Braun-Blanquet meets EcoVeg: a formation and division level classification of European phytosociological units

Aims: To link the Braun-Blanquet units of the EuroVegChecklist (EVC) with the upper levels of the International Vegetation Classification (IVC), and to propose a division level classification for Europe. Study area: Europe. Methods: We established a tabular linkage between EVC classes and IVC formations and identified mismatches between these two levels. We then proposed IVC division level units to organize EVC classes. Results: We organized the EVC classes into 21 formations and 30 divisions. We flagged classes that did not fit comfortably within an existing formation, either because its content corresponded to more than one formation or because it did not fit any formation description. In a few cases, we split EVC classes because they seemed too heterogenous to be assigned to a single formation. Conclusions: The IVC approach adds a set of physiognomic and ecological criteria that effectively organizes the EVC classes, which are already being increasingly informed by physiognomy. Therefore, the formation concepts are relatively natural extensions of concepts already embedded in the classes. However, physiognomic placement of Braun-Blanquet classes can be difficult when the sampling of the vegetation is at finer grain than usual in the respective formation (tall-scrub, annual pioneer communities). Some EVC classes seem too heterogenous to fit into the IVC formation system. Delimitation of these classes has often been a matter of debate for many decades, and the IVC perspective might help to solve these intricate issues. In other cases, mismatches between phytosociological classes and IVC formations might better be solved by emending the current formation concepts. Abbreviations: BB = Braun-Blanquet; EVC = EuroVegChecklist; IVC = International Vegetation Classification.

Cost-sensitive ensemble learning: a unifying framework

Over the years, a plethora of cost-sensitive methods have been proposed for learning on data when different types of misclassification errors incur different costs. Our contribution is a unifying framework that provides a comprehensive and insightful overview on cost-sensitive ensemble methods, pinpointing their differences and similarities via a fine-grained categorization. Our framework contains natural extensions and generalisations of ideas across methods, be it AdaBoost, Bagging or Random Forest, and as a result not only yields all methods known to date but also some not previously considered.

Totally Ergodic Generalised Matrix Equilibrium States have the Bernoulli Property

We show that every totally ergodic generalised matrix equilibrium state is $$\psi $$ ψ -mixing with respect to the natural partition into cylinders and hence is measurably isomorphic to a Bernoulli shift in its natural extension. This implies that the natural extensions of ergodic generalised matrix equilibrium states are measurably isomorphic to Bernoulli processes extended by finite rotations. This resolves a question of Gatzouras and Peres in the special case of self-affine repelling sets with generic translations.

COMMUTATOR EQUATIONS IN FINITE GROUPS

The problem of finding the number of ordered commuting tuples of elements in a finite group is equivalent to finding the size of the solution set of the system of equations determined by the commutator relations that impose commutativity among any pair of elements from an ordered tuple. We consider this type of systems for the case of ordered triples and express the size of the solution set in terms of the irreducible characters of the group. The obtained formulas are natural extensions of Frobenius’ character formula that calculates the number of ways a group element is a commutator of an ordered pair of elements in a finite group. We discuss how our formulas can be used to study the probability distributions afforded by these systems of equations, and we show explicit calculations for dihedral groups.

(2, k)-Distance Fibonacci Polynomials

In this paper we introduce and study (2,k)-distance Fibonacci polynomials which are natural extensions of (2,k)-Fibonacci numbers. We give some properties of these polynomials—among others, a graph interpretation and matrix generators. Moreover, we present some connections of (2,k)-distance Fibonacci polynomials with Pascal’s triangle.

Study of HgOH to Assess Its Suitability for Electron Electric Dipole Moment Searches

In search of suitable molecular candidates for probing the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron (de), a property that arises due to parity and time-reversal violating (P,T-odd) interactions, we consider the triatomic mercury hydroxide (HgOH) molecule. The impetus for this proposal is based on previous works on two systems: the recently proposed ytterbium hydroxide (YbOH) experiment that demonstrates the advantages of polyatomics for such EDM searches, and the finding that mercury halides provide the highest enhancement due to de compared to other diatomic molecules. We identify the ground state of HgOH as being in a bent geometry, and show that its intrinsic EDM sensitivity is comparable to the corresponding value for YbOH. Along with the theoretical results, we discuss plausible experimental schemes for an EDM measurement in HgOH. Furthermore, we provide pilot calculations of the EDM sensitivity for de for HgCH3 and HgCF3, that are natural extensions of HgOH.

Phenomenology within the Framework of Naturalistic Turn’s Paradigm

The subject matter of the paper proposed can be defined as one of the most sig­nificant contemporary trends in interrelation between philosophy and cognitive sciences (as far as cognition and consciousness studies are concerned), that is natural extensions of phenomenology in the framework of neurophenomenol­ogy’s paradigm (F. Varela, E. Thompson, D. Zahavi, S. Gallagher). Proposed integrative models of phenomenology and neurobiology: phenomenological analysis of introspective presumptions of psychological and neurosciences’ ex­periments, phenomenological participation in experimental design’s formation, at last, phenomenological analysis of psychological and neurosciences’ concep­tual resources’ investigations have clearly been examined in the light of classical Husserl’s phenomenology. As this paper intends to show, in cognition and con­sciousness studies it seems methodologically more correct to speak not about integrative models (as proposed), but rather about research strategies’ comple­mentarity, mutual enhancement of cognitive sciences, neuroscience and phe­nomenology. Nevertheless both ontological and epistemological presumptions in their philosophical foundations (V.S. Stepin) are irreducible to phenomeno­logical ones. The final conclusion is that the term “neurophenomenology” seems not to be rigorous philosophical concept, but rather interdisciplinary metaphor, which presents contemporary aspiration to integrate the results achieved in phi­losophy and different fields of disciplinary researches. It interlocks naturalistic attitude to verified truth’s destination with constructive-realistic perspective of the human reason.