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What ethical challenges do internal auditors (IAs) encounter in their professional role, and how do they navigate these hurdles, especially when weaving risks into their ethical judgments? Anchored in philosophical concepts distinguishing norms from values, and the notion that risk is intrinsically moral, this research delves into interviews of 33 Canadian public sector IAs across various government strata. This primary data are enriched by insights from archival documents and an ethics training session attended by 11 internal audit executives. Our analysis reveals two primary ethical challenges faced by IAs—ethical issues and dilemmas—which unfold in the various contexts we explicate in this study. To address them, IAs tend to favor axiological logic (values driven) over deontological logic (norms driven). However, in some situations, a prudential logic centered on risk becomes their touchstone. Our key takeaways are threefold: (1) a highlight of the ethical quandaries IAs grapple with; (2) evidence that prudential logic, with its merits and flaws, is used to bridge the gap that sometimes exists between professional norms and individual values; and (3) an emphasis on the weak reliance of IAs on the Institute of Internal Auditors Code of Ethics, hinting at avenues for its enhanced outreach and pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim Design Methods Results Conclusion Impact Reporting Method Patient or Public Contribution To examine the organisational (i.e., perceived organisational support and psychologically safe environment) and individual (i.e., value, belief and norm) antecedents that strengthen healthcare workers' speaking‐up behaviour in a developing economy.The study uses a cross‐sectional design to gather the same data from healthcare workers within the Ashanti Region of Ghana.The data collection happened between 15 June and 30 August 2023. A sample of 380 healthcare workers was selected from 20 facilities in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. A configurational approach, a fussy‐set qualitative comparative analysis, was used to identify the configurations that caused high and low speaking‐up behaviour among the study sample.The study results reveal that whereas four configurations generate high speaking‐up behaviour, three configurations, by contrast, produce low speaking‐up behaviour among healthcare workers.Results suggest that in so far as organisational support systems which take the form of a psychologically safe environment and perceived organisational support are vital in relaxing the hierarchical boundaries in a healthcare setting to improve healthcare workers' speaking‐up behaviour, the individual value‐based factors that take the form of values, beliefs and norms are indispensable as it provides the healthcare workers with the necessary inner drive to regard speaking‐up behaviour on patient safety and care as a moral duty.Healthcare workers' speaking‐up behaviour is better achieved when organisational support systems complement the individual norms, values and beliefs of the individual.Adhered to Strengthening Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines.No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study classes of locally biholomorphic mappings defined in the polydisk $ {\mathbb P}^n $ P n that have bounded Schwarzian operator in the Bergman metric. We establish important properties of specific solutions of the associated system of differential equations, and show a geometric connection between the order of the classes and a covering property. We show for modified and slightly larger classes that the order is Lipschitz continuous with respect to the bound on the Schwarzian, and use this to estimate the order of the original classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of recreation-seeking fishing tourists is increasing. This study aimed to examine the variables that contribute to predicting fishing tourists' green behaviors at coastal tourism destinations by adopting an fsQCA approach. The research findings show that while each factor (i.e. perceived benefits, volitional variables, non-volitional variables, and emotion variables) individually exerts a significant influence on green behavior, the combined effect of integrating all these factors is substantial. This indicates that the synergy or combined influence of considering perceived benefits, volitional variables, non-volitional variables, and emotion variables together has a pronounced effect on promoting environmentally friendly behavior. Furthermore, the results of this study have academic and practical implications, as it was the first investigation of fishing tourists' psychological mechanisms undertaken by defining the relationship between green behaviors and their antecedents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some natural environments on Earth are characterised by high levels of radiation, including naturally radioelement enriched mineral springs in the French Massif Central. Therefore, naturally radioactive mineral springs are interesting ecosystems for understanding how bacterial populations in these springs have adapted to high levels of natural and chronic radioactivity over the very long term. The aim of this study was to analyse the bacterial communities of sediments from five naturally radioactive mineral springs in the French Massif Central, sampled in autumn 2019 and spring 2020, and to observe whether radionuclides, compared to other physicochemical parameters, are drivers of the bacterial community structuring in these extreme environments. Physicochemical measurements showed that two springs, Dourioux and Montagne had high radioelement concentrations/activities (uranium, thorium and radon). Analysis of the structure of the bacterial communities, by next generation sequencing based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, showed that the presence of radionuclides in Dourioux and Montagne, did not lead to a reduction in bacterial diversity and richness compared to the other springs. However, Dourioux and Montagne were characterised by specific bacterial populations, whose presence correlates with the radioelement concentrations/activities measured in these springs. This suggests that radioelements could partly explain the structuring of bacterial communities in these springs. In addition, several of these operational taxonomic units (OTUs) specific to Dourioux and Montagne, mainly affiliated to Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, could be involved in the biogeochemistry of radionuclides through different mechanisms (biosorption, biomineralisation, bioaccumulation, and bioreduction), which would allow the development of other bacterial species sensitive to these metals/radioelements. In particular, the co-occurrence of sulphate and/or iron-reducing bacteria, capable of bioreducing uranium, with fermentative bacteria, releasing sources of organic carbons, reflects associations of bacteria with complementary functions that allow them to grow in this peculiar environment and maintain a high diversity in these extreme environments. This study has provided a better understanding of the structuring of bacterial communities exposed to ionising radiation for thousands of years in naturally radioactive environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades are marked by the upswing of the use of the term "normativity" not only in philosophical discussions, but increasingly also within reports of empirical scientists. This may invoke the question how far these developments overlap and in how far they go past each other. A significant overlap might lead to an interesting coalescence of the two approaches to norms, which may provide for a "naturalization" of some philosophical speculations about normativity, putting them on a firmer foundation, while offering the empirical scientists some new impulses for directing their research. In this paper I give an overview of some recent empirical results concerning human normativity and I point out a certain philosophical tradition, rooted especially in the works of Wittgenstein, Sellars and Brandom, which treats normativity so that it becomes more or less compatible with these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the normative versus non‐normative distinction commonly used in collective action research. To explore the similarities and differences between antecedents of normative versus non‐normative actions, we conducted a systematic review on diverse predictors of non‐normative, radical and violent collective actions. We examined 37 social and political psychology studies published after 2010 and identified five recurring themes: identity, efficacy, injustice, emotions and norms. Findings exhibited significant overlaps with those predictors associated with normative collective action. Thus, a reconceptualization is needed to undermine the rigid boundaries between these action types, highlighting the intricate interplay of factors that transcend the conventional binary. Aiming to avoid conceptual ambiguity and challenge the perspective that associating particular collective actions with unwarranted violence using social norms as fixed and a priori, we propose the term 'confrontational collective action' to separate out form of action from societal approval. Through this reconceptualization, we discussed the main limitations in the literature, focusing on how studies approach normativity and efficacy and addressing the issue of decontextualization in the literature. This paper calls for a contextually informed understanding of confrontational collective action that recognizes what is seen as 'normative' can change over time through intra‐ and intergroup interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some types of fertilizers may contain various amounts of natural radionuclides like 238U, 232Th, 226Ra, 40K (Kuzmanoviæ et al. in J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331(12):5825–5834, 2022. 10.1007/s10967-022-08646-x; H Hamamo et al. in J Radioanal Nucl Chem 194(2): 331–336, 1995. 10.1007/BF02038431; M García-León et al. in J Radioanal Nucl Chem 197(1): 173–184, 1995. 10.1007/BF02040229). In this study 16 samples of commercially available fertilizers produced in Poland were selected for preliminary radiological evaluation. The samples were measured by means of low background gamma spectrometry. The results showed high concentrations of 40K in potassium and multinutrient fertilizers (2.3–13.8 kBq kg−1), and relatively high concentrations of uranium and radium isotopes in phosphate fertilizers. The obtained results allowed to calculate radium equivalent activity, absorbed dose rate increase and increase in annual effective dose equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a historical review of the links established between philosophy and medicine, this article examines these relations considering four aspects; a) the problem of the understanding of life elaborated by medicine and the determinism present in its scientific actions of knowledge; b) the variable of indeterminacy that human subjectivity introduces before these efforts of objectification; c) the notion of normativity elaborated by G. Canguilhem, its presence in human life and the manifestations of disease; d) the philosophical analysis of the system of norms existing in the elaborations of Canguilhem and its incidence in the statements of human life and the manifestations of disease. Canguilhem, its presence in human life and the manifestations of disease; d) the philosophical analysis of the system of norms existing in Canguilhem's elaborations and its incidence in Michel Foucault's biopolitical statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World is the property of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyzes from a holistic perspective the theoretical and legislative references of the domestic public service from the Administrative Law of Water from comparative law, with emphasis on how the Cuban legislator regulated it in the water regulations, Law No. 124, that allows determining the impact of this non-compliance on the legislative gaps in the legal system studied. Theoretical and empirical methods, as well as techniques and procedures of scientific research, the doctrinal theoretical analysis of the categories involved in the delimitation of legislative gaps were used for its construction, based on the most representative theoretical references to conclude. As in the Cuban legal system, the public home service is protected, as other laws provide to follow the legal logic. That of analysis and synthesis, to systematize the main elements studied; comparative law, to know the regulatory treatment of the domestic public water service. The bibliographic review, to know the criteria of scholars on the subject. Results: the identification of legislative gaps in the aforementioned legal norm is provided and the omission of not regulating the public home service in the legal norms in the Cuban legal system is noted as an idea to defend in an adequate manner, incident to its future perfection by the of the legislator from the contribution of the comparative study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NORM is used as a raw material in various industries worldwide. According to the IAEA, radiological effects may occur in the environment due to raw materials and by-products generated from NORM industries. The objective of this study was to assess radiological environmental impact of the phosphate processing industry to identify the radiological effects on the general public. The resident farmer scenario was chosen as the exposure scenario due to the living characteristics of the public around the facility and the conservatism of the assessment. The RESRAD-OFFSITE code was used to evaluate the radiation dose to the public. The maximum radiation dose to the public was 6.13 × 10−3 mSv/y. Main exposure pathways were aquatic food ingestion, radon inhalation, and meat ingestion. The uranium series accounted for about 99 % of the total radiation dose, while the thorium series and K-40 nuclides accounted for less than 1 %. These study results can be used for management of radiological impact to the public around domestic NORM industries.

Norms are a coordination mechanism. They control agents' behavior in a multiagent system (MAS) and need to evolve to cope with changing environments. Mutation oriented norm evolution is a strategies for allowing norms to evolve. However, this strategy simply adds some possible trigger condition constraints on the norms, which means that some agents are unable to perform actions. To address this problem, this paper presents a new strategy for norm evolution based on an improved crossover operator. First, this paper presents a power-set approach to improve the integrity of norm evolution. This approach can help ensure that all possible combinations of norms are considered during the analysis, providing a deeper understanding of how norms interact and evolve within a norm set. Then, to improve the efficiency of norm evolution, a trade-off between efficiency and completeness is proposed. This approach reduces the search space and improves efficiency, as not every power set combination needs to be searched; it also ensures completeness. Finally, the crossover operator in this strategy is improved based on the trade-off approach. Specifically, the triggers and expectations of one mutated norm enrich the triggers and expectations of other norms. All of these factors enrich the normative conditions through the trade-off approach. A MAS can take immediate action to adapt to new requirements or problems encountered, and quickly make normative changes and learn to respond appropriately to a new situation. The MAS is able to more clearly understand and learn about causality in the environment during norm evolution, and understand the connection between behavior and outcomes. The proposed strategy is applied to a case study of an unmanned vehicle system. The experimental results show that the trade-off approach has greater completeness and effectiveness in norm evolution. This strategy achieves a more complete and effective autonomous norm evolution. It helps the system achieve its goals better and reach better performance in terms of adaptability, helping it to function better in complex multiagent environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Norms are a coordination mechanism. They control agents’ behavior in a multiagent system (MAS) and need to evolve to cope with changing environments. Mutation oriented norm evolution is a strategies for allowing norms to evolve. However, this strategy simply adds some possible trigger condition constraints on the norms, which means that some agents are unable to perform actions. To address this problem, this paper presents a new strategy for norm evolution based on an improved crossover operator. First, this paper presents a power-set approach to improve the integrity of norm evolution. This approach can help ensure that all possible combinations of norms are considered during the analysis, providing a deeper understanding of how norms interact and evolve within a norm set. Then, to improve the efficiency of norm evolution, a trade-off between efficiency and completeness is proposed. This approach reduces the search space and improves efficiency, as not every power set combination needs to be searched; it also ensures completeness. Finally, the crossover operator in this strategy is improved based on the trade-off approach. Specifically, the triggers and expectations of one mutated norm enrich the triggers and expectations of other norms. All of these factors enrich the normative conditions through the trade-off approach. A MAS can take immediate action to adapt to new requirements or problems encountered, and quickly make normative changes and learn to respond appropriately to a new situation. The MAS is able to more clearly understand and learn about causality in the environment during norm evolution, and understand the connection between behavior and outcomes. The proposed strategy is applied to a case study of an unmanned vehicle system. The experimental results show that the trade-off approach has greater completeness and effectiveness in norm evolution. This strategy achieves a more complete and effective autonomous norm evolution. It helps the system achieve its goals better and reach better performance in terms of adaptability, helping it to function better in complex multiagent environments.

We consider a Hardy-type inequality with Oinarov's kernel in weighted Lebesgue spaces. We give new equivalent conditions for satisfying the inequality, and provide lower and upper estimates for its best constant. The findings are crucial in the study of oscillation and non-oscillation properties of differential equation solutions, as well as spectral properties.

In this paper, the Lagrange stability (LS) for quaternion memristive neural networks with time delay is taken into consideration. On the strength of Lyapunov function, conclusions are derived such that the resultant system is stable in Lagrange sense. The analysis procedure adopts properties of quaternions instead of conventional decomposition method. The nonlinear scalarization approach is further exploited to compare the size of the quaternion, which makes the convex closures formed by quaternions more noteworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiculturalism and tolerance, as two sets of normative beliefs about how to deal with intergroup diversity, have been recognized as effective at reducing outgroup negativity among majority group members. However, whether majority group members' normative beliefs regarding them might motivate their solidarity‐based collective actions and how their political ideology might qualify this influence remained unclear. To answer these questions, we conducted two pre‐registered experimental studies (N = 626), both zooming in on the multiculturalism issues in the context of the relationships between native Dutch citizens and citizens with a Moroccan background within Dutch university campuses (Study 1) and broader Dutch society (Study 2). In both studies, we found an ingroup norm of tolerance (vs. control) undermined majority group members' engagement in collective actions in support of ethnic minorities. Additionally, ideological leftists were more sensitive to norms than rightists: Study 1 showed a facilitative effect of the multiculturalism norm (vs. control) on solidarity‐based collective action intentions particularly among leftists, whilst Study 2 revealed a dampening effect of the tolerance norm (vs. control) on these intentions particularly among leftists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labuan, Miri, Kundasang and Raub regions of Malaysia have very different geological formations and settings that could result in different levels of natural radioactivity. Hence, this study determines the influence of different geological formations on radioactivity in these locations using field measurements, petrology and geochemistry. A total of 141 gamma dose rates and 227 beta flux measurements were collected using Polimaster survey meters (PM1405) in these four regions. The gamma dose rate values range from 0.37 to 0.05 µSv/h with a mean value of 0.11 µSv/h. Beta flux values range from 3.46 to 0.12 CPS with a mean value of 0.57 CPS. Mineralogy and elemental composition of the different rock types were analysed using thin-section petrography, XRD, ICP and pXRF methods. Felsic igneous rocks such as syenite and granite have higher natural radioactivity and contain more radionuclide-bearing minerals such as apatite, zircon, allanite, K-feldspar, titanite, muscovite and biotite. Metamorphic rocks have the second highest natural radioactivity and contain fewer radioactive minerals. The natural radioactivity of sedimentary rocks mostly depends on their clay content. The gamma dose rate maps show that igneous and metamorphic regions around Raub have higher radioactivity compared to the sedimentary-dominated regions around Miri and Labuan. Annual effective dose (AED) and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) were calculated to evaluate the potential health risk for inhabitants of these regions. Labuan and Miri are considered to be safe zones with respect to natural radioactivity as the results show little to no risk for the public, compared with the Raub region, which is medium to high risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article called Marking the 140th anniversary of prof. Dr. J. A. Schumpeter's birth. The author describes Schumpeter's scientific works his opinion on Marx's theories of capitalism, as well as the deep humanism of this extraordinary man, reflected in his attitude towards the people of lower status in general. The article talks about Schumpeter's theories on the role law in the case with the interplay between law and economy, the interrelationship between law and politics. In the context of democratic society, law appears as one of the most central mechanism to ensure that the participation of the populace in a state's governance, as well as the outcome of government in the form of legislative decisions, abide by standards of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the natural radioactivity levels in ilmenite ore and its final product. Two economically viable ores of titanium are ilmenite (FeO.TiO2) and rutile (TiO2). High-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used to analyse samples of raw ore, its purified fraction and the final product (synthetic rutile). Radioactivity levels due to 238U and 232Th and its daughter products were estimated. The concentration of 238U and 232Th in raw ore, purified ore and synthetic rutile was found to be 204 ± 4 and 1208 ± 5, 89.0 ± 4 and 597.0 ± 4, 119 ± 2.5 and 398.0 ± 3 Bq/kg, respectively. The dose rates due to gamma photons estimated in raw ore and synthetic rutile were 572 nSv/h and 277 nSv/h, respectively. The activity index estimated was 5.3 for raw ore and 2.3 for final product (synthetic rutile). The final product contained only 25% of the radioactivity compared to the ore showing significant reduction in radioactivity due to the processing of the ore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic as a science of the laws of the occurrence, accumulation, examination, appreciation and use of evidence has its own premises that underlie and systematize the process of discovering, investigating and preventing crime. The correct identification of the principles of forensic science, their limits of operation and their importance, provides a greater level of certainty in the development of forensic science as a science, and is the determining factor in identifying viable and sustainable solutions to the current and future tasks of forensic science. The tendency to investigate the subject of forensic principles will continue in the future, due to the lack of a single vision of the system of forensic principles, the desire to implement new principles and the confusion of the notion of 'principle' with the notions of 'method' and 'law'. At the end of the study, the conclusions presented allow an understanding of the notion of "principle" and the logic of structuring forensic principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously demonstrated the validity of a regression model that included ethnicity as a novel predictor for predicting normative brain volumes in old age. The model was optimized using brain volumes measured with a standard tool FreeSurfer. Objective: Here we further verified the prediction model using newly estimated brain volumes from Neuro I, a quantitative brain analysis system developed for Korean populations. Methods: Lobar and subcortical volumes were estimated from MRI images of 1,629 normal Korean and 786 Caucasian subjects (age range 59–89) and were predicted in linear regression from ethnicity, age, sex, intracranial volume, magnetic field strength, and scanner manufacturers. Results: In the regression model predicting the new volumes, ethnicity was again a substantial predictor in most regions. Additionally, the model-based z-scores of regions were calculated for 428 AD patients and the matched controls, and then employed for diagnostic classification. When the AD classifier adopted the z-scores adjusted for ethnicity, the diagnostic accuracy has noticeably improved (AUC = 0.85, ΔAUC = + 0.04, D = 4.10, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the prediction model remains robust across different measurement tool, and ethnicity significantly contributes to the establishment of norms for brain volumes and the development of a diagnostic system for neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously demonstrated the validity of a regression model that included ethnicity as a novel predictor for predicting normative brain volumes in old age. The model was optimized using brain volumes measured with a standard tool FreeSurfer. Objective: Here we further verified the prediction model using newly estimated brain volumes from Neuro I, a quantitative brain analysis system developed for Korean populations. Methods: Lobar and subcortical volumes were estimated from MRI images of 1,629 normal Korean and 786 Caucasian subjects (age range 59–89) and were predicted in linear regression from ethnicity, age, sex, intracranial volume, magnetic field strength, and scanner manufacturers. Results: In the regression model predicting the new volumes, ethnicity was again a substantial predictor in most regions. Additionally, the model-based z-scores of regions were calculated for 428 AD patients and the matched controls, and then employed for diagnostic classification. When the AD classifier adopted the z-scores adjusted for ethnicity, the diagnostic accuracy has noticeably improved (AUC = 0.85, ΔAUC = + 0.04, D = 4.10, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the prediction model remains robust across different measurement tool, and ethnicity significantly contributes to the establishment of norms for brain volumes and the development of a diagnostic system for neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frank matrix is one of the popular test matrices for eigenvalue routines because it has well-conditioned and poorly conditioned eigenvalues. In this paper, we investigate the bounds for the maximum eigenvalues of the special cases of the generalized Frank matrices which are called Fibonacci-Frank and Lucas-Frank matrices. Then, we obtain the Euclidean norms and the upper bounds for the spectral norms of these matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Water and soil resources are the most important factors in the production of energy needed for humans. In order to protect water and soil resources, different management methods are applied according to the conditions of each region. The participation of all watershed residents and changing their behavior will be one of the basic tools of any sustainable management plan. Since norms affect the participation and behavior of local communities; the purpose of this research is to investigate the norms affecting the participation and behavior of watershed residents in the implementation of water and soil protection projects. Materials and Methods: This research was done by descriptive-analytical method. For this purpose, Benchele watershed in Ravansar city was selected as the study area. A questionnaire was used to collect field data. The statistical population of this research was all heads of households of watershed residents in this area, numbering 569 people. Among them, using Cochran's formula and matching with Morgan's table, 229 people were directly questioned by simple random method and completed the questionnaires. Spearman's correlation tests and stepwise regression were used to analyze the data. The focus of the questions was focused on three independent variables (legal norms, normative beliefs and participatory norms) and two dependent variables (participation and behavior of watershed residents). In the data analysis section, descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, average, etc.) and inferential statistics (Spearman's correlation test and step-by-step regression) were used. Before performing the regression to check the collinearity test, the degree of collinearity of the independent variables was examined. Also, standardized beta values were used to determine the relative importance of each independent variable in the participation and behavior of watershed residents. Results and Discussion: The mean ranking results of each of the items of legal norms affecting the participation and behavior of watershed residents in water and soil protection projects show that the items of "people who damage water and soil resources should be fined" and "existing laws are useful to convince people in the field of protecting water and soil resources" have the greatest and least impact on legal norms with the participation and behavior of watershed residents, respectively. The results of the mean ranking of each of the items of normative beliefs affecting the participation and behavior of watershed residents in water and soil protection projects show that the highest ranking average is related to "society expects me to take care of water resources" and do not destroy the soil" and the lowest rating is related to "experts expect me not to destroy the soil". The mean ranking results of each items of the participation norm effective on the participation and cooperative behavior of watershed residents in water and soil protection projects show that from their point of view, the item "voluntarily participates in the construction of sediment dams" and the statement "I am willing to pay for the implementation of water and soil protection projects", respectively, have the greatest and least impact on the participation and behavior of watershed residents in water and soil protection projects. The results of Spearman's test showed that all three independent variables of legal norms, normative beliefs, and participatory norms have a positive and significant relationship with the participation and behavior of watershed residents. Also, the regression results and beta values showed that, respectively, the indicators of legal norms, normative beliefs, and participatory norms had the highest priority in the participation and behavior of local communities. Conclusion: The results showed that about 66% of watershed residents have moderate to low participation and cooperative behavior. The mean ranking results of each of the watershed residents' participation and their behavior to participate in water and soil protection projects show that the watershed residents' care of the projects after its completion, participation in the mortar dam construction project Mortar-cement dam has the greatest effect on their participation and cooperative behavior. Also, the items of participation in the construction of gabion dam project and the desire and intention of watershed residents towards water and soil protection had the least effect on the participation and behavior of watershed residents towards water and soil protection. In general, paying attention to the norms, beliefs, behaviors and attitudes of local communities should be on the agenda of managers and planners to pave the way to protect water and soil resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some natural environments on Earth are characterised by high levels of radiation, including naturally radioelement enriched mineral springs in the French Massif Central. Therefore, naturally radioactive mineral springs are interesting ecosystems for understanding how bacterial populations in these springs have adapted to high levels of natural and chronic radioactivity over the very long term. The aim of this study was to analyse the bacterial communities of sediments from five naturally radioactive mineral springs in the French Massif Central, sampled in autumn 2019 and spring 2020, and to observe whether radionuclides, compared to other physicochemical parameters, are drivers of the bacterial community structuring in these extreme environments. Physicochemical measurements showed that two springs, Dourioux and Montagne had high radioelement concentrations/activities (uranium, thorium and radon). Analysis of the structure of the bacterial communities, by next generation sequencing based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, showed that the presence of radionuclides in Dourioux and Montagne, did not lead to a reduction in bacterial diversity and richness compared to the other springs. However, Dourioux and Montagne were characterised by specific bacterial populations, whose presence correlates with the radioelement concentrations/activities measured in these springs. This suggests that radioelements could partly explain the structuring of bacterial communities in these springs. In addition, several of these operational taxonomic units (OTUs) specific to Dourioux and Montagne, mainly affiliated to Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, could be involved in the biogeochemistry of radionuclides through different mechanisms (biosorption, biomineralisation, bioaccumulation, and bioreduction), which would allow the development of other bacterial species sensitive to these metals/radioelements. In particular, the co-occurrence of sulphate and/or iron-reducing bacteria, capable of bioreducing uranium, with fermentative bacteria, releasing sources of organic carbons, reflects associations of bacteria with complementary functions that allow them to grow in this peculiar environment and maintain a high diversity in these extreme environments. This study has provided a better understanding of the structuring of bacterial communities exposed to ionising radiation for thousands of years in naturally radioactive environments.

This study discusses the issue of semantic shifts observed in high-frequency words, such as discourse, paradigm, narrative , in the news media discourse in the Russian language. It is shown that one of the effective methods of research is corpus analysis, for which an author’s corpus was created based on a random sample of texts of news articles published on the portal of the state news agency RIA Novosti over 2020-2023. Dynamic processes in the semantics of the analyzed highfrequency words were studied on the material of the National Corpus of the Russian language for the period 2000-2019. When considering the results obtained by the corpus analysis method, it was found out that, being initially the linguistic term, “narrative” turned into a functional proforma as a result of a semantic shift that occurred due to the diversity of newly acquired meanings, i.e. there was a modification of the original meaning of the word ‘ story, narration’ , which made the world into the universal one. The classical meaning of the word ‘ paradigm’ , characteristic of linguistics, is not represented in journalism, in the news media discourse it has been given other connotations such as scheme, model, idea, situation , which have moved into the core, nuclear area from the position of the near periphery. Some values are unique, so they have a small frequency (ipm). The interdisciplinary term “discourse” has turned into a term with vague semantics, but, unlike “narrative”, it is not a universal professional form, although it denotes processes occurring in various social spheres. It is shown that the semantic shift is not identical to the increase in the meaning of the word and is not determined strictly contextually. It is necessary to distinguish between the concept of semantic shift and the appearance of new meanings of the word, since the former is fixed in non-standard contexts and the demonstrated meaning cannot be clearly defined. In the course of the study, it was possible to establish that not all semantic shifts should be classified as erroneous, since it depends on the sphere in which the shift was detected. The use of the considered words in a different meaning is not profane, since the mobility of the lexical level of the language leads to transformations in speech and media discourse, allowing the appearance of texts stylistically close to the spoken style. Thus, we have identified and confirmed quantitatively the process of transformation of the words selected for analysis into pro-forms used as substitutes for a wide range of concepts.

G. Klir proposed to describe the behavior of complex systems using behavior functions (BFs) - invariant constraints on the set of system states. BFs are one of the most productive tools for studying the functioning of systems. To study systems, it is necessary to have a metric for measuring of the difference between two BFs. To describe BFs modern researchers do not use distributions other than probability or possibility. But these distributions can be considered as special cases of Sugeno fuzzy measures, the use of which greatly expands the possibilities in the study of systems. However, metrics to measure the difference between fuzzy measures have not been developed. Therefore, in this article, the authors proposed a new metric and an algorithm for its calculation for the case when BFs are described by Sugeno fuzzy measures. This metric is based on the Cartesian product of fuzzy measures and the use of our proposed concentration function. The metric makes it possible to compare the behavior of systems in the case of describing BFs by Sugeno fuzzy measures with different modalities, as well as to ensure the priority of taking into account the set of the most significant states of the system.