scholarly journals Taxonomy - for Computers

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Franz ◽  
Beckett Sterner

We explore solutions for identifying and reconciling taxonomic concepts that take advantage of the powers of computational representation and reasoning without compromising the suitability of the Linnaean system of nomenclature for human communication. Using the model of the semiotic triangle, we show that taxonomic names must variously achieve reference to nomenclatural types, taxonomic concepts (human-created theories of taxonomic identities), and taxa (evolutionary entities in nature). Expansion of the reference models into temporally transitioning systems shows that the elements of each triangle, and provenance among elements across triangles, are only identifiable if taxonomic names and concepts are precisely contextualized. The Codes of nomenclature, by mandating identifier (name) reuse but not requiring concept-specific identifier granularity, leave the challenge of framing and aligning the symbol/reference instances to human communicators who have superior cognitive abilities in this regard. Computers, in turn, can process greater volumes of narrowly framed and logically aligned data. Comparative, taxonomically referenced biological data are becoming increasingly networked and reutilized in analyses that expand their original context of generation. If we expect our virtual comparative information environments to provide logically enabled taxonomic concept provenance services, then we must improve the syntax and semantics of human taxonomy making - for computers.

Author(s):  
Liliya Bukreeva ◽  
Tetiana Kozak

The article studies humor in D. Nuhr’s work «Das Geheimnis des perfekten Tages», the ways of its expression, as well as the specificity and variety of German humor. It highlights the main ways of rendering the humorous effect in the process of translation from German into Ukrainian. Humor is a complicated and wide-spread phenomenon of our life, and, therefore, it is investigated in different branches of science. The cognitive abilities of a person enable them to comprehend and create the comic, and these abilities are based on memories, associations and comprehension of metameanings. Being a multifaceted category, humor cannot exist beyond a communicative situation created by a person, and, that is why discourse as a process of natural human communication has become an object of thorough research in the modern language studies. Verbal ways of making the humorous effect in the above-mentioned type of discourse are varied and the effect is produced by using these ways at different language levels. The most common means of producing comic and humorous effects in D. Nuhr’s works are such stylistic devices as metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, etc. Dieter Nuhr is a representative of the German mentality, which is characterized by certain traits. These characteristic features include: pedantry, law obedience, excessive cleanliness and excessive frugality, which are ridiculed in the works of Dieter Nuhr. The author’s irony is a difficult subject for linguistic study, as it is one of the types of the comic category and it is represented by a large number of stylistic means and objects of ridicule, for decoding which the researcher needs to have not only background knowledge, but also good orientation in modern German discourse. A linguocultural study of German humor based on the texts of Dieter Nuhr is carried out with the aim of developing ways of interpreting it for representatives of foreign cultures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 151-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Rossano

Abstract This paper outlines how the focus on how communicative signals might emerge and how the capacity to interpret them might develop, does not yet explain what type of motivation is required to actually deal with those signals. Without the consistent production of appropriate responses to the production of communicative signals, there would be no point in producing any signal. If language is a tool to accomplish things with others, we need to understand what would lead to cooperation. The first step consists in avoiding the blind belief that all cooperation requires some prosocial attitude. A great deal of cooperation can occur while each participant in the interaction is selfishly attempting to maximize their own benefits or minimizing damaging consequences. I describe how different types of turn-taking can be achieved via different levels of cognitive complexity and how interpretive turn-taking requires a great deal of cognitive abilities that great apes possess. Finally, I provide empirical evidence of social manipulation in non-human primates. Given our awareness of the occurrence of social manipulation during cooperation among human adults, it seems necessary to reconsider to what degree human communication and language evolution require unique prosocial motivations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduard Jendek

One hundred sixty eight taxa of the genus Agrilus (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) mostly from the Palearctic and Oriental regions are studied and their taxonomic, nomenclatural, distributional or biological data are updated. The following new taxonomic or nomenclatural acts are proposed. The status of four taxa is changed: Agrilus grandiceps hemiphanes Marseul, 1866 is changed from subspecies to species Agrilus hemiphanes stat. nov.; Agrilus lopatini Alexeev, 1964 is changed from species to subspecies Agrilus araxenus lopatini stat. nov.; the specific name hermineus Abeille de Perrin, 1907 is removed from the synonymy of A. lineola as a name of subspecies Agrilus lineola hermineus revalidated name, stat. nov.; Agrilus validiusculus Semenov, 1891 is changed from species to subspecies Agrilus transversesulcatus validiusculus stat. nov.. The following fifteen new synonyms are proposed: grusinus Obenberger, 1917 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890); hassani Théry, 1930 syn. nov. (synonym of A. proteus Abeille de Perrin, 1893); ieiunulus Obenberger, 1936 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus validiusculus Semenov, 1891); italicus Obenberger, 1920 syn. nov. (synonym of A. cyanescens Ratzeburg, 1837); juxtasuturalis Abeille de Perrin, 1897 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890); niveosignatus Obenberger, 1914 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus validiusculus Semenov, 1891); panchlorus Abeille de Perrin, 1897 syn. nov. (synonym of A. curtulus Mulsant & Rey, 1863); perparvus Obenberger, 1918 syn. nov. (synonym of A. roscidus Kiesenwetter, 1857); philippovi Alexeev, 1965 syn. nov. (synonym of A. vaginalis Abeille de Perrin, 1897); populneus Schaefer, 1946 syn. nov. (synonym of A. suvorovi Obenberger, 1935); rosei Niehuis & Bernhard, 2005 syn. nov. (synonym of A. viridis Linné, 1758); shamyl Obenberger, 1922 syn. nov. (synonym of A. lineola hermineus Abeille de Perrin, 1907); suturisignatus Obenberger, 1924 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890); tetrastichus Obenberger, 1924 syn. nov. (synonym of A. fissifrons Fairmaire, 1849) and tifliscus Obenberger, 1936 syn. nov. (synonym of A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890). Agrilus grandiceps Kiesenwetter, 1857 is a dubious name of unknown taxonomic concept due to lack of the primary type. The following twenty-seven lectotypes of nominal taxa are designated: A. affectans Obenberger, 1923; A. alacris Kerremans, 1896; A. fidjiensis Obenberger, 1924; A. grusinus Obenberger, 1917; A. hassani Théry, 1930; A. hermineus Abeille de Perrin, 1907; A. hypericicola Abeille de Perrin, 1893; A. ieiunulus Obenberger, 1936; A. limoniastri Bedel, 1886; A. mephistopheles Abeille de Perrin, 1897; A. morio Kerremans, 1895; A. beauprei mourguesi Schaefer, 1954; A. nigrivestis Abeille de Perrin, 1897; A. niveosignatus Obenberger, 1914; A. panchlorus Abeille de Perrin, 1897; A. perparvus Obenberger, 1918; A. proteus Abeille de Perrin, 1893; A. roscidus Kiesenwetter, 1857; A. rumanicus Obenberger, 1924; A. shamyl Obenberger, 1922; A. subroscidus Obenberger, 1924; A. suturisignatus Obenberger, 1924; A. suvorovi Obenberger, 1935; A. fidjiensis tetrastichus Obenberger, 1924; A. tifliscus Obenberger, 1936; A. transversesulcatus Reitter, 1890 and A. validiusculus Semenov, 1891. Additionally, the geographical range or host plant data are updated or revised for many taxa. The North American Agrilus bilineatus (Weber, 1801) is recorded from a single record from Turkey which is the first introduction of a Nearctic Agrilus to the Palearctic fauna.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whiten

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Canice E. Crerand ◽  
Ari N. Rabkin

Purpose This article reviews the psychosocial risks associated with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a relatively common genetic condition associated with a range of physical and psychiatric problems. Risks associated with developmental stages from infancy through adolescence and early adulthood are described, including developmental, learning, and intellectual disabilities as well as psychiatric disorders including anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders. Other risks related to coping with health problems and related treatments are also detailed for both affected individuals and their families. Conclusion The article ends with strategies for addressing psychosocial risks including provision of condition-specific education, enhancement of social support, routine assessment of cognitive abilities, regular mental health screening, and referrals for empirically supported psychiatric and psychological treatments.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 314-325
Author(s):  
Kimberly F. Frazier ◽  
Jessica Collier ◽  
Rachel Glade

Background The aim of this study was to determine the clinical efficacy of combining self-management strategies and a social thinking approach to address the social performance and executive function of an adolescent female with autism spectrum disorder. Method This research examined the effects of a social knowledge training program, “Think Social,” as well as strategies to improve higher order cognitive abilities. Results and Conclusion Although quantitative improvement was not found, several qualitative gains in behavior were noted for the participants of this study, suggesting a benefit from using structured environmental cues of self-management strategies, as well as improved social understanding through social cognitive training.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Hinckley

Abstract A patient with aphasia that is uncomplicated by other cognitive abilities will usually show a primary impairment of language. The frequency of additional cognitive impairments associated with cerebrovascular disease, multiple (silent or diagnosed) infarcts, or dementia increases with age and can complicate a single focal lesion that produces aphasia. The typical cognitive profiles of vascular dementia or dementia due to cerebrovascular disease may differ from the cognitive profile of patients with Alzheimer's dementia. In order to complete effective treatment selection, clinicians must know the cognitive profile of the patient and choose treatments accordingly. When attention, memory, and executive function are relatively preserved, strategy-based and conversation-based interventions provide the best choices to target personally relevant communication abilities. Examples of treatments in this category include PACE and Response Elaboration Training. When patients with aphasia have co-occurring episodic memory or executive function impairments, treatments that rely less on these abilities should be selected. Examples of treatments that fit these selection criteria include spaced retrieval and errorless learning. Finally, training caregivers in the use of supportive communication strategies is helpful to patients with aphasia, with or without additional cognitive complications.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. DiGiovanni ◽  
Travis L. Riffle

The search for best practices in hearing aid fittings and aural rehabilitation has generally used the audiogram and function stemming from peripheral sensitivity. In recent years, however, we have learned that individuals respond differently to various hearing aid and aural rehabilitation techniques based on cognitive abilities. In this paper, we review basic concepts of working memory and the literature driving our knowledge in newer concepts of hearing aid fitting and aural rehabilitation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Paulmann ◽  
Sarah Jessen ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz

The multimodal nature of human communication has been well established. Yet few empirical studies have systematically examined the widely held belief that this form of perception is facilitated in comparison to unimodal or bimodal perception. In the current experiment we first explored the processing of unimodally presented facial expressions. Furthermore, auditory (prosodic and/or lexical-semantic) information was presented together with the visual information to investigate the processing of bimodal (facial and prosodic cues) and multimodal (facial, lexic, and prosodic cues) human communication. Participants engaged in an identity identification task, while event-related potentials (ERPs) were being recorded to examine early processing mechanisms as reflected in the P200 and N300 component. While the former component has repeatedly been linked to physical property stimulus processing, the latter has been linked to more evaluative “meaning-related” processing. A direct relationship between P200 and N300 amplitude and the number of information channels present was found. The multimodal-channel condition elicited the smallest amplitude in the P200 and N300 components, followed by an increased amplitude in each component for the bimodal-channel condition. The largest amplitude was observed for the unimodal condition. These data suggest that multimodal information induces clear facilitation in comparison to unimodal or bimodal information. The advantage of multimodal perception as reflected in the P200 and N300 components may thus reflect one of the mechanisms allowing for fast and accurate information processing in human communication.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Molander ◽  
Lars Bäckman

Highly skilled miniature golf players were examined in a series of field and laboratory studies. The principal finding from these studies is that young and young adult players (range = 15-38 years) score equally well or better in competition than in training whereas older adult players (range = 46-73 years) perform worse in competitive events than under training conditions. It was also found that the impairment in motor performance on the part of the older players is associated with age-related deficits in basic cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention. These results support the hypothesis that older players may be able to compensate for age-related deficits under relaxed conditions, but not under conditions of high arousal. The possibility of improving the performance of the older players in stressful situations by means of various intervention programs is discussed.


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