scholarly journals An Alternative Approach to Classify Illegal Logging: The Case in Vietnam

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-143
Author(s):  
Huu Nam Nguyen ◽  
Ngoc Anh Cao
Keyword(s):  
Illegal Logging ◽  
Alternative Approach

This article examines the different kinds of illegal logging that takes place in Vietnam, challenging the typical approaches to understanding and classifying the various criminal activities involved. We argue that either overlooking the classification of illegal logging or relying solely on illegal timber volumes and legal descriptions to categorise the crime is not sufficient to comprehend its diverse nature. This leads to inappropriate measures to tackle the crime. Instead, this study suggests that illegal logging should be categorised into three types, which are fundamentally distinctive, not only with regard to the volumes of illicit timber and the legislative definitions of the crime, but also (and more importantly) with reference to the attributes of harvesters, the degree of their involvement and their motivations, and the level of organisation involved in criminal commissions.

CNN-based Classification of Degraded Images

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10) ◽  
pp. 28-1-28-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Endo ◽  
Masayuki Tanaka ◽  
Masatoshi Okutomi
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Image Restoration ◽  
Image Classification ◽  
Convolutional Neural Networks ◽  
Deep Convolutional Neural Networks ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Degraded Image ◽  
Degraded Images ◽  
Straightforward Approach

Classification of degraded images is very important in practice because images are usually degraded by compression, noise, blurring, etc. Nevertheless, most of the research in image classification only focuses on clean images without any degradation. Some papers have already proposed deep convolutional neural networks composed of an image restoration network and a classification network to classify degraded images. This paper proposes an alternative approach in which we use a degraded image and an additional degradation parameter for classification. The proposed classification network has two inputs which are the degraded image and the degradation parameter. The estimation network of degradation parameters is also incorporated if degradation parameters of degraded images are unknown. The experimental results showed that the proposed method outperforms a straightforward approach where the classification network is trained with degraded images only.

scholarly journals In the Case of Protosemiosis: Indexicality vs. Iconicity of Proteins

Biosemiotics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Faltýnek ◽  
Ľudmila Lacková
Keyword(s):  
Lower Organism ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Typological Characteristic

AbstractThe concept of protosemiosis or semiosis at the lower levels of the living goes back to Giorgio Prodi, Thomas A. Sebeok and others. More recently, a typology of proto-signs was introduced by Sharov and Vehkavaara. Kull uses the term of vegetative semiosis, defined by iconicity, when referring to plants and lower organism semiosis. The criteria for the typology of proto-signs by Sharov and Vehkavaara are mostly based on two important presuppositions: agency and a lack of representation in low-level semiosis. We would like to focus on an alternative approach to protosign classification. In particular, we aim to provide a sign-typological characteristic of proteins (in analogy to Maran’ s classification of environmental signs). Our approach is focused on representation, that is, we only consider the relation between a sign and its object. We are considering representation independently from the role of interpretant and interpretation (which is an epiphenomenon of agency). Two hypotheses are investigated and accordingly evaluated in this paper: (I) Proteins are indexical protosigns. (II) Proteins are iconic protosigns. The conclusion our argumentation leads to supports the hypothesis (II).

scholarly journals Taxonomic classification of algae by the use of chlorophyll a fluorescence

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-480
Author(s):  
Nikodem Szymański ◽  
Piotr Dąbrowski ◽  
Hazem Kalaji ◽  
Detlev Lohse ◽  
Balaji Panchal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Continuous Monitoring ◽  
Algal Species ◽  
Fluorescence Analysis ◽  
Traditional Group ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Chlorophyll Fluorescence Analysis

Natural water reservoirs are very important ecosystems thus they should be under continuous monitoring and protection. In water of low quality, the algal blooms develop develops vastly. The knowledge of algal species composition is necessary for understanding this process. There are a few traditional group-specific methods of microalgae classification, but they are often labour-intense and time-consuming. Moreover, the samples must be prepared and/or collected before getting any results. Non-invasive chlorophyll fluorescence analysis offers an alternative approach and potentially allows in situ estimation of algal concentration. In this work the fluorometric methods to estimate algae content in water and to differentiate algal populations is presented.

scholarly journals Classifying Intimate Partner Violence: A Functional Typology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Annabelle Wride
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Offending Behaviour

<p>A neglect of theoretical development has impaired psychological explanations for intimate partner violence (IPV), which in turn has hindered effective interventions for people who perpetrate IPV. This thesis addresses this problem by applying recent perspectives on classification to examine whether typologies of IPV facilitate useful explanations of these behaviours, and proposes an alternative strategy for classifying IPV. First, the role of classification is discussed, in terms of the theoretical requirements typologies should fulfil, and with specific reference to the classification of offending behaviour. Second, two of the most influential typologies of IPV – Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart’s (1994), and Johnson’s (1995, 2006) typologies – are critically analysed according to their conceptual problems. Third, a preliminary alternative approach to classifying IPV is proposed, in response to recent theoretical developments that suggest a focus on the function of IPV behaviours is required. This Motivational Systems Typology classifies individuals who have perpetrated IPV based on their motivations, and its capacity for facilitating explanations of IPV is demonstrated through an exemplar. Finally, the implications of this typology for understandings of IPV and classification are discussed.</p>

scholarly journals The Concept of Tributalism: A Comparative Analysis of S. Amin, J. Haldon and H. H. Stahl‘s Approaches

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Nerijus Babinskas
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Private Landowners ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Mode Of Production

By this article the author wants to revive the discussion about Marxist schemas of social development and their applicability for constructing models of universal history. The viewpoints of three scholars are presented in the current text: Samir Amin‘s who is known in the Western historiographical tradition as the main creator and promoter of the concept of tributary mode of production, John Haldon‘s who has paid much attention to the above-mentioned concept and has dedicated an entire book to this issue, Henri H. Stahl‘s who created an original alternative approach to the issue of tributalism. The author rejects J. Haldon‘s concept of „mode of production“ as being too narrow. In fact J. Haldon identifies the mode of production with the mode of exploitation. The author proposes a wider definition of the mode of production which is based on the analysis of Karl Marx‘s texts. According to the author, the most important elements of mode of production are exploitative subject (it is defined by property of conditions of production, which realises as the social power) and productive/obligatory unit which can be manifested as a household of an individual direct producer or as a community. The author proposes the following classification based on his conception of a mode of production: 1. A proprietor of land is a monarch/state and the productive/obligatory unit is the community (of Asiatic/Slavonic type); 2. A proprietor of land is a monarch/state and the productive/obligatory unit is the household of an individual direct producer; 3. Proprietors of land are private landowners and the productive/obligatory unit is the community (of Asiatic/Slavonic type); 4. Proprietors of land are private landowners and the productive/obligatory unit is the household of an individual direct producer. The most important conclusions of the author‘s are as follows: 1. H. H. Stahl‘s statement that there were alternatives in the social development of precapitalist societies are definitely reasonable. 2. Keeping in his mind the controversies between the conceptions of tributalism the author emphasizes that for the moment the question of the typology of antagonistic precapitalist societies remains open; so further researches and discussions are necessary. 3. As a point of departure for further researches and discussions the author proposes his classification of antagonistic precapitalist societies based on the criteria of an exploitative subject and a productive/obligatory unit.

Analyzing Qualitative Predictors with Too Few Data: An Alternative Approach to Handling Sparse-Cell Values

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Dillon ◽  
Matthew Goldstein ◽  
Lucy Lement
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Manager ◽  
Store Choice ◽  
Data Set ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Modeling Techniques ◽  
Marketing Data ◽  
Few Data ◽  
Alternative Remedies

The marketing manager faces several dilemmas when analyzing multivariate frequency data. If the choice is to analyze a series of two-dimensional condensed tables, the interrelationships between those factors not in the table will be lost and biased inferences can result. If the decision is to analyze the complete multiway table, many of the cells may be sparse. The authors address the issue of how best to handle sparse-cell values in the context of a marketing data set relating store choice behavior to a number of shopper-specific variables. A simple new approach to this problem, which utilizes loglinear modeling techniques, is developed and contrasted with alternative remedies. The results of the comparative analysis show the proposed approach performs well, especially in the correct classification of seemingly unclassifiable shoppers.

scholarly journals Classification of Non-Conventional Ships Using a Neural Bag-Of-Words Mechanism

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawid Polap ◽  
Marta Wlodarczyk-Sielicka
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Automatic Identification ◽  
Bag Of Words ◽  
Specific Class ◽  
Classification Problems ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
Video Frames ◽  
Alternative Approach

The existing methods for monitoring vessels are mainly based on radar and automatic identification systems. Additional sensors that are used include video cameras. Such systems feature cameras that capture images and software that analyzes the selected video frames. Methods for the classification of non-conventional vessels are not widely known. These methods, based on image samples, can be considered difficult. This paper is intended to show an alternative way to approach image classification problems; not by classifying the entire input data, but smaller parts. The described solution is based on splitting the image of a ship into smaller parts and classifying them into vectors that can be identified as features using a convolutional neural network (CNN). This idea is a representation of a bag-of-words mechanism, where created feature vectors might be called words, and by using them a solution can assign images a specific class. As part of the experiment, the authors performed two tests. In the first, two classes were analyzed and the results obtained show great potential for application. In the second, the authors used much larger sets of images belonging to five vessel types. The proposed method indeed improved the results of classic approaches by 5%. The paper shows an alternative approach for the classification of non-conventional vessels to increase accuracy.

Recent Advances in Machine Learning Methods for Predicting Heat Shock Proteins

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Chen ◽  
Pengmian Feng ◽  
Tao Liu ◽  
Dianchuan Jin
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Heat Shock Proteins ◽  
Learning Methods ◽  
Machine Learning Methods ◽  
Gold Standard Dataset ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Benchmark Datasets ◽  
Shock Proteins

Background:As molecular chaperones, Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) not only play key roles in protein folding and maintaining protein stabilities, but are also linked with multiple kinds of diseases. Therefore, HSPs have been regarded as the focus of drug design. Since HSPs from different families play distinct functions, accurately classifying the families of HSPs is the key step to clearly understand their biological functions. In contrast to laborintensive and cost-ineffective experimental methods, computational classification of HSP families has emerged to be an alternative approach.Methods:We reviewed the paper that described the existing datasets of HSPs and the representative computational approaches developed for the identification and classification of HSPs.Results:The two benchmark datasets of HSPs, namely HSPIR and sHSPdb were introduced, which provided invaluable resources for computationally identifying HSPs. The gold standard dataset and sequence encoding schemes for building computational methods of classifying HSPs were also introduced. The three representative web-servers for identifying HSPs and their families were described.Conclusion:The existing machine learning methods for identifying the different families of HSPs indeed yielded quite encouraging results and did play a role in promoting the research on HSPs. However, the number of HSPs with known structures is very limited. Therefore, determining the structure of the HSPs is also urgent, which will be helpful in revealing their functions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document