Global Forest Types Based on Climatic and Vegetation Data

Forest types are generally identified using vegetation or land-use types. However, vegetation classifications less frequently consider the actual forest attributes within each type. To address this in an objective way across different regions and to link forest attributes with their climate, we aimed to improve the distribution of forest types to be more realistic and useful for biodiversity preservation, forest management, and ecological and forestry research. The forest types were classified using an unsupervised cluster analysis method by combining climate variables with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data. Unforested regions were masked out to constrict our study to forest type distributions, using a 20% tree cover threshold. Descriptive names were given to the defined forest types based on annual temperature, precipitation, and NDVI values. Forest types had distinct climate and vegetation characteristics. Regions with similar NDVI values, but with different climate characteristics, which would be merged in previous classifications, could be clearly distinguished. However, small-range forest types, such as montane forests, were challenging to differentiate. At macroscale, the resulting forest types are largely consistent with land-cover types or vegetation types defined in previous studies. However, considering both potential and current vegetation data allowed us to create a more realistic type distribution that differentiates actual vegetation types and thus can be more informative for forest managers, conservationists, and forest ecologists. The newly generated forest type distribution is freely available to download and use for non-commercial purposes as a GeoTIFF file via doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19197.90082).

Choroby i ich objawy w XIX-wiecznym Słowniku polsko-łacińsko-łotewskim Jana Kurmina

This article presents an analysis of the names of diseases and their symptoms in Słownik polsko-łacińsko-łotewski (The Polish-Latin-Latvian dictionary) by Jan Kurmin (ed. Vilnius, 1858). The number of excerpted lexical items (377) is presented in 11 semantic fields (from the most expanded to the smallest one): diseases of the motor system, skin diseases, respiratory system diseases, symptoms of multiple diseases, internal diseases, infectious diseases, diseases of the sensory organs, wounds and cuts, digestive system diseases, mental diseases, cardiovascular diseases. The analysis shows that despite the high ability to observe symptoms, the knowledge of treatments remained limited, which is why the dictionary presents mostly diseases that can be easily observed with the unaided eye. The non-professional character of the dictionary is also evidenced by the use of synonymous sequences, vocabulary with indistinct meaning, and descriptive names of diseases.

The oldest odonyms of Lviv

Street names were not often the subject of thorough research. The authors mostly record the first mention of a street in the sources but never notice the process (in some cases quite long) of the name formation. This research focuses on the names that were used for a short time or disappeared together with the object around which they signified the space. The sources of this work were the four oldest city books of Lviv: the book of the council and the bench court, two books of income and expenditure, and the book of a bench, covering the period 1382–1448, although with certain intervals. Such sources are heterogeneous, but they record the names in different areas of use, which statistically only emphasizes the constant use of such names. The goals of this study are to collect all the oldest odonyms of Lviv from preserved sources and publish their translation into Ukrainian; to present the chains of their formation; and to analyze the names of streets that no longer exist. The methodological framework of the research is based on the ontological approach to space, which means the study of relations, connections, and interactions between the actual names and denotatum-objects, i.e. the terrain that describes the name. Also we used the genetic method, which consists in the sequential disclosure of the origin and development of a historical phenomenon and aims to study the dynamics of the object’s evolution through time. After compiling the database, the sufficient availability of factual material allowed to use a typological method through which, based on common features, it was possible to distinguish two types of street names: proper names and descriptive names. The first type includes established names that have the denotatum “street”. The second includes the names without denotatum; they often have a preposition (however, they invariably perform an informative function). In the list where the found odonyms are sorted according to the chronology of use, we can trace their stages of formation. Some of the names are conditionally localized. The summary asserts that almost all found odonyms in the city centre were formed by the middle of the 15th century and were almost invariably used in the following years. In the suburbs, there are only a few names. Since the suburbs were developed rather slowly until the 16th century, there was practically no need for new odonyms.

Snack Names In China

Previous studies of snack names have focused on their psychological impact on consumers in different cultures but have tended to ignore their onomastic features. This study helps to address this gap based on a corpus of 121 snack names extracted from the book Chinese Famous Local Delicious Food and Special Products. This study explores the patterns of syllables, sounds, and name types of snack names compiled in this small-scale corpus. In this investigation, it was found that descriptive names were the dominant type in the corpus and the most frequently described type feature was the food ingredient. Interestingly, metaphorical names in the corpus were in general found to be related to shape similarities. Contrary to previous findings on dish names and drinking brand names in China, the snack names examined in this corpus showed a preference for three-syllable patterns and “light” or “flat” tones. After discussing these and other findings of this research, this paper discusses what insights this study may provide for other name investigations that utilize corpus linguistic approaches.

From COVID-19 to COVID-666: Quasi-religious mentality and ideologies in Nigerian coronavirus pandemic discourse

In response to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, different religious-immune conspiracy theories emerged to explain the increasing scary situation in Nigeria. Emerging multifarious narratives of the contagion, which are embedded in peculiar Nigerian socio-religiosity and religious economy, reconstructed the discourses into two complexities: corona disease is an invention of the devil and other dark evil forces, and corona disease is a sign of the end of times. The obvious fabrications escalated uncertainties surrounding the pandemic as well as generated anxiety and fears among potential believers who sermonize spiritual vigilance for the ‘final battle and journey’. Drawing insights from critical discourse analysis, moral panic and frame theory, this study explores discursive means through which the pandemic is represented and reconstructed as long-awaited ‘doomsday’ warning in Nigerian online communities. Findings reveal instances of varying descriptive names, lexical derivations and discursive frames that reflect counter belief and quasi-religious ideologies. The study argues that complex religious doctrines rooted in antichrist or mark of the beast view, socio-religious ideologies of dominionism and overcommernism, cultural and personal linguistic processes have all contributed in shaping and institutionalizing the viral ‘apocalyptic’ world-view of the outbreak.

Some challenges in the naming and measuring of nanocellulose

Due to its renewable nature, its inherent strength, and many other favorable attributes, nanocellulose (NC) has drawn increasing attention for many potential applications. A diverse and complex assortment of NC products have been reported, and these are most commonly classified based on some contrasting procedures of preparation. The research community is facing a continuing challenge to adequately measure and quantify morphological features of various NC products. In principle, it ought to be possible to quantify and name NC based on such attributes as “degree of branching,” “breadth of particle size,” and “aspect ratio distribution,” etc. However, the ability to measure and compute such quantities still lies beyond what can be achieved in practical amounts of time in typical laboratories. Meanwhile, there has been tension between researchers proposing additional descriptive names, while at the same time there have been efforts at achieving uniformity and simplicity in nomenclature. It is proposed in this essay that this state of affairs is largely a reflection of complexity itself, such that NC products that have the same nominal description can be very different from each other when examined closely. The diversity itself may turn out to be a good thing, as researchers work to come up with varieties of NC that can survive an expected relentless competition from existing plastic-based or cellulose-based materials.

Official and Unofficial Toponyms on Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island (South Pacific), a small external territory of Australia, has a placenaming record marked by distinct historical, settlement, and land use periods. This brief communication considers the complex nexus of official–unofficial, embedded–unembedded, and English–Norfolk Island language toponyms as a way to make better sense of the localization of toponymic knowledge and to appreciate better how such knowledge functions within a minute society intricately connected to its own largely known past and an ever changing toponymic present. The data were collected during interview fieldwork on Norfolk Island during the period 2007–2009. It concludes by putting forward a four-category division of Norfolk Island toponyms: 1) official names adhering to common colonial forms; 2) official and unofficial descriptive names; 3) unofficial names commemorating local people; 4) unofficial and esoteric names remembering local events and people. These categories appear distinct, but they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The differentiation of processes of toponyms becoming embedded and the localization of toponymic knowledge are a possible explanation for the loss of toponymic knowledge among younger people on Norfolk Island and suggests a general ecological disconnect across time involving people, history, and events associated with Norfolk Island toponyms. The Norfolk Island official–unofficial toponym distinction is applicable to other toponymic case studies, especially situations with competing placenaming histories.

Hodonymy of Chengdu and Yekaterinburg: a Comparative Aspect

The nominative types and models of the hodonyms of Chengdu and Yekaterinburg is compared in the article, the task of finding universals in the hodonymy is set. There are three main types of hodonyms: descriptive, memorial, and conventionally symbolic. Comparative analysis has shown that the descriptive type can be recognized as universal, since it most fully reflects the main function of the hodonyms: an indication of the location of the object and its characteristics. The authors note that this is the most ancient type for the spontaneously forming hodonymicon of any city. It has been proved that in Yekaterinburg in the Soviet era, descriptive hodonyms are supplanted by memorial ones, these are, first of all, names — dedications to memorable dates and milestones in national history, to specific persons associated with the history of the country and the city. It has been established that descriptive names remain the most widespread in Chengdu, and conventionally symbolic type hodonyms are also popular, among which names, including traditional symbols of Chinese culture, good wishes, as well as abstract concepts expressing various positive qualities predominate. It is emphasized in the article that the hodonyms of the memorial and conditionally symbolic type in Chengdu and Yekaterinburg are fundamentally different, being a reflection of the history and culture of their countries

Blackburn’s Supervenience Argument Against Moral Realism: Revisited

Blackburn argues against naturalistic moral realism. He argues that there is no conceptual entailment from satisfying a naturalistic predicate to satisfying a moral predicate. But the moral is conceptually supervenient on the natural. However, this conjunction of conceptual supervenience with lack of conceptual entailment is something the non-realist can explain, but the realist cannot. I argue first that Blackburn’s best formulation of his challenge is his first one. Subsequently he reformulates it as a demand for a ‘ban on mixed worlds’. Critics have directed their arguments against this formulation but they are ineffective against Blackburn’s first formulation. My second thesis is, even so formulated the realist can meet the challenge. The bare conceptual supervenience of the moral on the natural can be given a realist explanation by understanding names of moral properties as descriptive names of natural properties.