Transitivity scores to account for triadic edge weight similarity in undirected weighted graphs

The graph transitivity measures the probability that adjacent vertices in a network are interconnected, thus revealing the existence of tightly connected neighborhoods playing a role in information and pathogen circulation. The graph transitivity is usually computed for dichotomized networks, therefore focusing on whether triangular relationships are closed or open. But when the connections vary in strength, focusing on whether the closing ties exist or not can be reductive. I score the weighted transitivity according to the similarity between the weights of the three possible links in each triad. In a simulation, that new technique correctly diagnosed excesses of balanced or imbalanced triangles, for example, strong triplets closed by weak links. I illustrate the biological relevance of that information with two reanalyses of animal contact networks. In the rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta, a species in which kin relationships strongly predict social relationships, the new metrics revealed striking similarities in the configuration of grooming networks in captive and free-ranging groups, but only as long as the matrilines were preserved. In the barnacle goose Branta leucopsis, in an experiment designed to test the long-term effect of the goslings' social environment, the new metrics uncovered an excess of weak triplets closed by strong links, particularly pronounced in males, and consistent with the triadic process underlying goose dominance relationships.

Analysis of Matching of Corpus Input and English Proficiency Based on the Big Data Neural Network Model

In the era of “Internet +” big data, the theory and technology of English corpus are becoming more and more mature. Corpus is an important method to reflect some language characteristics and clarify some language phenomena. In terms of cultural exchanges, Chinese students majoring in English have obvious cultural differences at home and abroad and lack the atmosphere and context for cultural exchanges. In addition, students have problems such as insufficient cultural communication skills. The big data neural network model is adopted in this paper to compare and analyze the intermediary sentences in the corpus to explore the development trend of English proficiency. Through the analysis of typical cases, it explores the weak links in the corpus teaching process and summarizes a method focusing on the combination of use of corpus and English teaching.

ОКРЕМІ ПИТАННЯ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ЯКОСТІ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ В УКРАЇНІ НА СУЧАСНОМУ ЕТАПІ

The article seeks to discuss important implications of higher education quality in various society areas of – politics, management, pedagogy, economics, etc. Insights on international best practice convincingly demonstrate that assuring high quality of education and enhancing its further development are the key governance and public administration priorities in all developed countries. It is argued that the quality of life is greatly affected by the level and quality of education. Moreover, it is highlighted that Ukraine has built a robust institutional paradigm of the education system and its governing bodies which focuses on retaining and accumulating strong human capital and research potential. Among the shortcomings in the implementation of the education quality assurance process, the study has identified the following: weak links in the relationships between higher education institutions and business; immaturity of monetization system for university students in the context of their cooperation with private companies; lack of university involvement in promoting the creation of business incubators, science & technology parks, technocities, etc. Apart from that, the findings have revealed significant imbalances in the national economy that translate into the supply shortage in certain occupations and labor market surplus in other professionals, along with displaying another negative trends associated with the processes of skilled workforce migration from rural areas to more developed cities and regions, or the outflow of the working-age population abroad. In turn, labor migration challenges drastic demographic changes that according to statistics, negatively affect the number of higher education applicants. A special emphasis is placed that the national higher education system is facing serious competition from higher education institutions of economically developed neighbouring countries that offer educational services in prestigious high ranked universities, as well as create ample scholarship and grant opportunities to international students. Thus, from the tuition fee perspective, domestic HEIs are often far behind their European counterparts, too. The study presents an in-depth analysis of the range of various impact factors affecting the education quality, the most essential of them are reported to be the legal and regulatory framework for higher education; government policy for higher education management; higher education funding rates; labor market saturation; the effectiveness of quality management tools in rendering educational services, etc.

Social-personal responsibility as the basis for the formation of an at-risk adolescent as a subject of self-development

Introduction. The need to form responsibility as a personality trait that ensures personal growth and development of each person is currently considered as a condition for adaptation to the modern world. The problem of responsibility in relation to the category of at-risk adolescents is characterized by the importance of the formation of social-personal responsibility as a generalizing characteristic of volitional behavior, synthesizing and including manifestations of various volitional, moral-volitional and moral qualities of an individual. The purpose of the article is to study the main components of social-personal responsibility as the basis for the formation of at-risk adolescents as a subject of self-development, the conditions for the formation of personal responsibility in the specified category of adolescents. Materials and methods. The study was carried out in seven (7) educational institutions in the city of Tula and the Tula region (Russian Federation) among 13-14-year-old adolescents (n=103, of which 16 were attributed to the risk group). The diagnostic program included the following methods for the study of responsibility, coping strategies, self-esteem, self-control in communication among the subjects. Methods of mathematical statistics: G-test, Pearson's chi-squared test. Research results. It was revealed that in at-risk adolescents, the identified components of social-personal responsibility (cognitive, emotional, volitional, behavioral ones) are weak links that negatively affect the course of their subjective-personal development, distorting the directions of self-development at this age, leading them onto the deviant development path. At the control stage of the experiment, differences were revealed in all indicators of the studied variables for each component. The number of at-risk adolescents with low indicators of responsibility, communicative control, willpower, with pronounced maladjustment has decreased, the number of students with adequate self-esteem has increased. The least significant shifts occurred in the behavioral component. According to the “School of Responsibility” methodology, the value of the χ2 criterion is 4.952; “Diagnostics of general self-esteem” by G.N. Kazantseva (χ2 = 3.256); “Assessment of self-control in communication” (χ2 = 4.91); “Self-assessment of willpower” (χ2 = 0.686); “Coping strategies” (χ2 = 3.841). The relationship between the factorial and effective traits is statistically insignificant, the level of significance is p> 0.05. This indicates the need to continue working with the identified at-risk adolescents. Conclusion. A set of psychological-pedagogical tools for the formation of social-personal responsibility in at-risk adolescents should include as follows: individual and group consultations, interactive seminars, master classes, quests, discussions, classes with training elements, project activities, role-playing games, training lessons.

Comparative Study on Microwave Absorbing Heating Characteristics and Microwave Deicing Performance of Airport Pavement Modified Concrete

In this paper, the airport pavement concrete has been taken as the main research object, three kinds of absorbing materials, namely silicon carbide (SiC), iron oxide (Fe3O4) and graphite, have been respectively mixed into the concrete, and an open microwave testing system has been established. Based on this system, the basic mechanical properties, microwave heating characteristics, microwave deicing effect and its influencing factors of modified concrete are systematically studied. In addition, a comparative analysis of the influence mechanism of different absorbing materials on the strength and absorbing performance of pavement concrete is carried out. The results showed that the addition of SiC, Fe3O4, and graphite could effectively enhance the microwave effect of pavement concrete, and the more the addition, the more obvious the improvement. Furthermore, under the same mixing amount, the degree of improvement of microwave deicing performance of each absorbing material from large to small is graphite, Fe3O4, SiC. However, the addition of graphite will form several weak links in concrete, thereby reducing its overall mechanical properties. SiC can slightly improve the mechanical properties of pavement concrete, but it has no significant effect on the microwave absorption properties. With the addition of Fe3O4, the strength of concrete changes little, and the effect of microwave absorbing heating and microwave deicing is remarkable. In general, the comprehensive performance of microwave deicing of Fe3O4 modified concrete is optimal. This study has high scientific and practical significance, and can be widely applied to deicing projects on airports and high-grade highways.

Contradictions of the institutional and economic environment of the development of new market countries: the experience of Kazakhstan

The current cyclical transition, complicated by the COVID–19 pandemic, has revealed weak links in the economies of many countries, caused by systemic contradictions accumulated over 30 years. Kazakhstan, as a country that has been building market relations only since the end of the 20th century, found itself in the grip of not only economic and political, but also institutional costs. One of the problems hindering the economic development of the nation is the contradictions between the political ambitions of the authorities and the real results of the implementation ofstate programs, the loss of public trust. The purpose of the study isto assessthe quality of economic growth in Kazakhstan. An attempt is made to provide an analysis of the institutional and economic environment and an econometric assessment of the real indicators of the country's development. The methodological basis was the scientific heritage in this area and new theoretical and methodological approaches of modern scientists in the study of issues of socio-economic development. The object of the research is economic development of Kazakhstan. Research results: based on the historical and logical analysis of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of economic development and the constructed regression model of panel data, it is shown that an increase in the level of indicators selected in official statistics has a small effect on economic growth, that is, there is a discrepancy between the target indicators of state programs and actual results. Revealed the institutional features of Kazakhstan's development model that cause economic lag.

Parameter Calibration on Replacement Manipulator for UHV Valve-Side Bushing Based on Spinor Theory

In this paper, a structure design scheme of intelligent replacement device for the ultrahigh voltage (UHV) converter transformer valve-side bushing is put forward, and its size is determined according to the actual size of domestic converter station valve hall and UHV converter transformer valve-side bushing. Moreover, the weak links in its working state are analyzed by finite element method to ensure the safety and reliability of the structure. Based on the spinor theory, the forward kinematics and Jacobian matrix model of the manipulator are established, and the analytical solution of inverse kinematics is derived. In order to analyze the accuracy of the intelligent replacement manipulator for the UHV converter transformer valve-side bushing, considering that the end actuator of the robot arm is under heavy load, the absolute positioning accuracy and repeated positioning accuracy are analyzed. In addition, the corresponding error model is established, the least square method is proposed to identify the error model, and the influence of the error caused by the load on the repetition accuracy is analyzed. Finally, the whole process simulation in ROS provides data support for the calculation of repetitive precision and verifies the feasibility of the intelligent replacement device for the UHV converter valve-side bushing.

Territorial pattern between outbreaks of ASF among wild and domestic pigs in Ukraine

The article presents the results of the analysis of the epizootic situation in Ukraine regarding African swine fever among domestic and wild pigs from 2012 to 2020 and identifies the main sources of virus spread as well as weak links in the biological safety system of farms. When studying the statistical material of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection regarding animal morbidity, revealed a territorial pattern between the outbreaks of African swine fever among wild boars and domestic pigs of private farms and pig-breeding complexes, and proved the involvement of the European boar in the epizootic process as a natural reservoir and mobile focus of infection. Calculated the number of outbreaks of African swine fever among wild boars and domestic pigs within the same region and district, and studied the sequence of the emergence of foci on limited territories. Analyzed the natural focality of the disease, the probability of infection transmission to the domestic pig farm sector, and the role of infected objects in the spread of the virus among wild animal populations. From 2012 to 2020 inclusive, according to FAO statistics, 537 cases of African swine fever were recorded in Ukraine, 21.7 % of which were associated with wild boars. In 2017 and 2018, the role of the European wild boar in the epizootic process is best reflected, when 10.9 % (2017) and 20.4 % (2018) of outbreaks of African swine fever among domestic animals recorded in the same administrative districts, where during a year this desiase was detected among wild pigs. When analyzing statistical data of the recent years, the effectiveness of introducing more detailed monitoring of African swine fever among wild boars using modern laboratory methods and improving biosafety measures in the private sector and directly on hunting grounds has been proved. Further research is based on predicting the dynamics of the spread of African swine fever in Ukraine and the role of wild boar in this epizootic process. In addition, the role of wild boar in the spread of African swine fever in other countries and the most effective foreign methods of disease control and prevention will be analyzed.

Investigating the mutational landscape of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant via ab initio quantum mechanical modeling

SARS-CoV-2 variant “Omicron” B1.1.529 was first identified in South Africa in November 2021. Given the large number of mutations in Omicron’s spike protein compared to the original Wuhan strain, its binding efficacy to the ACE2 receptor and its potential to escape antibodies are in the spotlight. Recently, we presented an ab initio quantum mechanical model to characterize the interactions of spike protein’s Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) with select antibodies and ACE2 variants. The model identified weak links among the residues constituting interactions with the human ACE2 receptor (hACE2), and also enabled us to characterize in silico mutated RBDs to identify potential Variants of Concern (VOC). In particular, we focused on the role of RBD residue 484 in the interaction of the Delta variant with ACE2 and neutralizing antibodies (nAbs). In this report, we apply our model to the Omicron VOC, and characterize its interaction pattern with hACE2. Our results show that (i) binding affinity with hACE2, compared to Delta, is considerably increased, possibly contributing to increased infectivity. (ii) The interaction pattern between B1.1.529 and hACE2 differs from previous variants by shifting the hot-spot interaction residues on hACE2, and potentially affecting nAbs efficacy. (iii) A K mutation in the RBD residue 484 can further improve Omicron’s binding of hACE2 and evasion of nAbs. Finally, we argue that a library of hot-spots for point-mutations can predict binding interaction energies of complex variants.

The risk assessment of a crude oil pipeline using fuzzy and bayesian based bow-tie analysis

Cross country pipelines are one of the major modes of transportation of petroleum products. Due to external and internal factors, the failure probability of pipeline is increasing over the past decades. The failure of pipelines can cause fires, which can result in environmental damage, loss of materials and further resulting into casualties. Effective risk assessment is vital to prevent and mitigate such potential incidents. In this work, an efficient tool that makes use of Bayesian approach along with Bow-tie analysis is used to obtain the failure frequencies of all the identified causes that may lead to failure of the selected pipeline located in Kerala, India. Bayesian networks can perform effective dynamic risk analysis by considering the conditional dependencies between various basic events leading to pipeline failure. The fuzzy logic and expert elicitation method are incorporated to determine the prior failure frequencies of all the identified causes of pipeline failure. The effectiveness of Bayesian network in performing forward analysis to determine the probabilities of pipeline failure consequences is demonstrated. This study also identifies the weak links associated with the occurrence of particular consequences, so that adequate measures can be taken to rectify them.