Ecological-climatic characteristics of the flora of a floodplain landscape in Southeastern Europe

Floodplain ecosystems take on the role of active areas of biodiversity and provide many “ecosystem services”, as evidenced by a number of European scientific references. A biodiversity analysis of river floodplains in six European countries within the temperate zone has shown that the floodplains are habitats with a high-level of structural and functional dynamics. The level of their conservation reflects the floristic diversity of forest territories, which is especially important for subarid areas. Recently, a comparison of bioecological characteristics of flora in floodplain forest areas and treeless territories was conducted on the floodplain landscapes of a subarid region of Europe. The valley-terraced landscape of the Samara River, a tributary of the Dnieper can serve as a reference site of native plant complexes of subarid territory in Eastern Europe. Despite long-term anthropogenic transformation, the landscape has retained a significant phytodiversity level. The flora of the Samara River area includes 887 plant species. Of these, 177 species belonging to the rare and endangered categories. The floodplain landscape is the richest in species and most diverse part of this complex. The flora of the Samara floodplain includes 728 species (including 132 rare ones), of which 631 grow in forest communities, and 487 – in anthropogenically transformed, treeless floodplain areas. As part of the forest flora, the number of tree and shrubby species, scyophytes, hygrophytes, and megatrophs significantly increases compared to treeless sites, and the number of ruderal plant species decreases. The floristic composition of the floodplain forests of the subarid region is much richer and more diverse than the flora of the treeless floodplain areas, and this should encourage measures for their protection and restoration. Afforestation of floodplain territories within the steppe zone of Ukraine should be a priority in comparison with other landscapes. For the protection of the flora studied, a scientific justification for creating the National Park "Samara Bor" was prepared. Under the conditions of anthropogenic and climatic impact, this article is of great global importance for attracting the attention of specialists, authorities and society to the protection and restoration of biodiversity in the most valuable landscapes

Comparison of commonly used ecological scales with the Belgard Plant Ecomorph System

There are several ecological scales developed both for phytoindication of ecological factors and plant ecomorphs. Among them, the scales of Ellenberg and Tsyganov are the most commonly used. L. G. Ramensky and P. S. Pogrebnyak had developed a phytoindication method; they also were founders of first ecological scale of plant species in relation to various environmental factors. One of first ecomorph systems was developed by Alexander Lyutsianovich Belgard. In 1947, Belgard presented a tabular ecomorph system in his doctoral dissertation, and later in monograph “Forest vegetation of the South-East of Ukraine”. In the system he used abbreviated Latin names applying terminology proposed in the late 19th century by Dekandol, Warmin and other authors. He considered ecomorphs as adaptations of plants to environmental conditions in forests of the steppe zone of Ukraine where forest cenoses are exposed to processes of steppization, prairification, swamping, salinization, and thus clarification of relationships between forest, meadow, steppe, marsh and weed plant species was essential. Therefore, development and introduction of cenomorph terms as “adaptation of plant species to phytocenosis as a whole” were an absolutely new contribution to the concept of ecomorph system. In environmental factor scales of Ellenberg and other authors, environment characteristics based on phytoindication were underlined; in the Belgard Plant Ecomorph System, ecomorphs reflect ability of plant species to grow within certain ranges of a given factor. These approaches are quite comparable, and ecomorphs of the Belgard system correspond to certain grades of the Ellenberg and Tsyganov scales. The Belgard ecomorph system has been applied in a number of fundamental and applied works on plant ecology and phytocenology. It is convenient for characterizing ecological features of plant species growing in the steppe zone with a wide range of environment factors such as lighting, humidity, and soil richness. Other authors have expanded and supplemented the Belgard Plant Ecomorph System based on its strategy. A number of ecomorphs was introduced; they reflect intermediate or extreme gradations of factors. A new cenomorph – silvomargoant – has been proposed by the authors of this paper

РОЗРОБКА МАТЕМАТИЧНОЇ МОДЕЛІ ДЛЯ ПРОГНОЗУ ЗАХВОРЮВАНОСТІ НА COVID-19 У ЗБРОЙНИХ СИЛАХ УКРАЇНИ

The purpose of the work is to develop a model of the dynamics of the spread of acute respiratory disease COVID-19 in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which allows forecasting the level of morbidity of personnel on the basis of available statistics Materials and methods. The materials for the study were the data of the operational group of data collection of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Department of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Results and discussion. The results of researches of the number of predicted cases of infection of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the COVID-19 pandemic were obtained on the basis of linear and nonlinear differential equations with the use of mathematical modeling. Conclusions. It is established that the incidence among the population of Ukraine, including the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine can be described using the sigmoid function. The developed mathematical model corresponds to real indicators and can be used as a probable forecast model. The graphical representation of the dynamics of morbidity of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on COVID-19 is similar to the dynamics of officially registered general morbidity among the population of Ukraine. Using the obtained model, it is estimated that in mid-March 2021, according to the pessimistic forecast, the accumulated number of infected in the Armed Forces of Ukraine can probably be about 18,000, and the optimistic – 16,000.Мета роботи – розробка моделі динаміки COVID-19 у Збройних Силах України, яка дозволяє прогнозувати рівень захворюваності особового складу на підставі наявних статистичних даних. Матеріали і методи. Для дослідження були використані офіційні дані оперативної групи Санітарно-епідеміологічного управління командування Медичних сил Збройних Сил України станом на 08.02.2021 р. Результати досліджень. Отримано результати досліджень кількості прогнозованих випадків інфікування особового складу Збройних Сил України під час пандемії COVID-19 на основі лінійних і нелінійних диференціальних рівнянь з використанням математичного моделювання. Висновки. Встановлено, що захворюваність серед населення України, в тому числі особового складу Збройних Сил, піддається опису за допомогою сигмоїдної (S-подібної) функції. Розроблена математична модель відповідає реальним показникам та її можна застосовувати як ймовірну прогнозну модель. Графічне зображення динаміки захворюваності на COVID-19 військовослужбовців Збройних Сил України відповідає динаміці офіційно зареєстрованої загальної захворюваності серед населення України. За допомогою отриманої моделі підраховано, що до середини березня 2021 р. за песимістичним прогнозом накопичена кількість інфікованих у Збройних Силах України ймовірно може становити біля 18 000 випадків, а за оптимістичним – 16 000. Модель для прогнозу захворюваності на COVID-19 доцільно використовувати на короткострокову перспективу. Матеріали і методи. Для дослідження були використані офіційні дані оперативної групи Санітарно-епідеміологічного управління командування Медичних сил Збройних Сил України станом на 08.02.2021 р. Результати досліджень. Отримано результати  досліджень кількості прогнозованих випадків інфікування особового складу Збройних Сил України під час пандемії COVID-19 на основі лінійних і нелінійних диференціальних рівнянь з використанням математичного моделювання. Висновки.          Встановлено, що захворюваність серед населення України, в тому числі особового складу Збройних Сил України, піддається опису за допомогою сигмоїдної (S-подібної) функції. Розроблена математична модель відповідає реальним показникам та її можливо застосовувати в якості ймовірної прогнозної моделі. Графічне зображення динаміки захворюваності військовослужбовців Збройних Сил України на COVID-19 є подібним динаміці офіційно зареєстрованої загальної захворюваності серед населення України. За допомогою отриманої моделі підраховано, що до середини березня 2021 року за песимістичним прогнозом накопичена кількість інфікованих у Збройних Силах України ймовірно може складати біля 18000 випадків, а за оптимістичним - 16000. Модель для прогнозу захворюваності на COVID-19 доцільно використовувати на короткострокову перспективу. Ключові слова: пандемія, COVID-19, математичні методи прогнозування, військовослужбовці, збройні сили

ANALYSIS OF MULTIMODAL FUSION TECHNIQUES FOR AUDIO-VISUAL SPEECH RECOGNITION

The paper deals with analytical review, covering the latest achievements in the field of audio-visual (AV) fusion (integration) of multimodal information. We discuss the main challenges and report on approaches to address them. One of the most important tasks of the AV integration is to understand how the modalities interact and influence each other. The paper addresses this problem in the context of AV speech processing and speech recognition. In the first part of the review we set out the basic principles of AV speech recognition and give the classification of audio and visual features of speech. Special attention is paid to the systematization of the existing techniques and the AV data fusion methods. In the second part we provide a consolidated list of tasks and applications that use the AV fusion based on carried out analysis of research area. We also indicate used methods, techniques, audio and video features. We propose classification of the AV integration, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. We draw conclusions and offer our assessment of the future in the field of AV fusion. In the further research we plan to implement a system of audio-visual Russian continuous speech recognition using advanced methods of multimodal fusion

Biodiversity of the Regional Landscape Park Samara Plavni within the first large reservoir in Europe Biodiversity of the Regional Landscape Park Samara Plavni within the first large reservoir in Europe

The creation of reservoirs in river valleys for the accumulation of fresh water has been and remains an important issue around the world. This process has both positive and negative consequences for people and nature. Significant changes in the regime of rivers and their valleys, flooding of meadows and forests, flooding of soils and changes in the composition of flora and fauna of adjacent territories are taking place. In this article, we consider the restoration of the biodiversity of a site of disturbed lands after the creation of one of the first large reservoirs in Europe – the Dnieper (Zaporozhe) on the River Dnieper, which has existed since 1933. The territory of the Samara floodplains was formed on the floodplain of the mouth of the Samara River, as a result of which the territories of various forest, meadow and bog biotopes were flooded. For almost 90 years, new biotopes have been developing, and populations of plant and animal species, especially waterfowl, have been renewed and enriched. In the conditions of climate change and anthropogenic pressure, the existence of this territory has fallen into question. To control the conservation of biodiversity, it is necessary to apply various management methods, one of which is creation of nature reserves. The article presents the results of a complex of scientific studies that were carried out during the zoning of the regional park Samara Plavni to improve the management of the protection of water areas and river banks. We have investigated: hydrological features, species diversity of the flora and coenotic diversity of the vegetation, fauna of aquatic invertebrates, and terrestrial vertebrates. Zoning of the Regional Landscape Park was based on the composition of stable components of ecosystems. When applying the protected regime in different zones, conditions will be created for the preservation of habitats of species, including those protected in Europe: higher plants (Senecio borysthenicus (DC.) Andrz. ex Czern., Tragopogon borystenicus Artemcz.), reptiles (Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758), Vipera renardi (Christoph, 1861)), birds (Aythya ferina (Linnaeus, 1758), Vanellus vanellus (Linnaeus, 1758), Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758, Numenius arquata (Linnaeus, 1758), Alcedo atthis (Linnaeus, 1758), Lanius excubitor (Linnaeus, 1758)), mammals (Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758)). Such changes would increase the implementation of the reproductive potential of all species without exception in the studied ecosystems

Marshal Wu (image)

Summer Issuehttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61093/1/3202.pd

Applying of Informational Model of Nutrition Ration Calculation for Compensation of Energy Losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Servicemen

The article is devoted to the research of the problem of compensation of energy losses of servicemen doing  qualification course of the UAF Special Operations Forces as well as development of the method of promp response of the officials of food service on changing of energy losses of servicemen on different phases of qualification course by corresponding correction of their daily nutrition ration. The aim of work was directed for development and substantiation of informational model of nutrition ration calculation for compensation of energy losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen. Time and tabular method of energy losses calculations, calculations of ration composition, instrumental estimations, laboratory and statistics assessments were used as methods of research. Calculations of informational model were done in Microsoft Excel 2007 functional environment. The description of informational polyparametrical model of the computational system of nutrients composition and energy value of servicemen daily nutrition ration depending on revealed energy losses doing qualification course of UAF Special Operations Forces has been presented. The model is meant for operative calculations of nutrients composition and energy value for compensation of energy losses of corresponding servicemen doing different phases of qualification course. Informational model got approval and was implemented in the UAF Special Operations Forces activities