Description of buckwheat cultivars from Belarus and Ukraine in the environments of Leningrad Province

Background. Buckwheat is an extremely valuable groat crop in demand both in Russia and abroad. The buckwheat collection held by VIR is the largest in the world. Studying and systematizing knowledge about the conserved diversity of the genus Fagopyrum Mill. representatives cannot be efficient without switching to the use of the most detailed descriptors containing plant characters least dependent on differences in growing conditions.Materials and methods. Seventeen buckwheat cultivars from Ukraine and Belarus and two references from Russia were studied in Leningrad Province. The methodological basis of the study included the IPGRI buckwheat descriptors and personal recommendations of N. V. Fesenko. Statistical data processing was performed according to P. F. Rokitsky.Results. The cultivars formed their typical plant habitus and demonstrated good fruit setting − an average score was 3.3–4.9 out of five. The determinant stem growth was observed in 10 cultivars. The stem developed 2.7−6.7 generative nodes and 4–6 vegetative ones, while 1.9–4.7 generative and 0.8−2.3 vegetative nodes were formed on the two upper branches.Conclusion. The study confirmed that medium-ripening buckwheat can be grown in Leningrad Province. The modal value of the number of vegetative nodes for the studied cultivars was 4−5, which is an indicator of intermediate ripening. The results of studying the metamerism of the stem and the two upper branches, expressed by modal values, were recorded in the “agricultural fitness” passport for the tested cultivars as follows: determinant stem; branching zone 4+1+2; fruit-forming zone 3+3+3; average score of fruit formation 4.8. The presented data format most fully characterizes a cultivar in terms of the potential of its earliness and productivity. Depending on the task, indicators for the main stem or for the two upper branches can be used. Recording values in the form of a formula is convenient and does not imply any other meanings.

An algorithm for statistical evaluation of weld toe geometries using laser triangulation

Commonly, to evaluate the influence of the local weld geometry in fatigue test, small-scale specimens are used, assuming those represent a longer weld adequately. In this study, a comparison between short specimens and a long weld is performed. A method is developed for the statistical evaluation of weld toe radii and angles, stress concentration factors and weld quality classes. The results show a strong sampling rate dependence and lower ISO 5817:2014 weld quality results for higher sampling rates. Comparable results between short specimens and a long weld can be achieved using modal values of the parameters assuming a lognormal distribution.

Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification

Purpose The aim of the paper is to identify management practices that are characteristic for SMEs that achieve market success measured by their business performance in last their years of their operation analyze the relationships between management practices applied in small and medium-sized enterprises and their success measured by their business performance drawing on the data from 2710 SMEs operating on the Polish market. Approach/Methodology/Design A cluster analysis was used to distinguish homogenous SME groups in view of their management practices. We examined differences between groups in terms of their business performance. The HINoV algorithm allowed six variables to be selected out of 32 management practices chosen initially for testing, with these variables providing the basis for grouping. Modal values and medians were calculated for 17 business performance measures in the three clusters produced. The subsequent analysis of those findings was focused on capturing significant differences. Findings In the group of 2710 Polish SMEs, it was possible to verify that there existed an association between management practices in the field of modern HRM, computer systems supporting management and the company’s economic performance, as measured by an increase in net revenue and number of customers over the last three years. In clusters where the above mentioned practices were appreciated, modal and median values of the increase reported in net revenue and number of customers were significantly higher. Practical implications The research has shown that at a time marked by a shortage of highly skilled personnel one should pay particular attention to building an integrated and committed team of workers and to employee empowerment. The research has also shown that SME managers monitor only a fraction of basic business performance measures, which may prove to be a major risk to SMEs. Originality/Value Previous studies have been largely conducted in a fragmentary manner, i.e. they were concerned with the relationships between the application of some practices (strategic management, BPR, entrepreneurial orientation, monitoring, etc.) and selected business effectiveness measures. In this paper, the research covered SME management practices from a variety of areas which were then compared with the entrepreneurs’ assessment as to whether the company’s economic condition changed over the last three years. It is also the first attempt in post-socialist economies to identify those SME management practices that are related to better economic results.

Experimental Determination of the Corrosion Encrustation Value in Steel Gas Pipelines

Постановка задачи. Опыт эксплуатации магистральных газопроводов и сетей газораспределения показывает, что, несмотря на практически полную защищенность газопроводов от коррозии пассивными и активными методами, свыше 55-60 % повреждений, выявляемых в процессе проведения диагностики, приходится на повреждения различного коррозионного характера. Актуальным вопросом в условиях ограниченного финансирования является нахождение остаточного ресурса трубопроводов. Целью исследования является проведение детального анализа статистических данных о внутренней коррозии газопроводов и оценка величины коррозионного зарастания бывших в эксплуатации газопроводов с использованием разработанного метода диагностики и оценки состояния труб с применением вероятностного подхода оценки риска. Результаты. Приведены результаты экспериментального измерения величины коррозионного зарастания стальных газопроводов, получены закономерности изменения диаметра газопровода, величин выступов коррозии, численно оценена вероятность их появления и повторяемость. Обработка результатов измерений зарастания стальных газопроводов проводилась методами математической статистики, в результате были получены вероятностные численные характеристики исследуемых параметров газопровода. Выводы. Гистограммы распределения амплитуд, построенные на основе экспериментальных данных, подтверждают, что модальные значения высот выступов коррозии сдвинуты в область малых величин. Анализ полученных результатов позволяет сделать вывод о согласовании параметров коррозии с распределением вероятности Шарлье. При обследовании газопроводов значение коэффициента вариации, превышающее 75 %, указывает на уменьшение проходного сечения трубы, снижение качества эксплуатации и общего состояния газопроводов. Statement of the problem. The operating experience of gas pipelines and gas distribution networks shows that despite the almost complete protection of gas pipelines from corrosion by passive and active methods, more than 55-60 % of the damage detected during the diagnostics process is caused by damage of various corrosive nature. Finding the residual resource of pipelines is a pressing issue in the context of limited funding. The aim of the study is to conduct a detailed analysis of statistical data on internal corrosion of gas pipelines and to assess the magnitude of corrosion overgrowth of used gas pipelines using the developed method of diagnostics and assessment of the condition of pipes using a probabilistic approach to risk assessment. Results. The article presents the results of experimental measurement of the magnitude of corrosion overgrowth of steel gas pipelines, the regularities of changes in the diameter of the gas pipeline, the values of corrosion protrusions are obtained, the probability of their occurrence and their repeatability are numerically estimated. The processing of the measurement results of the overgrowth of steel gas pipelines was carried out using the methods of mathematical statistics, as a result, the probabilistic numerical characteristics of the investigated parameters of the gas pipeline were obtained. Conclusions. The histograms of the distribution of amplitudes, built on the basis of experimental data, confirm that the modal values of the heights of corrosion protrusions are shifted to the region of small values. Analysis of the results obtained allows us to conclude that the corrosion parameters are consistent with the Charlier probability distribution. When inspecting gas pipelines, the coefficient of variation exceeding 75 % indicates a decrease in the flow area of the pipe, a decrease in the quality of operation and the condition of gas pipelines.

Standardization of landing efficiency for opilio crab in the western Bering Sea by using of generalized additive models

Generalized additive models are applied for standardization of daily landing per unit effort (LPUE) for opilio crab using the data of fishery statistics for the West Bering Sea fishery zone in 2003–2020. A set of 12 models with various combinations of predictors was examined and the best model with the smallest value of Akaike criterion was selected (information criterion Akaike 21743, explained variance 58.6 %). The selected model reflects the effect of depth, distance from the coast, daily effort and tensor product of geographic coordinates and day of the year. LPUE was standardized using the selected model by substituting median values of nominal predictors and modal values of categorical predictors. Then the crab stock was estimated using the state-space form of Deriso-Schnute delay-difference model. The estimates based on both standardized and nominal indices are compared and a significant difference between them is found: the stock is assessed as 23,040 t with nominal indices but as 17,070 t using the standardized indices.

Advanced Manufacturing Technologies in Russia: Analysis of Retrospective Information in the Context of Management Tasks of Complex Socio-Economic Systems

The article is devoted to the study of system relations and trends of development of advanced production technologies in the Russian Federation from 2010 to 2018 on the basis of retrospective data, as well as approaches to its analysis. A review of relevant publications is made. As the result it is concluded that many problems of the development and implementation of innovative technologies have a system character and remain unresolved. Models of dynamics of individual indicators of innovation are investigated: the number of developed and used advanced production technologies (APT). In the period under study the positive reduction of the gap between the used and developed APTs, as well as higher growth rates of the latter are described. The results of modeling the dynamics of frequency distributions, median and modal values of indicators are presented. The similarity of the situations in the most regions of the country is revealed. But there are some exceptions – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod region, where more favorable conditions are observed. The difference in the patterns of the growth rate of median and modal values is shown; the used APT is dominant for both indicators. An increase in the asymmetry of the APT development in the regions of the Russian Federation is found. The method of multiple rating revealed the subjects, the situation in which is more favorable in terms of the number of developed and used APTs, but there are no regions that are simultaneously leading in both indicators.

The peculiarities of realization of modal values of necessity and epistemic possibility in the Russian and Chinese languages

This article examines the linguistic-specific parameters of language means for expressing modal valies of necessity and epistemic possibility in the Russian and Chinese languages. Particular attention is given to the analysis of quantitative and functional-semantic characteristics of language means for expressing modality in the Russian and Chinese languages from the comparative perspective. The goal of this research lies on examination of functionality of the means of objective and subjective modality within the Russian language reflected in the Chinese language. The research is based on the material of the user parallel corpus, which contains Russian and Chinese literary texts with translation, as well as on the results of student poll conducted for the purpose of determination of meta-representations of the native speakers on functionality of a number of linguistic units of the corresponding microfields. The results of comprehensive analysis demonstrate that the core and periphery of the functional-semantic fields of necessity and epistemic possibility in the Russian and Chinese languages are similar with regards to the types of linguistic units that comprise the field (the core zone consists of modal verbs and modal words); however, the allocation of elements within the field differs. From the functional-semantic perspective, the author determines a group of modal values with accurate cross-lingual correspondences and a group of words with different meanings, as well as indicates the semantic lacunas. The survey results of the native speakers confirm varying degree of consolidation of the opinion on the value of modality markers.

Future or Movement? The L2 Acquisition of Aller + V Forms

This study aims to advance the understanding of the impact of the discursive context in the form-function mappings of aller + V forms by native speakers (NSs) and learners of French (NNSs), and to further knowledge about the developmental patterns of use of such forms at three proficiency levels (lower intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced). While aller + V is often referred to as a periphrastic future form, i.e., a way to express temporal reference, it also takes a range of diverse semantic values (including spatial, aspectual, and modal values), and discursive functions. We therefore set out to examine data from a cross-sectional oral narrative and a longitudinal semi-guided interview task to find out to what extent aller + V forms are used by NSs and NNSs in a study abroad context. Our main results show that at lower intermediate level, spatial values dominate, while temporal and modal values emerge at upper intermediate and advanced levels. As regards the discursive functions of aller + V, learners make context appropriate choices (among others, narrative function in oral narratives, and stance-marking in interviews), but even at advanced level, their range of semantic values and discursive functions is more restricted than native speakers’.

LOGIC OF RELATIVITY

The problem of the truth of statements is considered. This study had the goal to develop a logical theory that would allow considering the context (the paradigm) from which would depend on the truth of the statement. For the development of such a theory, called the logic of relativity, the following methods of research are used as abstraction, analysis (traditional), synthesis, deduction, formalisation, axiomatisation, logical method. In order to develop the logic of relativity, it is expedient to use the achievements in the area of situational logic. Under the situation, it is proposed to understand two circumstances (time and space) and a condition that creates a context (paradigm) statement. Specifies the modal values that these three parameters can acquire and examines different types of situations. In order to write statements in the logic of relativity, a form of the statement of statements is proposed in the language of extended symbolic logic. For the theory of the logic of relativity, a set of four axioms is proposed and a series of laws. In particular, it is indicated that the values of the assertions in the logic of relativity are the following five estimates: truth, relative truth, relative is absurd, unclear, uncertain. Some theorems of the logic of relativity are proposed. A number of examples of texts in the natural language are given to interpret the statements of the logic of relativity. It is indicated that the proposed apparatus of the logic of relativity should be regarded as a kind of modal logic. The difference in the logic of relativity from situational logic is that it considers the factor of movement (motion) of statements in time, space and environment conditions, which was not considered by situational logic. The logic of relativity should be used wherever it is necessary to take into account the possibility of moving allegations regarding time, space and environment of conditions. One of the most important conclusions of the study is that in the logic to the standard values of truth (true, probably true, false, uncertain), it is expedient to add another value: relatively true (and accordingly: relatively false).

The warning mechanism in the prism of responsibility under Art. 384 of the Criminal code of Ukraine (misleading of court or other authorized authority)

The article presents a warning mechanism aimed at overcoming the provision of perjury. The model of warnings has the form ofa single complex, the elements of which are counteraction to misleading the court or other authority. In the prism of liability under Ar -tic le 384 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the warning mechanism is one of the types of special warning of a specific person potentiallycapable of committing an offense. The legislator distinguishes six categories of persons whom he warns of criminal liability for misleadinga court or other authority, namely: witness, victim, expert, translator, appraiser, specialist. The strategy of reducing the crimi -nogenic potential of a person who gives evidence or testimony, conclusion or assessment, or translates should be implemented primarilythrough preventive measures.The addressee of an individual warning, which can be considered as one of the types of special warning, is a specific person (person),potentially capable of committing an offense due to external (materially encouraging circumstances, pressure from the public orparty) and internal factors, personal moral and ethical norms, customs, traditions, beliefs, personal friendship or revenge, indifference,retribution and other motives). Warning encourages the individual to take more seriously, attentively and responsibly to provide anytestimony, information, conclusion, translation; not to be indifferent to investigative or judicial actions, summonses to court, trial.In warning or imperative statements with indicative forms, the will is always expressed in relation to future action, which is clearlyperceived as an order. The strength of the influence of the volitional impulse depends on the person who perceives it. In the processof communication, the forms of the order are addressed to a person who depends on the legislator, respectively, and the nuances of theorder acquire modal values of categoricalness.The specificity of modern law is - imperative (categorical, authoritative). It is the form of imperative that does not allow changesin the previously established requirements to act accordingly. Imperative norms of law: 1) prescribe clearly defined actions; 2) establishan unambiguous exhaustive list and content of the rights and obligations of the subjects; 3) do not involve any deviations.