law have existed in foreign legislation for many years and need to be implemented in domestic legislation. It is justified that the only subject to whose competence is subject the consideration of the completed issue of recognition of the admissibility of evidence should be the court that accepted the trial as part of the criminal proceedings. It is noted that the issue of admissibility of evidence requires further understanding, generalization of existing theoretical studies, development of scientific proposals for improvement of this institute in accordance with international standards.

Generalized Fast Multichannel Nonnegative Matrix Factorization Based on Gaussian Scale Mixtures for Blind Source Separation

This paper describes heavy-tailed extensions of a state-of-the-art versatile blind source separation method called fast multichannel nonnegative matrix factorization (FastMNMF) from a unified point of view. The common way of deriving such an extension is to replace the multivariate complex Gaussian distribution in the likelihood function with its heavy-tailed generalization, e.g., the multivariate complex Student's t and leptokurtic generalized Gaussian distributions, and tailor-make the corresponding parameter optimization algorithm. Using a wider class of heavy-tailed distributions called a Gaussian scale mixture (GSM), i.e., a mixture of Gaussian distributions whose variances are perturbed by positive random scalars called impulse variables, we propose GSM-FastMNMF and develop an expectation-maximization algorithm that works even when the probability density function of the impulse variables have no analytical expressions. We show that existing heavy-tailed FastMNMF extensions are instances of GSM-FastMNMF and derive a new instance based on the generalized hyperbolic distribution that include the normal-inverse Gaussian, Student's t, and Gaussian distributions as the special cases. Our experiments show that the normal-inverse Gaussian FastMNMF outperforms the state-of-the-art FastMNMF extensions and ILRMA model in speech enhancement and separation in terms of the signal-to-distortion ratio.

The energy spread effects of an electron beam on the evolution of Cherenkov free-electron lasers

An analytical approach is presented to calculate the growth rate coefficient which describes the intensity evolution of a Cherenkov Free—Electron Laser (CFEL) operating in the linear high—gain regime. The effects of the energy spread on the growth rate of a CFEL are addressed by introducing a relaxation time in our analysis. The relaxation process is associated with a deviation of electron velocities from the average value due to an energy spread whatever its source. Therefore, the relaxation time can present a unified point of view to describe the gain deterioration caused by the inhomogeneous broadening of energy spread effects. In this study, the plasma fluid and Maxwell formulations are used to describe the dynamics of electrons. It is found that the growth rate coefficient is saturated at a maximum value when the interaction time is approximately five times the relaxation time. When the electron relaxation is neglected (i.e., the relaxation time is infinitely long), the gain expression derived by our approach agrees adequately with those reported in other studies. It is shown that our gain expression is generalized and simple enough to provide fast and reliable assessment of the performance of CFEL devices.

Categorical Nonstandard Analysis

In the present paper, we propose a new axiomatic approach to nonstandard analysis and its application to the general theory of spatial structures in terms of category theory. Our framework is based on the idea of internal set theory, while we make use of an endofunctor U on a topos of sets S together with a natural transformation υ, instead of the terms as “standard”, “internal”, or “external”. Moreover, we propose a general notion of a space called U-space, and the category USpace whose objects are U-spaces and morphisms are functions called U-spatial morphisms. The category USpace, which is shown to be Cartesian closed, gives a unified viewpoint toward topological and coarse geometric structure. It will also be useful to further study symmetries/asymmetries of the systems with infinite degrees of freedom, such as quantum fields.

Quantum Statistics and Networks by Asymmetric Preferential Attachment of Nodes-between Bosons and Fermions

In this article, we discuss the random graph, Barab\'asi-Albert (BA) model, and lattice networks from a unified view point, with the parameter $\omega$ with values $1,0,-1$ characterizing these networks, respectively. The parameter is related to the preferential attachment of nodes in the networks and has different weights for the incoming and outgoing links. In addition, we discuss the correspondence between quantum statistics and the networks. Positive and negative $\omega$ correspond to Bose and Fermi-like statistics, respectively, and we obtain the distribution that connects the two. When $\omega$ is positive, it is related to the threshold of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). As $\omega$ decreases, the area of the BEC phase is narrowed, and disappears in the limit $\omega=0$. When $\omega$ is negative, nodes have limits in the number of attachments for newly added nodes (outgoing links), which corresponds to Fermi statistics. We also observe the Fermi degeneracy of the network. When $\omega=-1$, a standard Fermion-like network is observed. Fermion networks are realized in the cryptocurrency network "Tangle."

Transient Dynamic Response of a Semi-infinite Elastic Permeable Solid with Cylindrical Hole Subject to Laser Pulse Heating Under Different Theories of Generalized Thermoelasticity

Our current work is related to the study of vibrations induced by laser beams on the behalf of distinct theories of magneto-thermo-elastic diffusion problem in a semi-infinitely long, conducting isotropic elastic solid with cylindrical hole in a uniform magnetic field acting on the surface of the cylindrical hole of the solid in the direction of the axis of the cylindrical hole. The temporal scheme of laser beam is considered as non-Gaussian and is acted on the surface of the cylindrical hole. The problem is solved with the help of Laplace transform domain and finally illustrated graphically.&#x0D; Note: This article will be very useful in material science specially, in powder metallurgy during sintering, hot pressing, wire and rods annealing are examined from a unified physical point of view, in different branches of engineering physics like plasma physics, nuclear physics, geophysics and related topics and also in oil industry (Lyashenko and Hryhorova (2014), Long and Heng-Wei (2018), Fryxell and Aitken (1969), Nowinski (1978), Legros et al. (1998), Galliero et al. (2019) etc.).

Canonical Nambu mechanics: Relevance to string/M-theory and approaches to quantization

Abstract We review some aspects of Nambu mechanics on the basis of works previously published separately by the present author. The main focuses are on three themes: the various symmetry structures, their possible relevance to string/M-theory, and a Hamilton–Jacobi-like reformulation. We try to elucidate the basic ideas, most of which were rooted in more or less the same ground, and to explain the motivations behind these works from a unified and vantage viewpoint. Various unsolved questions are mentioned. We also include a historical account of the genesis of Nambu mechanics, and discuss (in the appendix) some parallelism of various ideas behind Nambu’s paper with Dirac’s old works which are related to the description of vortical flows in terms of gauge potentials.

A survey on single server private information retrieval in a coding theory perspective

In this paper, we present a new perspective of single server private information retrieval (PIR) schemes by using the notion of linear error-correcting codes. Many of the known single server schemes are based on taking linear combinations between database elements and the query elements. Using the theory of linear codes, we develop a generic framework that formalizes all such PIR schemes. This generic framework provides an appropriate setup to analyze the security of such PIR schemes. In fact, we describe some known PIR schemes with respect to this code-based framework, and present the weaknesses of the broken PIR schemes in a unified point of view.

Semisimple-direct-injective modules

The notion of simple-direct-injective modules which are a generalization of injective modules unifies $C2$ and $C3$-modules. In the present paper, we introduce the notion of the semisimple-direct-injective module which gives a unified viewpoint of $C2$, $C3$, SSP properties and simple-direct-injective modules. It is proved that a ring $R$ is Artinian serial with the Jacobson radical square zero if and only if every semisimple-direct-injective right $R$-module has the SSP and, for any family of simple injective right $R$-modules $\{S_i\}_{\mathcal{I}}$, $\oplus_{\mathcal{I}}S_i$ is injective. We also show that $R$ is a right Noetherian right V-ring if and only if every right $R$-module has a semisimple-direct-injective envelope if and only if every right $R$-module has a semisimple-direct-injective cover.

Revisiting the gaze in films by two women directors

ABSTRACT This article is an intervention in a debate within film studies over the concept of the “gaze”. Under the influence of 1960s and 1970s “apparatus” theory and particularly feminist thinkers of film like Laura Mulvey, the gaze has long been considered a key element in the consolidation of dominant ideology, particularly regarding the construction of gender identities. However, since the 1990s certain thinkers – namely Joan Copjec and Todd McGowan – have argued that this notion of the gaze relies upon a misinterpretation of Lacan. This essay – the first to take up this revision of gaze theory in Spanish film studies – offers a close reading of two experimental films directed by female directors from different generations, historical moments and countries. It proposes a gaze that, rather than focusing a unified point of view as in traditional perspective, is more subversive when considered as an incidental element within the frame, as a spectatorial side-on glance that disrupts the workings of ideology, leading to a fragmentation of the subject. It argues that particular attention should be paid to the organization of the filmic frame, to mise-en-scène, in preference to the kind of defamiliarization favored by Mulvey.

Development and Evaluation of Blockchain based Secure Application for Verification and Validation of Academic Certificates

Academic degrees are subject to corruptions, system flaws, forgeries, and imitations. In this paper we propose to develop a blockchain smart contract-based application using Ethereum Platform, to store, distribute and verify academic certificates. It constitutes a trusted, decentralized certificate’s management system that can offer a unified viewpoint for students, academic institutions, as well as for other potential stakeholders such as employers. The article describes the implementation of three main parts of our proposed solution that includes: verification application, university interface and accreditor interface. This application avoids administrative barriers, makes the process of deployment, verification, and validation of certificates faster, efficient, and more secure. Additionally, it offers confidentiality of the data by using AES encryption algorithm before creating transactions and allows bulk submission of multiple academic certificates.

АНАЛИЗ ОСВЕДОМЛЕННОСТИ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ В ВОПРОСАХ ПОСМЕРТНОГО ДОНОРСТВА И ПЕРЕСАДКИ РОГОВИЦЫ

Aim. The study of public opinion, analysis of population’s attitude towards a number of issues concerning both transplantation in general and corneal transplantation in particular for development of the optimal tactics of approach to still unresolved issues in this area. Materials and Methods. Specially designed questionnaire has been used for the survey, consisting of 14 questions, that allows to evaluate opinion of the population on a number of issues related to transplantation, postmortem donation, monetary compensations, etc. The study population was 384 people. Results. Most respondents were aware of keratoplasty. Approximately every seventh respondent (15.4%) of the survey had relatives or close acquaintances with a corneal pathology. Most of the respondents have a positive attitude both to the living and postmortem donation. At the same time, almost all the respondents know about the existence of waiting lists for organ transplantations and also support the opinion about the need for informational popularization of postmortem donation. As to the issue of commercialization of donation, no unified point of view was reached, the opinions differ practically equally. The prevailing number of respondents consider the existence of informed consent to be obligatory, but a part of respondents think that in some cases the surgery can be made without it. Conclusion. Nowadays, despite a significant progress in the field of transplantology, there still remains a number of issues requiring detailed and comprehensive examination. They are related to the legislative regulation, informational popularization, monetary compensation, as well as the waiting lists for the transplantation.

Neural Responses to Heartbeats Detect Residual Signs of Consciousness during Resting State in Postcomatose Patients.

The neural monitoring of visceral inputs might play a role in first-person perspective (i.e., the unified viewpoint of subjective experience). In healthy participants, how the brain responds to heartbeats, measured as the heartbeat-evoked response (HER), correlates with perceptual, bodily, and self-consciousness. Here we show that HERs in resting-state EEG data distinguishes between postcomatose male and female human patients (n = 68, split into training and validation samples) with the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and in patients in a minimally conscious state with high accuracy (random forest classifier, 87% accuracy, 96% sensitivity, and 50% specificity in the validation sample). Random EEG segments not locked to heartbeats were useful to predict unconsciousness/consciousness, but HERs were more accurate, indicating that HERs provide specific information on consciousness. HERs also led to more accurate classification than heart rate variability. HER-based consciousness scores correlate with glucose metabolism in the default-mode network node located in the right superior temporal sulcus, as well as with the right ventral occipitotemporal cortex. These results were obtained when consciousness was inferred from brain glucose met`abolism measured with positron emission topography. HERs reflected the consciousness diagnosis based on brain metabolism better than the consciousness diagnosis based on behavior (Coma Recovery Scale-Revised, 77% validation accuracy). HERs thus seem to capture a capacity for consciousness that does not necessarily translate into intentional overt behavior. These results confirm the role of HERs in consciousness, offer new leads for future bedside testing, and highlight the importance of defining consciousness and its neural mechanisms independently from behavior.