Application of analysis methods and forecasting of time series of indicators of the effectiveness of airworthiness maintaining of civil aircraft

The use of the analysis methodology and forecasting of time series of indicators of the effectiveness of maintaining airworthiness of aircraft of civil aviation made it possible to present the dynamics of indicators as a combination of the regular component, harmonic components with oscillation periods of 12 months and more, and a random component, which represents random processes developing under the influence of groups of factors affecting the airworthiness maintenance process. The results obtained are aimed at improving the safety and effectiveness of aircraft use. Keywords: aircraft, airworthiness, effectiveness of airworthiness maintenance, analysis methodology, forecasting, time series of effectiveness indicators. [email protected]

Recombinant and endogenous ways to produce methylated phospholipids in Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is the daily workhorse in molecular biology research labs and an important platform microorganism in white biotechnology. Its cytoplasmic membrane is primarily composed of the phospholipids phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and cardiolipin (CL). As in most other bacteria, the typical eukaryotic phosphatidylcholine (PC) is not a regular component of the E. coli membrane. PC is known to act as a substrate in various metabolic or catabolic reactions, to affect protein folding and membrane insertion, and to activate proteins that originate from eukaryotic environments. Options to manipulate the E. coli membrane to include non-native lipids such as PC might make it an even more powerful and versatile tool for biotechnology and protein biochemistry. This article outlines different strategies how E. coli can be engineered to produce PC and other methylated PE derivatives. Several of these approaches rely on the ectopic expression of genes from natural PC-producing organisms. These include PC synthases, lysolipid acyltransferases, and several phospholipid N-methyltransferases with diverse substrate and product preferences. In addition, we show that E. coli has the capacity to produce PC by its own enzyme repertoire provided that appropriate precursors are supplied. Screening of the E. coli Keio knockout collection revealed the lysophospholipid transporter LplT to be responsible for the uptake of lyso-PC, which is then further acylated to PC by the acyltransferase-acyl carrier protein synthetase Aas. Overall, our study shows that the membrane composition of the most routinely used model bacterium can readily be tailored on demand.Key points• Escherichia coli can be engineered to produce non-native methylated PE derivatives.• These lipids can be produced by foreign and endogenous proteins.• Modification of E. coli membrane offers potential for biotechnology and research. Graphical abstract

Reversing orientation homeomorphisms of surfaces

Let $M$ be a connected compact orientable surface, $f:M\to \mathbb{R}$ be a Morse function, and $h:M\to M$ be a diffeomorphism which preserves $f$ in the sense that $f\circ h = f$. We will show that if $h$ leaves invariant each regular component of each level set of $f$ and reverses its orientation, then $h^2$ is isotopic to the identity map of $M$ via $f$-preserving isotopy. This statement can be regarded as a foliated and a homotopy analogue of a well known observation that every reversing orientation orthogonal isomorphism of a plane has order $2$, i.e. a mirror symmetry with respect to some line. The obtained results hold in fact for a larger class of maps with isolated singularities from compact orientable surfaces to the real line and the circle.

28.G. Workshop: Foresight studies at the global, European and national level: what can we learn from them?

Foresight studies provide valuable information for (strategic) policy-making. They provide insights into the most important future trends and challenges, which is essential for well-informed policy-making. The number of foresight studies in the field of Public Health was limited but the number of studies is growing rapidly over last years. With these studies becoming available, their findings might become a more a regular component of population health monitoring activities. Given the relatively early stage of development of foresight studies in the field of Public health, a proper understanding and interpretation of the future studies might need some further guidance. How to deal with an (uncertain) future in the policy making process is one of the issues that needs to be addressed. This workshop starts with an interactive session to get a better understanding of the level of knowledge and needs regarding foresight studies, followed by the presentations of four different applications of foresight studies. The first one is at the global level from the institute for health metrics and evaluation (IHME) who has a long track record regarding public health data gathering and applying these, for example, to calculate the Global Burden of Disease. Next, EURO-HEALTHY project will present the Scenarios for population health inequalities in 2030 in Europe, partly based on a Web-Delphi process with a multidisciplinary panel. The third presentation will be from Public Health Wales on Futures for Wales which puts future health in the broader perspective of wellbeing. The last presentation will also be a national one, the Public Health foresight study, which has been conducted for more than 2025 years with an update published in 2020. After these presentations, ample time will be reserved for discussion on how these studies could best contribute to better public health policy making. Workshop participants will be informed about the main results of recent foresight studies, allowing them to reflect on these from their own perspective. They will get insight into the approaches and methods used in these recent studies, which may be helpful or inspiring for their own practice. Key messages Public health foresight studies are done more frequently and their findings can influence public health policy making. In this workshop, the methodology and findings of foresight studies at the global, European, and national level will be discussed.

It’s the very time to learn a pandemic lesson: why have predictive techniques been ineffective when describing long-term events?

We have detected a regular component of the monitoring error of officially registered total cases of the spread of the current pandemic. This regular error component explains the reason for the failure of a priori mathematical modelling of probable epidemic events in different countries of the world. Processing statistical data of countries that have reached an epidemic peak has shown that this regular monitoring obeys a simple analytical regularity which allows us to answer the question: is this or that country that has already passed the threshold of the epidemic close to its peak or is still far from it?

Is Affective Effective? Measuring Affective Learning in Simulations

Simulations have become a regular component of teaching toolkits. They provide teachers with a platform to take students’ knowledge and understanding of subject materials beyond the classroom. In doing so, simulations fulfill a critical pedagogical purpose in that they need to construct a learning space; one more efficacious in delivering learning opportunities than traditional modes of instruction. In order for simulations to be effective, students need to be able to place themselves in role. The more closely the students identify with their topic (the greater their affection for the subject), the closer the alignment between the exercise and the intended learning outcomes. This article considers how an affective learning environment can be created with simulations. The lens for this analysis is an international model European Union simulation that has been running in Hong Kong and New Zealand. Our argument is that the more affective the simulated environment, the more realistic it will be perceived to be by the participants. However, contrary to the prevailing literature, our findings suggest that affection does not necessarily have to be positively constructed in order for simulations to be effective pedagogical tools.

Management of Cataract in Patients with Irregular Astigmatism with Regular Central Component by Phacoemulsification Combined with Toric Intraocular Lens Implantation

Purpose. To evaluate visual acuity (VA) and refractive status in patients with cataract and irregular astigmatism with a regular central component after phacoemulsification with implantation of a toric intraocular lens (IOL). Methods. Patients with cataract associated with irregular astigmatism with a regular central component were enrolled. All patients underwent phacoemulsification and toric IOL implantation. Postoperative visual acuity, residual astigmatism, toric IOL rotation, higher-order aberration, and objective and subjective visual quality were measured 3 months after surgery. Results. Twenty-three eyes were included in the study. The logMAR corrected and uncorrected distance visual acuity values were decreased at 3 months postoperatively (p < 0.005). The preoperative average corneal astigmatism and postoperative residual astigmatism were 1.15–6.97 D (1.99 ± 1.26 D) and 0–2.75 D (0.65 ± 0.57 D), respectively. The average IOL rotation was 3.17 ± 2.01°. Some objective indicators of visual quality, including the modulation transfer function (p < 0.05), Strehl ratio (p < 0.005), 100% VA (p < 0.005), 20% VA (p < 0.005), and 9% VA (p < 0.005), were significantly higher than the corresponding preoperative values. The objective scatter index (p < 0.005) was significantly lower than that before surgery. The postoperative VF-14 scale score was 83.99 ± 14.58. Conclusion. Toric IOL implantation has a good corrective effect on certain specific types of corneal irregular astigmatism with cataract. This effect can be attributed to its ability to correct the regular component of irregular astigmatism. The indications for toric IOL implantation could be expanded to some extent, thereby bringing benefit to more patients.

Media Research in Socialist Slovenia/Yugoslavia: Some Afterthoughts

This afterword to “A Marxist Approach to Communication Freedom” reveals some features of the development of communication theories and empirical research in socialist Slovenia and Yugoslavia. The field started to develop in 1960s in the framework of other academic disciplines, mainly political sciences and partly sociology, but soon became the target of ideological criticism for “the lack of Marxist foundations” in the social sciences in general, and journalism education and communication research in particular, which was part of a more general conflict between party-state bureaucracy and “liberal intellectuals.” By the 1980s, communication and journalism education and research programmes became a regular component of universities in all the republics of the former Yugoslavia. The development of the new discipline was largely marked by “productive inclusivism” or eclecticism, a kind of “cohabitation” of different communication schools and theoretical paradigms that contributed to its definition, development and institutionalisation at universities.

Fire in the environment: effects on soil functions and ecosystem services in a changing world

&lt;p&gt;Fire is an essential element of the environment and a vital force for shaping landscapes all around the world. It has a critical role as driver of natural ecosystem processes and many plant communities are fire dependent aros the globe. However, although fire is a natural and regular component of some biomes in the Earth&amp;#8217;s systems, it can become a destructive force when natural ecosystems are disturbed, fire is introduced at a rate not previously experienced, and recovery to a pre-fire state is not possible. Thus, assesing the potentially harmful environmental impacts of fire and building the underlying knowledge required to successfully manage fire makes are crucial in order to understand the role of fire in all its different dimensions. Over the past year, fires in California in the United States and in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil have grabbed the world&amp;#8217;s attention. The increased rates of fire events in some of these areas, mostly attributed to land degradation processes, have led to international concern. More recently, several bushfires all around Australia have had dramatic impacts in the environment with 10 million hectares burned so far, including large portions of the natural environment. These unprecedented fires are predicted to affect to a large extent the soil characteristics, processes and function in several ecosystems. In this presentation, we highlight some of the most recent research published during the last year on the effects of fire on soil functions and the provision of soil ecosystem services. We also showcase some of the possible approaches to protect and conserve soil ecosystems affected by extreme fires and propose available strategies for post-fire management.&lt;/p&gt;

Saving Lost Souls or Doing Good Business? Interactions at the Russian-Kazakh Frontier and Strategies for Freeing Russian Slaves in Central Asia in the Early 19th Century

By examining patterns of ransoming strategies, this paper generates insights about the interactions between state, economic and social actors across the Russian-Kazakh frontier in the early 19th century. Generally, first encounters across borders and boundaries include violence and invasion. Accordingly, the enslavement and subsequent ransoming of captured people represent common practices in frontier regions. Analyses of these processes illuminate the nature of interactions between different actors along the border. Securing release of slaves through ransom was a regular component of Russian foreign policy from the 16th century onwards. Imperial institutions were established for ransoming Russian Christian brothers-in-the-faith and, later, for other subjects of the Russian Empire who had been enslaved by the Ottoman Empire and Central Asian Khanates. With imperial financing, the Orenburg Border Commission (1799-1859) co-ordinated the ransoming process and developed networks for achieving the release of Russian subjects held in the Kazakh Steppe, in Khiva and Bukhara. Actors involved in these networks were of heterogeneous descent, including Russian imperial officials, Bukharian and Khivan merchants, Kazakh officials, as well as Russian agents. Drawing on archival research, this article explores ransoming networks and strategies along the Russian-Kazakh frontier and probes the motives of the actors involved.