Hypothesis on the informative principles of voluntary and involuntary attention: on the theory of non-systems and causal environments in causal dualism

The subject of this research is certain informative principles of functionality of human nervous system. In the limelight is the interdependence of consciousness and information, as well as the question in the spirit of anti-physicalist arguments: whether the conscious processes are informative, and thus physical, or require a categorical apparatus for description? The first part of the article discusses possible wording of some informative principles of functionality of nervous system that answer the question “why” rather than “how”. The second part is dedicated to the general classification of causal environments, as well as description of conscious processes within the framework of new possible terminology. A number of hypotheses is advanced on the informative mechanisms of involuntary and voluntary attention. With regards to involuntary attention, the author examines the mechanism for resource conservation, or filtering information, which suggests that the nervous system tends to consume resources for processing the rarer – and more information capacious messages. Such position complies with the law of conservation of energy. Voluntary attention is viewed on the basis of information interpretation of the Le Chatelier’s principle. Voluntary attention, resulting conscious actions, and responses of the nervous system (including creativity) are considered as informational messages aimed at alleviation of the impact of external environment, namely the level of information uncertainty. Such information approach prompts to view consciousness as a non-system or causal environment, within which causality is transmitted without transmitting information. The article provides the variant of classification of causal environments that may contribute to further development of non-informative (non-physicalist) approach towards the problem of consciousness.

Exploring the Interpretation of COVID-19 Messaging on Older Adults’ Experiences of Vulnerability

Public health messages and societal discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic have consistently indicated a higher morbidity and mortality risk for older people, particularly those with multiple health conditions. Older adults’ interpretations of pandemic messaging can shape their perceived vulnerability and behaviours. This study examined their perspectives on COVID-19 messaging. Eighteen community-dwelling older adults residing in Manitoba (Canada) participated in semi-structured telephone interviews between July and August 2020, a period of low COVID-19 cases within the province. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that described participants’ processes of information interpretation when consuming pandemic-related messages, their emotional responses to messaging and consequent vulnerability, and the impacts of messaging on their everyday lives. Understanding how older adults have construed COVID-19 and pandemic-related messages, and the subsequent impact on their daily behaviours, is the first step towards shaping societal discourse and sets the stage for examining the pandemic’s long-term effects.

The relationship between nursing groups’ organizational socialization and nurses’ perception of organizational learning subprocesses: a cross-sectional study in hospital wards

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between a nursing group’s organizational socialization (OS) and the organizational learning (OL) subprocesses of information acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, information integration and organizational memory. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study, with an anonymous self-report questionnaire, was conducted at two university hospitals in Japan. OL was measured using the scale for OL subprocesses, while OS was measured using the scale for learning about the external environment. The questionnaire was administered from August to October 2018. Among the 1,077 nurses recruited from 34 wards, data from 466 nurses from 24 wards were analyzed. To verify the influence of the group’s OS on each OL subprocess, two-level hierarchical linear modeling with fixed effects was performed. Individual nurses’ OS was analyzed using centering within clusters and the group’s OS was analyzed using each ward’s average OS score by performing grand mean centering. Findings Nursing groups’ OS was positively and significantly associated with information interpretation and information integration, but not with information acquisition, information distribution and organizational memory. Originality/value This study expands OS and OL research by focusing on the relationship between the degree of OS of an entire group and the OL subprocess. When the degree of homophily of value, rule, knowledge and behavior of the entire group increases, the information understanding and the formation of new explicit knowledge may also increase in the group.

ON FORMATION OF STRUCTURES: DESIGN EXAMPLES AND DISCUSSION

This paper discusses the formation of structures by taking the process of gene transcription and translation as the template. The hypothesis of this paper is that the gene transcription and translation process can describe the formation of structures both in engineering design and in biology. The paper first presents design examples including integrated circuit (IC) chambers, flapping wings of bird robots, and typical mechanisms and formulate the formation patterns of the design process as four steps: information interpretation, selection of building blocks, the connection of building blocks, and formation of structures. The key step of the formation process is to assemble building blocks for structures both in engineering and in biology. Building blocks in biology are amino acids while they are structures in design. The autonomous degree of the formation process depends on the level of building blocks. The reuse degree of the building blocks depends on the level of building blocks too. In biology, structures of proteins are self-organized, so one way towards design automation is to use lower-level building blocks.

Semantic Relativism and Information Science: An Exploration of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Semantic relativism supplies an underutilized method to analyze the information a statement presents by signaling the context of judgement. This study applies semantic relativism to the Supreme Court of the United States case District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) to understand the differing legal opinions released by the Court. While information literacy focuses on bias in sources, semantic relativism allows us to evaluate the information presented. Since it attends to the context of judgement, semantic relativism can be utilized with other information science tools that evaluate the legitimacy of information interpretation.

Identification of genetic soil types based on remote sensing data

At the present stage of social development traditional contact methods of studying the territory features are inferior to other, less costly and more profitable technologies. Such technology is automation of space imagery information interpretation. It allows to minimize scope of field works and it is economically and managerially profitable method of territory analysis. So, in the work the methods of digital analysis and automatic Earth remote data sensing interpretation are used for identification of genetic soil types. During the research conditions of the land has been determined by calculation and index images analysis. The application of interpretational signs had allowed to identify genetic soil types. The methodology and the results of the analysis can serve as a basis for solving the problems of updating soil maps.

New Perspectives of Machine Learning in Drug Discovery

: Artificial intelligence methods, in particular, machine learning, has been playing a pivotal role in drug development, from structural design to clinical trial. This approach is harnessing the impact of computer-aided drug discovery thanks to large available data sets for drug candidates and its new and complex manner of information interpretation to identify patterns for the study scope. In the present review, recent applications related to drug discovery and therapies are assessed, and limitations and future perspectives are analyzed.

Issues in Attribution and Expert Assessment of the Decorative Porcelain Objects

This paper explores the main issues in professional attribution and methodology for the expert assessment of decorative porcelain works. Expert assessment of such works consists of a range of examinations, including studies of technological peculiarities, marking of items, stylistic, heraldic and epigraphic analysis. The history of Russian porcelain is heavily influenced by various trends in European art, as well as events in Russian history. In each stage of development of locally produced porcelain, marks on the items were used in different way and presented a different range of information. Interpretation of these marks provides an important source of attribution and establishment of provenance and, therefore, is of vital importance for any professional working with Russian porcelain. This article provides information on the porcelain markings from the establishment of first porcelain factories in eighteenth-century Russia during the imperial period, before discussing markings on Soviet porcelain and, finally, giving examples of contemporary marks used by modern Russian factories. Keywords: attribution, expertise, porcelain, decorative plastic, sculpture, decoration, brand names, hallmarks, author’s signatures

Digitalization of the economy as a factor of the region's sustainable competitive advantages in the face of global challenges

Subject. This article discusses the issues related to the implementation of the National project Digital Economy of the Russian Federation in the regions of Russia. Objectives. The article aims to develop and test a methodological approach to assessing the impact of the economy digitalization on the level of competition capacity of the areas, and justify practical recommendations on its use in the system of regional management. Methods. For the study, I used a correlation analysis, dialectical and systems approaches, and the table procedure of information interpretation. Results. The article proposes a developed and tested methodological approach to assessing the impact of the economy digitalization on the level of sustainability of the competitive advantages of regions. The classification of regions by level of competitiveness, informatization and digitalization is presented. The article also offers a set of activities aimed at developing the digital economy taking into account new challenges for each type of regions. Conclusions. The article concludes that there is a directly proportional relationship between the level of digitalization of the region and its stable ability to compete. To improve the system of regional management in the aspect of the digital economy development, the proposed set of measures is needed, which can help raise the country's competitive capacity in the medium term.