Sciences of complexity and language origins: an alternative to natural selection

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor M Longa
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Specific Property ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Language Origins ◽  
Complex Design ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Self Organisation ◽  
Sciences Of Complexity

AbstractNatural selection is claimed to be the only way to explain complex design. The same assumption has also been held for language. However, sciences of complexity have shown, from a wide range of domains, the existence of a clear alternative: self-organisation, spontaneous patterns of order arising from chaos. According to this view, design derives from internal factors (dynamic interaction of the elements within the system) rather than from adaptation to the environment by means of selection. This paper aims to apply sciences of complexity to language origins; it shows that preexisting and well established ideas can be rethought according to such a view. The main objective of the paper is to illustrate the new and promising horizons that complexity could open as regards the origins of the most specific property of human beings.

Impact of Environmental Degradation on Human Health

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
_______ Archana ◽  
Charu Datta ◽  
Pratibha Tiwari
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The People ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Economic Institute ◽  
Day By Day

Degradation of environment is one of the most serious challenges before the mankind in today’s world. Mankind has been facing a wide range of problem arising out of the degradation of environment. Not only the areas under human inhabitation, but the areas of the planet without human population have also been suffering from these problems. As the population increase day by day, the amenities are not improved simultaneously. With the advancement of science and technologies the needs of human beings has been changing rapidly. As a result different types of environmental problems have been rising. Environmental degradation is a wide- reaching problem and it is likely to influence the health of human population is great. It may be defined the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water, and soil. The destruction of ecosystem and extinction of wildlife. Environmental degradation has occurred due to the recent activities in the field of socio-economic, institute and technology. Poverty still remains a problem as the root of several environmental problems to create awareness among the people about the ill effect of environmental pollution. In the whole research it is clear that all factors of environmental degradation may be reduced through- Framing the new laws on environmental degradation, Environment friend policy, Controlling all the ways and means of noise, air, soil and water pollution, Through growing more and more trees and by adapting the proper sanitation policy.  

scholarly journals Bio-Inspired Modality Fusion for Active Speaker Detection

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3397
Author(s):  
Gustavo Assunção ◽  
Nuno Gonçalves ◽  
Paulo Menezes
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Validation Process ◽  
Detection Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Speaker Detection ◽  
The One ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Fusion Ability

Human beings have developed fantastic abilities to integrate information from various sensory sources exploring their inherent complementarity. Perceptual capabilities are therefore heightened, enabling, for instance, the well-known "cocktail party" and McGurk effects, i.e., speech disambiguation from a panoply of sound signals. This fusion ability is also key in refining the perception of sound source location, as in distinguishing whose voice is being heard in a group conversation. Furthermore, neuroscience has successfully identified the superior colliculus region in the brain as the one responsible for this modality fusion, with a handful of biological models having been proposed to approach its underlying neurophysiological process. Deriving inspiration from one of these models, this paper presents a methodology for effectively fusing correlated auditory and visual information for active speaker detection. Such an ability can have a wide range of applications, from teleconferencing systems to social robotics. The detection approach initially routes auditory and visual information through two specialized neural network structures. The resulting embeddings are fused via a novel layer based on the superior colliculus, whose topological structure emulates spatial neuron cross-mapping of unimodal perceptual fields. The validation process employed two publicly available datasets, with achieved results confirming and greatly surpassing initial expectations.

RISK FACTORS FOR REDUCING VITAMIN D SUPPLY IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION AND OBESITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-191
Author(s):  
S.S.K. Zeid ◽  
◽  
L.V. Yakovleva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Arterial Hypertension ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Vitamin D Insufficiency ◽  
Test System ◽  
White Coat Hypertension ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Normal Body Weight

The aim of the study is to determine the contribution of external and internal factors, such as the season, body mass index (BMI), age, sex, degree of AH, the formation of insufficiency and/or deficiency of 25 (OH)D in adolescents with arterial hypertension (AH). Materials and methods: the core group consisted of 87 adolescents with primary AH, which then were divided into two subgroups depending on BMI (Subgroup 1 – overweight and obese, Subgroup 2 – with normal body weight). The control group consisted of 23 adolescents with the phenomenon of «white coat hypertension» (WHT). The level of 25(OH)D in the blood serum was determined by immunoextraction with further with further quantitative determination by enzyme immunoassay using StarFax 2100 analyzer (USA). A DIA source Immuno assays S.A. test system. (Belgium) was used. All calculations were carried out according to the instruction in which the norm was 25(OH)D>/=30–100 ng/ml; insufficiency – 10–29 ng/ml; deficiency – > 10 ng/ml. Results: the level of 25(OH)D in peripheral blood fluctuated in a wide range – from 5,1 to 50,2 ng/ml, the median level of 25(OH)D was 17,8 ng/ml [12,2; 23,5]. According to the results of the study, only 4 (3,6%) children had a normal vitamin D level, 95 (86,4%) had vitamin D insufficiency and 11 (10%) had a deficiency. The median values of 25(OH)D in children of the comparison group were statistically significantly higher than in children with AH of the 1st and 2nd subgroups – 23,3 ng/ml [20,8; 26,0], 14,9 ng/ml [10,8; 19,5] and 17,1 ng/ml [11,8; 23,7], respectively, p=0,001. Conclusion: according to the results of the multivariate analysis, 25(OH)D in the observed adolescents depends on many factors, such as age (6,7%), gender differences (5,7%), etc. The seasons have the greatest influence on its level (62,3%) and BMI (21,4%), the least – AH (3,9%).

Accessibility vs. Feasibility: Optimizing Function Allocation for Accommodation of Heterogeneous Populations

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Benjamin Knisely ◽  
Monifa Vaughn-Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Model ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Heterogeneous Populations ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Potential System ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Need To Evaluate ◽  
Design Case Study

Abstract Human beings are physically and cognitively variable, leading to a wide array of potential system use cases. To design safe and effective systems for highly heterogeneous populations, engineers must cater to this variability to minimize the chance of error and system failure. This can be a challenge because of the increasing costs associated with providing additional product variety. Most guidance for navigating these trade-offs is intended for late-stage design, when significant resources have been expended, thus risking expensive redesign or exclusion of users when new human concerns become apparent. Despite the critical need to evaluate accommodation-cost trade-offs in early stages of design, there is currently a lack of structured guidance. In this work, an approach to function modeling is proposed that allows the simultaneous consideration of human and machine functionality. This modeling approach facilitates the allocation of system functions to humans and machines to be used as an accessible baseline for concept development. Further, a multi-objective optimization model was developed to allocate functions with metrics for accommodation and cost. The model was demonstrated on a design case study. 16 senior mechanical engineering students were recruited and tasked with performing the allocation task manually. The results were compared to the output of the optimization model. Results indicated that participants were unable to produce concepts with the same accommodation-cost efficiency as the optimization model. Further, the optimization model successfully produced a wide range of potential product concepts, demonstrating its utility as a decision-aid.

Fused filament printing of specialized biomedical devices: a state-of-the art review of technological feasibilities with PEEK

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erfan Rezvani Ghomi ◽  
Saeideh Kholghi Eshkalak ◽  
Sunpreet Singh ◽  
Amutha Chinnappan ◽  
Seeram Ramakrishna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Patient Specific ◽  
Biomedical Devices ◽  
Fused Filament Fabrication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Patient Specific Implants ◽  
Complex Design ◽  
Wide Range

Purpose The potential implications of the three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology are growing enormously in the various health-care sectors, including surgical planning, manufacturing of patient-specific implants and developing anatomical models. Although a wide range of thermoplastic polymers are available as 3DP feedstock, yet obtaining biocompatible and structurally integrated biomedical devices is still challenging owing to various technical issues. Design/methodology/approach Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is an organic and biocompatible compound material that is recently being used to fabricate complex design geometries and patient-specific implants through 3DP. However, the thermal and rheological features of PEEK make it difficult to process through the 3DP technologies, for instance, fused filament fabrication. The present review paper presents a state-of-the-art literature review of the 3DP of PEEK for potential biomedical applications. In particular, a special emphasis has been given on the existing technical hurdles and possible technological and processing solutions for improving the printability of PEEK. Findings The reviewed literature highlighted that there exist numerous scientific and technical means which can be adopted for improving the quality features of the 3D-printed PEEK-based biomedical structures. The discussed technological innovations will help the 3DP system to enhance the layer adhesion strength, structural stability, as well as enable the printing of high-performance thermoplastics. Originality/value The content of the present manuscript will motivate young scholars and senior scientists to work in exploring high-performance thermoplastics for 3DP applications.

Solid State Materials Chemistry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick M. Woodward ◽  
Pavel Karen ◽  
John S. O. Evans ◽  
Thomas Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Specific Property ◽  
Integrated Treatment ◽  
Synthesis Methods ◽  
Materials Chemistry ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Hands On Learning ◽  
Extended Solids ◽  
Core Concepts

This comprehensive textbook provides a modern, self-contained treatment for upper undergraduate and graduate level students. It emphasizes the links between structure, defects, bonding, and properties throughout, and provides an integrated treatment of a wide range of materials, including crystalline, amorphous, organic and nano- materials. Boxes on synthesis methods, characterization tools, and technological applications distil specific examples and support student understanding of materials and their design. The first six chapters cover the fundamentals of extended solids, while later chapters explore a specific property or class of material, building a coherent framework for students to master core concepts with confidence, and for instructors to easily tailor the coverage to fit their own single semester course. With mathematical details given only where they strengthen understanding, 400 original figures and over 330 problems for hands-on learning, this accessible textbook is ideal for courses in chemistry and materials science.

scholarly journals Microwave-Hydrothermal Rapid Synthesis of Cellulose/Ag Nanocomposites and Their Antibacterial Activity

Nanomaterials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian-Hua Fu ◽  
Qing-Long Gao ◽  
Chao Qi ◽  
Ming-Guo Ma ◽  
Jun-Feng Li
Keyword(s):  
Antibacterial Activity ◽  
Antimicrobial Properties ◽  
Silver Ions ◽  
Heating Time ◽  
Diffusion Method ◽  
Dilution Method ◽  
Agar Dilution Method ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Microwave Hydrothermal ◽  
Wide Range

Silver-based antimicrobial nanomaterials are considered as the most promising antibacterial agents owing to their outstanding antimicrobial efficacy and their relatively low toxicity to human beings. In this work, we report on a facile and environment-friendly microwave-hydrothermal method to prepare cellulose/Ag nanocomposites using hemicellulose as the reductant. The influences of the microwave-hydrothermal heating time and temperature, as well as the hemicellulose concentration on the formation of cellulose nanocomposites, were investigated in detail. Experimental results indicated that the hemicellulose was an effective reductant for silver ions, with higher temperature and longer heating time favoring the formation of silver with higher crystallinity and mass content in the nanocomposites. Moreover, the antimicrobial properties of the as-prepared cellulose/Ag nanocomposites were explored using Gram-positive S. aureus ATCC 6538 and Gram-negative E. coli HB 101 by both disc diffusion method and agar dilution method, and the nanocomposites showed excellent antibacterial activity. These results demonstrate that the as-prepared cellulose/Ag nanocomposites, as a kind of antibacterial material, are promising for applications in a wide range of biomedical fields.

Minds and brains: angels, humans, and brutes

1982 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-315
Author(s):  
Mortimer J. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Conceptual Thought ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Fine Print

✓ In his 1982 Cushing oration, a distinguished philosopher, author, and discerning critic presents a distillate of his phenomenally wide range of personal experience and his familiarity with the great books and teachers of the present and the past. He explores the differences and relationships between human beings, brute animals, and machines. Knowledge of the brain and nervous system contribute to the explanation of all aspects of animal behavior, intelligence, and mentality, but cannot completely explain human conceptual thought.

scholarly journals FAKTOR-FAKTOR PENYEBAB TINDAK PIDANA KEKERASAN SEKSUAL TERHADAP ANAK

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ida Bagus Subrahmaniam Saitya
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Violence Against Children ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Victims Of Crime

<p>Law No. 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection, affirms that children are a mandate as well as the gift of God the Almighty, which we must always guard because in them the dignity, dignity and rights as human beings must be upheld. Children who are victims of crime are weak people who often cannot protect and help themselves because of their situation and conditions. Crime of sexual violence against children is a crime that uses violence or threats of violence<br />against children so that the child can be controlled for sexual relations. Internal factors causing criminal acts of sexual violence such as the proximity of the perpetrator to the victim, the role of the perpetrator, and the position of the victim. External factors that cause sexual violence crimes, namely environmental influences, such as being far from the crowd, lonely, or closed places that allow perpetrators to commit sexual violence.</p>

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