Methodological Approaches to Financing Higher Education Institutions in the Context of Digitalizing the Russian Higher Education

Forecasting changes in the external and internal parameters of the socio-economic development of higher education (HE) as an integral system, as well as the risks of its digitalization that reduce the quality of human capital suggest the expansion of contemporary methodological instruments for financing higher education institutions (HEIs). In the article the principles of project financing that combine system and process approaches have been suggested, and the need to introduce the axiological approach into the methodological basis of project financing of HE as a specific way of organizing and performing financial activities, obtaining and using its results with regard to certain values, and neutralizing the risks of digitalizing education along with improving the quality of human capital has been substantiated.

Analyzing the Manufacturing Supply Chain Performance for Urgent Item During COVID-19 Outbreak

As COVID-19 pandemic spreads in different regions with varying intensity, supply chains (SC) need to utilize an effective mechanism to adjust spike in both supply and demand of resources, and need techniques to detect unexpected behavior in SC at an early stage. During COVID-19 pandemic, the demand of medical supplies and essential products increases unexpectedly while the availability of recourses and raw materials decreases significantly. As such, the questions of SC and society survivability were raised. Responding to this urgent demand quickly and predicting how it will vary as the pandemic progresses is a key modeling question. In this research, we take the initiative in addressing the impact of COVID-19 disruption on manufacturing SC performance overwhelmed by the unprecedented demands of urgent items by developing a digital twin model for the manufacturing SC. In this model, we combine system dynamic simulation and artificial intelligence to dynamically monitor SC performance and predict SC reaction patterns. The simulation modeling is used to study the disruption propagation in the manufacturing SC and the efficiency of the recovery policy. Then based on this model, we develop artificial neural network models to learn from disruptions and make an online prediction of potential risks. The developed digital twin model is aimed to operate in real-time for early identification of disruptions and the respective SC reaction patterns to increase SC visibility and resilience.

The Textuality of the Modernist Rural Landscape: Belgrade Agricultural Combine (PKB) as a Driver of the Urban Development of Third Belgrade

This paper considers the landscape as both a material and an ideological representation and starts from the assumption that spatial patterns arise as a result of the ideological imperative of the process that forms the landscape. The research takes on a historical-interpretative approach in the domain of architectural and urban studies, enabling in-depth qualitative exploration of the textuality and layering of the modernist rural landscape through a case study of the PKB Agricultural Combine as a driver of the urban development of Third Belgrade, the spatial framework of the left riverbank of the Danube in the administrative area of Belgrade. The research was conducted by chronologically interpreting primary sources, notably planning documents of different levels and scope, as well as studies, programs and development models for the urbanization of this territory. The research aims to decode the impact of socialist agrarian policy on the land-use in the wider metropolitan area of Belgrade, as well as the impact of the agricultural combine as a spatial, social, economic, environmental and political entity on the urban development process at different spatial levels. The research has identified four periods in the development of Third Belgrade: (1) Production of the Modernist Rural Landscape, (2) Establishment of the Self-Management Planning Framework, (3) Humanization of Environment, and (4) Post-socialist Transition and the Collapse of the Agricultural Combine. The paper demonstrates not only that environmental transformation cannot be separated from social transformation but also that they are in constant interaction and that their synergy has had a profound impact on the development of the PKB Agricultural Combine system in socialist conditions. The textuality of the modernist rural landscape confirms that an object-oriented approach is not enough to explore and interpret the landscape, but rather, we should look at the way it is socially produced through decoding the planning, institutional and policy frameworks determining the urban development of a territory.

Analyzing the Hydroelectricity Variability on Power Markets from a System Dynamics and Dynamic Systems Perspective: Seasonality and ENSO Phenomenon

In this paper, the variations in hydropower generation are addressed considering the seasonality and ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) episodes. The dynamic hypothesis and the stock-flow structure of the Colombian electricity market were analyzed. Moreover, its dynamic behavior was analyzed by using Dynamic Systems tools aimed at providing deep insight into the system. The MATLAB/Simulink model was used to evaluate the Colombian electricity market. Since we combine System Dynamics and Dynamic Systems, this methodology provides a novel insight and a deeper analysis compared with System Dynamics models and can be easily implemented by policymakers to suggest improvements in regulation or market structures. We also provide a detailed description of the Colombian electricity market dynamics under a broad range of demand growth rate scenarios inspired by the bifurcation and control theory of Dynamic Systems.

Optimal Attack against Autoregressive Models by Manipulating the Environment

We describe an optimal adversarial attack formulation against autoregressive time series forecast using Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR). In this threat model, the environment evolves according to a dynamical system; an autoregressive model observes the current environment state and predicts its future values; an attacker has the ability to modify the environment state in order to manipulate future autoregressive forecasts. The attacker's goal is to force autoregressive forecasts into tracking a target trajectory while minimizing its attack expenditure. In the white-box setting where the attacker knows the environment and forecast models, we present the optimal attack using LQR for linear models, and Model Predictive Control (MPC) for nonlinear models. In the black-box setting, we combine system identification and MPC. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our attacks.

Formation of an Approach to Cost Management of Industrial Enterprise

The article analyzes existing approaches to cost management; system and process approaches are defined as the most applicable. It is determined that with both of these approaches the object of cost management is managerial actions and relationships arising in the process of formation of certain characteristics of the status of costs (compliance with the limits of the remuneration fund, consumption of raw materials etc.); the subject of management are structural subdivisions of the enterprise and responsible persons who carry out cost management procedures. The system approach considers cost management as a system in which a set of interconnected elements is allocated, there are links, mechanisms of interaction between individual elements, which help to achieve a certain goal, are determined. The process approach proposes to apply a management cycle to manage costs. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of cost management, it is advisable to apply dualism of approaches, for which it is proposed to combine system and process approaches. It is proved that the cost management system should consist of two subsystems: 1) the formation of a cost management system and 2) the functioning of the cost management system. These subsystems differ in such features as: purpose, tasks, functions, elements, mechanism of interaction. Two subsystems of the cost management system are connected as follows: the purpose of the subsystem of the cost management system formation is to develop methodological support for the functioning of the cost management subsystem. At the same time, the functioning of the subsystem of the cost management system is the management cycle: planning, accounting, control, analysis. This shows the implementation of the process approach to cost management.

Understanding laborers’ behavioral diversities in multinational construction projects using integrated simulation approach

Purpose Employing multi-type laborers (MLs) is common in multinational and cross-culture projects (MPCs). Different attributes of MLs can lead to uncertain and dynamic laborer behaviors (i.e. behavioral diversities), which may cause project deviations. Previous studies do not consider the uncertainties or dynamics of behaviors adequately or they only provide general suggestions. The purpose of this paper is to combine system dynamics (SD) and agent-based modeling (ABM) to build an integrated model. The proposed ABM-SD can gain better understanding of MLs’ behavioral diversities, reveal the associated impacts and improve project management. Design/methodology/approach Based on extensively review in construction labor management and computer simulation, architecture is built to depict the relationships between the affecting factors of MLs’ behaviors, MLs’ behavioral diversities and project performance. Second, conceptual structures of the ABM-SD model are developed. Third, methods to implement the model in practice are introduced, focusing on data collection and model structure adjustment. Finally, the model is tested in a case study. Findings Different ML groups have distinctive behaviors which constantly change through interactions between MLs, engineers and external environment. Inadequate consideration of the diversities can result in inaccurate estimation of productivity, work quality and absenteeism, causing severe project deviations such as schedule delay, cost overrun and high absenteeism. On the other hand, using the ABM-SD model, the root causes of project deviations are analyzed from the perspective of MLs’ behavioral diversities and the optimization of labor management can significantly improve project performance. Research limitations/implications This paper supplements previous studies because the ABM-SD model takes fully use of the strength of simulation of solving uncertain and dynamic problems and combines both qualitative and quantitative findings in existing studies of labor management. Besides, the ABM-SD model is also a practical management tool to better monitor laborer behaviors and forecast the impacts. The limitation is mainly about the small scale of the case study. However, the ABM-SD model already demonstrates the mechanism about how MLs’ different behaviors affect a project, which fulfill the aim of the study. Practical implications The ABM-SD model can simulate MLs’ behavioral diversities and produce reliable estimations of project performance. It also allows to optimize management plans. Furthermore, The ABM-SD model is adjustable based on specific project conditions, which make it applicable for different tasks, different laborer compositions and even different projects. Thus, the ABM-SD model can be a practical tool for engineers in MCPs. Originality/value SD and ABM are applied to study behaviors with well-known benefits in both separated and integrated manner. However, few studies use the approach to investigate MLs’ behaviors in MCPs. Hence, the proposed ABM-SD model is an original attempt to improve the laborer management level in MCPs.

A DISTRIBUTED HYBRID MODEL OF SOLAR-WIND-SMALL HYDRO FOR POWER GENERATION SYSTEM

Renewable energy technologies offer the promise of clean, abundant energy gathered from self-renewing resources such as the sun, wind, water, earth, and plants. In this thesis a detailed modeling of hybrid power generation system of solar, wind and small hydro has been developed in Matlab. The simulation includes all realistic components of the system. In this thesis, the power delivered by the combine system component is compa red with each other and various conclusions are drawn. We have proposed a model of 5MW that contains 3MW of small hydro plant, 1 MW of solar plant and 1 MW of wind plant. We have prepared a cost analysis report that indicates it is profitable to go for such model as it satisfies our current and future energy demands. Moreover the electricity generated by the proposed model is available at a very lesser rate as compared to our current electricity tariff rates.