INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF MODIFICATION OF PETROLEUM ROAD BITUMEN BY MALEIC ANHYDRIDE

The possibility of modification of oxidized petroleum bitumen 70/100 produced by JSC "Ukrtatnafta" (Kremenchuk, Ukraine) with maleic anhydride was studied. The influence of maleic anhydride amount, process duration, and temperature on the main physical and mechanical characteristics of modified bitumen was studied. The optimal amount of maleic anhydride introduction to bitumen was established. It is found that 2 wt. % maleic anhydride allows to increase the softening temperature of the modified bitumen (from 46 °C to 52 °C). Adhesion to crushed stone also increases (from 2.5 points to 4.5 points) and other indicators improve. Sufficient time to modify the bitumen with maleic anhydride was 30 minutes. The optimum modification temperature for obtaining the modified bitumen with maleic anhydride is 130 °C. Increasing the temperature of the modification has a negative effect on the final physical and mechanical properties of the binder.

ON THE SAFE PILOTAGE OF SHIP’S WITH PROPULSION THAT CAN AZIMUTH FOR STEERING

From the thrusters on smaller, but numerous, harbour support vessels through to the pod-drives on cruise ships and ocean going liners, azimuth control has rapidly established itself in the maritime industry. From the design of the ship, to the training of personnel and the development of operational procedures, the industry has risen to meet the demand. However, this rapid evolution has not allowed sufficient time for the propagation of knowledge throughout the different disciplines. On a day-to-day basis, maritime pilots must deal with such ships, coping as they do, with an as yet unstandardized environment. This paper presents the findings of an EU project (AZIPILOT) considering accidents and incidents and concerning the training and operational practice of ships equipped with Azimuth Control Devices (ACD’s).

Forced alignment for Nordic languages: Rapidly constructing a high-quality prototype

We propose a rapid adaptation of FAVE-Align to the Nordic languages, and we offer our own adaptation to Swedish as a template. This study is motivated by the fact that researchers of lesser-studied languages often neither have sufficient speech material nor sufficient time to train a forced aligner. Faced with a similar problem, we made a limited number of surface changes to FAVE-Align so that it – along with its original hidden Markov models for English – could be used on Stockholm Swedish. We tested the performance of this prototype on the three main sociolects of Stockholm Swedish and found that read-aloud alignments met all of the minimal benchmarks set by the literature. Spontaneous-speech alignments met three of the four minimal benchmarks. We conclude that an adaptation such as ours would especially suit laboratory experiments in Nordic phonetics that rely on elicited speech.

Some directions of improvement of ways of interpretation of procedural administrative-tort legal norms of the customs legislation

Having studied the peculiarities of interpretation of administrative-tort provisions of customs legislation establishing the procedure for proceedings on violations of customs rules, the author, in particular, expresses the opinion that in order to ensure the legality and validity of the decision to impose administrative penalties through the correct determination of the circumstances of the case and the applicable law as well as through the choice of a fair type and amount of administrative penalty – the customs legislation on the right to explain the alleged offense and comment on the case should be interpreted in a way that the person prosecuted should be given sufficient time and procedural opportunities to express their position on the legal substantiation of the allegation that they committed an offense and on the proposed penalty, as well as to provide evidence on the circumstances of the case. Also, the author substantiates that the model of termination of proceedings in customs rules violation case on the basis of a compromise, introduced in the customs legislation, needs to be radically improved, because it is built so that this tool of customs administration does not correspond to its nature and purpose since under the current customs law this model demands unconditional admission of guilt and imposition of possible type and amount of administrative penalty, which is unchangeable according to negotiated mutual concessions. Moreover, the motivation of offenders to conclude amicable agreements with customs authorities is limited to avoiding stricter penalties for repeated offenses, which is incompatible with the principle of inevitability of liability and may devalue the progressive increase in penalties. In addition, the author proposes ways to expand the interpretation of customs law on the temporary seizure of goods, vehicles and documents to maximize the protection of property rights of enterprises, which in light of the circumstances may be unreasonable and disproportionate.

EXPLORATION WITH RETURN OF HIGHLY DYNAMIC NETWORKS

In this paper, we study the necessary and sufficient time to explore with return constantly connected dynamic networks modelled by a dynamic graphs. Exploration with return consists, for an agent operating in a dynamic graph, of visiting all the vertices of the graph and returning to the starting vertex. We show that for constantly connected dynamic graphs based on a ring of sizen,3n-4 time units are necessary and sufficient to explore it. Assuming that the agent knows the dynamics of the graph.

A Novel Route Planning Scheme Based on Dynamic Time Variables

In this paper, the processing method of dynamic time variables in the route planning nodethat we designed involves the field of route planning, including determining the route time and stay time, combining the floating reserved time to determine the redundancy; after the entity has visited a node, the current value is calculated Redundancy: According to the calculated redundancy value, combined with the preset redundancy threshold, the entity’s route and stay time are reminded. By converting the dynamic time variable into a fixed value, the model can complete the search for the optimal path within a limited time. At the same time, the concept of reserved floating time is introduced, thereby retaining the dynamic characteristics of time, so that visitors can have sufficient time stay, and can complete the stay according to the fixed time requirements, can effectively track the stay time and make corresponding processing in the corresponding situation to ensure the stay ability. The proposed scheme has better performance.

Ascorbic Acid as an Inhibitor for SARS-CoV-2 Virus Reproduction: A Theoretical Approach

In the present study, ascorbic acid’s or Vitamin C’s influence (VC) in inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 virus reproduction was investigated. Gaussian 09 with a basis set of 6-311G (d, p), MGL tools, DSV, and LigPlus software were used. According to the Total Electron Density (TED) and Millikan charges, the active sites for adsorption were determined. Further, the docking study had clearly revealed the role of VC in inhibition of the virus reproduction in accordance with binding energy (Eb) and ligand efficiency (LE). The vitamin’s interaction with the virus’s spikes may limit its replication or provide the immune system sufficient time to recognize the infection, which enhances the possibility of producing appropriate antibodies.

Paternal childcare in early childhood and problematic behavior in children: a population-based prospective study in Japan

Background There have been numerous reports on the effects of paternal childcare on children’s behavioral development. However, little is known about these effects in Asian countries such as Japan, where fathers do not have sufficient time for childcare due to long working hours. This study explored the association between paternal childcare during toddlerhood in terms of childcare hours and the type of caregiving behavior and subsequent behavioral problems in children aged 5.5 years, stratified by sex. Methods We analyzed data from the Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the twenty-first Century (2001–2006), a population-based cohort survey in Japan (N = 27,870). Paternal childcare was assessed at 18 months in terms of paternal childcare hours on weekdays or weekends and the frequency of each type of childcare (feeding, changing diapers, bathing, putting the child to sleep, playing with the child at home, and taking the child outside). Based on the frequency or lack of paternal involvement, six categories of child behavioral problems were assessed when the children were 5.5 years old. Logistic regression analysis was applied to account for the known confounding variables. Results Longer paternal childcare hours, on both weekdays and weekends in toddlerhood, had a protective effect on behavioral problems at 5.5 years of age. The dose-effect relationships were found between the frequency of fathers taking their children outside and behavioral problems in boys, and the frequency of fathers playing with their children at home and behavioral problems in both boys and girls. Conclusions Paternal childcare during toddlerhood could prevent subsequent behavioral problems in children. Several specific paternal caregiving behaviors, such as taking their children outside and playing with them at home, may play an important role in preventing subsequent behavioral problems.

Testing the Interspecific Function of Female Common Cuckoo “Bubbling” Call

Female common cuckoo (Cuculus canorous) predator-like “bubbling” calls distract host parental attention and reduce the egg rejection rate. Such “bubbling” calls are also frequently used to attract males and deter territorial rivals in intraspecies contact, and these calls are an ancestral character in many cuckoo species. Although hosts have had sufficient time to become familiar with this call and evolve anti-parasitic strategies, why are the hosts fooled by this “bubbling” call? We propose two hypotheses. The first hypothesis proposes that call variation reduces the opportunity for host species to correctly assess cuckoo tricks. In contrast, the second hypothesis proposes that the cost of behavior may prevent the antiparasitic strategy from evolving. In the study, we tested the prerequisites of these hypotheses, by investigating whether cuckoo calls vary during the day and testing whether the predator-like calls suppress bird activities. Based on field recordings from three different areas, we found high overlap in the calls generated during different periods. Oriental great reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), a host species, did not show different responses toward the playback of female common cuckoo calls generated before noon or afternoon. Based on bird count data, we found that predator-like call playback is insufficient for suppressing bird activities. Therefore, none of the prerequisites were supported by our field data. We discuss the potential reasons for our findings and hope to inspire more research examining female cuckoo vocalizations.

Creating accessible Spanish language materials for Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research consortium genomic projects: challenges and lessons learned

Aim: To increase Spanish speakers' representation in genomics research, accessible study materials on genetic topics must be made available in Spanish. Materials & methods: The Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research consortium is evaluating genome sequencing for underserved populations. All sites needed Spanish translation of recruitment materials, surveys and return of results. Results: We describe our process for translating site-specific materials, as well as shared measures across sites, to inform future efforts to engage Spanish speakers in research. Conclusion: In translating and adapting study materials for roughly 1000 Spanish speakers across the USA, and harmonizing translated measures across diverse sites, we overcame numerous challenges. Translation should be performed by professionals. Studies must allocate sufficient time, effort and budget to translate and adapt participant materials.