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BackgroundObesity is a common, serious and costly chronic disease. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend that providers augment the longitudinal care of people living with obesity with consistent support for the development of self-efficacy and motivation to modify their lifestyle behaviors. Lifestyle behavior change aligns with the goals of motivational interviewing (MI), a client-centered yet directive counseling modality. However, training health care providers to be proficient in MI is expensive and time-consuming, resulting in a lack of trained counselors and limiting the widespread adoption of MI in clinical practice. Artificial intelligence (AI) counselors accessible via the internet can help circumvent these barriers. ObjectiveThe primary objective is to explore the feasibility of conducting unscripted MI-consistent counseling using Neural Agent for Obesity Motivational Interviewing (NAOMI), a large language model (LLM)–based web app for weight loss counseling. The secondary objectives are to test the acceptability and usability of NAOMI’s counseling and examine its ability to shift motivational precursors in a sample of patients with overweight and obesity recruited from primary care clinics. MethodsNAOMI will be developed based on recent advances in deep learning in four stages. In stages 1 and 2, NAOMI will be implemented using an open-source foundation LLM and (1) few-shot learning based on a prompt with task-specific instructions and (2) domain adaptation strategy based on fine-tuning LLM using a large corpus of general psychotherapy and MI treatment transcripts. In stages 3 and 4, we will refine the best of these 2 approaches. Each NAOMI version will be evaluated using a mixed methods approach in which 10 adults (18-65 years) meeting the criteria for overweight or obesity (25.0≥BMI≤39.9) interact with NAOMI and provide feedback. NAOMI’s fidelity to the MI framework will be assessed using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity scale. Participants’ general perceptions of AI conversational agents and NAOMI specifically will be assessed via Pre- and Post-Interaction Questionnaires. Motivational precursors, such as participants’ confidence, importance, and readiness for changing lifestyle behaviors (eg, diet and activity), will be measured before and after the interaction, and 1 week later. A qualitative analysis of changes in the measures of perceptions of AI agents and counselors and motivational precursors will be performed. Participants will rate NAOMI’s usability and empathic skills post interaction via questionnaire-based assessments along with providing feedback about their experience with NAOMI via a qualitative interview. ResultsNAOMI (version 1.0) has been developed. Participant recruitment will commence in September 2024. Data collection activities are expected to conclude in May 2025. ConclusionsIf proven effective, LLM-based counseling agents can become a cost-effective approach for addressing the obesity epidemic at a public health level. They can also have a broad, transformative impact on the delivery of MI and other psychotherapeutic treatment modalities extending their reach and broadening access. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/60361

As an industrially developed economy with a large export share, Germany is inconceivable without reliable and comprehensively developed maritime and inland shipping. Shipbuilding, waterway infrastructure, ports and logistics, marine technology, research and development, energy production and consumption, high-tech services form the framework of the «maritime economy» are interconnected and ensure uninterrupted transportation of goods, goods and people. The paper analyzes the national economic significance of the maritime industry in the modern German economy. It is emphasized that in addition to performing the transport function itself, this industry provides the launch of important multiplier effects on the economy as a whole. All those issues are considered with the challenges of climate policy. In this regard, we consider that the innovative role of German shipbuilding will increase, despite the decline in economic activity during the pandemic. We hypothesise that industry is facing an uncertain future, simultaneously, it should be emphasized that after the pandemic, the federal government is sending a clear signal to the industry community – the shipbuilding industry and the merchant marine are the drivers of the industry and part of environmental change, where a lot depends on new investments in training, expanding digitalization, application new types of fuels. This may be the result of more flexibility when placing orders for various types of vessels, reducing bureaucracy in the implementation of infrastructure water projects.

The long-term trajectory of the German regional policy is formed by the terms of overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The article discusses in this context the comprehensive all-German system for financing structurally weak regions, provides information on specific programs in 2020–2021, and also shows the connection with European instruments for financing regional policy in 2021–2027. The restructuring of this system of support measures was designed to improve the situation in underdeveloped territories and to help reduce differences in the conditions of recent challenges in technology, energy, and ecology. It is determined that Germany continues to be characterized by the differentiation in terms of economic potential between the East and West of the country. The paper demonstrates that the pandemic only highlighted the demands for the development of new mechanisms and a more active regional policy. It is emphasized that all eligible regions in the country now have access to more than 20 funding programs that were previously restricted to the regions of East Germany. It is determined that the streamlining of such measures is clearly only an auxiliary function in the public administration system and is aimed, first of all, at better coordination of existing instruments. Efficiency limitations are also the continuing autonomy of many programs, the possibility of excessive competition from now all underdeveloped regions of Germany for financial resources.

Germany updated its Arctic strategy in 2019. It is determined that in the context of achieving global climate goals this region for Germany to be one of the key ones. It is emphasized that the interests of Germany are in the sustainable supply of natural resources from the Arctic. The long-term Germany`s policy is formed by the informing the world community about the risks of further economic development of the macroregion for global climatic and environmental reasons, which is carried out within the framework of national policies by the Arctic countries. Russia is one of the key Arctic countries with which Germany closely cooperates in the region in the economic and scientific spheres. Based on the assessment of Germany's position on Russia’s Arctic strategy (2020), the paper analyzes the ambivalent relationship between the two countries in the Arctic macro-region with elements of confrontation and cooperation. The author concludes that Russia and Germany can productively cooperate in the Arctic at the level of regions and economic entities, using it at the same time as an implicit field for discussing the current complex agenda of bilateral relations.

The coronavirus epidemic has redefined the importance of critical infrastructure for economic development. In Germany, formally, the Strategy for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure has been in effect since 2009, but it was 2020 that became a turning point. The article analyzes the reflection of the concept of critical infrastructure in various sectoral strategies of Germany. The paper demonstrates that the Coronavirus has become a catalyst for the folding of new regulation in the information and communication industry. It is emphasized that ensuring the protection of critical investments opens up opportunities for the further development of digital infrastructure. The author concludes that the development of critical infrastructures and the achievement of technological sovereignty in key areas will be one of the priorities of the Germany`s economic policy. Most likely, an active proposal of new initiatives by Germany and stimulation of further cooperation of European states with each other in this area is expected to ensure investment control in the political and economic space of the EU.

We report on the application of the U-Th-He method for the direct dating of pyrite from the alteration halo of the Novogodnee-Monto Au-Fe-skarn deposit, Polar Urals. The deposit is genetically related to the formation of volcanogenic complexes of the Ural Paleozoic belt. A modification of the original methodology for measuring U, Th and He isotopes in a single grain allowed us to determine a U-Th-He age of 382 ± 8 Ma (2σ) based on six pyrite samples from the altered rocks of the deposit (U mass fraction ~0.2 mg/kg; Th/U ~3.5; 4He specific volume ~10−5 cm3·STP·g−1). This age is consistent with estimates of the age of ore formation and coeval with the end of the period of island arc magmatic activity. Our results indicate that U-Th-He dating for pyrite samples of ~1 mg in weight from the hydrothermal-metasomatic halo of ore bodies is possible, providing a crucial next step in the development of U-Th-He pyrite geochronology.

The design of ellipsoidal plasma mirrors (EPMs) for the PEARL laser facility is presented. The EPMs achieve a magnification of 0.32 in focal spot size, and the corresponding increase in focused intensity is expected to be about 8. Designing and implementing such focusing optics for short-pulse (