Дигитализация рынка транспорта и логистики: интеграция информационных систем. Российский опыт внедрения цифровых технологий в организации логистических процессов

The paper summarizes the experience of using information systems in transport and logistics companies in Russia, their typologization and functionality. The definition of "smart logistics" is formulated; it contains a description of the essence of the term characterizing its specific features and effects that are achieved as a result of processes of the same name. Based on the study of the trans-logistics platforms functional structure and the “single window” evolutionary development levels, the industry and departmental participants of the logistics market, which information systems can potentially be integrated into a single information space, are identified. The relevance of the information systems integration for providing synchromodal transportation is underlined. Expert opinions on practices in the digitalization of transport and logistics processes in Russia are highlighted and summarized. Opinions on the uneven development of digitalization in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and also on the conditions and trends in digital logistics development are highlighted.El documento resume la experiencia del uso de sistemas de información en empresas de transporte y logística en Rusia, su tipología y funcionalidad. Se formula la definición de "logística inteligente"; contiene una descripción de la esencia del término que caracteriza sus características y efectos específicos que se logran como resultado de procesos del mismo nombre. Con base en el estudio de la estructura funcional de las plataformas trans-logísticas y los niveles de desarrollo evolutivo de "ventana única", se identifican la industria y los participantes departamentales del mercado logístico, cuyos sistemas de información se pueden integrar potencialmente en un solo espacio de información. Se subraya la relevancia de la integración de los sistemas de información para proporcionar transporte sincromodal. Se destacan y resumen las opiniones de expertos sobre prácticas en la digitalización de los procesos de transporte y logística en Rusia. Se destacan las opiniones sobre el desarrollo desigual de la digitalización en las entidades constitutivas de la Federación de Rusia, y también sobre las condiciones y tendencias en el desarrollo de la logística digital.В статье обобщен опыт использования информационных систем в транспортных и логистических компаниях России, их типологизация и функциональность. Сформулировано определение «умная логистика»; он содержит описание сущности термина, характеризующего его специфические особенности и эффекты, которые достигаются в результате одноименных процессов. На основе изучения функциональной структуры транс-логистических платформ и уровней эволюционного развития «единого окна» определены отраслевые и ведомственные участники рынка логистики, информационные системы которых потенциально могут быть интегрированы в единое информационное пространство. Подчеркивается актуальность интеграции информационных систем для обеспечения синхромодальных перевозок. Экспертные заключения о практике оцифровки транспортных и логистических процессов в России выделены и обобщены. Выделяются мнения о неравномерном развитии цифровизации в субъектах Российской Федерации, а также об условиях и тенденциях развития цифровой логистики

An efficiency upper bound for inverse covariance estimation

We derive an upper bound for the efficiency of estimating entries in the inverse covariance matrix of a high dimensional distribution. We show that in order to approximate an off-diagonal entry of the density matrix of a $d$-dimensional Gaussian random vector, one needs at least a number of samples proportional to $d$. Furthermore, we show that with $n \ll d$ samples, the hypothesis that two given coordinates are fully correlated, when all other coordinates are conditioned to be zero, cannot be told apart from the hypothesis that the two are uncorrelated.Comment: 7 Page

Biodigital publics: personal genomes as digital media artifacts

The recent proliferation of personal genomics and direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomics has attracted much attention and publicity. Concern around these developments has mainly focused on issues of biomedical regulation and hinged on questions of how people understand genomic information as biomedical and what meaning they make of it. However, this publicity amplifies genome sequences which are also made as internet texts and, as such, they generate new reading publics. The practices around the generation, circulation and reading of genome scans do not just raise questions about biomedical regulation, they also provide the focus for an exploration of how contemporary public participation in genomics works. These issues around the public features of DTC genomic testing can be pursued through a close examination of the modes of one of the best known providers—23andMe. In fact, genome sequences circulate as digital artefacts and, hence, people are addressed by them. They are read as texts, annotated and written about in browsers, blogs and wikis. This activity also yields content for media coverage which addresses an indefinite public in line with Michael Warner’s conceptualisation of publics. Digital genomic texts promise empowerment, personalisation and community, but this promise may obscure the compliance and proscription associated with these forms. The kinds of interaction here can be compared to those analysed by Andrew Barry. Direct-to-consumer genetics companies are part of a network providing an infrastructure for genomic reading publics and this network can be mapped and examined to demonstrate the ways in which this formation both exacerbates inequalities and offers possibilities for participation in biodigital culture

Self-organization without conservation: Are neuronal avalanches generically critical?

Recent experiments on cortical neural networks have revealed the existence of well-defined avalanches of electrical activity. Such avalanches have been claimed to be generically scale-invariant -- i.e. power-law distributed -- with many exciting implications in Neuroscience. Recently, a self-organized model has been proposed by Levina, Herrmann and Geisel to justify such an empirical finding. Given that (i) neural dynamics is dissipative and (ii) there is a loading mechanism "charging" progressively the background synaptic strength, this model/dynamics is very similar in spirit to forest-fire and earthquake models, archetypical examples of non-conserving self-organization, which have been recently shown to lack true criticality. Here we show that cortical neural networks obeying (i) and (ii) are not generically critical; unless parameters are fine tuned, their dynamics is either sub- or super-critical, even if the pseudo-critical region is relatively broad. This conclusion seems to be in agreement with the most recent experimental observations. The main implication of our work is that, if future experimental research on cortical networks were to support that truly critical avalanches are the norm and not the exception, then one should look for more elaborate (adaptive/evolutionary) explanations, beyond simple self-organization, to account for this.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, regular pape

Sceptical Employees as CSR Ambassadors in Times of Financial Uncertainty

This chapter offers new insights into the understanding of internal (employee) perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and strategies. This study explores the significance of employees’ involvement and scepticism upon CSR initiatives and focuses on the effects it may have upon word of mouth (WOM) and the development of employee–organisation relationships. Desk research introduces the research questions. Data for the research questions were gathered through a self-completion questionnaire distributed in a hardcopy form to the sample. An individual’s level of scepticism and involvement appears to affect the development of a positive effect on employees’ WOM. Involvement with the domain of the investment may be a central factor affecting relationship building within the organization, and upon generation of positive WOM. The chapter offers a conceptual framework to public relations (PR) and corporate communications practitioners, which may enrich their views and understanding of the use and value of CSR for communication strategies and practices. For-profit organisations are major institutions in today’s society. CSR is proffered as presenting advantages for (at macro level) society and (micro level) the organization and its employees. Concepts, such as involvement and scepticism, which have not been rigorously examined in PR and corporate communication literature, are addressed. By examining employee perceptions, managers and academic researchers gain insights into the acceptance, appreciation and effectiveness of CSR policies and activities upon the employee stakeholder group. This will affect current and future CSR communication strategies. The knowledge acquired from this chapter may be transferable outside the for-profit sector

Emergent complex neural dynamics

A large repertoire of spatiotemporal activity patterns in the brain is the basis for adaptive behaviour. Understanding the mechanism by which the brain's hundred billion neurons and hundred trillion synapses manage to produce such a range of cortical configurations in a flexible manner remains a fundamental problem in neuroscience. One plausible solution is the involvement of universal mechanisms of emergent complex phenomena evident in dynamical systems poised near a critical point of a second-order phase transition. We review recent theoretical and empirical results supporting the notion that the brain is naturally poised near criticality, as well as its implications for better understanding of the brain

Probabilistic frames: An overview

Finite frames can be viewed as mass points distributed in $N$-dimensional Euclidean space. As such they form a subclass of a larger and rich class of probability measures that we call probabilistic frames. We derive the basic properties of probabilistic frames, and we characterize one of their subclasses in terms of minimizers of some appropriate potential function. In addition, we survey a range of areas where probabilistic frames, albeit, under different names, appear. These areas include directional statistics, the geometry of convex bodies, and the theory of t-designs

Understanding the role of objects in cross-disciplinary collaboration

In this paper we make a case for the use of multiple theoretical perspectives – theory on boundary objects, epistemic objects, cultural historical activity theory and objects as infrastructure - to understand the role of objects in cross-disciplinary collaboration. A pluralist approach highlights that objects perform at least three types of work in this context: they motivate collaboration; they allow participants to work across different types of boundaries; and they constitute the fundamental infrastructure of the activity. Building on the results of an empirical study we illustrate the insights that each theoretical lens affords into practices of collaboration and develop a novel analytical framework that organizes objects according to the active work they perform. Our framework can help shed new light on the phenomenon, especially with regards the shifting status of objects and sources of conflict (and change) in collaboration. After discussing these novel insights, we outline directions for future research stemming from a pluralist approach. We conclude by noting the managerial implications of our finding

S. aureus MscL Is a Pentamer In Vivo but of Variable Stoichiometries In Vitro: Implications for Detergent-Solubilized Membrane Proteins

Detergent-induced rearrangements of membrane-protein subunits explain why two MscL channel stoichiometries have been resolved by X-ray crystallography - but S. aureus MscL is truly a pentamer in vivo