ASSESSMENT OF BIODIVERSITY OF CARABID BEETLES (COLEOPTERA, CARABIDAE) OF THE TSHETSHEN ISLAND IN THE СASPIAN SEA

Aim, material. Biodiversity of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) is studied for the Tshetshen Island in the Caspean Sea based on examination of 32799 adults belonging to 123 species collected during two seasons.Results. Five collecting sites on the Tshetshen Island were sampled and compared with data from the Nordovyi and Tiulenyi islands as well as from coastal areas of Dagestan. Carabid species composition of the Tshetshen Island differs in having a higher fraction of desert taxa. In this respect, it resembles more that of the Middle Asia and Kalmykia. Some species, common in the mainland, are not found on the island. Rank-abundance distributions, biodiversity indices and effective numbers of species were used to quantitify differences among collecting sites. In most cases, the data obtained fit the best to the Zipf-Mandelbrot distribution. Numbers of carabid species in sites ranged from 45 to 89. Despite of variation, the richness indices are shown to be significantly lower for the Tshetshen Island. This conclusion was confirmed using rarefaction curves. Decomposition of γ-diversity into its α- and β- components in terms of effective numbers of species has shown that α-diversity of carabids in mainland areas exceeds that of the Tshetshen Island only marginally while β-diversity is significantly higher. Cluster analysys of distance matrices has shown that the carabid assemblages of the Tshetshen Island are the most poor and specific, those from the coastal areas – the most species-rich while those of the Tiulenyi and Nordovyi islands are intermediate.Conclusion. Carabid assemblages of each island in the Caspian Sea may be considered as a rather randomly impoverished subset from the regional species pool of the Middle Asia and Caspian lowland

A new perspective on the competitiveness of nations

The capability of firms to survive and to have a competitive advantage in global markets depends on, amongst other things, the efficiency of public institutions, the excellence of educational, health and communications infrastructures, as well as on the political and economic stability of their home country. The measurement of competitiveness and strategy development is thus an important issue for policy-makers. Despite many attempts to provide objectivity in the development of measures of national competitiveness, there are inherently subjective judgments that involve, for example, how data sets are aggregated and importance weights are applied. Generally, either equal weighting is assumed in calculating a final index, or subjective weights are specified. The same problem also occurs in the subjective assignment of countries to different clusters. Developed as such, the value of these type indices may be questioned by users. The aim of this paper is to explore methodological transparency as a viable solution to problems created by existing aggregated indices. For this purpose, a methodology composed of three steps is proposed. To start, a hierarchical clustering analysis is used to assign countries to appropriate clusters. In current methods, country clustering is generally based on GDP. However, we suggest that GDP alone is insufficient for purposes of country clustering. In the proposed methodology, 178 criteria are used for this purpose. Next, relationships between the criteria and classification of the countries are determined using artificial neural networks (ANNs). ANN provides an objective method for determining the attribute/criteria weights, which are, for the most part, subjectively specified in existing methods. Finally, in our third step, the countries of interest are ranked based on weights generated in the previous step. Beyond the ranking of countries, the proposed methodology can also be used to identify those attributes that a given country should focus on in order to improve its position relative to other countries, i.e., to transition from its current cluster to the next higher one

CARBON-14 IN RESEARCH NUCLER REACTOR IVV-2M RELEASES

In this work, the technology is being developed to register the activity of the carbon-14 isotope by liquid scintillation spectrometry on the territory of JSC “INM”, as well as to de-termine the contribution of various sources of inorganic 14C to the total emitted radiocarbon activity

Modeling and simulating for the treatment of subjectivity in the process of choosing personnel using fuzzy logic

Every day organizations pay more attention to Human Resources Management, because the human factor is preponderant in the results of it. One of the important policies is the Selection of Personnel, these are needed for their decision-making results, which in many organizations is done in a subjective manner and which brings consequences not very favorable to them. Taking this problem into account, it is decided to design and apply procedures and tools of fuzzy mathematics to reduce subjectivity and uncertainty in decision-making, creating work algorithms for this policy that includes multifactorial weights and analysis with measurement indicators that they allow tangible and reliable results. In this case of personnel selection, eight candidates were taken into account and by applying a diffuse evaluation system, the candidate with the highest rating of 98% was chosen. This indicates that subjectivity was reduced when choosing the best evaluated candidate

The competitiveness of nations and implications for human development

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.Human development should be the ultimate objective of human activity, its aim being healthier, longer, and fuller lives. Thus, if the competitiveness of a nation is properly managed, enhanced human welfare should be the key expected consequence. The research described here explores the relationship between the competitiveness of a nation and its implications for human development. For this purpose, 45 countries were evaluated initially using data envelopment analysis. In this stage, global competitiveness indicators were taken as input variables with human development index indicators as output variables. Subsequently, an artificial neural network analysis was conducted to identify those factors having the greatest impact on efficiency scores

A characteristics framework for Semantic Information Systems Standards

Semantic Information Systems (IS) Standards play a critical role in the development of the networked economy. While their importance is undoubted by all stakeholders—such as businesses, policy makers, researchers, developers—the current state of research leaves a number of questions unaddressed. Terminological confusion exists around the notions of “business semantics”, “business-to-business interoperability”, and “interoperability standards” amongst others. And, moreover, a comprehensive understanding about the characteristics of Semantic IS Standards is missing. The paper addresses this gap in literature by developing a characteristics framework for Semantic IS Standards. Two case studies are used to check the applicability of the framework in a “real-life” context. The framework lays the foundation for future research in an important field of the IS discipline and supports practitioners in their efforts to analyze, compare, and evaluate Semantic IS Standard

Абсцесс легкого как осложнение COVID-19-пневмонии: клинический случай

The article describes a case of polysegmental destructive viral-bacterial pneumonia complicated with acute pulmonary abscess, pleural empyema, and pneumopleurofibrosis in a 50-year-old female patient infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first clinical, laboratory and radiological signs of purulent-necrotic inflammation appeared only 20 days after receiving a positive RT-PCR test result with a nasopharyngeal swab. A month later, an emerging abscess in the lower lobe of the right lung was diagnosed. Subsequently, it spontaneously drained into the pleural cavity.Coagulopathy with the formation of microthrombi in small pulmonary vessels is one of the causative factors of lung abscess in patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.В статье описан случай полисегментарной деструктивной вирусно-бактериальной пневмонии, осложненной острым абсцессом легкого, эмпиемой плевры и пневмоплеврофиброзом у 50-летней пациентки, находившейся на лечении в стационаре по поводу COVID-19-пневмонии, подтвержденной выявлением ПЦР РНК SARS-CoV-2. Первые клинико-лабораторно-рентгенологические признаки гнойно-некротического воспаления появились через 20 дней после получения положительного результата ПЦР-теста в мазке со слизистой носоглотки. Еще через месяц был диагностирован формирующийся абсцесс в нижней доле правого легкого, который в последующем самопроизвольно дренировался в плевральную полость.Одним из факторов формирования абсцесса легкого при COVID-19-пневмонии может быть нарушение свертывающей системы крови с образованием микротромбов в мелких легочных сосудах

Осложнения COVID-19-ассоциированной пневмонии: тромбоз ветвей легочных артерий (клинический случай)

The article presents a rare case of thrombosis of the pulmonary arteries branches, which developed in a patient two months after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that caused bilateral polysegmental pneumonia. The thrombosis was suspected because of a high plasma D-dimer level. Contrast-enhanced chest CT was performed to make a definitive diagnosis. The absence of blood clots in the veins of the lower extremities and pelvis allowed us to conclude that the patient did not have thromboembolism, but rather a pulmonary thrombosis in situ. Such possible causes of venousthromboembolic complications as tumors, systemic diseases of the connective tissue, and antiphospholipid syndrome were excluded based on negative tests for tumor and autoimmune diseases markers. The long-stay in the hospital was associated with the inability of the patient to maintain the normal level of blood oxygen saturation independently due to the large area of the lung damage associated with COVID-19 pneumonia and ischemia caused by thrombosis of the branches of the pulmonary arteries.Представлен редкий случай тромбоза ветвей (ТВ) легочных артерий (ЛА), развившийся у пациента через 2 мес. после инфицирования вирусом SARS-CoV-2, вызвавшим двустороннюю полисегментарную пневмонию. Диагноз тромбоз верифицирован при проведении компьютерной томографии органов грудной клетки с контрастным усилением. Предиктором тромбоза являлся повышенный уровень плазменной концентрации D-димера. Ввиду отсутствия тромбов в венах нижних конечностей и таза сделано заключение, что у пациента не тромбоэмболия, а именно ТВ ЛА in situ. На основании отрицательных тестов на онкомаркеры и маркеры аутоиммунных заболеваний исключены такие возможные причины венозно-тромбоэмболических осложнений, как опухоли, системные заболевания соединительной ткани и антифосфолипидный синдром. Длительное пребывание пациента в стационаре было связано с невозможностью самостоятельно поддерживать нормальный уровень сатурации крови кислородом из-за большой площади поражения легких и ишемии легочной ткани, обусловленной ТВ ЛА