Research of higher engineering education quality on the base of students Interviewing data by nonlinear principal components analysis (NLPCA)

The paper explores a suitability of higher education quality measurement from student’s point of view, and analyses results of interviewing of students from engineering specialties in Perm universities. Nonlinear Principal Components Analysis (NLPCA) in interpretation of Gifi system was used as the tool for data processing. It takes into account a dissimilar statistical nature of questionnaire indicators. The method can be very promising for various socio-economic researches.higher education quality; engineering education; questioning; method of principal components; nonlinear principal components analysis; NLPCA; Gifi system

The Power Flow Angle of Acoustic Waves in Thin Piezoelectric Plates

The curves of slowness and power flow angle (PFA) of quasi-antisymmetric (A0) and quasi-symmetric (S0) Lamb waves as well as quasi-shear-horizontal (SH0) acoustic waves in thin plates of lithium niobate and potassium niobate of X-,Y-, and Z-cuts for various propagation directions and the influence of electrical shorting of one plate surface on these curves and PFA have been theoretically investigated. It has been found that the group velocity of such waves does not coincide with the phase velocity for the most directions of propagation. It has been also shown that S0 and SH0 wave are characterized by record high values of PFA and its change due to electrical shorting of the plate surface in comparison with surface and bulk acoustic waves in the same material. The most interesting results have been verified by experiment. As a whole, the results obtained may be useful for development of various devices for signal processing, for example, electrically controlled acoustic switchers

RAILWAY NATURAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES AND THEIR IMPACT ON WATERBODIES

The paper aims to investigate objects located in railway natural industrial complexes, e.g. the Kuybyshevskaya Railway within the boundaries of Samara region. The authors analyse its following characteristic properties: geometric (proximity to water bodies); intercepted (crossings with bridges or waterbodies); watercut (proximity to subsurface water outlets and high groundwater); hilly-mountainous terrain (washouts and washaways); violation of surface (water drainage from the walls, washaways of flood-prone slopes). The researchers studied a schematic map of the Kuybyshevskaya Railway and came to the conclusion that there is a considerable number of railways crossings with water objects in Samara region, Ulyanovsk region and the Republic of Tatarstan. Some of these railways crossings are located in close proximity to waterbodies. The average value of the crossings is 0.549 km for every 1 km, i.e. approximately every 500 m railway tracks cross at least one water object. It means that there is a surface run-off coming from railroad tracks and near-by territories into a waterbody every 500 m. Systematic monitoring of water pollution is performed by a considerable number (up to 20) of gauging stations located within all railroad tracks in Samara region

LUWRAIN Books: DAISY for Schools

The report presents the experience obtained in the school for the blind in the city of Tomsk during the experiment which implies creation of a cloud service automatically producing the DAISY audiobooks and utilizing the commercial TTS. The advantages and the problems related to the work are described, as well as technical details of used software components

GEMINGA: NEW OBSERVATIONS AT LOW RADIO FREQUENCIES

ABSTRACT. After nearly 10 years, we have succeeded to detect radio emission from Geminga more again. In this report we present new evidence for presence of radio emission from Geminga in the range 42-112 MHz. The observations were carried out on two sensitive transit radio telescopes We used three new digital receivers to detect the pulses and to obtain dynamic spectra.The examples of mean pulse profiles are presented. Exact value of the dispersion measure have been calculated using the simultaneous observations at three frequencies

Magnetic structure and magnetocaloric properties of Ho(Co1-xFex)(2) quasibinary intermetallic compounds

AbstractA study of crystal and magnetic structures, heat capacity, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Ho(Co1-х Feх)2 (with increasing x from 0 to 0. 2) intermetallic compounds has been undertaken. Phase composition was controlled by X-ray diffraction analysis. Neutron diffraction experiment was performed at temperatures of 78 and 293K. Magnetic properties were measured within the temperature range 5÷325K in magnetic fields up to 70 kOe. It was shown that considerable maximum broadenings on the temperature dependence of magnetic entropy change is observed with iron concentration increase. The avarage magnetic moment of Ho ions in their sublattice decreases from 10μB for HoCo2 to 9μB for Ho(Co0.8Fe0.2)2 that can be connected with the existence of the umbrella-like (canting) magnetic structure in Ho-sublattice

Magnetism of ordered and disordered alloys of R2Fe14B (R = Nd, Er) type

Magnetic susceptibility, magnetization and neutron diffraction measurements have been performed to study structure and magnetic states of crystalline and amorphous Nd2Fe14B and Er2Fe14B alloys. In the crystalline state there exists a large (about 20%) anisotropy of Er-sublattice magnetization. Values of the magnetic anisotropy constant of Er ions and the Er-Fe exchange-coupling parameter were estimated using temperature dependence of the Er-and Fe-sublattice magnetizations. Amorphous state of the samples was obtained by irradiation of fast (Eeff≥1MeV) neutrons with a fluence up to the 1.2 Ч 1020 n/cm-2 at 340 K. It is shown that antiferromagnetic coupling between the rare-earth and iron spins is kept in the amorphous state. Amorphization of the samples is found to result in reduction of the Curie temperature (TC) by about 200 K and almost total absence of coercivity. We suggest that the strong decrease of TC is a consequence of enhancement of negative Fe-Fe interactions as a result of dispersion of interatomic distances, which is a characteristic feature of the amorphous state. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Эволюция методики и новые протоколы ультразвукового исследования легких при COVID-19 пневмониях

Competent triage of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia is not only about efficient allocation of hospital resources, but also about making timely decisions that can ultimately save the patient's life. When healthcare facility is overloaded, computed tomography to assess the severity of COVID-19-associated pneumonia in each individual case is not always possible. Alternative solutions, however, are opted.The aim of the study was to develop Lung UltraSound (LUS) protocols with high diagnostic potential for assessing the severity of pneumonia caused by COVID-19, which can be reliably used instead of CT during triage in an emergency setting.Materials and methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of data on 161 hospitalized patients with confirmed pneumonia caused by COVID-19, subjected to both CT and LUS within 24 hours after hospitalization. Three consecutive LUS protocols, including two LUS developed by the NMHC (National Medical Surgical Center) authors, were tested to choose the most reliable protocol for assessing the severity of lung damage in pneumonia caused by COVID-19 (based on correlation with chest CT results). We also checked the applicability of LUS for the prognosis of the disease.Results. Moderate (50% CT) and severe (50% CT) lung damage can be distinguished when using both - the 16-zone and 12-zone LUS NMHC scanning protocols. The AUC for the ROC curves was almost identical: 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75–0.90 and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.73–0.88) for the 16-zone and 12-zone LUS NMHC protocols, respectively. The 16-zone LUS NMHC had an optimal threshold of 20 scores with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 82%, while the 12-zone LUS NMHC provided an optimal threshold of 15 scores with the same sensitivity but lower specificity — only 73%. Neither the 16-zone nor the 12-zone NMHC LUS protocols could predict the outcome.Conclusion. The newly developed 16- and 12-zone LUS NMHC scanning protocols for patients with pneumonia caused by COVID-19 proved to be easy to implement, demonstrating a strong correlation with CT results. The 16-zone LUS NMHC protocol is probably more relevant for triage of patients with more than 50% of pulmonary tissue involvement based on CT data. Both protocols can be useful in emergency settings and in medical institutions with limited or no access to CT.Сортировка пациентов с COVID-19 пневмонией — очень зависимая от времени задача, которая позволяет эффективно распределить ресурсы больницы, что в конечном итоге может привести к спасению жизни пациента.Проблемы использования компьютерной томографии в перегруженной системе здравоохранения требуют поиска дополнительных методов дифференцировки тяжести пневмонии, вызванной COVID-19.Цель исследования — разработка протоколов ультразвукового исследования легких (Lung Ultra-Sound — LUS) с высокими диагностическими характеристиками для определения тяжести пневмонии, вызванной COVID-19, которые можно использовать вместо КТ во время сортировки в условиях неотложной помощи.Материалы и методы. Провели ретроспективный анализ данных о 161 госпитализированном пациенте с подтвержденной пневмонией, вызванной COVID-19, которым в течение 24 ч после госпитализации выполнили как КТ, так и LUS. Три последовательных протокола LUS, в том числе два, разработанные авторами LUS NMHC (National Medical-Surgical Center), тестировали, чтобы выбрать из них наиболее надежный для определения выраженности повреждения легких при пневмонии, вызванной COVID-19 (исходя из корреляции с результатами КТ грудной клетки). Проверили также применимость LUS для построения прогноза заболевания.Результаты. С помощью как 16-зонного, так и 12-зонного LUS NMHC протокола можно различать умеренное (50% по КТ) и тяжелое (50% по КТ) повреждение легких. AUC для кривых ROC была почти идентична: 0,83 (95% СИ, 0,75–0,90) и 0,81 (95% СИ 0,73–0,88) для 16-зонного и 12-зонного LUS NMHC протоколов, соответственно. 16-зонный LUS NMHC имел оптимальный порог 20 баллов с чувствительностью 67% и специфичностью 82%, в то время как 12-зонный LUS NMHC обеспечивал оптимальный порог 15 баллов с той же чувствительностью, но более низкой специфичностью — только 73%. Ни по 16-зонному, ни по 12-зонному LUS-протоколам NMHC нельзя было прогнозировать исход.Заключение. Недавно разработанные 16- и 12-зонные протоколы LUS NMHC для пациентов с пневмонией, вызванной COVID-19, оказались просто выполнимыми и имели сильную корреляцию с результатами КТ. 16-зонный протокол LUS NMHC вероятно более применим для сортировки пациентов, у которых по КТ имеется более 50% объема повреждения легких. Оба протокола могут быть полезны в условиях неотложной помощи и в медицинских учреждениях с ограниченным или отсутствующим доступом к КТ