Interpretation of percolation in terms of infinity computations

In this paper, a number of traditional models related to the percolation theory has been considered by means of new computational methodology that does not use Cantor's ideas and describes infinite and infinitesimal numbers in accordance with the principle `The part is less than the whole'. It gives a possibility to work with finite, infinite, and infinitesimal quantities numerically by using a new kind of a computer - the Infinity Computer - introduced recently in by Ya.D. Sergeyev in a number of patents. The new approach does not contradict Cantor. In contrast, it can be viewed as an evolution of his deep ideas regarding the existence of different infinite numbers in a more applied way. Site percolation and gradient percolation have been studied by applying the new computational tools. It has been established that in an infinite system the phase transition point is not really a point as with respect of traditional approach. In light of new arithmetic it appears as a critical interval, rather than a critical point. Depending on "microscope" we use this interval could be regarded as finite, infinite and infinitesimal short interval. Using new approach we observed that in vicinity of percolation threshold we have many different infinite clusters instead of one infinite cluster that appears in traditional consideration.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1203.4140, arXiv:1203.316

Preferable academic work forms of medical students in the era of digitalization

The article presents the sociological study results on the preferred forms of medical students’ academic work in the era of digitalization. The study was carried out among students of the Volga Research Medical University using an online survey. The study purpose is to identify the attitude of various typological groups of medical students to various forms and methods of scientific and methodological support of the educational process, including the use of digital technologies. The work showed that behind the variety of medical students’ attitudes on the effectiveness of different forms of education, there is a willingness of young people to move away from traditional methods of obtaining professional knowledge and skills, and they clearly have a complex request for new forms of teaching, including using the Internet and electronic resources. The assessment of various forms and teaching methods has noticeable differences depending on the affiliation of students to various faculties. The article analyzes the students’ assessments of the various forms’ effectiveness of education using multidimensional data analysis, which made it possible to identify four types of student attitudes: 1) orientation to online learning; 2) live contact with the teacher; 3) electronic library; 4) work with summaries of educational materials. Each of these types contains its own set of preferred and rejected item

Simple model of complex dynamics of activity patterns in developing networks of neuronal cultures

Living neuronal networks in dissociated neuronal cultures are widely known for their ability to generate highly robust spatiotemporal activity patterns in various experimental conditions. These include neuronal avalanches satisfying the power scaling law and thereby exemplifying self-organized criticality in living systems. A crucial question is how these patterns can be explained and modeled in a way that is biologically meaningful, mathematically tractable and yet broad enough to account for neuronal heterogeneity and complexity. Here we propose a simple model which may offer an answer to this question. Our derivations are based on just few phenomenological observations concerning input-output behavior of an isolated neuron. A distinctive feature of the model is that at the simplest level of description it comprises of only two variables, a network activity variable and an exogenous variable corresponding to energy needed to sustain the activity and modulate the efficacy of signal transmission. Strikingly, this simple model is already capable of explaining emergence of network spikes and bursts in developing neuronal cultures. The model behavior and predictions are supported by empirical observations and published experimental evidence on cultured neurons behavior exposed to oxygen and energy deprivation. At the larger, network scale, introduction of the energy-dependent regulatory mechanism enables the network to balance on the edge of the network percolation transition. Network activity in this state shows population bursts satisfying the scaling avalanche conditions. This network state is self-sustainable and represents a balance between global network-wide processes and spontaneous activity of individual elements

Floristic Phenomena of the Samara Bend: The Fractal Organization of Taxonomic Diversity

Considering the problem of taxonomic diversity as a fractal object is the aim of this article. The prerequisites for such an approach were articles with varying degrees of detail and argumentation that substantiate taxonomic diversity from the standpoint of fractal geometry. Common to these papers is that the authors in their theoretical constructs start from the Willis rule (law) describing the rank distribution of the relationship between the number of taxa and their volume. The flora of the Samara Bend (the bend of the Volga River in its middle reaches) has become an object of the research. The authors distinguish seven basic floristic areas on the Samara Bend, the boundaries of which coincide with the respective landscapes. The authors discuss the efficiency of the Willis rule (law), which approximates the relationship between the number of taxa and their volume by rank distribution. The multifractal spectrum (a generalized geometric image of generic structure) of the taxonomic diversity of vascular plants of the Samara Bend is presented. Keywords: taxonomic diversity, fractal organization, Samara Ben

Perception of anticorruption security by businesspersons of Nizhniy Novgorod region

Objective: to identify and disclose the characteristics of corruption crime and its impact on the business community of theNizhny Novgorod region based on the data of an empirical sociological study.Methods: the study is based on the questionnaire survey “Perception of anti-corruption security by businesspeople of the Nizhniy Novgorod region” (N = 408), conducted using scales developed by the authors. The system of indirect questions (projection method) allows revealing the attitude of entrepreneurs (small and middle business) to corruption situations and causes that generate them.Results: the perception of corruption by representatives of small and middle businesses working in the Nizhny Novgorod region was analyzed. The overall level of tolerance for everyday manifestations of corruption in this group of respondents was determined, and correlations of gender, age, education, size of the enterprise and field of activity of respondents with their attitude to corruption were revealed. The authors formulated a number of recommendations for law enforcers engaged in implementing preventive measures against corruption crime (providing socially significant state and municipal services through multifunctional centers (MFC), excluding or minimizing direct contact between an entrepreneur and an official who makes a decision on a particular issue, developing civil society institutions to protect the rights of entrepreneurs, etc.). Scientific novelty: the results obtained are of both theoretical and practical significance and can be used to improve the work of police regional divisions engaged in the field of anti-corruption. In addition, the scales developed by the authors (with a minimal variable part) have already been used in surveys of Nizhny Novgorod residents and police officers, allowing a comparative analysis of attitudes to corruption among different groups of the population.Practical significance: based on the study, methodological recommendations were developed to improve the work of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to optimize the prevention of corruption crime in various groups and segments of the population

ASSESSMENT BY CITIZENS OF THE LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE OF POLICEAND PROTECTION FROM CRIMINAL ENTRY

Objective: on the basis of sociological research, to determine the level of confidence in police among the population of Nizhny Novgorod region and to measure the subjective assessment by citizens of the degree of protection from criminal attacks. Methods: general scientific (analysis, systemic-structural approach to the analysis of research object, comparative-legal), as well as logical methods and the special scientific method (questionnaire method - questioning of residents of Nizhny Novgorod region).Results: the characteristics of the process of actual interaction between citizens and police are identified and classified; the attitude to police and the level of trust in police in general and in certain areas of their work in various categories of the population are identified; the typology of population groups depending on their concepts about police functioning is carried out. Scientific novelty: for the first time, the article discusses public opinion of the Nizhny Novgorod region residents about police officers; the actual characteristics and interaction between citizens and police are revealed; proposals and practical recommendations were formulated for adjustment of the work of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Interior with the aim of increasing the level of their credibility with the population. Among them are: a) to improve the efficiency of propaganda of the police work results in mass media, including the work with citizens’ claims, disclosure and investigation of crimes, especially those which caused a broad public resonance; b) to inform citizens and police officers about the social importance of the activities of Internal Affairs bodies and internal troops for ensuring public order, prevention, suppression, disclosure of crimes and offences; c) to expand the number of journalists specializing in law-enforcement issues; d) to simplify the procedure for receiving claims from citizens about small and medium crimes with the use of modern technologies (the possibility of electronic claims through specialized portals or applications); d) to continue explaining to citizens the advantages and possibilities of use the “Safe city” application for crime prevention in public places and increasing the effectiveness of police officers for suppression, disclosure and investigation of crimes in hot pursuit.Practical significance: the results of the study reveal the essential characteristics of public opinion about the police officers’ image. These characteristics can be used as a tool for shaping the image of law-enforcement officers. The guidelines are developed for improving the analytical support of activity of divisions of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Nizhny Novgorod region and territorial bodies of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs deployed in the region, to increase the level of credibility among the population

Columbine as a type of youth destructivism

Objective: to analyze the reasons for senior schoolchildren’s interest to destructive social groups dedicated to challenges, criminal culture, weapons, erotic and sex, dangerous leisure, death and suicide, mass killings and violence, and drugs; to describe the hierarchy of interests and life values of adolescents based on the research results (questionnaire survey of schoolchildren and multidimensional content analysis of VKontakte social network).Methods: general scientific (analysis, system-structural approach to the analysis of the research object, comparative-legal method) and specific scientific methods (questionnaire survey of schoolchildren, N = 589, conducted in April 2021, and multidimensional content analysis of VKontakte social network, 314,708 fragments).Results: the interests of schoolchildren to various groups in social networks were analyzed. The determinants of joining groups are factors such as the degree of trust in relationships with parents, plans for the future, the amount of time spent daily on the Internet, the tendency to hedonism in everyday life. The methods of involving adolescents in the destructive ideology of the Columbine movement were revealed.Scientific novelty: two groups of users of sites propagating the destructive ideology of Columbine movement were identified: the core (characterized by the abundance of negative moods, these social network users are potentially capable of committing terrorist acts) and the periphery (characterized by an increased general interest in extreme leisure activities). The hierarchy of interests and life values of representatives of the core and the periphery is described; assumptions are made about the ways and reasons for the flow of users from the core to the periphery and back. The study showed that the breeding ground for Columbine and other destructive youth network movements are the adolescents who do not have trust relationships with their parents, are aimed at enjoying life here and now, do not have clear plans for the future, and prefer virtual communication to real one.Practical significance: the materials of the article can be useful to federal and regional authorities in implementing various aspects of youth policy, preventing sociopathic behavior of the youth, ensuring the safety of educational institutions, as well as to scientists researching destructive youth network movements

Destructive social movements “Maniacs. Killing cult” and the “World of maniacs and serial killers”: forming a criminal ideology

Objective: analysis of the semantic field of Internet publics of destructive social groups “Maniacs. The cult of murder” and “The world of maniacs and serial killers”, the reasons for the interest of teenagers and young people in these groups, the techniques used by moderators of social network pages to attract supporters and form a cult of violence among them and stimulate the commission of murders based on the research results (multidimensional content analysis of the social network pages content).Methods: general scientific (analysis, system-structural, comparative-legal) and specific scientific methods (multidimensional content analysis of the social network pages content).Results: based on the analysis of more than 17 thousand fragments of correspondence of participants of the movement “Maniacs. The cult of murder” and more than 34 thousand fragments of correspondence of participants of the movement “The world of maniacs and serial killers”, a semantic field was constructed, including the main topics discussed on the pages of the above-mentioned destructive social groups, methods of involving teenagers in a destructive total ideology modeling the most important spheres of life of the movements’ supporters, leveling the value of human life and turning someone else’s death into an ordinary phenomenon. It is concluded that within the framework of the destructive radical nationalist social movement “Maniacs. The cult of murder” an ideology was formed that has the following features: teleology, scientific appearance, wide audience coverage, presence of symbols and attributes, discussion of topics that have a socially negative character, using the language means that are understandable only to the community members.Scientific novelty: the main topics discussed by participants of destructive social movements “Maniacs. The cult of murder” and “The world of maniacs and serial killers” are described and analyzed. It is proved that as a result of immersion into such content, violence and murder cease to cause natural negative emotions, feelings of disgust and empathy for the victim in teenagers. The study showed that the formation and distribution of content in publics currently takes place on behalf of the users, which, on the one hand, allows removing part of the responsibility from the moderators, and on the other hand, turns the pages of movements into a so-called self-reproducing (by terminology of Niklas Luhmann – autopoietic) system capable of self-production, i.e. its existence is ensured by the activity of the users.Practical significance: the article materials can be useful to federal and regional authorities in implementing various aspects of youth policy, preventing sociopathic behavior of young people, ensuring the safety of educational institutions; to parents and family members of problem adolescents; and to scientists researching destructive youth network movements

Measurement of the cross-section ratio sigma_{psi(2S)}/sigma_{J/psi(1S)} in deep inelastic exclusive ep scattering at HERA

The exclusive deep inelastic electroproduction of $\psi(2S)$ and $J/\psi(1S)$ at an $ep$ centre-of-mass energy of 317 GeV has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA in the kinematic range $2 < Q^2 < 80$ GeV$^2$, $30 < W < 210$ GeV and $|t| < 1$ GeV$^2$, where $Q^2$ is the photon virtuality, $W$ is the photon-proton centre-of-mass energy and $t$ is the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex. The data for $2 < Q^2 < 5$ GeV$^2$ were taken in the HERA I running period and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 114 pb$^{-1}$. The data for $5 < Q^2 < 80$ GeV$^2$ are from both HERA I and HERA II periods and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 468 pb$^{-1}$. The decay modes analysed were $\mu^+\mu^-$ and $J/\psi(1S) \,\pi^+\pi^-$ for the $\psi(2S)$ and $\mu^+\mu^-$ for the $J/\psi(1S)$. The cross-section ratio $\sigma_{\psi(2S)}/\sigma_{J/\psi(1S)}$ has been measured as a function of $Q^2, W$ and $t$. The results are compared to predictions of QCD-inspired models of exclusive vector-meson production.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figure