A multi-criteria analysis of sewer monitoring methods for locating pipe blockages and manhole overflo

This article is devoted to the aggregation of existing methods for monitoring sewerage systems into a single symbiosis, in particular methods for identifying the locations of clogged pipes and manhole overflows. Clogging of sewers is a frequent problem in large cities, entailing overfilling of manholes with sewage and disruption of the whole sewage system. Today, there are several methods for monitoring sewers: visual, acoustic and laser. Each method is represented by a wide range of devices with different characteristics and applications. The analysis identified the main technical and economic characteristics for each solution presented. Then, on the basis of the data obtained, a multi-criteria analysis was made according to several parameters: measurement accuracy, maximum diameter of the inspected pipe, type of pipe, cost. For the most objective selection, each parameter was given its own weight, and all parameters were normalized for their objective comparison. On this basis, all solutions were sorted by maximum values for each criterion, taking into account the selection by weights. As a result of the multicriteria analysis, five combinations of solutions were built, including several monitoring methods.

Principle of Most Favoured Nation: Description, Modern Evolution, and Analysis of the Exceptionality of the Principle in A Contemporary World

The "most favoured nation" principle is the cornerstone of the modern international trading system. Each state is obliged to reflect the benefits it offers a nation over other WTO adherents as well. This system, however, although it proved effective until the last century for the creation of an international free trade system, today has lost its capabilities, mainly degraded by “private” international agreements between nations, such as RTA, FTA, PTA and REIO, who have torn apart the principle and created groups of nations, each with their own personal advantages which are bestowed only on the nations adhering to the agreement. The following sections aim to give a description of this phenomenon and its evolutions up to modern times, through an analysis of the various exceptionality of the "most favored nation" principle, of the situation of modern free trade agreements, and of the effects both for national legislations and markets, in order to be able to understand what are the conditions facing the global market today and, above all, if the principle of "non-discrimination" is still a cornerstone in the trade relations in the MFN.

The essential role of nesfatin-1 as a biological signal on the body systems

Nesfatin-1is first described in 2006 as an anorectic peptide and regulate food intake. In following years, the studies demonstrated the presence of nesfatin-1 in central and various peripheral tissues. Thus, nesfatin-1 popularity increasing widely in clinical medicine, especially in cardiology, neurology, reproduction, metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, gastrointestinal system. Today, the main point concerning nesfatin-1 action in body organ and systems is concentrate its biological signals effects. Thus the increasing knowledge in these area will be highlighted for future studies especially in serious health problem all over the world population.

Implementing LED Strips on Road Dividers

Every country suffers from a traffic problem. The reason behind this is not only overpopulation but also heavy vehicles on the road too. The Motive of this paper is to give a better idea to control the traffic and reduce the cost for this working. Using sensors, LED strips, and Rechargeable batteries is enough to implement this system. Today only by hearing the sound of the Ambulance the drivers on the road can leave a way for the Ambulance. It is one of the main reasons why the Ambulance Couldn’t reach on time. The second thing is that heavy vehicles occupy more space on the road. Each road will have at least twolane on both sides. By placing these LED strips in the middle of the road, it could be helpful for the other drivers to leave the way for the Ambulance to come. By implementing this system, we can save time, money, and the valuable life of human beings. Keywords: Sound detection sensor, LED strips, Rechargeable batteries.

Thermodynamic Constraints on Electromicrobial Protein Production

Global consumption of protein is projected to double by the middle of the 21st century. However, protein production is one of the most energy intensive and environmentally damaging parts of the food supply system today. Electromicrobial production technologies that combine renewable electricity and CO2-fixing microbial metabolism could dramatically increase the energy efficiency of commodity chemical production. Here we present a molecular-scale model that sets an upper limit on the performance of any organism performing electromicrobial protein production. We show that engineered microbes that fix CO2 and N2 using reducing equivalents produced by H2-oxidation or extracellular electron uptake could produce amino acids with energy inputs as low as 64 MJ kg-1. This work provides a roadmap for development of engineered microbes that could significantly expand access to proteins produced with a low environmental footprint.

The impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies on the global financial system: Prospects and contradictions

Subject. This article examines the impact of cryptocurrencies on the global financial system. Objectives. The article aims to identify, systematize, and analyze the influence of cryptocurrencies, as well as the blockchain, on the global financial system, and identify the opportunities and limitations that exist at the present stage. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of logical and statistical analyses, systematization, and forecasting. Results. In accordance with the original hypothesis put forward, the article reveals that cryptocurrencies do not represent such a powerful part of the global financial system today to consider it as a driver of changes in this system, but large enough to provoke a crisis similar to the coronavirus one. Conclusions. Today, cryptocurrencies are one of the promising financial instruments, the influence of which in the global financial system can significantly increase with the appropriate actions of the economic agents themselves. The positive impact on the elements of the global financial system will make cryptocurrencies more instrumental in the global foreign exchange and capital markets.

Mistrusting Authorities in an Unstable World

The chapter “Mistrusting Authorities in an Unstable World” examines how members of Generation Disaster engage with the political system today, having grown up in a post-9/11, wartime climate when many felt lied to or misrepresented by politicians and other authorities. That was followed by the extreme divisiveness of U.S. politics in general during their adolescence and as they moved into emerging adulthood. While some have chosen to disengage entirely, others have been moved to protest, vote at record levels, and generally continue the tradition of trying to recapture power from older people they feel aren’t representing them adequately. The importance of civic engagement as a marker of adulthood, and the history of social movements in the United States, are also discussed.

The Rule of the System of Technology and Its Algorithms and the Problem of Moral Responsibility

The article offers an analysis of the problems of technology in the context of exercising power in an organization. The power of the system today is addressed in terms of the “rule of numbers,” based on the impersonal authority of the algorithms which is an extension of the modern concept of the instrumental reason. In keeping with the rules of efficiency the employees manifest modes of behavior analogous to those characterizing the functioning of technology and specifically emphasized by Max Horkheimer and Jacques Ellul. In the author’s view, the rule of the algorithm-based technological systems leads to the atrophy of the moral responsibility and the loss of agency. Attempting to defend the idea of man’s free agency in the context of the algorithm-based technological system, the author invokes Hans Jonas’s theory of moral responsibility and refers to the concept of “ethical anarchism” as proposed by Emmanuel Lévinas.

Features of functioning national pension systems of Ukraine and the countries of Eastern Europe

An important component of social protection of the population of each country is the pension system, because its efficiency depends on the level of welfare of the population and the level of stability in society. The current pension system does not meet the requirements of today and therefore needs to be revised and reformed. The current demographic situation in Ukraine is characterized by a rapid increase in the number of people of retirement age, which leads to the inefficiency of the solidarity system of the pension fund, the increase in the demographic burden of the tax burden. The result is an insufficient level of pensions for many categories of pensioners. An important task at the present stage of socio-economic transformations in our country is to reform the pension system. After all, raising the level of social security of pensioners and ensuring the sustainable development of the state depend on this reform. Despite the fact that the government has taken a number of important steps in reforming the pension system, today we do not see progress in solving the most acute social problems. Poland’s experience in building its national pension system can be useful for Ukraine in the use of redistributive and funded pension programs, the activities of the main financial institutions of the pension sector, the mechanism for paying pension insurance contributions and the protection of pension assets. Its consideration would contribute to the development of a set of measures and their implementation at the current stage of pension reform in Ukraine.

Spaces of psychiatric care between past and present. Learning to reflect on the caring stories they tell

In our perspective, a reflection on education and caring in the psychiatric services cannot ignore their past, where spaces and times of care were completely different from those that characterize the healthcare system today. Many signs, traces, implicit and explicit fragments of that past can be found in current services. According to an “archeological” approach, we believe that those spaces have not been completely overcome and somehow, they are still part of our way of caring in psychiatric services. Hence, what traces of the past are left in those services? How and where can we find them? What should we preserve from the past and what should we overcome? In our work, we will try to find some of the traces and stories that could have contributed to shaping education and care in present day Italian psychiatric services. These developed as isolated spaces and places of confinement and oppression and are transforming into open places and healing spaces, aimed at promoting mental health.