Conceptual framework for risk-based internal audit. Risk-oriented terminological and visual apparatus

The article discusses the conceptual foundations of riskbased internal audit, basic terms and definitions. The topic of the article is relevant given the development of corporate governance practices in Russian companies in accordance with the recommendations of the Corporate Governance Code. The International Framework for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing defines the mission of internal audit as preserving and increasing the value of the organization by conducting objective internal audits based on a risk-based approach, providing advice and sharing knowledge. The material of the article is presented taking into account the current regulatory framework, international auditing standards, the International Foundations for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, and expert explanations.

Paths of Prayers in Ottoman North Africa

This article discusses The Met’s unpublished Dalāʾil al-khayrāt—2017.301—(MS New York, TMMA 2017.301), together with a group of comparable manuscripts. The earliest known dated manuscript within the corpus, it introduces several iconographic elements that are new to the Dalāʾil, and which compare with the traditions developing in the Mashriq and the Ottoman world in particular. The article discusses Dalāʾil production in seventeenth-century North Africa and its development in the Ottoman provinces, Tunisia, and/or Algeria. The manuscripts illustrate how an Ottoman visual apparatus—among which the theme of the holy sanctuaries at Mecca and Medina, appearing for the first time in MS New York, TMMA 2017.301—is established for Muhammadan devotion in Maghribī Dalāʾils. The manuscripts belong to the broader historic, social, and artistic contexts of Ottoman North Africa. Our analysis captures the complex dynamics of Ottomanization of the North African provinces of the Ottoman Empire, remaining strongly rooted in their local traditions, while engaging with Ottoman visual idioms.

Comparative study of photosynthetic pigments in the leaves of forage plants of the cryolithozone of Yakutia

Thin-layer chromatography and spectrophotometry were used to determine the content of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a and b, carotenoids) in green leaves of forage plants. It was found that the content of carotenoids was high for forage grasses with a high content of green pigments. It was revealed that β-carotene plays the most important role since it is a precursor of vitamin A and lutein, which has a high antioxidant (protective) property. According to modern concepts, lutein and β-carotene actively function in various organs of herbivores. They play a special role in the functioning of the mammalian visual apparatus, protecting this organ from the light factor. In addition, lutein is one of the physiologically active substances that make up cow’s milk.

Physiological aspects of visual information perception of the oculomotor apparatus

The individual characteristics of the human visual apparatus are associated with the anatomical and psychophysiological parameters of his body. Based on the EyeTracking technology, the physiological aspects of the perception of visual information by the oculomotor apparatus, which are not associated with active cognitive activity, have been investigated. The individual features in the size of fixation when reading text and examining halftone graphic objects in various people have been investigated. The time durations of fixations in different people, associated with the process of accommodation, as well as the internal structure of fixations, were investigated. It is shown that the trajectory of the gaze shift in fixation has an internal heterogeneous structure. The total trajectory of eye movement in the fixation area is determined by a set of successive clusters. This fixation structure is apparently associated with the processes of restoration of the photosensitivity of rhodopsin in the photoreceptors of the retina. All the above studies of the fixations of various subjects on the basis of various images showed that the oculomotor system, taking into account the physiological characteristics of the visual apparatus, is equally controlled by the "video processor" of the brain when the eye is accommodated to the image elements. And the only objective individual feature of human vision, which uniquely characterizes the perception of graphic information, is the value of the average displacement in fixation. It is she who is the "visiting card" of the subject and remains practically unchanged both when reading and when examining halftone images and in test validation with forced fixation of the gaze.

Assessment of retinal photosensitivity as an objective indicator of expression psychodense effect

BACKGROUND: The retina of the eye, with its wide range of neurotransmitter systems, can be the point of application in the action of the psychotropic drugs, given their synaptotropic properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this regard, a complex of studies was carried out with the participation of volunteers to assess the effect of psychotropic substances with a depressing (melatonin, grandaxin, motherwort tincture) type of action on the functional state of the retina, registered by the campimetric method. In the course of the research, the photosensitivity of the retina and its ability to distinguish colors were evaluated. Moreover, the capabilities of the technique made it possible to assess retinal activity in the field of view from 0 to 21. Such an approach can not only demonstrate the interest of retinal cellular elements in the action of substances, but also raise the question of the participation of the visual system in the psychopharmacological effect more broadly. RESULTS: The work of the visual apparatus was studied both in healthy volunteers of different ages and in persons with emotional disorders, which were identified using special questionnaire tests. It was found that violations of the emotional status are often accompanied by a limitation of the photosensitivity of the retina of varying severity. These facts can be interpreted in different ways. On the one hand, violations of visual functions can lead to psychoemotional disorders and be a pathogenetic link in their development, and on the other hand, primary disorders of retinal light and color sensitivity can provoke the development of psychopathology. However, regardless of the pharmacological characteristics of the studied drugs with psychodeprimating activity, the connection between their anti-anxiety effect and changes in visual function seems to be obvious, which allows us to raise the question of the advisability of taking into account the photosensitivity of the retina for a comprehensive assessment of both the mental state of emotionally labile subjects and the pharmacodynamics of psychodemitting drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, it is legitimate to conclude that taking into account the light and color sensitivity of the retina can be one of the quantitative criteria for the severity and effectiveness of psychopharmacotherapy.

Orbital Support Device Via Intranasal Approach – An Unconventional Design

Maxilla can be considered a hexahedrium with close relationship to surrounding critical anatomic structures, and thereby invariably involved in the resection process of tumours that arise from maxillary sinus, palate, nasal cavity, orbital contents, or intro-oral mucosa.1 Maxillary defects created after tumour ablation can cause severe functional and aesthetic deficits. Orbital floor defects with displacement of the eyeball results in deformities with possible consequences of enophthalmos, diplopia and impaired visual acuity. The eyeball can become displaced either due to alteration in the position of the orbital walls caused by trauma, or due to loss of support of the orbital floor during resection of a lesion. The role of the suspensory ligament of Lockwood in maintaining the superio - inferior position of the visual apparatus is recognized. The preservation of this ligament, which acts like a hammock holding the eyeball in position, prevents any drastic downward displacement except for the small limit which the slack of the ligament allows. Surgical reconstruction of orbital floor defects is the primary treatment modality, but remains nonetheless a challenge for surgeons. Currently various types of materials such as titanium meshes, hydroxyapatite, silica gel, Teflon, Medpor and autogenous bones are used for orbital reconstruction.2,3 Prosthetic rehabilitation of maxillary surgical defects is so predictable and effective that reconstructive surgery is not indicated in most instances.4,5 Prosthetic management of defects with orbital floor resection is usually obturators with extensions to support the visual apparatus.6 In clinical situations involving the resection of the orbital floor and maxillary sinus, without the sacrifice of the floor of maxilla, no oro-antral communication is created. This eliminates the need for an obturator prosthesis. In this scenario the support for the visual apparatus will be solely dependent on surgical reconstruction. However, when dealing with invasive and progressive diseases of fungal and bacterial origin, immediate surgical reconstruction is not generally recommended till complete resolution of the disease is achieved. The potential for recurrence of tumours varies from 10 - 30 % with benign tumours and over 50 % with malignant tumours. This creates a need for long term follow up, to assess the resection margins for signs of recurrence.4

Development of a cognitive mnemonic scheme for an optical Smart-technology of remote learning of the Experions PKS distributed control system on the basis of Artificial Immune Systems

The article discusses current issues related to the development of an information optical Smart technology for distance learning of Honeywell's distributed Experion PKS control system for the oil and gas industry. About 70 % of industrial accidents are caused by the human factor through the fault of operators. The work of operators consists in monitoring and managing high-tech proc-esses through mnemonic scheme circuits and is characterized by increased tension in the visual apparatus, as well as general fatigue and loss of concentration. The innovative personalized tech-nology of distance learning takes into account the peculiarities of students' vision by adjusting the color supply of educational material and the dynamic presentation of information depending on the person's psychotype and is based on the use of cognitive, optical, multi-agent technologies, as well as ontological and immuno-network approaches. The development of cognitive mnemonic schemes is carried out taking into account these features, which allows one to reduce the load on the visual apparatus and increase the effectiveness of teaching practical skills when working with mnemonic schemes. An artificial immune systems approach is used to predict and evaluate the learning process and promptly adjust the knowledge obtaining process. A modified algorithm for the functioning of a distance learning system based on the use of optimization algorithms for arti-ficial intelligence and an algorithm for immuno-network modeling has been developed. General principles of creating mimic diagrams and existing Honeywell mnemonic schemes are considered. An example of the implementation of the proposed remote technology is presented and results of the simulation of cognitive mnemonic scheme for various categories of students with special needs are discussed.

Merleau-Ponty's Poetic of the World

Merleau-Ponty’s Poetics of the World offers detailed studies of the philosopher’s engagements with Proust, Claudel, Claude Simon, André Breton, Mallarmé, Francis Ponge, and more. From Proust, Merleau-Ponty developed his conception of “sensible ideas,” from Claudel, his conjoining of birth and knowledge as “co-naissance,” from Valéry came “implex” or the “animal of words” and the “chiasma of two destinies.” Thus also arise the questions of expression, metaphor, and truth and the meaning of a Merleau-Pontyan poetics. The poetic of Merleau-Ponty is, inseparably, a poetic of the flesh, a poetic of mystery, and a poetic of the visible in its relation to the invisible. This poetics is worked out across each co-author’s chapters in dialogue with Husserl, Walter Benjamin, Heidegger, and Sartre. A new optic proposes the conception of literature as a visual “apparatus” in relation to cinema and screens. Recent transcriptions of Merleau-Ponty’s first two 1953 courses at the Collège de France The Sensible World and the World of Expression and Research on the Literary Usage of Language, as well as the course of 1953–54, The Problem of Speech, lend timeliness, urgency and energy to this project. Our goal is to specify more precisely the delicate nature and properly philosophical function of literary works in Merleau-Ponty’s thought as the literary writer becomes a partner of the phenomenologist. Ultimately, theoretical figures that appear at the threshold between philosophy and literature enable the possibility of a new ontology. What is at stake is the very meaning of philosophy itself and its mode of expression.

The Clouded Surface

The whole path of Merleau-Ponty’s thought is crossed—sometimes more evidently than others—by what I propose to qualify as the idea of literature and philosophy as visual apparatuses, to use an expression that was born—and not by chance—in the Film Studies domain. More precisely, I aim at asserting that Merleau-Ponty sees literature and philosophy working in his epoch as convergent apparatuses (dispositifs) of vision, in turn understood as a bodily and not merely ocular practice. Immediately after that, I should specify that such convergent visual apparatuses peculiarly function by words, and that Merleau-Ponty stresses their different efficiency in expressing his epoch. Moreover, I think that the implicit idea of philosophy as a visual apparatus working by words “like all literature” has a particularly relevant but so far not consequently developed place in in the last period of Merleau-Ponty’s thought. Also, I would like to stress that such a perspective is crucial in our own time too, even though I consider it to be different from Merleau-Ponty’s. Indeed, I think that both our time and Merleau-Ponty’s are characterized by a tension between the increasing importance of images and the traditional centrality of the concept in our culture.