Species as natural entities, instrumental units and ranked taxa: new perspectives on the grouping and ranking problems

2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A C Reydon ◽  
Werner Kunz
Keyword(s):  
Natural Entities ◽  
Ranking Problems

Ginger and Heart Health: From Mechanisms to Therapeutics

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Fakhri ◽  
Jayanta Kumar Patra ◽  
Swagat Kumar Das ◽  
Gitishree Das ◽  
Mohammad Bagher Majnooni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Cardiovascular Complications ◽  
National Database ◽  
Heart Health ◽  
Natural Entities ◽  
Cardioprotective Effects

Background: As a major cause of morbidity and mortality, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are globally increasing. In spite of recent development in the management of cardiovascular complications, CVDs have remained a medical challenge. Numerous conventional drugs are used to play cardioprotective roles; however, they are associated with several side effects. Considering the rich phytochemistry and fewer side effects of herbal medicines, they have gained particular attention to develop novel herbal drugs with cardioprotective potentials. Amongst natural entities, ginger is an extensively used and well-known functional food and condiment, possessing plentiful bioactivities, like antiinflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties in several disorders management. Objective: The current review deliberated phytochemical properties as well as the ginger/ginger constituents' biological activities and health benefits in several diseases, with particular attention to cardiovascular complications. Methods: A comprehensive research was conducted using multiple databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, national database (Irandoc and SID), and related articles in terms of the health benefits and cardioprotective effects of ginger/ginger constituents. These data were collected from inception until August 2019. Results: In recent years, several herbal medicines were used to develop new drugs with more potency and also minor side effects. Amongst natural entities, ginger is an extensively used traditional medicine in several diseases. The crude extract, along with related pungent active constituents, is mostly attributed to heart health. The cardioprotective effects of ginger are contributed to its cardiotonic, antihypertensive, anti-hyperlipidemia, and anti-platelet effects. The signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms of ginger regarding its cardioprotective effects are also clarified. Conclusion: This study revealed the biological activities, health benefits, and cardioprotective properties of ginger/ginger constituents along with related mechanisms of action, which gave new insights to show new avenue in the treatment of CVDs.

Defending the Difference

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Natural Entities ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Methodological Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The One

Dreyfus argues that there is a basic methodological difference between the natural sciences and the social sciences, a difference that derives from the different goals and practices of each. He goes on to argue that being a realist about natural entities is compatible with pluralism or, as he calls it, “plural realism.” If intelligibility is always grounded in our practices, Dreyfus points out, then there is no point of view from which one can ask about or provide an answer to the one true nature of ultimate reality. But that is consistent with believing that the natural sciences can still reveal the way the world is independent of our theories and practices.

ADDITIVE-VETO MODELS FOR CHOICE AND RANKING MULTICRITERIA DECISION PROBLEMS

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (06) ◽  
pp. 1350026 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADIEL TEIXEIRA DE ALMEIDA
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Additive Model ◽  
Additive Models ◽  
Numerical Application ◽  
Multicriteria Decision ◽  
Decision Methods ◽  
Overall Evaluation ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
Ranking Problems ◽  
Multicriteria Decision Problems

Using additive models for aggregation of criteria is an important procedure in many multicriteria decision methods. This compensatory approach, which scores the alternatives straightforwardly, may have significant drawbacks. For instance, the Decision Maker (DM) may prefer not to select alternatives which have a very low performance in whatever criterion. In contrast, such an alternative may have the best overall evaluation, since the additive model may compensate this low performance in one of the criteria as a result of high performance in other criteria. Thus, additive-veto models are proposed with a view to considering the possibility of vetoing alternatives in such situations, particularly for choice and ranking problems. A numerical application illustrates the use of such models, with a detailed discussion related to real practical problems. Moreover, the results obtained from a numerical simulation show that it is not so rare for a veto of the best alternative to occur in the additive model. This is of considerable relevance depending on the DM's preference structure.

scholarly journals The essentialness of diachrony

Diacronia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisc Gafton
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Natural Entities ◽  
The One ◽  
And Function

Natural entities—plants and animals, on the one hand, society, language, and culture, on the other—emerge through an assiduous diachronic effort, respond to diachronically developed needs, exist and function diachronically. However, through the instruments at his disposal, man can only perceive and grasp the “fragment”, seizing it for a prolonged instant, which explains his objective tendency to segment the spatiotemporal reality according to his own proportions and abilities. Reality itself, however, cannot be subjected to the unnatural segregation of one of its own products and elements, and cannot be fully comprehended in any other way than how it exists: as a whole. At the end of the synchronic road, what offers comprehension and understanding of the ontologically-becoming whole is the path of the diachronic method.

scholarly journals Natural Meanings and Cultural Values

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon P. James ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Model ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Causal Powers ◽  
New Model ◽  
Service Value ◽  
Natural Entities ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
To Come

In many cases, rivers, mountains, forests, and other so-called natural entities have value for us because they contribute to our well-being. According to the standard model of such value, they have instrumental or “service” value for us on account of their causal powers. That model tends, however, to come up short when applied to cases when nature contributes to our well-being by virtue of the religious, political, historical, personal, or mythic meanings it bears. To make sense of such cases, a new model of nature’s value is needed, one that registers the fact that nature can have constitutive value for us on account of the role it plays in certain meaningful wholes, such as a person’s sense of who he or she is.

scholarly journals Incorporation of the Method of Ranking the Hazards of Abandoned Mine Entries into a Rule-Based Expert System

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mhlongo ◽  
Amponsah-Dacosta ◽  
Kadyamatimba
Keyword(s):  
Expert System ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Abandoned Mines ◽  
Abandoned Mine ◽  
Production Rules ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Ranking Problems ◽  
The Web

The work of quantifying the problems of abandoned mines is the first step towards the rehabilitation of these mines. As the result, in all countries that have many abandoned mines, researchers and different organizations have been making efforts to develop decision-making tools, methods, and techniques for rehabilitation of abandoned mines. This paper describes the work conducted to incorporate the method for ranking the problems of abandoned mine entries into a rule-based expert system. This is done using the web-based expert system platform provided by expert system (ES)-Builder Shell. The ES is tested by applying it to the case study of the problems of abandoned mine entries in the areas of Giyani and Musina, Limpopo Province of South Africa. This paper gives details of the procedure followed in creating the production rules of the ES for ranking problems of abandoned mine entries (ES-RAME), its attributes, and the results of its application to the selected case study. The use of the ES-RAME is found to be important for setting the objectives and priorities of the rehabilitation of abandoned mine entries. In addition, the incorporation of the ranking method into the expert system ensured that the procedure of the tanking method is clearly communicated and preserved as the rules of the ES. The expert system also has the advantages of being consistent in its guidance, and it gives the user an opportunity to go through the ranking process of the system using any possible fictitious information; this gives the user a feel for the ranking process and the data required when using the ES-RAME.

scholarly journals Philistinism and the Preservation of Nature

Philosophy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Simon P. James
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Core Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Core ◽  
Natural Entities ◽  
The Arts

AbstractIt is clear that natural entities can be preserved – they can be preserved because they can be harmed or destroyed, or in various other ways adversely affected. I argue that in light of the rise of scientism and other forms of philistinism, the political, religious, mythic, personal and historical meanings that people find in those entities can also be preserved. Against those who impugn disciplines such as fine arts, philosophy and sociology, I contend that this sort of preservation requires the efforts of those whose work exemplifies the core values of the arts, the humanities and the qualitative social sciences.

Discovering Consensus Preferences Visually Based on Gower Plots

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (03) ◽  
pp. 741-761
Author(s):  
Li-Ching Ma
Keyword(s):  
Group Consensus ◽  
Visual Aids ◽  
Ranking List ◽  
Consensus Sequences ◽  
Group Ranking ◽  
Data Mining Approach ◽  
Search Processes ◽  
Ranking Problems ◽  
Visually Based ◽  
Made In

Group-ranking problems are widely encountered decision problems which combine personal preferences to form an integrated group priority; however, providing support to solve group-ranking problems is difficult because each person has his/her own viewpoint regarding how such decisions should be made. In addition, many researchers have shown that visual aids are useful in helping users comprehend decision backgrounds. Therefore, determining how to support the group-ranking process and providing visual aids is an important issue. This study proposes a novel graphical approach to discover group consensus sequences. First, a counting-based data mining approach is constructed to discover a consensus preference matrix. Second, an ordinal Gower plot can be drawn whereby group consensus sequences can be directly observed. Unlike previous methods, the proposed approach can discover group consensus sequences without involving tedious candidate generation and exhaustive search processes, derive a total ranking list, as well as provide visual aids to users.

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