Dynamic Model of Contingency Flight Crew Planning Extending to Crew Formation

The creation of a flight schedule and the associated crew planning are clearly among the most complicated tasks in terms of traffic preparation. Even with a relatively small number of pilots and aircraft, numerous specific constraints arising from real operations must be included in the calculation, thus increasing the complexity of the planning process. However, even in a precision-planned operation, non-standard situations often occur, which must be addressed flexibly. It is at this point that an operational solution must be applied, the aims of which are to stabilize the flight schedule as soon as possible and minimize the financial impacts resulting from the non-standard situation. These problems are resolved by the airline’s Operational Control Center, which also uses various software approaches to solve the problem. The problem is approached differently by large air carriers, which use software products to address it, and small and medium-sized air carriers, which resolve the issue of operational rescheduling intuitively, based on the experience of dispatchers. However, this intuitive approach can lead to inaccuracies that can lead to unnecessary financial losses. In this paper, we present an optimization model that can serve as a tool to support the decision-making of employees of the operations centers of smaller and medium-sized air carriers.

The Nondeterministic Situation Calculus

The standard situation calculus assumes that atomic actions are deterministic. But many domains involve nondeterministic actions, with problems such as fully observable nondeterministic (FOND) planning and high-level program execution requiring solutions. Various approaches have been proposed to accommodate nondeterminism on top of the standard situation calculus language, for instance by introducing nondeterministic programs as in Golog and ConGolog. But a key problem in these approaches is that they don’t clearly distinguish between choices that can be made by the agent and choices that are made by the environment, i.e., angelic vs. devilish nondeterminism. In this paper, we propose a simple extension to the standard situation calculus that accommodates nondeterministic actions and preserves Reiter’s solution to the frame problem and answering projection queries through regression. We also provide a formalization of FOND planning and show how ConGolog high-level program execution in nondeterministic domains can be defined.

Museum practice in the developing of applied artists’ professional competencies in the context of digitalization of education

The article examines the modern approach in the pedagogical science of training future decorative and applied art artists, the search for new forms of practice, especially museum practice. The issue of forming future specialists’ professional competencies is always acute, but today, in connection with the issues of the pandemic and the partial transition to distance learning, it has become particularly relevant and topical, including the field of art education. The authors are tasked to analyze the effectiveness of the discipline «Museum Practice» in a remote form, the development of professional competencies by bachelors. In the standard situation, this practice is partially conducted in the city museums where the university is located and also off-premise, by personal attendance, but in the 2019-2020 academic year, changes were made to the curriculum of the field of education «Decorative and Applied Arts and Folk Crafts» at the Southern Federal University, and the practice was held in an online form. The article considers the issue of remote dialogue between teacher-student-museum, identifies the positive and negative aspects of this form of communication for the development of professional competencies by future applied artists. The use of interactive, multimedia and visual technologies in the synthesis with independent work of the student gives a positive effect for the development of the necessary professional skills, even in a non-standard situation of practical training.

COMPOSITION UNIQUENESS OF �KONARMIA� (�CAVALRY ARMY�) BY I. BABEL

The interest to literary works of I. Babel has not decreased for the last few years. However, the problem of the author�s main book is not solved yet because the history of writing �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�) proves that the initial discrete character of the composition turns the standard situation which leads to formation of the unique genre of Babel�s book. The aim of the article is to analyze the plot composition of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�) and define the character of its composition uniqueness and genre of this literary work, applying the comparative approach and using elements of the hermeneutic method, and also structural and functional methods. The episodes, included in the best book of the writer, were initially published as separate stories and novellas in varied newspapers and magazines mostly in 1923-1924. If we make a comparative analysis of the episodes sequence, taking into account the date when they were published and the configuration done by the writer in the final variant, it will become obvious that the order of publishing does not correspond to either the dates, or their order in the traditional variant of some editions of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�). The discrepancy of the episodes sequence according to every position can indicate that their final configuration is the result of not a random but a conscientious choice based on the specific composition design. The examples to testify the aforementioned view on the creation of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�) can be the following episodes, such as �A Letter�, �Crossing the Zbruch�, �The Church at Novograd� or �Betrayal�, �Argamak�, �A Kiss� because their position in the book is strictly determined and not accidental. Another example of how important the composition structure of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�) for its content is the presence and position of the episodes related with the topos of movement. There are a few episodes in the book, namely �Crossing the Zbruch�, �The Chief of Konzapas�, �The Road to Brody�, �Discourse on the Tachanka�, �The Story of a Horse�, �Konkin�, �The Story of a Horse, Continued�, �Argamak�. Thus, having analyzed the composition uniqueness of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�), we can state that first, the book by I. Babel is the result of long, controversial, stressed, and often painful search of the appropriate form to depict the artistic idea which is the basis of this literary work. Second, the composition of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�) is not an arbitrary or random selection of works but a thoroughly built and tightly bound structure, every part of which, becoming a part of the whole, almost loses its �independence� and �autonomy� because it is determined and in its turn determines other parts of the book. Finally, third, the discrete, interrupted character of the composition of �Konarmiya� (�Cavalry Army�) does not deny that this literary work is integral but only indicates a different way to organize artistic space, a novel one in particular, and establishes the possibility of divergent form of the novel or a �discrete� novel. It is such a genre variety which is based on the principle of interrupted continuity and negation of linear development of events while depicting the characters and building the text composition.

Analysis of Selected Characteristics of e-Consumer Behavior of Czechs During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the selected aspects of e-consumer behavior. Specifically, to the application of innovative methods of evaluating customer interactions within the environment of the virtual social network Facebook. From the point of view of the actual implementation of presented research, the activity of customer tribes of the five largest e-commerce entities in the Czech virtual market was analyzed and evaluated. The data needed to process the analysis were collected during the first state of emergency declared in the Czech Republic in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the analysis of data on the interactions of customer groups in a highly non-standard situation, it was possible to outline specific patterns of consumer behavior, in particular the extent and nature of their interactions in B2C communication on the social network Facebook. From the findings we can deduce a shift in the timing of interactions towards the morning hours, which we consider both as an effect of working from home and as a deviation from the usual patterns of behavior. In our opinion, it is necessary to take both of these effects into account when planning marketing communication.

Impact of Structured Clinical Handover Protocol on Communication and Patient Satisfaction

The Handover process is an essential aspect of patient care in daily clinical practice to ensure continuity of patient care. Standardization of clinical handover may reduce sentinel events due to inaccurate and ineffective communication. Single arm experimental trial was conducted to assess the effect of standard Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) protocol implementation in overall bedside nursing handover process, patient satisfaction, and nurses’ acceptance. As a sample, all nursing staff of specified unit, all handover process performed by them, and patients admitted during study the period were included. Initially, the prevailing handover process and patient satisfaction regarding nursing handover was assessed using a structured observation checklist. During the implementation phase, nurses were trained on an SBAR handover protocol. After implementation, nursing handovers were again assessed and data regarding patient satisfaction and nurses’ acceptance were collected. There was a statistically significant difference ( P < .05) in median scores between the pre and post-intervention group on overall nursing handover and patient satisfaction regarding nursing handover. Standardization of patient’s handover process is effective in terms of improving nursing handover process, patient satisfaction, and health professionals’ acceptance.

An Integral Approach to the Meaning of Competence

Interest in the concept of competence is becoming crucial, as it is highly interconnected with the idea of life-long education and the requirement of continuing professional development. Improving competence and becoming a long-life learner are essential components of ensuring employability. From an educational perspective, a competence-based education addresses the problem of defining exactly what competence is due to the variety of interpretations of its meaning. On the one hand, the concept of competence is understood as an intermediate level of knowledge and skills developed in the future professional (the current student), and yet conversely competence implies efficient behavior in a non-standard situation that requires the highest level of knowledge, skill, and qualification. This paper is based on the analysis of the concept of competence and the variety of interpretations of its meaning. The goal of the paper is to discuss the different concepts of competence, seeking an integral approach to the meaning of competence. The literature review allowed the authors to conclude that the discourse that surrounds competence is widely analyzed in the scientific literature, and the meaning of competence depends upon the approach chosen. Each of these interpretations are rational, and majority of them resonate with Westera’s competence model. According to this model, competence can be considered to be comprised of an individual’s knowledge, experience, skills, abilities, attitudes, values, and other personal qualities that determine understanding and willingness to solve a concrete intellectual or practical challenge, and ensure success. An individual’s competence depends not only on what qualities they have as a whole (their “quality pool”) but also, most importantly, on the structure of qualities that they choose from their inner “pool” to solve a situation in life or in work. Attitudes and values are the bases of competence, which constitutes an action’s driving force and forms both commitment to an activity and confidence in its success. Competence has a dynamic structure, as in every activity a person not only makes decisions but learns in parallel, and as such their knowledge, experience, and skills are enhanced.

Non-standard situation detection in smart water metering

In this paper an algorithm for detection of nonstandard situations in smart water metering based on machine learning is designed. The main categories for nonstandard situation or anomaly detection and two common methods for anomaly detection are analyzed. The proposed solution needs to fit the requirements for correct, efficient and real-time detection of non-standard situations in actual water consumption with minimal required consumer intervention to its operation. Moreover, a proposal to extend the original hardware solution is described and implemented to accommodate the needs of the detection algorithm. The final implemented and tested solution evaluates anomalies in water consumption for a given time in specific day and month using machine learning with a semi-supervised approach.

Evaluating the appropriacy of Ritual Frame Indicating Expressions (RFIEs): A case study of learners of Chinese and English

This paper investigates the evaluation of ritual frame indicating expressions (RFIEs) in two groups of L2 learners: British English learners of Chinese and Mainland Chinese learners of English. RFIEs are expressions by means of which speakers confirm their awareness of rights and obligations in a particular standard situation. Previous research in applied linguistics has largely ignored the production and evaluation of such forms, despite the fact that they are pragmatically-loaded and, as such, are very important for the development of the (meta)pragmatic competence of L2 learners. In our study, we have conducted an experiment in which we exposed our learners to both authentic and constructed uses of RFIEs. The evaluation of their (meta)pragmatic competence has revealed notable linguacultural differences between the two groups of L2 learners.