Concept of the course "Numerical methods in object methodology"

The tasks for which computers were created - routine calculations of an industrial, scientific and military nature - required the creation of a whole class of new methods focused not on manual but on machine calculations. The first programming languages did not have convenient means for reflecting such objects often used in computational mathematics as matrices, vectors, polynomials, etc. Further development of programming languages followed the path of embedding mathematical objects into languages as data types, which led to their complication. So, for example, an attempt to make a universal language Ada, in which there are even such data types as dictionaries and queues, led to the fact that the number of keywords in it exceeded 350, making it almost unusable for learning and use. The compromise solution between these two extremes can be the following: let the programmer himself create the data types that he needs in his professional work. Programming languages that implement this approach are called object-oriented. This, on the one hand, makes it possible to make the language quite easy by reducing the number of keywords, and on the other, expandable, adapting to specific tasks by introducing keywords for creating and using new data types.

Methodical Approach to Evaluation of Efficiency of Transformation of Business Processes on Engineering Enterprises in the Context of Ensuring Security

The main purpose of the study is the formation the methodological approach to assessing the options for transforming of the main business process in the context of ensuring security. The study is based on the assessment results of several of leading engineering enterprises. The methodology of estimation of efficiency of carrying out transformation of the basic business processes of the enterprises, based on the theory of fuzzy sets, is a convenient means of carrying out multicriteria evaluation, comparative analysis from the point of view of integrated criterion and obtaining orderly priority of business processes on their efficiency. The study of the process of transformation of a business process for the production and sale of product enterprises was conducted and a methodology for assessing its effectiveness based on the use of the mathematical apparatus of the theory of fuzzy sets was formed and allows us to formalize and evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of each of the options for the business process. Methodology for assessing the effectiveness of the transformation of the main business processes at the enterprises can be used in enterprises of various profiles after the necessary analysis and optimization. The study conducted a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the transformation of the main business processes at the enterprises using as example engineering enterprises in the context of ensuring security.

A New Method for Haptic Shape Discriminability Detection

Touch shape discrimination is not only closely related to tactile mechanoreceptors but also higher cognitive function. However, previous shape discrimination methods are difficult to complete in a short time, and the devices are complicated to operate and not user-friendly for nonprofessionals. Here, we propose a new method, the evaluation quantity of which is the angle discrimination threshold. In addition, to make this method easy to use for nonprofessionals, we designed a haptic angle sorting system, including the device and software. To evaluate this method, the angle sorting and two-angle discrimination experiments were compared, and it was found that participants spent significantly less time in the former experiment than in the latter. At the same time, there is a strong correlation between the performance of angle sorting and two-angle discrimination, which shows that the angle threshold obtained by the new method can also be used to evaluate the ability of touch discrimination. Moreover, the angle sorting results of different age groups also further demonstrate the feasibility of the method. The efficiency of this new method and the effectiveness of the system also provide a convenient means for evaluating haptic shape discrimination, which may have potential clinical application value in the early diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy and even in the evaluation of cognitive function.

Ethics in Mobile Banking

This chapter addresses the ethical issues relating to mobile money transfer in Kenya. The mobile money transfer industry has grown exponentially in Kenya. Both the formal and informal sectors have embraced the use of mobile money transfer as a convenient means of transacting. With a plethora of advantages, most notably financial inclusion of the informal sector, mobile money transfer also has its ethical demerits. Despite the ethical challenges being experienced, the use of regulation coupled with education of users on ethical issues and security of mobile money transactions will assist in reducing unethical conduct.

Management of Information Communication Mechanism in Colleges and Universities — Based on the Perspective of WeChat Work Group

WeChat is a convenient means of information and communication nowadays, which can provide functions such as group chat, public platform, friends circle, and message spreading. WeChat group is widely used in the working environment of colleges and universities, greatly improving the communication efficiency as well as making up for the shortcomings of the formal communication mechanism, but it also causes problems like inefficiency and poor security of information management. A sound and efficient information and communication mechanism for organizations could be established by taking the formal communication network as the leading role and strengthening the management of WeChat group.

Air-Coupled Ultrasonic Probe Integrity Test Using a Focused Transducer with Similar Frequency and Limited Aperture for Contrast Enhancement

Air-coupled ultrasonic probes require a special design approach and handling due to the significant mismatch to the air. Outer matching layers have to be soft so can be easily damaged and excitation voltages might cause the degradation of electrodes or bonding between the layers. Integrity inspection is desired during design, manufacturing, and exploitation. Spatial distribution of a transduction efficiency over piezoelement surface is proposed as a convenient means for the air-coupled probe integrity inspection. Focused transducer of similar center frequency is used to scan the surface of the inspected probe. However, such approach creates a challenge, i.e., area of the scanning beam is much smaller than the total receiving area of the inspected probe, therefore, contrast and imaging resolution are significantly degraded. Masking aperture made from cardboard and felt, placed at the focal point was proposed as solution. Far-range sidelobes were suppressed down to the noise floor (−50 dB) and the near-range sidelobes were reduced down to −17 dB. The proposed modification allows to use a similar frequency focused transducer. Probe integrity inspection can be carried out at significantly enhanced contrast and lateral resolution. Natural and artificial defects can be detected by the use of the proposed method.

“Everybody’ private carriage.” Omnibus Travel in Victorian Literature

Introduced into the streets of first Paris and then London in the late 1820s, the omnibus quickly became a popular and convenient means of urban transport. But as many historians of culture note, the omnibus connecting different points in the metropolitan space, was a space in its own right, with a range of complications and complexities. Its interior constituted a peculiar enclave within a larger communal space and thus made its passengers experience - and negotiate between - freedom and constraint, convenience and discomfort as well as anonymity and intimacy. Using omnibus scenes in the works of such writers as Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, George Augustus Sala, or Amy Levy, I shall examine some of the above-mentioned aspects of the conveyance. Most specifically, I shall look into the complexities of the visual interactions between the omnibus passengers as well as those between the passengers and the urban environment outside the vehicle.

The Consumptive Significance of Images and Interface Values in Cyberpunk Cities

Cyberpunk is one of the latest genres in the development of science fiction. The genre emerged during the 80s and 90s, and in it the characters are confronted by an abundance of images and interface values. As a result, these images and values have become key identifying motifs of this genre. Referring to the theoretical conceptualizations of Adam Roberts about novum, and Lieven De Cauter on capsules and capsulization, the present study argues that the reason for the abundance of images and interface values is due to their facilitation of the consumption of novelties in cyberpunk cities. Within a scientific and rational discourse, images and interface values combine familiar and unfamiliar concepts and package them both as convenient commodities to be consumed by the characters of cyberpunk fiction. One of the key outcomes of such a combination, the study argues, is that the characters of cyberpunk fiction rely on the consumption of images and interface values as a convenient means to handle the overwhelming presence of technological and cybernetic advancements in the represented cities. This outcome turns the need to see and consume the cyberpunk world through images and interface values into an ideological necessity—or what can also be called a defense mechanism—for the characters against the technological shock of cybernetic advancements; a necessity whose qualities will be discussed in the study, as well.

Analyzing history-related posts in twitter

Microblogging platforms such as Twitter have been increasingly used nowadays to share information between users. They are also convenient means for propagating content related to history. Hence, from the research viewpoint they can offer opportunities to analyze the way in which users refer to the past, and how as well when such references appear and what purposes they serve. Such study could allow to quantify the interest degree and the mechanisms behind content dissemination. We report the results of a large scale exploratory analysis of history-oriented posts in microblogs based on a 28-month-long snapshot of Twitter data. The results can increase our understanding of the characteristics of history-focused content sharing in Twitter. They can also be used for guiding the design of content recommendation systems as well as time-aware search applications.

Superbubbles as an empirical characteristic of directed networks

Superbubbles are acyclic induced subgraphs of a digraph with single entrance and exit that naturally arise in the context of genome assembly and the analysis of genome alignments in computational biology. These structures can be computed in linear time and are confined to non-symmetric digraphs. We demonstrate empirically that graph parameters derived from superbubbles provide a convenient means of distinguishing different classes of real-world graphical models, while being largely unrelated to simple, commonly used parameters.