WorldWideScience

Sample records for linguistic tree structure

  1. Linguistic Structure Prediction

    CERN Document Server

    Smith, Noah A

    2011-01-01

    A major part of natural language processing now depends on the use of text data to build linguistic analyzers. We consider statistical, computational approaches to modeling linguistic structure. We seek to unify across many approaches and many kinds of linguistic structures. Assuming a basic understanding of natural language processing and/or machine learning, we seek to bridge the gap between the two fields. Approaches to decoding (i.e., carrying out linguistic structure prediction) and supervised and unsupervised learning of models that predict discrete structures as outputs are the focus. W

  2. Saussurean structuralism and cognitive linguistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elffers, E.

    2012-01-01

    Cognitive linguistics (CL) is often regarded as a continuation of Saussurean structuralism. This paper explores the relationship between the two paradigms, focussing on the connection between semantics and views on the language-thought relationship. As it turns out, the similarity in this respect

  3. Tree Colors: Color Schemes for Tree-Structured Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tennekes, Martijn; de Jonge, Edwin

    2014-12-01

    We present a method to map tree structures to colors from the Hue-Chroma-Luminance color model, which is known for its well balanced perceptual properties. The Tree Colors method can be tuned with several parameters, whose effect on the resulting color schemes is discussed in detail. We provide a free and open source implementation with sensible parameter defaults. Categorical data are very common in statistical graphics, and often these categories form a classification tree. We evaluate applying Tree Colors to tree structured data with a survey on a large group of users from a national statistical institute. Our user study suggests that Tree Colors are useful, not only for improving node-link diagrams, but also for unveiling tree structure in non-hierarchical visualizations.

  4. A Short History of Structural Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Peter

    This book is a concise history of structural linguistics, charting its development from the 1870s to the present day. It explains what structuralism was and why its ideas are still central today. For structuralists, a language is a self-contained and tightly organized system whose history is of changes from one state of the system to another. This…

  5. TreeNetViz: revealing patterns of networks over tree structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gou, Liang; Zhang, Xiaolong Luke

    2011-12-01

    Network data often contain important attributes from various dimensions such as social affiliations and areas of expertise in a social network. If such attributes exhibit a tree structure, visualizing a compound graph consisting of tree and network structures becomes complicated. How to visually reveal patterns of a network over a tree has not been fully studied. In this paper, we propose a compound graph model, TreeNet, to support visualization and analysis of a network at multiple levels of aggregation over a tree. We also present a visualization design, TreeNetViz, to offer the multiscale and cross-scale exploration and interaction of a TreeNet graph. TreeNetViz uses a Radial, Space-Filling (RSF) visualization to represent the tree structure, a circle layout with novel optimization to show aggregated networks derived from TreeNet, and an edge bundling technique to reduce visual complexity. Our circular layout algorithm reduces both total edge-crossings and edge length and also considers hierarchical structure constraints and edge weight in a TreeNet graph. These experiments illustrate that the algorithm can reduce visual cluttering in TreeNet graphs. Our case study also shows that TreeNetViz has the potential to support the analysis of a compound graph by revealing multiscale and cross-scale network patterns. © 2011 IEEE

  6. Neural systems supporting linguistic structure, linguistic experience, and symbolic communication in sign language and gesture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Aaron J; Supalla, Ted; Fernandez, Nina; Newport, Elissa L; Bavelier, Daphne

    2015-09-15

    Sign languages used by deaf communities around the world possess the same structural and organizational properties as spoken languages: In particular, they are richly expressive and also tightly grammatically constrained. They therefore offer the opportunity to investigate the extent to which the neural organization for language is modality independent, as well as to identify ways in which modality influences this organization. The fact that sign languages share the visual-manual modality with a nonlinguistic symbolic communicative system-gesture-further allows us to investigate where the boundaries lie between language and symbolic communication more generally. In the present study, we had three goals: to investigate the neural processing of linguistic structure in American Sign Language (using verbs of motion classifier constructions, which may lie at the boundary between language and gesture); to determine whether we could dissociate the brain systems involved in deriving meaning from symbolic communication (including both language and gesture) from those specifically engaged by linguistically structured content (sign language); and to assess whether sign language experience influences the neural systems used for understanding nonlinguistic gesture. The results demonstrated that even sign language constructions that appear on the surface to be similar to gesture are processed within the left-lateralized frontal-temporal network used for spoken languages-supporting claims that these constructions are linguistically structured. Moreover, although nonsigners engage regions involved in human action perception to process communicative, symbolic gestures, signers instead engage parts of the language-processing network-demonstrating an influence of experience on the perception of nonlinguistic stimuli.

  7. In Few Words: Linguistic Gap but Adequate Narrative Structure in Preschool Bilingual Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonifacci, Paola; Barbieri, Margherita; Tomassini, Marta; Roch, Maja

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to compare linguistic and narrative skills of monolingual and bilingual preschoolers and to estimate linguistic predictors of the macro-structural level of narratives. A battery of linguistic measures in Italian was administered to sixty-four Monolinguals and sixty-four Early Bilinguals; it included Vocabulary,…

  8. Genetic and linguistic coevolution in Northern Island Melanesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunley, Keith; Dunn, Michael; Lindström, Eva; Reesink, Ger; Terrill, Angela; Healy, Meghan E; Koki, George; Friedlaender, Françoise R; Friedlaender, Jonathan S

    2008-10-01

    Recent studies have detailed a remarkable degree of genetic and linguistic diversity in Northern Island Melanesia. Here we utilize that diversity to examine two models of genetic and linguistic coevolution. The first model predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed following population splits and isolation at the time of early range expansions into the region. The second is analogous to the genetic model of isolation by distance, and it predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed through continuing genetic and linguistic exchange between neighboring populations. We tested the predictions of the two models by comparing observed and simulated patterns of genetic variation, genetic and linguistic trees, and matrices of genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. The data consist of 751 autosomal microsatellites and 108 structural linguistic features collected from 33 Northern Island Melanesian populations. The results of the tests indicate that linguistic and genetic exchange have erased any evidence of a splitting and isolation process that might have occurred early in the settlement history of the region. The correlation patterns are also inconsistent with the predictions of the isolation by distance coevolutionary process in the larger Northern Island Melanesian region, but there is strong evidence for the process in the rugged interior of the largest island in the region (New Britain). There we found some of the strongest recorded correlations between genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. We also found that, throughout the region, linguistic features have generally been less likely to diffuse across population boundaries than genes. The results from our study, based on exceptionally fine-grained data, show that local genetic and linguistic exchange are likely to obscure evidence of the early history of a region, and that language barriers do not particularly hinder genetic exchange. In contrast, global patterns may

  9. Genetic and linguistic coevolution in Northern Island Melanesia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keith Hunley

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies have detailed a remarkable degree of genetic and linguistic diversity in Northern Island Melanesia. Here we utilize that diversity to examine two models of genetic and linguistic coevolution. The first model predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed following population splits and isolation at the time of early range expansions into the region. The second is analogous to the genetic model of isolation by distance, and it predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed through continuing genetic and linguistic exchange between neighboring populations. We tested the predictions of the two models by comparing observed and simulated patterns of genetic variation, genetic and linguistic trees, and matrices of genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. The data consist of 751 autosomal microsatellites and 108 structural linguistic features collected from 33 Northern Island Melanesian populations. The results of the tests indicate that linguistic and genetic exchange have erased any evidence of a splitting and isolation process that might have occurred early in the settlement history of the region. The correlation patterns are also inconsistent with the predictions of the isolation by distance coevolutionary process in the larger Northern Island Melanesian region, but there is strong evidence for the process in the rugged interior of the largest island in the region (New Britain. There we found some of the strongest recorded correlations between genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. We also found that, throughout the region, linguistic features have generally been less likely to diffuse across population boundaries than genes. The results from our study, based on exceptionally fine-grained data, show that local genetic and linguistic exchange are likely to obscure evidence of the early history of a region, and that language barriers do not particularly hinder genetic exchange. In contrast

  10. Pragmatic Strategies and Linguistic Structures in Making ‘Suggestions’: Towards Comprehensive Taxonomies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Abolfathiasl

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses and upgrades taxonomies of strategies and structures for the speech act of suggesting based on existing taxonomies and classifications in the pragmatics research literature. Previous studies have focused mainly on linguistic structures used to perform the speech act of suggesting. Thus, there seems to be a need to provide a more comprehensive set of taxonomies for structures as well as strategies that can be used in EFL/ESL classrooms and for research on the speech act of suggesting. To this end, the speech act of suggesting is defined first and the features of this speech act are discussed. Second, the most recent classifications proposed for structures and linguistic realization strategies for suggestions were analysed and contrasted and a more comprehensive taxonomy of structures and linguistic realization strategies is provided, based on previous taxonomies. Finally, taxonomy of politeness strategies in making suggestions are provided, based on recent studies in cross-cultural pragmatics research.

  11. On Functional Potential of Interrogative Structures in Academic Linguistic Discourse

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey Trofimovich Nefedov

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the language of scientific communication in the field of linguistics, namely, with the functional potential of the interrogative structures in the form of direct and embedded questions. From a pragmatic perspective the interrogative structures does not seem to be compatible with the contexts of scientific interaction: scientists do not ask for information, but they offer their own solutions for the problem situations. This is reflected in the extremely low frequency of questions in academic research articles and monographs. Their text frequency works out a little over 2 % of the total number of the text predications and that of direct questions is about 1 %. Therefore, their place in verbalization of scientific knowledge in linguistics is metaphorically characterized in this article as «interrogative prohibition» by analogy with the «prohibitions» of Harald Weinrich who introduced several notions point to rarely used linguistic units: «prohibition of authorization» – das «Ich-Verbot», «narrative prohibition» – das «Erzähl-Verbot»; «prohibition of metaphors»– das «MetaphernVerbot». In its turn, low frequency makes the analyzed structures an effective tool to formulate the discussed problems, enables further argumentation, integrate the current text into overall linguistic discourse, control the development of the argumentation in scientific text and finally to draw the recipient's attention to a crucial or unexpected argument.

  12. Historical linguistics in Australia: trees, networks and their implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowern, Claire

    2010-12-12

    This paper presents an overview of the current state of historical linguistics in Australian languages. Australian languages have been important in theoretical debates about the nature of language change and the possibilities for reconstruction and classification in areas of intensive diffusion. Here are summarized the most important outstanding questions for Australian linguistic prehistory; I also present a case study of the Karnic subgroup of Pama-Nyungan, which illustrates the problems for classification in Australian languages and potential approaches using phylogenetic methods.

  13. Structural Equation Model Trees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandmaier, Andreas M.; von Oertzen, Timo; McArdle, John J.; Lindenberger, Ulman

    2013-01-01

    In the behavioral and social sciences, structural equation models (SEMs) have become widely accepted as a modeling tool for the relation between latent and observed variables. SEMs can be seen as a unification of several multivariate analysis techniques. SEM Trees combine the strengths of SEMs and the decision tree paradigm by building tree…

  14. On the structure of path-like trees

    OpenAIRE

    Muntaner Batle, Francesc Antoni; Rius Font, Miquel

    2007-01-01

    We study the structure of path-like trees. In order to do this, we introduce a set of trees that we call expandable trees. In this paper we also generalize the concept of path-like trees and we call such generalization generalized path-like trees. As in the case of path-like trees, generalized path-like trees, have very nice labeling properties.

  15. Personification in discourse: linguistic forms, conceptual structures and communicative functions.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dorst, A.G.

    2011-01-01

    Drawing on examples from a corpus of 14 excerpts from novels, this article aims to present a systematic investigation of the different linguistic forms, conceptual structures and communicative functions of personification in discourse. The Metaphor Identification Procedure (Pragglejaz Group, 2007)

  16. Dissimilarity-based classification of anatomical tree structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Lauge; Lo, Pechin Chien Pau; Dirksen, Asger

    2011-01-01

    A novel method for classification of abnormality in anatomical tree structures is presented. A tree is classified based on direct comparisons with other trees in a dissimilarity-based classification scheme. The pair-wise dissimilarity measure between two trees is based on a linear assignment betw...

  17. Dissimilarity-based classification of anatomical tree structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Lauge Emil Borch Laurs; Lo, Pechin Chien Pau; Dirksen, Asger

    2011-01-01

    A novel method for classification of abnormality in anatomical tree structures is presented. A tree is classified based on direct comparisons with other trees in a dissimilarity-based classification scheme. The pair-wise dissimilarity measure between two trees is based on a linear assignment...

  18. Linguistics, Structuralism, and Semiology Approaches to the Cinema With a Bibliography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harpole, Charles H.; Hanhardt, John G.

    1973-01-01

    An introduction to linguistics, structuralism, and semiology, with special emphasis on how these fields affect and can be applied in the study of cinema. The extensive bibliography includes books and articles in five languages. (CH)

  19. New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malhi, Yadvinder; Jackson, Tobias; Patrick Bentley, Lisa; Lau, Alvaro; Shenkin, Alexander; Herold, Martin; Calders, Kim; Bartholomeus, Harm; Disney, Mathias I

    2018-04-06

    Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) opens up the possibility of describing the three-dimensional structures of trees in natural environments with unprecedented detail and accuracy. It is already being extensively applied to describe how ecosystem biomass and structure vary between sites, but can also facilitate major advances in developing and testing mechanistic theories of tree form and forest structure, thereby enabling us to understand why trees and forests have the biomass and three-dimensional structure they do. Here we focus on the ecological challenges and benefits of understanding tree form, and highlight some advances related to capturing and describing tree shape that are becoming possible with the advent of TLS. We present examples of ongoing work that applies, or could potentially apply, new TLS measurements to better understand the constraints on optimization of tree form. Theories of resource distribution networks, such as metabolic scaling theory, can be tested and further refined. TLS can also provide new approaches to the scaling of woody surface area and crown area, and thereby better quantify the metabolism of trees. Finally, we demonstrate how we can develop a more mechanistic understanding of the effects of avoidance of wind risk on tree form and maximum size. Over the next few years, TLS promises to deliver both major empirical and conceptual advances in the quantitative understanding of trees and tree-dominated ecosystems, leading to advances in understanding the ecology of why trees and ecosystems look and grow the way they do.

  20. Quantifying the information in the long-range order of words: semantic structures and universal linguistic constraints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montemurro, Marcelo A

    2014-06-01

    We review some recent progress on the characterisation of long-range patterns of word use in language using methods from information theory. In particular, two levels of structure in language are considered. The first level corresponds to the patterns of words usage over different contextual domains. A direct application of information theory to quantify the specificity of words across different sections of a linguistic sequence leads to a measure of semantic information. Moreover, a natural scale emerges that characterises the typical size of semantic structures. Since the information measure is made up of additive contributions from individual words, it is possible to rank the words according to their overall weight in the total information. This allows the extraction of keywords most relevant to the semantic content of the sequence without any prior knowledge of the language. The second level considered is the complex structure of correlations among words in linguistic sequences. The degree of order in language can be quantified by means of the entropy. Reliable estimates of the entropy were obtained from corpora of texts from several linguistic families by means of lossless compression algorithms. The value of the entropy fluctuates across different languages since it depends on linguistic organisation at various levels. However, when a measure of relative entropy that specifically quantifies the degree of word ordering in language is estimated, it presents an almost constant value over all the linguistic families studied. This suggests that the entropy of word ordering is a novel quantitative linguistic universal. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. LANGUE AND PAROLE IN AMERICAN LINGUISTICS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LEVIN, SAMUEL R.

    THE PROBLEM OF THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE STRUCTURE IS CONSIDERED AND THE FORM WHICH ANY LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION SHOULD TAKE. THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE INFLUENCE OF THE SWISS LINGUIST, FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE, ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS. THE QUESTION OF "MENTALISM" IN LINGUISTICS IS REDUCED TO THE PROBLEM OF WHETHER LINGUISTIC…

  2. Organic chemistry as a language and the implications of chemical linguistics for structural and retrosynthetic analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadeddu, Andrea; Wylie, Elizabeth K; Jurczak, Janusz; Wampler-Doty, Matthew; Grzybowski, Bartosz A

    2014-07-28

    Methods of computational linguistics are used to demonstrate that a natural language such as English and organic chemistry have the same structure in terms of the frequency of, respectively, text fragments and molecular fragments. This quantitative correspondence suggests that it is possible to extend the methods of computational corpus linguistics to the analysis of organic molecules. It is shown that within organic molecules bonds that have highest information content are the ones that 1) define repeat/symmetry subunits and 2) in asymmetric molecules, define the loci of potential retrosynthetic disconnections. Linguistics-based analysis appears well-suited to the analysis of complex structural and reactivity patterns within organic molecules. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Design of data structures for mergeable trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Georgiadis, Loukas; Tarjan, Robert Endre; Werneck, Renato Fonseca F.

    2006-01-01

    merge operation can change many arcs. In spite of this, we develop a data structure that supports merges and all other standard tree operations in O(log2 n) amortized time on an n-node forest. For the special case that occurs in the motivating application, in which arbitrary arc deletions...... are not allowed, we give a data structure with an O(log n) amortized time bound per operation, which is asymptotically optimal. The analysis of both algorithms is not straightforward and requires ideas not previously used in the study of dynamic trees. We explore the design space of algorithms for the problem......Motivated by an application in computational topology, we consider a novel variant of the problem of efficiently maintaining dynamic rooted trees. This variant allows an operation that merges two tree paths. In contrast to the standard problem, in which only one tree arc at a time changes, a single...

  4. Whole-tree distribution and temporal variation of non-structural carbohydrates in broadleaf evergreen trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Merryn G; Miller, Rebecca E; Arndt, Stefan K; Kasel, Sabine; Bennett, Lauren T

    2018-04-01

    Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) form a fundamental yet poorly quantified carbon pool in trees. Studies of NSC seasonality in forest trees have seldom measured whole-tree NSC stocks and allocation among organs, and are not representative of all tree functional types. Non-structural carbohydrate research has primarily focussed on broadleaf deciduous and coniferous evergreen trees with distinct growing seasons, while broadleaf evergreen trees remain under-studied despite their different growth phenology. We measured whole-tree NSC allocation and temporal variation in Eucalyptus obliqua L'Hér., a broadleaf evergreen tree species typically occurring in mixed-age temperate forests, which has year-round growth and the capacity to resprout after fire. Our overarching objective was to improve the empirical basis for understanding the functional importance of NSC allocation and stock changes at the tree- and organ-level in this tree functional type. Starch was the principal storage carbohydrate and was primarily stored in the stem and roots of young (14-year-old) trees rather than the lignotuber, which did not appear to be a specialized starch storage organ. Whole-tree NSC stocks were depleted during spring and summer due to significant decreases in starch mass in the roots and stem, seemingly to support root and crown growth but potentially exacerbated by water stress in summer. Seasonality of stem NSCs differed between young and mature trees, and was not synchronized with stem basal area increments in mature trees. Our results suggest that the relative magnitude of seasonal NSC stock changes could vary with tree growth stage, and that the main drivers of NSC fluctuations in broadleaf evergreen trees in temperate biomes could be periodic disturbances such as summer drought and fire, rather than growth phenology. These results have implications for understanding post-fire tree recovery via resprouting, and for incorporating NSC pools into carbon models of mixed

  5. A deterministic model for the growth of non-conducting electrical tree structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dodd, S J

    2003-01-01

    Electrical treeing is of interest to the electrical generation, transmission and distribution industries as it is one of the causes of insulation failure in electrical machines, switchgear and transformer bushings. In this paper a deterministic electrical tree growth model is described. The model is based on electrostatics and local electron avalanches to model partial discharge activity within the growing tree structure. Damage to the resin surrounding the tree structure is dependent on the local electrostatic energy dissipation by partial discharges within the tree structure and weighted by the magnitudes of the local electric fields in the resin surrounding the tree structure. The model is successful in simulating the formation of branched structures without the need of a random variable, a requirement of previous stochastic models. Instability in the spatial development of partial discharges within the tree structure takes the role of the stochastic element as used in previous models to produce branched tree structures. The simulated electrical trees conform to the experimentally observed behaviour; tree length versus time and electrical tree growth rate as a function of applied voltage for non-conducting electrical trees. The phase synchronous partial discharge activity and the spatial distribution of emitted light from the tree structure are also in agreement with experimental data for non-conducting trees as grown in a flexible epoxy resin and in polyethylene. The fact that similar tree growth behaviour is found using pure amorphous (epoxy resin) and semicrystalline (polyethylene) materials demonstrate that neither annealed or quenched noise, representing material inhomogeneity, is required for the formation of irregular branched structures (electrical trees). Instead, as shown in this paper, branched growth can occur due to the instability of individual discharges within the tree structure

  6. On the Accuracy of Language Trees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pompei, Simone; Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca

    2011-01-01

    Historical linguistics aims at inferring the most likely language phylogenetic tree starting from information concerning the evolutionary relatedness of languages. The available information are typically lists of homologous (lexical, phonological, syntactic) features or characters for many different languages: a set of parallel corpora whose compilation represents a paramount achievement in linguistics. From this perspective the reconstruction of language trees is an example of inverse problems: starting from present, incomplete and often noisy, information, one aims at inferring the most likely past evolutionary history. A fundamental issue in inverse problems is the evaluation of the inference made. A standard way of dealing with this question is to generate data with artificial models in order to have full access to the evolutionary process one is going to infer. This procedure presents an intrinsic limitation: when dealing with real data sets, one typically does not know which model of evolution is the most suitable for them. A possible way out is to compare algorithmic inference with expert classifications. This is the point of view we take here by conducting a thorough survey of the accuracy of reconstruction methods as compared with the Ethnologue expert classifications. We focus in particular on state-of-the-art distance-based methods for phylogeny reconstruction using worldwide linguistic databases. In order to assess the accuracy of the inferred trees we introduce and characterize two generalizations of standard definitions of distances between trees. Based on these scores we quantify the relative performances of the distance-based algorithms considered. Further we quantify how the completeness and the coverage of the available databases affect the accuracy of the reconstruction. Finally we draw some conclusions about where the accuracy of the reconstructions in historical linguistics stands and about the leading directions to improve it. PMID:21674034

  7. On the accuracy of language trees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Pompei

    Full Text Available Historical linguistics aims at inferring the most likely language phylogenetic tree starting from information concerning the evolutionary relatedness of languages. The available information are typically lists of homologous (lexical, phonological, syntactic features or characters for many different languages: a set of parallel corpora whose compilation represents a paramount achievement in linguistics. From this perspective the reconstruction of language trees is an example of inverse problems: starting from present, incomplete and often noisy, information, one aims at inferring the most likely past evolutionary history. A fundamental issue in inverse problems is the evaluation of the inference made. A standard way of dealing with this question is to generate data with artificial models in order to have full access to the evolutionary process one is going to infer. This procedure presents an intrinsic limitation: when dealing with real data sets, one typically does not know which model of evolution is the most suitable for them. A possible way out is to compare algorithmic inference with expert classifications. This is the point of view we take here by conducting a thorough survey of the accuracy of reconstruction methods as compared with the Ethnologue expert classifications. We focus in particular on state-of-the-art distance-based methods for phylogeny reconstruction using worldwide linguistic databases. In order to assess the accuracy of the inferred trees we introduce and characterize two generalizations of standard definitions of distances between trees. Based on these scores we quantify the relative performances of the distance-based algorithms considered. Further we quantify how the completeness and the coverage of the available databases affect the accuracy of the reconstruction. Finally we draw some conclusions about where the accuracy of the reconstructions in historical linguistics stands and about the leading directions to improve

  8. Global tree network for computing structures enabling global processing operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumrich; Matthias A.; Chen, Dong; Coteus, Paul W.; Gara, Alan G.; Giampapa, Mark E.; Heidelberger, Philip; Hoenicke, Dirk; Steinmacher-Burow, Burkhard D.; Takken, Todd E.; Vranas, Pavlos M.

    2010-01-19

    A system and method for enabling high-speed, low-latency global tree network communications among processing nodes interconnected according to a tree network structure. The global tree network enables collective reduction operations to be performed during parallel algorithm operations executing in a computer structure having a plurality of the interconnected processing nodes. Router devices are included that interconnect the nodes of the tree via links to facilitate performance of low-latency global processing operations at nodes of the virtual tree and sub-tree structures. The global operations performed include one or more of: broadcast operations downstream from a root node to leaf nodes of a virtual tree, reduction operations upstream from leaf nodes to the root node in the virtual tree, and point-to-point message passing from any node to the root node. The global tree network is configurable to provide global barrier and interrupt functionality in asynchronous or synchronized manner, and, is physically and logically partitionable.

  9. Ideology and Linguistic Theory: Noam Chomsky and the Deep Structure Debates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huck, Geoffrey J.; Goldsmith, John A.

    A revisionist account of the development of ideas about semantics in modern theories of language is presented, focusing on the rift between Noam Chomsky and Generative Semanticists about the concept of deep structure, or the role of meaning in grammar. The discussion re-appraises the paradigm that has dominated American linguistics since the…

  10. Computational principles of syntax in the regions specialized for language: integrating theoretical linguistics and functional neuroimaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohta, Shinri; Fukui, Naoki; Sakai, Kuniyoshi L

    2013-01-01

    The nature of computational principles of syntax remains to be elucidated. One promising approach to this problem would be to construct formal and abstract linguistic models that parametrically predict the activation modulations in the regions specialized for linguistic processes. In this article, we review recent advances in theoretical linguistics and functional neuroimaging in the following respects. First, we introduce the two fundamental linguistic operations: Merge (which combines two words or phrases to form a larger structure) and Search (which searches and establishes a syntactic relation of two words or phrases). We also illustrate certain universal properties of human language, and present hypotheses regarding how sentence structures are processed in the brain. Hypothesis I is that the Degree of Merger (DoM), i.e., the maximum depth of merged subtrees within a given domain, is a key computational concept to properly measure the complexity of tree structures. Hypothesis II is that the basic frame of the syntactic structure of a given linguistic expression is determined essentially by functional elements, which trigger Merge and Search. We then present our recent functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, demonstrating that the DoM is indeed a key syntactic factor that accounts for syntax-selective activations in the left inferior frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus. Hypothesis III is that the DoM domain changes dynamically in accordance with iterative Merge applications, the Search distances, and/or task requirements. We confirm that the DoM accounts for activations in various sentence types. Hypothesis III successfully explains activation differences between object- and subject-relative clauses, as well as activations during explicit syntactic judgment tasks. A future research on the computational principles of syntax will further deepen our understanding of uniquely human mental faculties.

  11. Recruiting Conventional Tree Architecture Models into State-of-the-Art LiDAR Mapping for Investigating Tree Growth Habits in Structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yi; Jiang, Miao; Pellikka, Petri; Heiskanen, Janne

    2018-01-01

    Mensuration of tree growth habits is of considerable importance for understanding forest ecosystem processes and forest biophysical responses to climate changes. However, the complexity of tree crown morphology that is typically formed after many years of growth tends to render it a non-trivial task, even for the state-of-the-art 3D forest mapping technology-light detection and ranging (LiDAR). Fortunately, botanists have deduced the large structural diversity of tree forms into only a limited number of tree architecture models, which can present a-priori knowledge about tree structure, growth, and other attributes for different species. This study attempted to recruit Hallé architecture models (HAMs) into LiDAR mapping to investigate tree growth habits in structure. First, following the HAM-characterized tree structure organization rules, we run the kernel procedure of tree species classification based on the LiDAR-collected point clouds using a support vector machine classifier in the leave-one-out-for-cross-validation mode. Then, the HAM corresponding to each of the classified tree species was identified based on expert knowledge, assisted by the comparison of the LiDAR-derived feature parameters. Next, the tree growth habits in structure for each of the tree species were derived from the determined HAM. In the case of four tree species growing in the boreal environment, the tests indicated that the classification accuracy reached 85.0%, and their growth habits could be derived by qualitative and quantitative means. Overall, the strategy of recruiting conventional HAMs into LiDAR mapping for investigating tree growth habits in structure was validated, thereby paving a new way for efficiently reflecting tree growth habits and projecting forest structure dynamics.

  12. Recruiting Conventional Tree Architecture Models into State-of-the-Art LiDAR Mapping for Investigating Tree Growth Habits in Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Lin

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Mensuration of tree growth habits is of considerable importance for understanding forest ecosystem processes and forest biophysical responses to climate changes. However, the complexity of tree crown morphology that is typically formed after many years of growth tends to render it a non-trivial task, even for the state-of-the-art 3D forest mapping technology—light detection and ranging (LiDAR. Fortunately, botanists have deduced the large structural diversity of tree forms into only a limited number of tree architecture models, which can present a-priori knowledge about tree structure, growth, and other attributes for different species. This study attempted to recruit Hallé architecture models (HAMs into LiDAR mapping to investigate tree growth habits in structure. First, following the HAM-characterized tree structure organization rules, we run the kernel procedure of tree species classification based on the LiDAR-collected point clouds using a support vector machine classifier in the leave-one-out-for-cross-validation mode. Then, the HAM corresponding to each of the classified tree species was identified based on expert knowledge, assisted by the comparison of the LiDAR-derived feature parameters. Next, the tree growth habits in structure for each of the tree species were derived from the determined HAM. In the case of four tree species growing in the boreal environment, the tests indicated that the classification accuracy reached 85.0%, and their growth habits could be derived by qualitative and quantitative means. Overall, the strategy of recruiting conventional HAMs into LiDAR mapping for investigating tree growth habits in structure was validated, thereby paving a new way for efficiently reflecting tree growth habits and projecting forest structure dynamics.

  13. Linguistic Features and Schematic Textual Structure in Look-Good Advertisements in the Indian Print Media in English

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Sukhdev; Bedi, Navkiran Kaur

    2013-01-01

    Every text has a communicative purpose that it performs by dividing itself into generic stages. These stages are assigned specific goals and have differing linguistic structures. This paper makes an attempt to investigate whether there is a definable co-relation between linguistic features and stages in the genre of look-good advertisements. It…

  14. Variability of the tree-rings structure of Gmelin’s larch at northern tree line (peninsula of Taymyr

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Fakhrutdinova

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The study of tree-ring cell structure changes as the result of tree adaptation to varying environmental conditions becomes increasingly important to predict future vegetation shifts under projected climate changes. The estimate of intrapopulation annual variability of wood anatomy characteristics is particularly informative. It helps to divide the contribution of different ecological factors to total features dispersion. In this work, a comparative analysis of individual and climatic variability of tree ring structure characteristics of Gmelin’s larch Larix gmelinii (Rupr. growth within northernmost forest was carried out. The trees from forest-tundra boundary has greater radial growth intensity, forms the bigger conductive zone in rings with wider mean lumen area in comparison with trees from closed forest. This result can be explained by adaptive features and height ecological xylem plasticity of larch. The tree rings structure of larch from boundary with tundra is determined by largely current weather conditions. Is because these ones evince high adaptive plasticity on the level of xylem structure. The xylem reflects joint changes of climate factors and local ecological conditions. The trees from closed forest are characterized by larger individual variability. The local conditions in oldest forest (for example, bad hydrothermal soil conditions inhibit the radial growth and sensitivity to environmental factors. In this case, the trees on individual level are tended to save the normal functioning of water-transport system. The significant differences in ratio individual to climate variability of tree ring structure characteristics can be caused by the different in the level of ecological habitat heterogeneity or the different in the level genetic within-population heterogeneity.

  15. The Generic Style Rules for Linguistics

    OpenAIRE

    Haspelmath, Martin

    2014-01-01

    The Generic Style Rules for Linguistics provide a style sheet that can be used by any linguistics journal or edited book, or for teaching purposes. They regulate aspects of text-structure style such as typographic highlighting, citation style, use of capitalization, and bibliographic style (based on the LSA's Unified Stylesheet for linguistics).

  16. Protein linguistics - a grammar for modular protein assembly?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gimona, Mario

    2006-01-01

    The correspondence between biology and linguistics at the level of sequence and lexical inventories, and of structure and syntax, has fuelled attempts to describe genome structure by the rules of formal linguistics. But how can we define protein linguistic rules? And how could compositional semantics improve our understanding of protein organization and functional plasticity?

  17. BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forkel, Robert; Kaiping, Gereon A.; Atkinson, Quentin D.

    2017-01-01

    We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF) permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists) and relevant domain experts. PMID:28796784

  18. BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luke Maurits

    Full Text Available We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists and relevant domain experts.

  19. Structural similarities between brain and linguistic data provide evidence of semantic relations in the brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colleen E Crangle

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new method of analysis by which structural similarities between brain data and linguistic data can be assessed at the semantic level. It shows how to measure the strength of these structural similarities and so determine the relatively better fit of the brain data with one semantic model over another. The first model is derived from WordNet, a lexical database of English compiled by language experts. The second is given by the corpus-based statistical technique of latent semantic analysis (LSA, which detects relations between words that are latent or hidden in text. The brain data are drawn from experiments in which statements about the geography of Europe were presented auditorily to participants who were asked to determine their truth or falsity while electroencephalographic (EEG recordings were made. The theoretical framework for the analysis of the brain and semantic data derives from axiomatizations of theories such as the theory of differences in utility preference. Using brain-data samples from individual trials time-locked to the presentation of each word, ordinal relations of similarity differences are computed for the brain data and for the linguistic data. In each case those relations that are invariant with respect to the brain and linguistic data, and are correlated with sufficient statistical strength, amount to structural similarities between the brain and linguistic data. Results show that many more statistically significant structural similarities can be found between the brain data and the WordNet-derived data than the LSA-derived data. The work reported here is placed within the context of other recent studies of semantics and the brain. The main contribution of this paper is the new method it presents for the study of semantics and the brain and the focus it permits on networks of relations detected in brain data and represented by a semantic model.

  20. THE ARABIC ORIGINS OF ENGLISH AND INDO-EUROPEAN "URBAN TERMS": A RADICAL LINGUISTIC THEORY APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaidan Ali Jassem

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper traces the Arabic origins of English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit "urban terms" from a radical linguistic (or lexical root theory perspective. The data comprises 130 such terms like abide, building, city, construction, courtyard, hotel, house, live, mansion, mason, palace, metropolis, residence, road, rural, sedentary, sojourn, stay, structure, tent, town, urban, villa, village, zoo, and so on. The results clearly show that all such words have true Arabic cognates with the same or similar forms and meanings, whose differences are due to natural and plausible causes and different routes of linguistic change. Moreover, the results support the adequacy of the radical linguistic theory according to which, unlike the Comparative Method and/or Family Tree Model, Arabic, English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit are dialects of the same language or family, renamed Eurabian or Urban family, with Arabic being their origin all for sharing the whole cognates with them and for its huge phonetic, morphological, grammatical, and lexical variety and wealth. Also, they indicate that there is a radical language from which all human languages stemmed and which has been preserved almost intact in Arabic as the most conservative and productive language, without which it is impossible to interpret its linguistic richness and versatility on all levels.

  1. On the concept of a linguistic variable

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerre, E.

    1996-01-01

    The concept of a linguistic variable plays a crucial role in the representation of imprecise knowledge in information sciences. A variable is called linguistic as soon as its values are linguistic terms rather than numerical ones. The power of daily communication and common sense reasoning lies in the use of such linguistic values. Even when exact numerical values are available, experts tend to transform these values into linguistic ones. A physician will usually translate a numerical measurement of a blood pressure into linguistic specifications such as normal, very high, too low... Zadeh has argued that the set of values for a linguistic variable assumes a more-or-less fixed structure. Starting from an atomic value and its antonym all remaining values are constructed using logical connectives on the one hand and linguistic hedges on the other hand. In this paper we will describe how to represent the value set of a linguistic variable in general and of linguistic hedges in particular

  2. TRAINING TREE ADJOINING GRAMMARS WITH HUGE TEXT CORPUS USING SPARK MAP REDUCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijay Krishna Menon

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Tree adjoining grammars (TAGs are mildly context sensitive formalisms used mainly in modelling natural languages. Usage and research on these psycho linguistic formalisms have been erratic in the past decade, due to its demanding construction and difficulty to parse. However, they represent promising future for formalism based NLP in multilingual scenarios. In this paper we demonstrate basic synchronous Tree adjoining grammar for English-Tamil language pair that can be used readily for machine translation. We have also developed a multithreaded chart parser that gives ambiguous deep structures and a par dependency structure known as TAG derivation. Furthermore we then focus on a model for training this TAG for each language using a large corpus of text through a map reduce frequency count model in spark and estimation of various probabilistic parameters for the grammar trees thereafter; these parameters can be used to perform statistical parsing on the trained grammar.

  3. Inferring epidemic contact structure from phylogenetic trees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel E Leventhal

    Full Text Available Contact structure is believed to have a large impact on epidemic spreading and consequently using networks to model such contact structure continues to gain interest in epidemiology. However, detailed knowledge of the exact contact structure underlying real epidemics is limited. Here we address the question whether the structure of the contact network leaves a detectable genetic fingerprint in the pathogen population. To this end we compare phylogenies generated by disease outbreaks in simulated populations with different types of contact networks. We find that the shape of these phylogenies strongly depends on contact structure. In particular, measures of tree imbalance allow us to quantify to what extent the contact structure underlying an epidemic deviates from a null model contact network and illustrate this in the case of random mixing. Using a phylogeny from the Swiss HIV epidemic, we show that this epidemic has a significantly more unbalanced tree than would be expected from random mixing.

  4. How mammalian predation contributes to tropical tree community structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paine, C E Timothy; Beck, Harald; Terborgh, John

    2016-12-01

    The recruitment of seedlings from seeds is the key demographic transition for rain forest trees. Though tropical forest mammals are known to consume many seeds, their effects on tree community structure remain little known. To evaluate their effects, we monitored 8,000 seeds of 24 tree species using exclosure cages that were selectively permeable to three size classes of mammals for up to 4.4 years. Small and medium-bodied mammals removed many more seeds than did large mammals, and they alone generated beta diversity and negative density dependence, whereas all mammals reduced diversity and shaped local species composition. Thus, small and medium-bodied mammals more strongly contributed to community structure and promoted species coexistence than did large mammals. Given that seedling recruitment is seed limited for most species, alterations to the composition of the community of mammalian seed predators is expected to have long-term consequences for tree community structure in tropical forests. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

  5. Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Hall, Genae A.

    1992-01-01

    Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and “meaning” of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibi...

  6. Linguistic Engineering and Linguistic of Engineering: Adaptation of Linguistic Paradigm for Circumstance of Engineering Epoch

    OpenAIRE

    Natalya Halina

    2014-01-01

    The article is devoted to the problems of linguistic knowledge in the Engineering Epoch. Engineering Epoch is the time of adaptation to the information flows by knowledge management, The system of adaptation mechanisms is connected with linguistic and linguistic technologies, forming in new linguistic patterns Linguistic Engineering and Linguistic of Engineering.

  7. Discrete Discriminant analysis based on tree-structured graphical models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Perez de la Cruz, Gonzalo; Eslava, Guillermina

    The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential use of discriminant analysis based on tree{structured graphical models for discrete variables. This is done by comparing its empirical performance using estimated error rates for real and simulated data. The results show that discriminant a...... analysis based on tree{structured graphical models is a simple nonlinear method competitive with, and sometimes superior to, other well{known linear methods like those assuming mutual independence between variables and linear logistic regression.......The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential use of discriminant analysis based on tree{structured graphical models for discrete variables. This is done by comparing its empirical performance using estimated error rates for real and simulated data. The results show that discriminant...

  8. Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nichols, Johanna

    2017-01-01

    An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an element is an attractor are linguistic (auditory salience, ease of processing, paradigm structure, etc.), but the factors that make selection possible and propagate selected items through the speech community are non-linguistic. This paper uses the consonants in personal pronouns to show what makes for an attractor and how selection and diffusion work, then presents a survey of several language families and areas showing that the derivational morphology of pairs of verbs like fear and frighten , or Turkish korkmak 'fear, be afraid' and korkutmak 'frighten, scare', or Finnish istua 'sit' and istutta 'seat (someone)', or Spanish sentarse 'sit down' and sentar 'seat (someone)' is susceptible to selection. Specifically, the Turkish and Finnish pattern, where 'seat' is derived from 'sit' by addition of a suffix-is an attractor and a favored target of selection. This selection occurs chiefly in sociolinguistic contexts of what is defined here as linguistic symbiosis, where languages mingle in speech, which in turn is favored by certain demographic, sociocultural, and environmental factors here termed frontier conditions. Evidence is surveyed from northern Eurasia, the Caucasus, North and Central America, and the Pacific and from both modern and ancient languages to raise the hypothesis that frontier conditions and symbiosis favor causativization.

  9. Application of terrestrial laser scanning for measuring tree crown structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pretzsch, H.; Seifert, S.; Huang, P.

    2011-01-01

    This paper addresses the potential of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for describing and modelling of tree crown structure and dynamics. We first present a general approach for the metabolic and structural scaling of tree crowns. Out of this approach we emphasize those normalization and scaling parameters which become accessible by TLS. For example we show how the individual tree leaf area index, convex hull, and its space-filling by leaves can be extracted out of laser scan data. This contributes to a theoretical and empirical substantiation of crown structure models which were missing so far for e.g. quantification of structural and species diversity in forest stands, inventory of crown biomass, species detection by remote sensing, and understanding of self- and alien-thinning in pure and mixed stands. Up to now works on this topic delivered a rather scattered empirical knowledge mainly by single inventories of trees and stands. In contrast, we recommend to start with a model approach, and to complete existing data with repeated TLS inventories in order to come to a consistent and theoretically based model of tree crowns. (author) [de

  10. A Study of Cognitive Linguistic Structure Based on the Four Conditions of the Mulamadhyamakakarika

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, Hee Jong

    2013-01-01

    The main purpose of this study is to depict Nagarjuna's implication on how he redefined the Four Conditions ("atvarah pratyaya") as the cognitive linguistic structure by allocating 32 functional metadata throughout the texts of Mulamadhyamakakarika (MMK). Following subtle traces of "okasamvrtisatya" (the conventional truth) in…

  11. A lattice-valued linguistic decision model for nuclear safeguards applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruan, D.; Liu, J.; Carchon, R.

    2001-01-01

    In this study, we focus our attention on decision making models to process uncertainty-based information directly without transforming them into any particular membership function, i.e., directly using linguistic information (linguistic values) instead of numbers (numerical values). By analyzing the feature of linguistic values ordered by their means of common usage, we argue that the set of linguistic values should be characterized by a lattice structure. We propose the lattice structure based on a logical algebraic structure i.e., lattice implication algebra. Finally, we obtain a multi-objective decision-making model by extending Yager's multi-objective model from the following aspects: (1) extension of linguistic information: from a set of linear ordered linguistic labels (values) to that of lattice-valued linguistic labels; (2) extension of the combination function M, which is used to combine the individual ratings with the weights of criteria. We propose an implication operation form of M. The implication operation can be drawn from lattice implication algebra. As an illustration, we will finally apply this decision model to the evaluation problem in safeguard relevant information. (orig.)

  12. English linguistic purism: history, development, criticism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grishechko Ovsanna Savvichna

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Linguistic purism as an area of linguistic analysis describes the practices of identification and acknowledgement of a certain language variety as more structurally advanced as compared to its other varieties. Linguistic protection is associated with preservation of some abstract, classical, conservative linguistic ideal and performs the regulatory function, above all. The puristic approach to the development of the English language has been subjected to heated debate for several centuries and is reflected in both scientific research and literary texts. Supporters of purification of the English language champion the idea of protection of “pure language”. The idea, however, is actively criticized by opponents.

  13. Linguistic Legitimation of Political Events in Newspaper Discourse

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marwah Kareem Ali

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the discursive structures employed in legitimizing the event of U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq and identifies them in relation to linguistic features. It attempts to describe the relation between language use and legitimation discursive structures in depicting political events. The paper focuses on the political event of U.S. forces’ withdrawal from Iraq in the English newspaper issued in Iraq. The study shows the way in which journalists express their values and attitudes concerning this critical event. Consequently, this requires a critical discourse analysis (henceforth, CDA to analyse news articles in the Iraqi English newspaper: The Kurdish Globe (henceforth, KG newspaper. Accordingly, the study presents a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles to identify the legitimation discursive structures and their linguistic features. It is found that the main discursive structures of legitimation employed in the KG newspaper are: authorization, rationalization, and moral evaluation. Besides, there were five verb processes used to represent this legitimation, including material, verbal, relational, mental, and existential. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, legitimation discursive structures, linguistic features, newspaper discourse, systemic functional linguistics

  14. Phylogenetic Structure of Tree Species across Different Life Stages from Seedlings to Canopy Trees in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yi; Qian, Hong; Yu, Mingjian

    2015-01-01

    Investigating patterns of phylogenetic structure across different life stages of tree species in forests is crucial to understanding forest community assembly, and investigating forest gap influence on the phylogenetic structure of forest regeneration is necessary for understanding forest community assembly. Here, we examine the phylogenetic structure of tree species across life stages from seedlings to canopy trees, as well as forest gap influence on the phylogenetic structure of forest regeneration in a forest of the subtropical region in China. We investigate changes in phylogenetic relatedness (measured as NRI) of tree species from seedlings, saplings, treelets to canopy trees; we compare the phylogenetic turnover (measured as βNRI) between canopy trees and seedlings in forest understory with that between canopy trees and seedlings in forest gaps. We found that phylogenetic relatedness generally increases from seedlings through saplings and treelets up to canopy trees, and that phylogenetic relatedness does not differ between seedlings in forest understory and those in forest gaps, but phylogenetic turnover between canopy trees and seedlings in forest understory is lower than that between canopy trees and seedlings in forest gaps. We conclude that tree species tend to be more closely related from seedling to canopy layers, and that forest gaps alter the seedling phylogenetic turnover of the studied forest. It is likely that the increasing trend of phylogenetic clustering as tree stem size increases observed in this subtropical forest is primarily driven by abiotic filtering processes, which select a set of closely related evergreen broad-leaved tree species whose regeneration has adapted to the closed canopy environments of the subtropical forest developed under the regional monsoon climate.

  15. Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanna Nichols

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an element is an attractor are linguistic (auditory salience, ease of processing, paradigm structure, etc., but the factors that make selection possible and propagate selected items through the speech community are non-linguistic. This paper uses the consonants in personal pronouns to show what makes for an attractor and how selection and diffusion work, then presents a survey of several language families and areas showing that the derivational morphology of pairs of verbs like fear and frighten, or Turkish korkmak ‘fear, be afraid’ and korkutmak ‘frighten, scare’, or Finnish istua ‘sit’ and istutta ‘seat (someone’, or Spanish sentarse ‘sit down’ and sentar ‘seat (someone’ is susceptible to selection. Specifically, the Turkish and Finnish pattern, where ‘seat’ is derived from ‘sit’ by addition of a suffix—is an attractor and a favored target of selection. This selection occurs chiefly in sociolinguistic contexts of what is defined here as linguistic symbiosis, where languages mingle in speech, which in turn is favored by certain demographic, sociocultural, and environmental factors here termed frontier conditions. Evidence is surveyed from northern Eurasia, the Caucasus, North and Central America, and the Pacific and from both modern and ancient languages to raise the hypothesis that frontier conditions and symbiosis favor causativization.

  16. Aspects of conversational style-linguistic versus behavioral analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, G A

    1992-01-01

    Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and "meaning" of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different "conversation styles"-that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches.

  17. Kinetics of tracheid development explain conifer tree-ring structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuny, Henri E; Rathgeber, Cyrille B K; Frank, David; Fonti, Patrick; Fournier, Meriem

    2014-09-01

    Conifer tree rings are generally composed of large, thin-walled cells of light earlywood followed by narrow, thick-walled cells of dense latewood. Yet, how wood formation processes and the associated kinetics create this typical pattern remains poorly understood. We monitored tree-ring formation weekly over 3 yr in 45 trees of three conifer species in France. Data were used to model cell development kinetics, and to attribute the relative importance of the duration and rate of cell enlargement and cell wall deposition on tree-ring structure. Cell enlargement duration contributed to 75% of changes in cell diameter along the tree rings. Remarkably, the amount of wall material per cell was quite constant along the rings. Consequently, and in contrast with widespread belief, changes in cell wall thickness were not principally attributed to the duration and rate of wall deposition (33%), but rather to the changes in cell size (67%). Cell enlargement duration, as the main driver of cell size and wall thickness, contributed to 56% of wood density variation along the rings. This mechanistic framework now forms the basis for unraveling how environmental stresses trigger deviations (e.g. false rings) from the normal tree-ring structure. © 2014 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.

  18. COGNITIVE METAPHOR IN MODERN LINGUISTICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonina KARTASHOVA

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The article outlines the basic notions connected with cognitive metaphor which has lately undergone a thorough examination. The contribution made by linguists resulted in the rise of cognitive linguistics. This science regards metaphor not as a linguistic phenomenon but as a mental one that establishes connection between language and mind in the form of understanding new notions in terms of notions and categories known due to the previously gained experience. The interaction of new and previous experience can generate three main types of metaphors: structural metaphors which imply the structuring of target domain in terms of source domain, ontological metaphors which view abstract notions as concrete objects with clear outlines and orientational metaphors which represent the ways to fix the experience of spatial orientation. The classification of metaphors complemented with examples is presented below along with some controversial cases of determining the type of metaphor.

  19. Genre Analysis in the Frame of Systemic Functional Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Najih Imtihani

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Systemic Functional Linguistics is a linguistics approach which cop-siders not only the structure of the language but also its social context. In the Systemic Functional Linguistics the concept of genre is defined as a step-by-step activity to reach the goal. The concept of genre is used to describe the cultural context in a language. According to this view, text should be seen and observed in its interaction with the context and social background. For that, the genre analysis will constantly involve the linguistic social context in the forms of field, tenor, mode, schematic structure and its realization in the text.

  20. Mathematical Approaches to Cognitive Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuluundorj Begz

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Cognitive linguistics, neuro-cognitive and psychological analysis of human verbal cognition present important area of multidisciplinary research. Mathematical methods and models have been introduced in number of publications with increasing attention to these theories. In this paper we have described some possible applications of mathematical methods to cognitive linguistics. Human verbal perception and verbal mapping deal with dissipative mental structures and symmetric/asymmetric relationships between objects of perception and deep (also surface structures of language. In that’s way methods of tensor analysis are ambitious candidate to be applied to analysis of human verbal thinking and mental space.

  1. MULTI-TEMPORAL ASSESSMENT OF LYCHEE TREE CROP STRUCTURE USING MULTI-SPECTRAL RPAS IMAGERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Johansen

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The lychee tree is native to China and produce small fleshy fruit up to 5 cm in diameter. Lychee production in Australia is worth > $20 million annually. Pruning of trees encourages new growth, has a positive effect on fruiting of lychee, makes fruit-picking easier, and may increase yield, as it increases light interception and tree crown surface area. The objective of this research was to assess changes in tree structure, i.e. tree crown circumference, width, height and Plant Projective Cover (PPC using multi-spectral Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS imagery collected before and after pruning of a lychee plantation. A secondary objective was to assess any variations in the results as a function of various flying heights (30, 50 and 70 m. Pre- and post-pruning results showed significant differences in all measured tree structural parameters, including an average decrease in: tree crown circumference of 1.94 m; tree crown width of 0.57 m; tree crown height of 0.62 m; and PPC of 14.8 %. The different flying heights produced similar measurements of tree crown width and PPC, whereas tree crown circumference and height measurements decreased with increasing flying height. These results show that multi-spectral RPAS imagery can provide a suitable means of assessing pruning efforts undertaken by contractors based on changes in tree structure of lychee plantations and that it is important to collect imagery in a consistent manner, as varying flying heights may cause changes to tree structural measurements.

  2. Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Genae A.

    1992-01-01

    Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and “meaning” of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different “conversation styles”—that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches. PMID:22477048

  3. Statistical Measures for Usage-Based Linguistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gries, Stefan Th.; Ellis, Nick C.

    2015-01-01

    The advent of usage-/exemplar-based approaches has resulted in a major change in the theoretical landscape of linguistics, but also in the range of methodologies that are brought to bear on the study of language acquisition/learning, structure, and use. In particular, methods from corpus linguistics are now frequently used to study distributional…

  4. Applied linguistics - a science of culture?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benke, Gertraud

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article, the status of applied linguistics as discipline is questioned and problems of establishing it - and other newly formed scientific enterprises like cultural science - as disciplines are discussed. This discussion is contextualized using the author's own experience as applied linguist working in (the institutional structure of Austria. Secondly, applied linguistics is presented as complementing cultural science, with both exploring at times the same phenomena albeit under different perspectives and focussing on different levels of experience. Two examples of research involving such a joint interest with different foci are discussed.

  5. Linguistic fire and human cognitive powers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cowley, Stephen

    2012-01-01

    To view language as a cultural tool challenges much of what claims to be linguistic science while opening up a new people-centred linguistics. On this view, how we speak, think and act depends on, not just brains (or minds), but also cultural traditions. Yet, Everett is conservative: like others...... theory, bodily dynamics themselves act as cues to meaning. Linguistic exostructures resemble tools that constrain how people concert acting-perceiving bodies. The result is unending renewal of verbal structures: like artefacts and institutions, they function to sustain a species-specific cultural ecology...

  6. The individual and interactive effects of tree-tree establishment competition and fire on savanna structure and dynamics

    OpenAIRE

    Calabrese, Justin; Vázquez, Federico; López, Cristóbal; San Miguel, Maxi; Grimm, Volker

    2010-01-01

    The mechanisms regulating savanna tree populations are still not well understood. Recent empirical work suggests that both tree-tree competition and fire are key factors in semi-arid to mesic savannas. However, the potential for competition to structure savannas, particularly in interaction with fire, has received little theoretical attention. We develop a minimalistic and analytically tractable stochastic cellular automaton to study the individual and combined effects of competition and fire...

  7. Binding and Unfolding: Towards the Linguistic Construction of Narrative Discourse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bamberg, Michael; Marchman, Virginia

    1991-01-01

    Explores the relationship between linguistic and conceptual structuring of narratives, focusing on linguistic devices used by German and U.S. narrators to identify transitions in text structure. Identifies and outlines two types of narrative orientation: differentiating events and integrating events. (SR)

  8. The Perilous Life of a Linguistic Genre Convention

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borchmann, Simon

    2014-01-01

    , the descriptions are more informative than the structures hitherto described by text linguistics. Secondly, as historical norms, they are a testimony to the development and change of language use. Thirdly, the descriptions contribute to language users’ awareness of the origin of standards, their understanding......The primary, theoretical aim of the article is to present a linguistic text analysis that differs from standard text linguistic approaches by being informative with regard to the linguistic choices and textual organisation that characterise a text as a social act. The analysis is exemplified...... by using texts of a relatively new Danish journalistic genre nyhedsanalyse (news analysis). The secondary, empirical aim of the article is to present a corpus-based, linguistic analysis of central elements of the genre nyhedsanalyse within the Danish system of newspaper genres. Text linguistics is based...

  9. Forensic linguistics: Applications of forensic linguistics methods to anonymous letters

    OpenAIRE

    NOVÁKOVÁ, Veronika

    2011-01-01

    The title of my bachelor work is ?Forensic linguistics: Applications of forensic linguistics methods to anonymous letters?. Forensic linguistics is young and not very known branch of applied linguistics. This bachelor work wants to introduce forensic linguistics and its method. The bachelor work has two parts ? theory and practice. The theoretical part informs about forensic linguistics in general. Its two basic aspects utilized in forensic science and respective methods. The practical part t...

  10. Applied Linguistics and the "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Robert B.; Grabe, William

    2000-01-01

    Examines the complexities and differences involved in granting disciplinary status to the role of applied linguistics, discusses the role of the "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics" as a contributor to the development of applied linguistics, and highlights a set of publications for the future of applied linguistics. (Author/VWL)

  11. The Structure and Functioning of a Low-Budget Center for Applied Linguistics: The Brazilian Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomes de Matos, Francisco

    1980-01-01

    Describes the structure and functioning of the "Centro de Linguistica Aplicada do Instituto de Idiomas Yazigi" of Sao Paulo and comments on its role in promoting applied linguistics studies in Latin America. Also outlines the Center's historical background and its educational services, particularly those related to the teaching of…

  12. The Discourse Structure and Linguistic Features of Research Article Abstracts in English by Indonesian Academics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arsyad, Safnil

    2014-01-01

    To effectively teach university lecturers or students to write a good research article (RA) abstract for publication in international journals, instructors need to know the present characteristics of abstracts written published in such journals. This study examines the discourse structure and linguistic features of RA abstracts written in English…

  13. Heritage language and linguistic theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scontras, Gregory; Fuchs, Zuzanna; Polinsky, Maria

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage linguistics, documenting some of the deficits and abilities typical of heritage speakers, together with the broader theoretical questions they inform. We consider the reorganization of morphosyntactic feature systems, the reanalysis of atypical argument structure, the attrition of the syntax of relativization, and the simplification of scope interpretations; these phenomena implicate diverging trajectories and outcomes in the development of heritage speakers. The case studies also have practical and methodological implications for the study of multilingualism. We conclude by discussing more general concepts central to linguistic inquiry, in particular, complexity and native speaker competence. PMID:26500595

  14. A holistic approach to determine tree structural complexity based on laser scanning data and fractal analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seidel, Dominik

    2018-01-01

    The three-dimensional forest structure affects many ecosystem functions and services provided by forests. As forests are made of trees it seems reasonable to approach their structure by investigating individual tree structure. Based on three-dimensional point clouds from laser scanning, a newly developed holistic approach is presented that enables to calculate the box dimension as a measure of structural complexity of individual trees using fractal analysis. It was found that the box dimension of trees was significantly different among the tested species, among trees belonging to the same species but exposed to different growing conditions (at gap vs. forest interior) or to different kinds of competition (intraspecific vs. interspecific). Furthermore, it was shown that the box dimension is positively related to the trees' growth rate. The box dimension was identified as an easy to calculate measure that integrates the effect of several external drivers of tree structure, such as competition strength and type, while simultaneously providing information on structure-related properties, like tree growth.

  15. Proposing a clinical quantification framework of macro-linguistic structures in aphasic narratives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Pak Hin Kong

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Background Analysis of aphasic narratives can be a challenge for clinicians. Previous studies have mainly employed measures that categorized speech samples at the word level. They included quantification of the use and misuse of different word classes, presence and absence of narrative contents and errors, paraphasias, and perseverations, as well as morphological structures and errors within a narrative. In other words, a great amount of research has been conducted in the aphasiology literature focusing on micro-linguistic structures of oral narratives. Aspects of macro- linguistic structures, such as the analysis of content information by a speaker, consistency of using cohesive devices to present information within a narrative, and order of presenting information necessary to form a coherent discourse, have not been extensively investigated. The current investigation proposes a clinical analytic system to target three aspects of macro-linguistic structures in narratives among speakers with aphasia. Specifically, (1 the presence of search events (i.e., the mentioning of key events that allow the listener to understand; Capilouto, Wright, &Wagovich, 2006 within a narrative, (2 the sequence of the mentioned events, and (3 the informativeness (i.e., the fulfillment of lexical items that allow the user to understand what the event is detailing of the event contents, were focused in the proposed framework. Method Ten controls transcripts from were selected from the AphasiaBank (MacWhinney, Fromm, Forbes, & Holland, 2011. Three narrative tasks, including sequential picture description of ‘Refused Umbrella’, procedural narrative of making a ‘Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich’, and telling of ‘Cinderella’ story, were used to establish normative data for the basis of analysis. Specifically, the Search Events (e and Informative Words (i used by at least 70% of the speakers were listed for each genre. The sequential order of mentioning the

  16. Image schemas and mimetic schemas in cognitive linguistics and gesture studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cienki, A.J.

    2013-01-01

    Image schemas have been a fundamental construct in cognitive linguistics, providing grounds for psychological, philosophical, as well as linguistic research. Given the focus in cognitive linguistics on embodied experience as a fundamental basis for language structure and meaning, the employment of

  17. Goal-oriented functional tree structure for nuclear power plant emergency preparedness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calabrese, R.V.; Roush, M.L.

    1987-01-01

    Guidelines for development and implementation of emergency response plans do not provide the planner/implementer with an adequate overview of the functions to be achieved or a measure of their relative importance. To provide a framework in which this importance can be recognized, understood and quantified, a logical goal oriented tree structure has been developed which integrates and gives a clear visual representation of the functions required to meet the emergency preparedness objective. The tree considers a spectrum of both high and low probability events which may require mitigation both onsite and offsite. The ultimate objective: to Minimize the Ill Effects of a Nuclear Power Plant Incident is satisfied by functions concerned with prevention and mitigation of human injury and property damage. A complete and detailed structure which specifies the subfunctions and success paths which satisfy these functions has been developed. Institutional activities such as planning, training, procedure development, monitoring and decision making do not enter the tree directly. Instead, the logic structure defines the extent to which these activities must be considered and the information systems and decision models required for successful implementation of the plan. The top structure of the tree is presented and a few branches are considered in detail. The impact of institutional activities, information systems, etc. is discussed. Tree quantification is considered

  18. Remnant trees affect species composition but not structure of tropical second-growth forest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandor, Manette E; Chazdon, Robin L

    2014-01-01

    Remnant trees, spared from cutting when tropical forests are cleared for agriculture or grazing, act as nuclei of forest regeneration following field abandonment. Previous studies on remnant trees were primarily conducted in active pasture or old fields abandoned in the previous 2-3 years, and focused on structure and species richness of regenerating forest, but not species composition. Our study is among the first to investigate the effects of remnant trees on neighborhood forest structure, biodiversity, and species composition 20 years post-abandonment. We compared the woody vegetation around individual remnant trees to nearby plots without remnant trees in the same second-growth forests ("control plots"). Forest structure beneath remnant trees did not differ significantly from control plots. Species richness and species diversity were significantly higher around remnant trees. The species composition around remnant trees differed significantly from control plots and more closely resembled the species composition of nearby old-growth forest. The proportion of old-growth specialists and generalists around remnant trees was significantly greater than in control plots. Although previous studies show that remnant trees may initially accelerate secondary forest growth, we found no evidence that they locally affect stem density, basal area, and seedling density at later stages of regrowth. Remnant trees do, however, have a clear effect on the species diversity, composition, and ecological groups of the surrounding woody vegetation, even after 20 years of forest regeneration. To accelerate the return of diversity and old-growth forest species into regrowing forest on abandoned land, landowners should be encouraged to retain remnant trees in agricultural or pastoral fields.

  19. Structural priming is a useful but imperfect technique for studying all linguistic representations, including those of pragmatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rees, Alice; Bott, Lewis

    2017-01-01

    Structural priming is a useful tool for investigating linguistics representations. We argue that structural priming can be extended to the investigation of pragmatic representations such as Gricean enrichments. That is not to say priming is without its limitations, however. Interpreting a failure to observe priming may not be as simple as Branigan & Pickering (B&P) imply.

  20. Clinical linguistics: its past, present and future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkins, Michael R

    2011-11-01

    Historiography is a growing area of research within the discipline of linguistics, but so far the subfield of clinical linguistics has received virtually no systematic attention. This article attempts to rectify this by tracing the development of the discipline from its pre-scientific days up to the present time. As part of this, I include the results of a survey of articles published in Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics between 1987 and 2008 which shows, for example, a consistent primary focus on phonetics and phonology at the expense of grammar, semantics and pragmatics. I also trace the gradual broadening of the discipline from its roots in structural linguistics to its current reciprocal relationship with speech and language pathology and a range of other academic disciplines. Finally, I consider the scope of clinical linguistic research in 2011 and assess how the discipline seems likely develop in the future.

  1. Cross-Linguistic Transfer among Iranian Learners of English as a Foreign Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talebi, Seyed Hassan

    2014-01-01

    Cross-linguistic transfer studies began from linguistic aspects of language learning and moved to non-linguistic aspects. The intriguing question is whether students are aware of the nature of these cross-linguistic interactions in their minds. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was conducted with four Iranian university students. It…

  2. On Linguistic Abilities, Multilingualism, and Linguistic Justice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iannàccaro Gabriele

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The notion of linguistic justice should be related to the concept of linguistic ease, by which we mean the full social and communicative freedom of concern of the speaker in a given social interaction involving the use of language(s present in the society, according to the social norms of use. To acquire an acceptable degree of linguistic ease, the knowledge of at least one L2 is considered important. But the acquisition of a L2 is interfered by the previous linguistic skills of the learner/speaker who, in many cases, does not have a suitable competence even of the languages of the society in which he/she lives.

  3. Investigating Move Structure of English Applied Linguistics Research Article Discussions Published in International and Thai Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amnuai, Wirada; Wannaruk, Anchalee

    2013-01-01

    This study investigates the rhetorical move structure of English applied linguistic research article Discussions published in Thai and international journals. Two corpora comprising of 30 Thai Discussions and 30 international Discussions were analyzed using Yang & Allison's (2003) move model. Based on the analysis, both similarities and…

  4. Corpus methods and their reflection in linguistic theories of the 20th century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Krek

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available In the 20th century structuralism established itself as the central linguistic theory, in the first half mainly through its originator Ferdinand de Saussure, and in the second half with the figure of Noam Chomsky. The latter consistently refused to acknowledge analysis of extensive quantity of texts as a valuable method, and favoured linguistic intuition of a native speaker instead. In parallel with structuralism other trends in linguistics emerged which pointed to the inadequateness of the prevailing linguistic paradigm and to theoretical insights which were only possible after the systematic analysis of large quantities of texts. The paper discusses some of the dilemmas stemming from this dichotomy and places corpus linguistics in a broader linguistic context.

  5. Data Acquisition and Linguistic Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strassel, Stephanie; Christianson, Caitlin; McCary, John; Staderman, William; Olive, Joseph

    All human language technology demands substantial quantities of data for system training and development, plus stable benchmark data to measure ongoing progress. While creation of high quality linguistic resources is both costly and time consuming, such data has the potential to profoundly impact not just a single evaluation program but language technology research in general. GALE's challenging performance targets demand linguistic data on a scale and complexity never before encountered. Resources cover multiple languages (Arabic, Chinese, and English) and multiple genres -- both structured (newswire and broadcast news) and unstructured (web text, including blogs and newsgroups, and broadcast conversation). These resources include significant volumes of monolingual text and speech, parallel text, and transcribed audio combined with multiple layers of linguistic annotation, ranging from word aligned parallel text and Treebanks to rich semantic annotation.

  6. Using Multi-Spectral UAV Imagery to Extract Tree Crop Structural Properties and Assess Pruning Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kasper Johansen

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV provide an unprecedented capacity to monitor the development and dynamics of tree growth and structure through time. It is generally thought that the pruning of tree crops encourages new growth, has a positive effect on fruiting, makes fruit-picking easier, and may increase yield, as it increases light interception and tree crown surface area. To establish the response of pruning in an orchard of lychee trees, an assessment of changes in tree structure, i.e., tree crown perimeter, width, height, area and Plant Projective Cover (PPC, was undertaken using multi-spectral UAV imagery collected before and after a pruning event. While tree crown perimeter, width and area could be derived directly from the delineated tree crowns, height was estimated from a produced canopy height model and PPC was most accurately predicted based on the NIR band. Pre- and post-pruning results showed significant differences in all measured tree structural parameters, including an average decrease in tree crown perimeter of 1.94 m, tree crown width of 0.57 m, tree crown height of 0.62 m, tree crown area of 3.5 m2, and PPC of 14.8%. In order to provide guidance on data collection protocols for orchard management, the impact of flying height variations was also examined, offering some insight into the influence of scale and the scalability of this UAV-based approach for larger orchards. The different flying heights (i.e., 30, 50 and 70 m produced similar measurements of tree crown width and PPC, while tree crown perimeter, area and height measurements decreased with increasing flying height. Overall, these results illustrate that routine collection of multi-spectral UAV imagery can provide a means of assessing pruning effects on changes in tree structure in commercial orchards, and highlight the importance of collecting imagery with consistent flight configurations, as varying flying heights may cause changes to tree structural measurements.

  7. Using Multi-Spectral UAV Imagery to Extract Tree Crop Structural Properties and Assess Pruning Effects

    KAUST Repository

    Johansen, Kasper

    2018-04-18

    Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provide an unprecedented capacity to monitor the development and dynamics of tree growth and structure through time. It is generally thought that the pruning of tree crops encourages new growth, has a positive effect on fruiting, makes fruit-picking easier, and may increase yield, as it increases light interception and tree crown surface area. To establish the response of pruning in an orchard of lychee trees, an assessment of changes in tree structure, i.e. tree crown perimeter, width, height, area and Plant Projective Cover (PPC), was undertaken using multi-spectral UAV imagery collected before and after a pruning event. While tree crown perimeter, width and area could be derived directly from the delineated tree crowns, height was estimated from a produced canopy height model and PPC was most accurately predicted based on the NIR band. Pre- and post-pruning results showed significant differences in all measured tree structural parameters, including an average decrease in tree crown perimeter of 1.94 m, tree crown width of 0.57 m, tree crown height of 0.62 m, tree crown area of 3.5 m2, and PPC of 14.8%. In order to provide guidance on data collection protocols for orchard management, the impact of flying height variations was also examined, offering some insight into the influence of scale and the scalability of this UAV based approach for larger orchards. The different flying heights (i.e. 30, 50 and 70 m) produced similar measurements of tree crown width and PPC, while tree crown perimeter, area and height measurements decreased with increasing flying height. Overall, these results illustrate that routine collection of multi-spectral UAV imagery can provide a means of assessing pruning effects on changes in tree structure in commercial orchards, and highlight the importance of collecting imagery with consistent flight configurations, as varying flying heights may cause changes to tree structural measurements.

  8. The linguistically aware teacher and the teacher-aware linguist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCartney, Elspeth; Ellis, Sue

    2013-07-01

    This review evaluates issues of teacher linguistic knowledge relating to their work with children with speech, language and communication difficulties (SLCD). Information is from Ellis and McCartney [(2011a). Applied linguistics and primary school teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], a state-of-the-art text deriving from a British Association of Applied Linguistics/Cambridge University Press expert seminar series that details: linguistic research underpinning primary school curricula and pedagogy; the form of linguistic knowledge useful for teachers supporting children with SLCD in partnership with speech and language therapists; and how and when teachers acquire and learn to apply such knowledge. Critical analysis of the options presented for teacher learning indicate that policy enjoinders now include linguistic application as an expected part of teachers' professional knowledge, for all children including those with SLCD, but there is a large unmet learning need. It is concluded that there is a role for clinical linguists to disseminate useable knowledge to teachers in an accessible format. Ways of achieving this are considered.

  9. MODELING BILL-OF-MATERIAL WITH TREE DATA STRUCTURE: CASE STUDY IN FURNITURE MANUFACTURER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toni Prahasto

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a modeling of Bill-of-Material with tree data structure. The BOM represents wooden furniture products. The management of BOM is incorporated into an MRP software which is specially built for a furniture manufacturer. The tree data structure is approached with an object oriented programming to provide the creation and modification of the data. The tree object is designed so that a downstream programmer can create an application with high productivity, using the BOM object of course. Legality of the development is ensured by adapting open source resources, i.e. MySQL database engine, PHP server script, and client-side Javascript. The BOM object is used extensively in the MRP software that is being developed. A couple of screenshots are presented to demonstrate the ease of creation and manipulation of Bill-of-Material. The proper approach of modeling BOM with tree structure allows the programmer to reach high productivity during the development of the aforementioned MRP customized software. Keyword : Modeling, Bill of Material, Tree Data Structure

  10. Structural system reliability calculation using a probabilistic fault tree analysis method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torng, T. Y.; Wu, Y.-T.; Millwater, H. R.

    1992-01-01

    The development of a new probabilistic fault tree analysis (PFTA) method for calculating structural system reliability is summarized. The proposed PFTA procedure includes: developing a fault tree to represent the complex structural system, constructing an approximation function for each bottom event, determining a dominant sampling sequence for all bottom events, and calculating the system reliability using an adaptive importance sampling method. PFTA is suitable for complicated structural problems that require computer-intensive computer calculations. A computer program has been developed to implement the PFTA.

  11. Linguistic Polyphony

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nølke, Henning

    on the Scandinavian variant of polyphony, ScaPoLine. ScaPoLine is a formal linguistic theory whose main purpose is to specify the instructions conveyed through linguistic form for the creation of polyphonic meaning. The theoretical introduction is followed by polyphonic analyses of linguistic phenomena...

  12. Structural adjustments in resprouting trees drive differences in post-fire transpiration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, Rachael H; Mitchell, Patrick J; Bradstock, Ross A; Lane, Patrick N J

    2014-02-01

    Following disturbance many woody species are capable of resprouting new foliage, resulting in a reduced leaf-to-sapwood area ratio and altered canopy structure. We hypothesized that such changes would promote adjustments in leaf physiology, resulting in higher rates of transpiration per unit leaf area, consistent with the mechanistic framework proposed by Whitehead et al. (Whitehead D, Jarvis PG, Waring RH (1984) Stomatal conductance, transpiration and resistance to water uptake in a Pinus sylvestris spacing experiment. Can J For Res 14:692-700). We tested this in Eucalyptus obliqua L'Hér following a wildfire by comparing trees with unburnt canopies with trees that had been subject to 100% canopy scorch and were recovering their leaf area via resprouting. In resprouting trees, foliage was distributed along the trunk and on lateral branches, resulting in shorter hydraulic path lengths. We evaluated measurements of whole-tree transpiration and structural and physiological traits expected to drive any changes in transpiration. We used these structural and physiological measurements to parameterize the Whitehead et al. equation, and found that the expected ratio of transpiration per unit leaf area between resprouting and unburnt trees was 3.41. This is similar to the observed ratio of transpiration per unit leaf area, measured from sapflow observations, which was 2.89 (i.e., resprouting trees had 188% higher transpiration per unit leaf area). Foliage at low heights (tree crown (14-18 m) in a number of traits, including higher specific leaf area, midday leaf water potential and higher rates of stomatal conductance and photosynthesis. We conclude that these post-fire adjustments in resprouting trees help to drive increased stomatal conductance and hydraulic efficiency, promoting the rapid return of tree-scale transpiration towards pre-disturbance levels. These transient patterns in canopy transpiration have important implications for modelling stand-level water fluxes

  13. Automated Linguistic Personality Description and Recognition Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danylyuk Illya

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The relevance of our research, above all, is theoretically motivated by the development of extraordinary scientific and practical interest in the possibilities of language processing of huge amount of data generated by people in everyday professional and personal life in the electronic forms of communication (e-mail, sms, voice, audio and video blogs, social networks, etc.. Purpose: The purpose of the article is to describe the theoretical and practical framework of the project "Communicative-pragmatic and discourse-grammatical lingvopersonology: structuring linguistic identity and computer modeling". The description of key techniques is given, such as machine learning for language modeling, speech synthesis, handwriting simulation. Results: Lingvopersonology developed some great theoretical foundations, its methods, tools, and significant achievements let us predict that the newest promising trend is a linguistic identity modeling by means of information technology, including language. We see three aspects of the modeling: 1 modeling the semantic level of linguistic identity – by means of the use of corpus linguistics; 2 sound level formal modeling of linguistic identity – with the help of speech synthesis; 3 formal graphic level modeling of linguistic identity – with the help of image synthesis (handwriting. For the first case, we suppose to use machine learning technics and vector-space (word2vec algorithm for textual speech modeling. Hybrid CUTE method for personality speech modeling will be applied to the second case. Finally, trained with the person handwriting images neural network can be an instrument for the last case. Discussion: The project "Communicative-pragmatic, discourse, and grammatical lingvopersonology: structuring linguistic identity and computer modeling", which is implementing by the Department of General and Applied Linguistics and Slavonic philology, selected a task to model Yuriy Shevelyov (Sherekh

  14. Perspectives in Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waterman, John T.

    Intended for the student of linguistics or the structural grammarian, who must develop an awareness of their intellectual heritage, the present work surveys the study of language in ancient times, the medieval and early modern periods, the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century to 1950. (This second edition includes additional material on…

  15. The Prague Linguistic Circle and Dialectics

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Sládek, Ondřej

    -, č. 19 (2017), s. 352-357 E-ISSN 2037-2426 Institutional support: RVO:68378068 Keywords : The Prague Linguistic Circle * Jan Mukařovský * Structuralism * Structural Poetics * Dialectics Subject RIV: AJ - Letters, Mass-media, Audiovision OBOR OECD: Specific literatures

  16. Quantifying Standing Dead Tree Volume and Structural Loss with Voxelized Terrestrial Lidar Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popescu, S. C.; Putman, E.

    2017-12-01

    Standing dead trees (SDTs) are an important forest component and impact a variety of ecosystem processes, yet the carbon pool dynamics of SDTs are poorly constrained in terrestrial carbon cycling models. The ability to model wood decay and carbon cycling in relation to detectable changes in tree structure and volume over time would greatly improve such models. The overall objective of this study was to provide automated aboveground volume estimates of SDTs and automated procedures to detect, quantify, and characterize structural losses over time with terrestrial lidar data. The specific objectives of this study were: 1) develop an automated SDT volume estimation algorithm providing accurate volume estimates for trees scanned in dense forests; 2) develop an automated change detection methodology to accurately detect and quantify SDT structural loss between subsequent terrestrial lidar observations; and 3) characterize the structural loss rates of pine and oak SDTs in southeastern Texas. A voxel-based volume estimation algorithm, "TreeVolX", was developed and incorporates several methods designed to robustly process point clouds of varying quality levels. The algorithm operates on horizontal voxel slices by segmenting the slice into distinct branch or stem sections then applying an adaptive contour interpolation and interior filling process to create solid reconstructed tree models (RTMs). TreeVolX estimated large and small branch volume with an RMSE of 7.3% and 13.8%, respectively. A voxel-based change detection methodology was developed to accurately detect and quantify structural losses and incorporated several methods to mitigate the challenges presented by shifting tree and branch positions as SDT decay progresses. The volume and structural loss of 29 SDTs, composed of Pinus taeda and Quercus stellata, were successfully estimated using multitemporal terrestrial lidar observations over elapsed times ranging from 71 - 753 days. Pine and oak structural loss rates

  17. A Fuzzy Linguistic Methodology to Deal With Unbalanced Linguistic Term Sets

    OpenAIRE

    Herrera, F.; Herrera-Viedma, Enrique; Martinez, L.

    2008-01-01

    Many real problems dealing with qualitative aspects use linguistic approaches to assess such aspects. In most of these problems, a uniform and symmetrical distribution of the linguistic term sets for linguistic modeling is assumed. However, there exist problems whose assessments need to be represented by means of unbalanced linguistic term sets, i.e., using term sets that are not uniformly and symmetrically distributed. The use of linguistic variables implies processes of computing with words...

  18. i-Tree: Tools to assess and manage structure, function, and value of community forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirabayashi, S.; Nowak, D.; Endreny, T. A.; Kroll, C.; Maco, S.

    2011-12-01

    Trees in urban communities can mitigate many adverse effects associated with anthropogenic activities and climate change (e.g. urban heat island, greenhouse gas, air pollution, and floods). To protect environmental and human health, managers need to make informed decisions regarding urban forest management practices. Here we present the i-Tree suite of software tools (www.itreetools.org) developed by the USDA Forest Service and their cooperators. This software suite can help urban forest managers assess and manage the structure, function, and value of urban tree populations regardless of community size or technical capacity. i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed Windows GUI- or Web-based software that is freely available, supported, and continuously refined by the USDA Forest Service and their cooperators. Two major features of i-Tree are 1) to analyze current canopy structures and identify potential planting spots, and 2) to estimate the environmental benefits provided by the trees, such as carbon storage and sequestration, energy conservation, air pollution removal, and storm water reduction. To cover diverse forest topologies, various tools were developed within the i-Tree suite: i-Tree Design for points (individual trees), i-Tree Streets for lines (street trees), and i-Tree Eco, Vue, and Canopy (in the order of complexity) for areas (community trees). Once the forest structure is identified with these tools, ecosystem services provided by trees can be estimated with common models and protocols, and reports in the form of texts, charts, and figures are then created for users. Since i-Tree was developed with a client/server architecture, nationwide data in the US such as location-related parameters, weather, streamflow, and air pollution data are stored in the server and retrieved to a user's computer at run-time. Freely available remote-sensed images (e.g. NLCD and Google maps) are also employed to estimate tree canopy characteristics. As the demand for i-Tree

  19. Innovations in structuring article introductions: The case of Applied Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling Lin

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the rhetorical structure of introductions that are followed by an independent Literature Review (L section. It is motivated by an increasing use or even the prevalent use of both the introduction and L sections in the opening phase of empirical research articles in many disciplines and the lack of systematic genre-based investigation of introductions with a following L section. Based on a detailed examination of 30 introductions with a subsequent L section in Applied Linguistics, this study found that they generally can be classified into two categories according to their communicative functions and structures. They are the traditional CARS type that largely follows the classic “Create a Research Space” (CARS model and the innovative Two-move Orientation type. Some featured elements used in the introductions with a subsequent L are identified and the “Two-move Orientation” approach is formulated for the rhetorical structure of this new type of introductions. The interesting links between introduction and L are also suggested. The study contributes to our understanding of the structure and function of this important part-genre in a new generic context (that is, introductions being followed by an independent L section and illuminates the current genre-based teaching of introduction writing.

  20. [The relationship between the structuralism of Levi-Strauss and linguistic methods. An attempt at applying structuralist phonologic models to the study of pathologic language].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lhote, E

    1975-01-01

    The structuralism which is generally accepted as a 'good French' school of thinking, presents in some of its applications the short-time character of fashion in such a way that one often forgets what this philosophy implicates. In this essay, the author intends to show that even though a structural method really exists, one cannot say who exactly is 'the father' of structuralism. But during the long maturity period of thought that resulted in structuralism, one important step has been made in France by Lévi-Strauss who has been using a great number of linguistic concepts, and at the same time has contributed to the consequent progress realized in that discipline. In the light of linguistics and of the works made by Lévi-Strauss some notions are redefined: those of structure, those of oppositions in the systems, those of relations inside one system, and the interactions between 'significant' and 'signifié'. Born from recent research in mathematics and cybernetics, the notion of Model, very fertile in linguistics, is an important element in the Lévi-Strauss structural methodology. With the help of examples taken from phonetics and phonology, the author intends to show how to elaborate a model, of what nature are the links between the observed object and the model, and what can be the applications of that method in the study of pathological languages; the author also intends to show that the main interest in a model of structural type is its explicative and previsional quality. A critical study of the structural analysis makes it possible to show the real contribution of structuralism: the author presents new ways that have been revealed by structuralism and some developments later on favorized by this discipline, mainly in linguistics. Remark. In this study of structuralism, the author places herself on the level with 'method' and not with 'philosophy'.

  1. Live phylogeny with polytomies: Finding the most compact parsimonious trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papamichail, D; Huang, A; Kennedy, E; Ott, J-L; Miller, A; Papamichail, G

    2017-08-01

    Construction of phylogenetic trees has traditionally focused on binary trees where all species appear on leaves, a problem for which numerous efficient solutions have been developed. Certain application domains though, such as viral evolution and transmission, paleontology, linguistics, and phylogenetic stemmatics, often require phylogeny inference that involves placing input species on ancestral tree nodes (live phylogeny), and polytomies. These requirements, despite their prevalence, lead to computationally harder algorithmic solutions and have been sparsely examined in the literature to date. In this article we prove some unique properties of most parsimonious live phylogenetic trees with polytomies, and their mapping to traditional binary phylogenetic trees. We show that our problem reduces to finding the most compact parsimonious tree for n species, and describe a novel efficient algorithm to find such trees without resorting to exhaustive enumeration of all possible tree topologies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. De-icing salt contamination reduces urban tree performance in structural soil cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ordóñez-Barona, Camilo; Sabetski, Vadim; Millward, Andrew A; Steenberg, James

    2018-03-01

    Salts used for de-icing roads and sidewalks in northern climates can have a significant impact on water quality and vegetation. Sub-surface engineering systems, such as structural soil cells, can regulate water runoff and pollutants, and provide the necessary soil volume and irrigation to grow trees. However, the ability of such systems to manage de-icing salt contamination, and the impact of this contamination on the trees growing in them, have not been evaluated. We report on an field investigation of de-icing salt contamination in structural cells in two street-revitalization projects in Toronto, Canada, and the impact of this contamination on tree performance. We analyzed soil chemistry and collected tree attributes; these data were examined together to understand the effect of salinity on tree mortality rates and foliar condition. Data collected from continuous soil salinity loggers from April to June for one of the two sites were used to determine whether there was a long-term accumulation of salts in the soils. Results for both sites indicate that both sites displayed high salinity and alkalinity, with levels elevated beyond those suggested before those reported to cause negative tree effects. For one site, trees that were alive and trees that had a better foliar condition had significantly lower levels of soil salinity and alkalinity than other trees. High salinity and alkalinity in the soil were also associated with lower nutrient levels for both sites. Although tests for salinity accumulation in the soils of one site were negative, a longer monitoring of the soil conditions within the soil cells is warranted. Despite structural cells being increasingly utilized for their dual role in storm-water management and tree establishment, there may be a considerable trade-off between storm-water management and urban-forest function in northern climates where de-icing salt application continues to be commonplace. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Demographic histories, isolation and social factors as determinants of the genetic structure of Alpine linguistic groups.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina Coia

    Full Text Available Great European mountain ranges have acted as barriers to gene flow for resident populations since prehistory and have offered a place for the settlement of small, and sometimes culturally diverse, communities. Therefore, the human groups that have settled in these areas are worth exploring as an important potential source of diversity in the genetic structure of European populations. In this study, we present new high resolution data concerning Y chromosomal variation in three distinct Alpine ethno-linguistic groups, Italian, Ladin and German. Combining unpublished and literature data on Y chromosome and mitochondrial variation, we were able to detect different genetic patterns. In fact, within and among population diversity values observed vary across linguistic groups, with German and Italian speakers at the two extremes, and seem to reflect their different demographic histories. Using simulations we inferred that the joint effect of continued genetic isolation and reduced founding group size may explain the apportionment of genetic diversity observed in all groups. Extending the analysis to other continental populations, we observed that the genetic differentiation of Ladins and German speakers from Europeans is comparable or even greater to that observed for well known outliers like Sardinian and Basques. Finally, we found that in south Tyroleans, the social practice of Geschlossener Hof, a hereditary norm which might have favored male dispersal, coincides with a significant intra-group diversity for mtDNA but not for Y chromosome, a genetic pattern which is opposite to those expected among patrilocal populations. Together with previous evidence regarding the possible effects of "local ethnicity" on the genetic structure of German speakers that have settled in the eastern Italian Alps, this finding suggests that taking socio-cultural factors into account together with geographical variables and linguistic diversity may help unveil some yet

  4. Demographic histories, isolation and social factors as determinants of the genetic structure of Alpine linguistic groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coia, Valentina; Capocasa, Marco; Anagnostou, Paolo; Pascali, Vincenzo; Scarnicci, Francesca; Boschi, Ilaria; Battaggia, Cinzia; Crivellaro, Federica; Ferri, Gianmarco; Alù, Milena; Brisighelli, Francesca; Busby, George B J; Capelli, Cristian; Maixner, Frank; Cipollini, Giovanna; Viazzo, Pier Paolo; Zink, Albert; Destro Bisol, Giovanni

    2013-01-01

    Great European mountain ranges have acted as barriers to gene flow for resident populations since prehistory and have offered a place for the settlement of small, and sometimes culturally diverse, communities. Therefore, the human groups that have settled in these areas are worth exploring as an important potential source of diversity in the genetic structure of European populations. In this study, we present new high resolution data concerning Y chromosomal variation in three distinct Alpine ethno-linguistic groups, Italian, Ladin and German. Combining unpublished and literature data on Y chromosome and mitochondrial variation, we were able to detect different genetic patterns. In fact, within and among population diversity values observed vary across linguistic groups, with German and Italian speakers at the two extremes, and seem to reflect their different demographic histories. Using simulations we inferred that the joint effect of continued genetic isolation and reduced founding group size may explain the apportionment of genetic diversity observed in all groups. Extending the analysis to other continental populations, we observed that the genetic differentiation of Ladins and German speakers from Europeans is comparable or even greater to that observed for well known outliers like Sardinian and Basques. Finally, we found that in south Tyroleans, the social practice of Geschlossener Hof, a hereditary norm which might have favored male dispersal, coincides with a significant intra-group diversity for mtDNA but not for Y chromosome, a genetic pattern which is opposite to those expected among patrilocal populations. Together with previous evidence regarding the possible effects of "local ethnicity" on the genetic structure of German speakers that have settled in the eastern Italian Alps, this finding suggests that taking socio-cultural factors into account together with geographical variables and linguistic diversity may help unveil some yet to be understood

  5. Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language. This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’. PMID:27872370

  6. Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Kenny; Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

    2017-01-05

    Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language.This article is part of the themed issue 'New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences'. © 2016 The Authors.

  7. Is Rorty a linguistic idealist?

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Marvan, Tomáš

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 21, č. 3 (2011), s. 272-279 ISSN 1210-3055 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z90090514 Keywords : Rorty * linguistic idealism * internal realism * intrinsic structure of reality * representation Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

  8. Deciphering structural and temporal interplays during the architectural development of mango trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dambreville, Anaëlle; Lauri, Pierre-Éric; Trottier, Catherine; Guédon, Yann; Normand, Frédéric

    2013-05-01

    Plant architecture is commonly defined by the adjacency of organs within the structure and their properties. Few studies consider the effect of endogenous temporal factors, namely phenological factors, on the establishment of plant architecture. This study hypothesized that, in addition to the effect of environmental factors, the observed plant architecture results from both endogenous structural and temporal components, and their interplays. Mango tree, which is characterized by strong phenological asynchronisms within and between trees and by repeated vegetative and reproductive flushes during a growing cycle, was chosen as a plant model. During two consecutive growing cycles, this study described vegetative and reproductive development of 20 trees submitted to the same environmental conditions. Four mango cultivars were considered to assess possible cultivar-specific patterns. Integrative vegetative and reproductive development models incorporating generalized linear models as components were built. These models described the occurrence, intensity, and timing of vegetative and reproductive development at the growth unit scale. This study showed significant interplays between structural and temporal components of plant architectural development at two temporal scales. Within a growing cycle, earliness of bud burst was highly and positively related to earliness of vegetative development and flowering. Between growing cycles, flowering growth units delayed vegetative development compared to growth units that did not flower. These interplays explained how vegetative and reproductive phenological asynchronisms within and between trees were generated and maintained. It is suggested that causation networks involving structural and temporal components may give rise to contrasted tree architectures.

  9. Corpus linguistics and statistics with R introduction to quantitative methods in linguistics

    CERN Document Server

    Desagulier, Guillaume

    2017-01-01

    This textbook examines empirical linguistics from a theoretical linguist’s perspective. It provides both a theoretical discussion of what quantitative corpus linguistics entails and detailed, hands-on, step-by-step instructions to implement the techniques in the field. The statistical methodology and R-based coding from this book teach readers the basic and then more advanced skills to work with large data sets in their linguistics research and studies. Massive data sets are now more than ever the basis for work that ranges from usage-based linguistics to the far reaches of applied linguistics. This book presents much of the methodology in a corpus-based approach. However, the corpus-based methods in this book are also essential components of recent developments in sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, computational linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Material from the book will also be appealing to researchers in digital humanities and the many non-linguistic fields that use textual data analysis and t...

  10. A Suffix Tree Or Not a Suffix Tree?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Starikovskaya, Tatiana; Vildhøj, Hjalte Wedel

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we study the structure of suffix trees. Given an unlabeled tree r on n nodes and suffix links of its internal nodes, we ask the question “Is r a suffix tree?”, i.e., is there a string S whose suffix tree has the same topological structure as r? We place no restrictions on S, in part...

  11. [Effects of crop tree release on stand growth and stand structure of Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jian-qiang; Wang, Yi-xiang; Yang, Yi; Zhu, Ting-ting; Zhu, Xu-dan

    2015-02-01

    Crop trees were selected in a 26-year-old even-aged Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation in Lin' an, and compared in plots that were released and unreleased to examine growth and structure responses for 3 years after thinning. Crop tree release significantly increased the mean increments of diameter and volume of individual tree by 1.30 and 1.25 times relative to trees in control stands, respectively. The increments of diameter and volume of crop trees were significantly higher than those of general trees in thinning plots, crop trees and general trees in control plots, which suggested that the responses from different tree types to crop tree release treatment were different. Crop tree release increased the average distances of crop trees to the nearest neighboring trees, reducing competition among crop trees by about 68.2%. 3-year stand volume increment for thinning stands had no significant difference with that of control stands although the number of trees was only 81.5% of the control. Crop trees in thinned plots with diameters over than 14 cm reached 18.0% over 3 years, compared with 12.0% for trees without thinning, suggesting that crop tree release benefited the larger individual trees. The pattern of tree locations in thinning plots tended to be random, complying with the rule that tree distribution pattern changes with growth. Crop tree release in C. lanceolata plantation not only promoted the stand growth, but also optimized the stand structure, benefiting crop trees sustained rapid growth and larger diameter trees production.

  12. Wavelet tree structure based speckle noise removal for optical coherence tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Xin; Liu, Xuan; Liu, Yang

    2018-02-01

    We report a new speckle noise removal algorithm in optical coherence tomography (OCT). Though wavelet domain thresholding algorithms have demonstrated superior advantages in suppressing noise magnitude and preserving image sharpness in OCT, the wavelet tree structure has not been investigated in previous applications. In this work, we propose an adaptive wavelet thresholding algorithm via exploiting the tree structure in wavelet coefficients to remove the speckle noise in OCT images. The threshold for each wavelet band is adaptively selected following a special rule to retain the structure of the image across different wavelet layers. Our results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms conventional wavelet thresholding, with significant advantages in preserving image features.

  13. Tree decomposition based fast search of RNA structures including pseudoknots in genomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yinglei; Liu, Chunmei; Malmberg, Russell; Pan, Fangfang; Cai, Liming

    2005-01-01

    Searching genomes for RNA secondary structure with computational methods has become an important approach to the annotation of non-coding RNAs. However, due to the lack of efficient algorithms for accurate RNA structure-sequence alignment, computer programs capable of fast and effectively searching genomes for RNA secondary structures have not been available. In this paper, a novel RNA structure profiling model is introduced based on the notion of a conformational graph to specify the consensus structure of an RNA family. Tree decomposition yields a small tree width t for such conformation graphs (e.g., t = 2 for stem loops and only a slight increase for pseudo-knots). Within this modelling framework, the optimal alignment of a sequence to the structure model corresponds to finding a maximum valued isomorphic subgraph and consequently can be accomplished through dynamic programming on the tree decomposition of the conformational graph in time O(k(t)N(2)), where k is a small parameter; and N is the size of the projiled RNA structure. Experiments show that the application of the alignment algorithm to search in genomes yields the same search accuracy as methods based on a Covariance model with a significant reduction in computation time. In particular; very accurate searches of tmRNAs in bacteria genomes and of telomerase RNAs in yeast genomes can be accomplished in days, as opposed to months required by other methods. The tree decomposition based searching tool is free upon request and can be downloaded at our site h t t p ://w.uga.edu/RNA-informatics/software/index.php.

  14. Recruiting Conventional Tree Architecture Models into State-of-the-Art LiDAR Mapping for Investigating Tree Growth Habits in Structure

    OpenAIRE

    Lin, Yi; Jiang, Miao; Pellikka, Petri; Heiskanen, Janne

    2018-01-01

    Mensuration of tree growth habits is of considerable importance for understanding forest ecosystem processes and forest biophysical responses to climate changes. However, the complexity of tree crown morphology that is typically formed after many years of growth tends to render it a non-trivial task, even for the state-of-the-art 3D forest mapping technology—light detection and ranging (LiDAR). Fortunately, botanists have deduced the large structural diversity of tree forms into only a limite...

  15. Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor

    OpenAIRE

    Johanna Nichols; Johanna Nichols; Johanna Nichols

    2018-01-01

    An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an e...

  16. A quantitative analysis of secondary RNA structure using domination based parameters on trees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zou Yue

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background It has become increasingly apparent that a comprehensive database of RNA motifs is essential in order to achieve new goals in genomic and proteomic research. Secondary RNA structures have frequently been represented by various modeling methods as graph-theoretic trees. Using graph theory as a modeling tool allows the vast resources of graphical invariants to be utilized to numerically identify secondary RNA motifs. The domination number of a graph is a graphical invariant that is sensitive to even a slight change in the structure of a tree. The invariants selected in this study are variations of the domination number of a graph. These graphical invariants are partitioned into two classes, and we define two parameters based on each of these classes. These parameters are calculated for all small order trees and a statistical analysis of the resulting data is conducted to determine if the values of these parameters can be utilized to identify which trees of orders seven and eight are RNA-like in structure. Results The statistical analysis shows that the domination based parameters correctly distinguish between the trees that represent native structures and those that are not likely candidates to represent RNA. Some of the trees previously identified as candidate structures are found to be "very" RNA like, while others are not, thereby refining the space of structures likely to be found as representing secondary RNA structure. Conclusion Search algorithms are available that mine nucleotide sequence databases. However, the number of motifs identified can be quite large, making a further search for similar motif computationally difficult. Much of the work in the bioinformatics arena is toward the development of better algorithms to address the computational problem. This work, on the other hand, uses mathematical descriptors to more clearly characterize the RNA motifs and thereby reduce the corresponding search space. These

  17. Linguistic and Cognitive Characteristics of the Composition of the Text of J. K. Rowling's English Tales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solodova, Elena

    2015-01-01

    This article focuses on linguistic and cognitive characteristics inherent in the composition of the English postmodern tales written by J.K. Rowling. The composition of the text is viewed as linguistic and cognitive construal that integrates compositional plot structure, compositional meaning structure, linguistic and stylistic means of their…

  18. Voicing Solidarity: Linguistic Hospitality and Poststructuralism in the Real World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phipps, Alison

    2012-01-01

    Structuralism has dominated the field of applied linguistics, which has consequences for the positioning of applied linguistics "vis-a-vis" policy makers, educational practice, and also theoretical and methodological innovations. These consequences pertain to how the field advocates, takes sides, balances its descriptive modes with its discursive…

  19. Representation of linguistic form and function in recurrent neural networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kadar, Akos; Chrupala, Grzegorz; Alishahi, Afra

    2017-01-01

    We present novel methods for analyzing the activation patterns of recurrent neural networks from a linguistic point of view and explore the types of linguistic structure they learn. As a case study, we use a standard standalone language model, and a multi-task gated recurrent network architecture

  20. Analysis of event tree with imprecise inputs by fuzzy set theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahn, Kwang Il; Chun, Moon Hyun

    1990-01-01

    Fuzzy set theory approach is proposed as a method to analyze event trees with imprecise or linguistic input variables such as 'likely' or 'improbable' instead of the numerical probability. In this paper, it is shown how the fuzzy set theory can be applied to the event tree analysis. The result of this study shows that the fuzzy set theory approach can be applied as an acceptable and effective tool for analysis of the event tree with fuzzy type of inputs. Comparisons of the fuzzy theory approach with the probabilistic approach of computing probabilities of final states of the event tree through subjective weighting factors and LHS technique show that the two approaches have common factors and give reasonable results

  1. Tree-Structured Digital Organisms Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Teruhiko; Nobesawa, Shiho; Tahara, Ikuo

    Tierra and Avida are well-known models of digital organisms. They describe a life process as a sequence of computation codes. A linear sequence model may not be the only way to describe a digital organism, though it is very simple for a computer-based model. Thus we propose a new digital organism model based on a tree structure, which is rather similar to the generic programming. With our model, a life process is a combination of various functions, as if life in the real world is. This implies that our model can easily describe the hierarchical structure of life, and it can simulate evolutionary computation through mutual interaction of functions. We verified our model by simulations that our model can be regarded as a digital organism model according to its definitions. Our model even succeeded in creating species such as viruses and parasites.

  2. Mapping topographic structure in white matter pathways with level set trees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian P Kent

    Full Text Available Fiber tractography on diffusion imaging data offers rich potential for describing white matter pathways in the human brain, but characterizing the spatial organization in these large and complex data sets remains a challenge. We show that level set trees--which provide a concise representation of the hierarchical mode structure of probability density functions--offer a statistically-principled framework for visualizing and analyzing topography in fiber streamlines. Using diffusion spectrum imaging data collected on neurologically healthy controls (N = 30, we mapped white matter pathways from the cortex into the striatum using a deterministic tractography algorithm that estimates fiber bundles as dimensionless streamlines. Level set trees were used for interactive exploration of patterns in the endpoint distributions of the mapped fiber pathways and an efficient segmentation of the pathways that had empirical accuracy comparable to standard nonparametric clustering techniques. We show that level set trees can also be generalized to model pseudo-density functions in order to analyze a broader array of data types, including entire fiber streamlines. Finally, resampling methods show the reliability of the level set tree as a descriptive measure of topographic structure, illustrating its potential as a statistical descriptor in brain imaging analysis. These results highlight the broad applicability of level set trees for visualizing and analyzing high-dimensional data like fiber tractography output.

  3. Wind loads and competition for light sculpt trees into self-similar structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eloy, Christophe; Fournier, Meriem; Lacointe, André; Moulia, Bruno

    2017-10-18

    Trees are self-similar structures: their branch lengths and diameters vary allometrically within the tree architecture, with longer and thicker branches near the ground. These tree allometries are often attributed to optimisation of hydraulic sap transport and safety against elastic buckling. Here, we show that these allometries also emerge from a model that includes competition for light, wind biomechanics and no hydraulics. We have developed MECHATREE, a numerical model of trees growing and evolving on a virtual island. With this model, we identify the fittest growth strategy when trees compete for light and allocate their photosynthates to grow seeds, create new branches or reinforce existing ones in response to wind-induced loads. Strikingly, we find that selected trees species are self-similar and follow allometric scalings similar to those observed on dicots and conifers. This result suggests that resistance to wind and competition for light play an essential role in determining tree allometries.

  4. A mechanical design principle for tissue structure and function in the airway tree.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaPrad, Adam S; Lutchen, Kenneth R; Suki, Béla

    2013-01-01

    With every breath, the dynamically changing mechanical pressures must work in unison with the cells and soft tissue structures of the lung to permit air to efficiently traverse the airway tree and undergo gas exchange in the alveoli. The influence of mechanics on cell and tissue function is becoming apparent, raising the question: how does the airway tree co-exist within its mechanical environment to maintain normal cell function throughout its branching structure of diminishing dimensions? We introduce a new mechanical design principle for the conducting airway tree in which mechanotransduction at the level of cells is driven to orchestrate airway wall structural changes that can best maintain a preferred mechanical microenvironment. To support this principle, we report in vitro radius-transmural pressure relations for a range of airway radii obtained from healthy bovine lungs and model the data using a strain energy function together with a thick-walled cylinder description. From this framework, we estimate circumferential stresses and incremental Young's moduli throughout the airway tree. Our results indicate that the conducting airways consistently operate within a preferred mechanical homeostatic state, termed mechanical homeostasis, that is characterized by a narrow range of circumferential stresses and Young's moduli. This mechanical homeostatic state is maintained for all airways throughout the tree via airway wall dimensional and mechanical relationships. As a consequence, cells within the airway walls throughout the airway tree experience similar oscillatory strains during breathing that are much smaller than previously thought. Finally, we discuss the potential implications of how the maintenance of mechanical homeostasis, while facilitating healthy tissue-level alterations necessary for maturation, may lead to airway wall structural changes capable of chronic asthma.

  5. A mechanical design principle for tissue structure and function in the airway tree.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam S LaPrad

    Full Text Available With every breath, the dynamically changing mechanical pressures must work in unison with the cells and soft tissue structures of the lung to permit air to efficiently traverse the airway tree and undergo gas exchange in the alveoli. The influence of mechanics on cell and tissue function is becoming apparent, raising the question: how does the airway tree co-exist within its mechanical environment to maintain normal cell function throughout its branching structure of diminishing dimensions? We introduce a new mechanical design principle for the conducting airway tree in which mechanotransduction at the level of cells is driven to orchestrate airway wall structural changes that can best maintain a preferred mechanical microenvironment. To support this principle, we report in vitro radius-transmural pressure relations for a range of airway radii obtained from healthy bovine lungs and model the data using a strain energy function together with a thick-walled cylinder description. From this framework, we estimate circumferential stresses and incremental Young's moduli throughout the airway tree. Our results indicate that the conducting airways consistently operate within a preferred mechanical homeostatic state, termed mechanical homeostasis, that is characterized by a narrow range of circumferential stresses and Young's moduli. This mechanical homeostatic state is maintained for all airways throughout the tree via airway wall dimensional and mechanical relationships. As a consequence, cells within the airway walls throughout the airway tree experience similar oscillatory strains during breathing that are much smaller than previously thought. Finally, we discuss the potential implications of how the maintenance of mechanical homeostasis, while facilitating healthy tissue-level alterations necessary for maturation, may lead to airway wall structural changes capable of chronic asthma.

  6. Three-dimensional segmentation and skeletonization to build an airway tree data structure for small animals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaturvedi, Ashutosh; Lee, Zhenghong

    2005-01-01

    Quantitative analysis of intrathoracic airway tree geometry is important for objective evaluation of bronchial tree structure and function. Currently, there is more human data than small animal data on airway morphometry. In this study, we implemented a semi-automatic approach to quantitatively describe airway tree geometry by using high-resolution computed tomography (CT) images to build a tree data structure for small animals such as rats and mice. Silicon lung casts of the excised lungs from a canine and a mouse were used for micro-CT imaging of the airway trees. The programming language IDL was used to implement a 3D region-growing threshold algorithm for segmenting out the airway lung volume from the CT data. Subsequently, a fully-parallel 3D thinning algorithm was implemented in order to complete the skeletonization of the segmented airways. A tree data structure was then created and saved by parsing through the skeletonized volume using the Python programming language. Pertinent information such as the length of all airway segments was stored in the data structure. This approach was shown to be accurate and efficient for up to six generations for the canine lung cast and ten generations for the mouse lung cast

  7. Formal linguistics as a cue to demographic history.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longobardi, Giuseppe; Ceolin, Andrea; Ecay, Aaron; Ghirotto, Silvia; Guardiano, Cristina; Irimia, Monica-Alexandrina; Michelioudakis, Dimitris; Radkevich, Nina; Pettener, Davide; Luiselli, Donata; Barbujani, Guido

    2016-06-20

    Beyond its theoretical success, the development of molecular genetics has brought about the possibility of extraordinary progress in the study of classification and in the inference of the evolutionary history of many species and populations. A major step forward was represented by the availability of extremely large sets of molecular data suited to quantitative and computational treatments. In this paper, we argue that even in cognitive sciences, purely theoretical progress in a discipline such as linguistics may have analogous impact. Thus, exactly on the model of molecular biology, we propose to unify two traditionally unrelated lines of linguistic investigation: 1) the formal study of syntactic variation (parameter theory) in the biolinguistic program; 2) the reconstruction of relatedness among languages (phylogenetic taxonomy). The results of our linguistic analysis have thus been plotted against data from population genetics and the correlations have turned out to be largely significant: given a non-trivial set of languages/populations, the description of their variation provided by the comparison of systematic parametric analysis and molecular anthropology informatively recapitulates their history and relationships. As a result, we can claim that the reality of some parametric model of the language faculty and language acquisition/transmission (more broadly of generative grammar) receives strong and original support from its historical heuristic power. Then, on these grounds, we can begin testing Darwin's prediction that, when properly generated, the trees of human populations and of their languages should eventually turn out to be significantly parallel.

  8. A primer in macromolecular linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Searls, David B

    2013-03-01

    Polymeric macromolecules, when viewed abstractly as strings of symbols, can be treated in terms of formal language theory, providing a mathematical foundation for characterizing such strings both as collections and in terms of their individual structures. In addition this approach offers a framework for analysis of macromolecules by tools and conventions widely used in computational linguistics. This article introduces the ways that linguistics can be and has been applied to molecular biology, covering the relevant formal language theory at a relatively nontechnical level. Analogies between macromolecules and human natural language are used to provide intuitive insights into the relevance of grammars, parsing, and analysis of language complexity to biology. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Probabilistic linguistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bod, R.; Heine, B.; Narrog, H.

    2010-01-01

    Probabilistic linguistics takes all linguistic evidence as positive evidence and lets statistics decide. It allows for accurate modelling of gradient phenomena in production and perception, and suggests that rule-like behaviour is no more than a side effect of maximizing probability. This chapter

  10. Songs to syntax: the linguistics of birdsong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berwick, Robert C; Okanoya, Kazuo; Beckers, Gabriel J L; Bolhuis, Johan J

    2011-03-01

    Unlike our primate cousins, many species of bird share with humans a capacity for vocal learning, a crucial factor in speech acquisition. There are striking behavioural, neural and genetic similarities between auditory-vocal learning in birds and human infants. Recently, the linguistic parallels between birdsong and spoken language have begun to be investigated. Although both birdsong and human language are hierarchically organized according to particular syntactic constraints, birdsong structure is best characterized as 'phonological syntax', resembling aspects of human sound structure. Crucially, birdsong lacks semantics and words. Formal language and linguistic analysis remains essential for the proper characterization of birdsong as a model system for human speech and language, and for the study of the brain and cognition evolution. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Preprocessing Greek Papyri for Linguistic Annotation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vierros, Marja

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Greek documentary papyri form an important direct source for Ancient Greek. It has been exploited surprisingly little in Greek linguistics due to a lack of good tools for searching linguistic structures. This article presents a new tool and digital platform, “Sematia”, which enables transforming the digital texts available in TEI EpiDoc XML format to a format which can be morphologically and syntactically annotated (treebanked, and where the user can add new metadata concerning the text type, writer and handwriting of each act of writing. An important aspect in this process is to take into account the original surviving writing vs. the standardization of language and supplements made by the editors. This is performed by creating two different layers of the same text. The platform is in its early development phase. Ongoing and future developments, such as tagging linguistic variation phenomena as well as queries performed within Sematia, are discussed at the end of the article.

  12. IMPACT OF POLY-LINGUISTIC LOAD ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AND MONITORING QUALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volodymyr Kharchenko

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available  We have defined the structure and basic characteristics of the poly-linguistic audio-acoustic channel within the framework of controller – pilot communication, and set limits of poly-linguistic load impact on air traffic control.

  13. Shade tree spatial structure and pod production explain frosty pod rot intensity in cacao agroforests, Costa Rica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gidoin, Cynthia; Avelino, Jacques; Deheuvels, Olivier; Cilas, Christian; Bieng, Marie Ange Ngo

    2014-03-01

    Vegetation composition and plant spatial structure affect disease intensity through resource and microclimatic variation effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the independent effect and relative importance of host composition and plant spatial structure variables in explaining disease intensity at the plot scale. For that purpose, frosty pod rot intensity, a disease caused by Moniliophthora roreri on cacao pods, was monitored in 36 cacao agroforests in Costa Rica in order to assess the vegetation composition and spatial structure variables conducive to the disease. Hierarchical partitioning was used to identify the most causal factors. Firstly, pod production, cacao tree density and shade tree spatial structure had significant independent effects on disease intensity. In our case study, the amount of susceptible tissue was the most relevant host composition variable for explaining disease intensity by resource dilution. Indeed, cacao tree density probably affected disease intensity more by the creation of self-shading rather than by host dilution. Lastly, only regularly distributed forest trees, and not aggregated or randomly distributed forest trees, reduced disease intensity in comparison to plots with a low forest tree density. A regular spatial structure is probably crucial to the creation of moderate and uniform shade as recommended for frosty pod rot management. As pod production is an important service expected from these agroforests, shade tree spatial structure may be a lever for integrated management of frosty pod rot in cacao agroforests.

  14. Tree crown structure indicators in a natural uneven-aged mixed coniferous forest in northeastern Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Javier Jimenez-Perez; Oscar Aguirre-Calderon; Horst Kramer

    2006-01-01

    Characterization of tree crown structure provides critical information to assess a variety of ecological conditions for multiple purposes and applications. For biomass growth, for example, tree crowns have basic physiological functions: assimilation, respiration, and transpiration. How tree crowns spatially interact and grow can bring about a seamless landscape of...

  15. A New Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic TOPSIS Method for Group Multi-Criteria Linguistic Decision Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangling Ren

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision making is a focus point in linguistic decision making, in which the main method is based on preference ordering. This paper develops a new hesitant fuzzy linguistic TOPSIS method for group multi-criteria linguistic decision making; the method is inspired by the TOPSIS method and the preference degree between two hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTSs. To this end, we first use the preference degree to define a pseudo-distance between two HFLTSs and analyze its properties. Then we present the positive (optimistic and negative (pessimistic information of each criterion provided by each decision maker and aggregate these by using weights of decision makers to obtain the hesitant fuzzy linguistic positive and negative ideal solutions. On the basis of the proposed pseudo-distance, we finally obtain the positive (negative ideal separation matrix and a new relative closeness degree to rank alternatives. We also design an algorithm based on the provided method to carry out hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision making. An illustrative example shows the elaboration of the proposed method and comparison with the symbolic aggregation-based method, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic TOPSIS method and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic VIKOR method; it seems that the proposed method is a useful and alternative decision-making method.

  16. Linguistic Imperialism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Phillipson, Robert

    2013-01-01

    The study of linguistic imperialism focuses on how and why certain languages dominate internationally, and attempts to account for such dominance in a theoretically informed way.......The study of linguistic imperialism focuses on how and why certain languages dominate internationally, and attempts to account for such dominance in a theoretically informed way....

  17. Combining shallow and deep processing for a robust, fast, deep-linguistic dependency parser

    OpenAIRE

    Schneider, G

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes Pro3Gres, a fast, robust, broad-coverage parser that delivers deep-linguistic grammatical relation structures as output, which are closer to predicate-argument structures and more informative than pure constituency structures. The parser stays as shallow as is possible for each task, combining shallow and deep-linguistic methods by integrating chunking and by expressing the majority of long-distance dependencies in a context-free way. It combines statistical and rule-base...

  18. What Is Applied Linguistics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Carl

    1993-01-01

    Ostensive and expository definitions of applied linguistics are assessed. It is suggested that the key to a meaningful definition lies in the dual articulation of applied linguistics: it is an interface between linguistics and practicality. Its role as an "expert system" is suggested. (45 references) (Author/LB)

  19. A structurally based analytic model for estimation of biomass and fuel loads of woodland trees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robin J. Tausch

    2009-01-01

    Allometric/structural relationships in tree crowns are a consequence of the physical, physiological, and fluid conduction processes of trees, which control the distribution, efficient support, and growth of foliage in the crown. The structural consequences of these processes are used to develop an analytic model based on the concept of branch orders. A set of...

  20. Dynamic asset trees in the US stock market: Structure variation and market phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Wei-Qiang; Yao, Shuang; Zhuang, Xin-Tian; Yuan, Ying

    2017-01-01

    In this work, employing a moving window to scan through every stock price time series over a period from 2 January 1986 to 20 October 2015, we use cross-correlations to measure the interdependence between stock prices, and we construct a corresponding minimal spanning tree for 170 U.S. stocks in every given window. We show how the asset tree evolves over time and describe the dynamics of its normalized length, centrality measures, vertex degree and vertex strength distributions, and single- and multiple-step edge survival ratios. We find that the normalized tree length shows a tendency to decrease over the 30 years. The power-law of vertex degree or vertex strength distribution does not hold for all trees. The survival ratio analysis reveals an increased stability of the dependence structure of the stock market as time elapses. We then examine the relationship between tree structure variation and market phenomena, such as average, volatility and tail risk of stock (market) return. Our main observation is that the normalized tree length has a positive relationship with the level of stock market average return, and it responds negatively to the market return volatility and tail risk. Furthermore, the majority of stocks have their vertex degrees significantly positively correlated to their average return, and significantly negatively correlated to their return volatility and tail risk.

  1. The Study of Critical Eco-Linguistic in Green Discourse: Prospective Eco-Linguistic Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tommi Yuniawan

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Eco-linguistic studies are influenced by one of the other interdisciplinary sciences, namely critical discourse analysis. The combination of these two sciences is called critical eco-linguistic studies. Critical eco-linguistic examines the discourse about the environment and various forms of discourse and their ideology which concerns people and the environment. The environmental discourse with all its manifestations (oral text, written text is called green discourse. To that end, critical eco-linguistic dictates the linguistic aspects contained in the green discourse. Utilization of lingual units in green discourse will affect the sense and logic of people involved in the discourse, ie the writers and readers or the speakers and the speakers. What is recorded in their cognition, will affect their attitudes and actions to the environment. If green discourse is constructive, then their attitude and actions to the environment are constructive. Conversely, if green discourse is more destructive and exploitative, then their attitudes and actions towards the environment will also be affected towards destruction and exploitation. For this reason, critical eco-linguistic studies in green discourse deserve to be given space as a form of prospective eco-linguistic analysis.

  2. OCCASIONAL ADNOMINAL IDIOM MODIFICATION - A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Langlotz

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available occasional Adnominal Idiom Modification - A Cognitive Linguistic Approach From a cognitive-linguistic perspective, this paper explores alternative types of adnoniinal modification in occasional variants of English verbal idioms. Being discussed against data extracted from the British National Corpiis (BNC, the model claims that in idioni-production idiomatic constructions are activated as complex linguistic schemas to code a context-specific target-conceptualisation. Adnominal pre- and postmodifications are one specific form of creative alteration to adapt the idiom for this purpose. Semantically, idiom-interna1 NPextension is not a uniforni process. It is necessary to distinguish two systematic types of adnominal modification: external and internal modification (Ernst 1981. While external NPmodification has adverbial function, ¡.e. it modifies the idiom as a unit, internal modification directly applies to the head-noun and thus depends on the degree of motivation and analysability of a given idiom. Following the cognitive-linguistic framework, these dimensions of idiom-transparency result from the language user's ability to remotivate the bipartite semantic structure by conceptual metaphors and metonymies.

  3. Linguistic and Psycho-Linguistic Principles of Linguadidactics (theoretical interpretation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liudmila Mauzienė

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available This article considers linguadidactics being closely related to linguistics, psychology, psycholinguistics and didactics and applies their theoretical statements and regularities in its scientific studies. Methodology refers to linguistics which investigates the language as a teaching subject. Methodology is linked to psychology in two ways. First of all, it is based on psychology as the teaching process is an intellectual psychical act and its regularities are necessary to know. On the other hand, methodology applies rules of pedagogy that predicts ways of learning and development of language skills. The article emphasizes that sustainable work experience and analysis of scientific research show that teaching process is more effective if consistent patterns of linguistics and psychology are appropriately applied.

  4. Seeing the forest for the homogeneous trees: stand-scale resource distributions emerge from tree-scale structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzanne Boyden; Rebecca Montgomery; Peter B. Reich; Brian J. Palik

    2012-01-01

    Forest ecosystem processes depend on local interactions that are modified by the spatial pattern of trees and resources. Effects of resource supplies on processes such as regeneration are increasingly well understood, yet we have few tools to compare resource heterogeneity among forests that differ in structural complexity. We used a neighborhood approach to examine...

  5. Tree Diversity and Structure of Andaman Giant Evergreen Forests, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Rajkumar

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available We investigated tree diversity in ‘giant evergreen forest’ of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which falls within the Indo-Burma hot spot of biodiversity in the world. A one hectare square plot was established in sites Kalapahad (KP and Macarthy Valley (MV of Middle Andamans, in which all trees ≥ 30 cm girth at breast height (gbh were enumerated. Tree diversity totaled 105 species that belonged to 63 genera and 49 families. Site MV harboured ~10% greater species richness than KP. Species diversity indices did not vary much between the two sites. In the two sites, there were 1311 individuals of trees (579 ha-1 in KP and 732 in MV. The stand basal area was nearly equal in both the sites (KP- 45.59 m2 ha-1; MV- 47.93 m2 ha-1. Thirteen tree species (12.38% were strict endemics to Andamans. Ten species recorded are rare to the flora of these islands. The two sites are distinctly dominated by two different plant families; Dipterocarpaceae in KP and Myristicaceae in MV. Most of the species were common to central and lower region of Myanmar and Indian mainland. The forest stand structure exhibited a typical reverse-J shape, but site MV had double the density of stems in the lower tree size class than that of KP. The voluminous dipterocarps contributed more to the total above-ground live biomass. The need to preserve these species- and endemics- rich, fragile island forests, prioritized for biodiversity conservation, is emphasized.

  6. ELB-trees an efficient and lock-free B-tree derivative

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonnichsen, Lars Frydendal; Karlsson, Sven; Probst, Christian W.

    2013-01-01

    overhead. All lock-free data structures are based on simple atomic operations that, though supported by modern processors, are expensive in execution time. We present a lock-free data structure, ELB-trees, which under certain assumptions can be used as multimaps as well as priority queues. Specifically...... it cannot store duplicate key-value pairs, and it is not linearizable. Compared to existing data structures, ELB-trees require fewer atomic operations leading to improved performance. We measure the parallel performance of ELB-trees using a set of benchmarks and observe that ELB-trees are up to almost 30......As computer systems scale in the number of processors, scalable data structures with good parallel performance become increasingly important. Lock-free data structures promise such improved parallel performance at the expense of higher algorithmic complexity and higher sequential execution time...

  7. Psycholinguistics in Applied Linguistics: Trends and Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bot, Kees

    2000-01-01

    Discusses the relationship between the terms psycholinguistics and applied linguistics, and in the process explores key issues in multilingual processing, such as the structure of the bilingual lexicon, language choice in production and perception, and the language mode. (Author/VWL)

  8. The relationship between species diversity and genetic structure in the rare Picea chihuahuana tree species community, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simental-Rodríguez, Sergio Leonel; Quiñones-Pérez, Carmen Zulema; Moya, Daniel; Hernández-Tecles, Enrique; López-Sánchez, Carlos Antonio; Wehenkel, Christian

    2014-01-01

    Species diversity and genetic diversity, the most basic elements of biodiversity, have long been treated as separate topics, although populations evolve within a community context. Recent studies on community genetics and ecology have suggested that genetic diversity is not completely independent of species diversity. The Mexican Picea chihuahuana Martínez is an endemic species listed as "Endangered" on the Red List. Forty populations of Chihuahua spruce have been identified. This species is often associated with tree species of eight genera in gallery forests. This rare Picea chihuahuana tree community covers an area no more than 300 ha and has been subject of several studies involving different topics such as ecology, genetic structure and climate change. The overall aim of these studies was to obtain a dataset for developing management tools to help decision makers implement preservation and conservation strategies. However, this unique forest tree community may also represent an excellent subject for helping us to understand the interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes in determining community structure and dynamics. The AFLP technique and species composition data were used together to test the hypothesis that species diversity is related to the adaptive genetic structure of some dominant tree species (Picea chihuahuana, Pinus strobiformis, Pseudotsuga menziesii and Populus tremuloides) of the Picea chihuahuana tree community at fourteen locations. The Hill numbers were used as a diversity measure. The results revealed a significant correlation between tree species diversity and genetic structure in Populus tremuloides. Because the relationship between the two levels of diversity was found to be positive for the putative adaptive AFLP detected, genetic and species structures of the tree community were possibly simultaneously adapted to a combination of ecological or environmental factors. The present findings indicate that interactions between

  9. ARBUS: A FORTRAN tool for generating tree structure diagrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrero, C.; Zanger, M.

    1992-02-01

    The FORTRAN77 stand-alone code ARBUS has been designed to aid the user by providing a tree structure diagram generating utility for computer programs written in FORTRAN language. This report is intended to describe the main purpose and features of ARBUS and to highlight some additional applications of the code by means of practical test cases. (orig.) [de

  10. composition and size class structure of tree species in ihang'ana

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    nb

    Previous plant biodiversity studies in this ecosystem concentrated on large-sized Forest ... assess tree species composition, structure and diversity in Ihang'ana FR (2982 ha), one of the ..... Dombeya rotundifolia. (Hochst) ... Ficus lutea. Vahl.

  11. Forensic Linguistics: The Linguistic Analyst and Expert Witness of Language Evidence in Criminal Trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, Sherilynn Nidever

    Forensic linguistics (FL) provides consultation to lawyers through the analysis of language evidence during the pre-trial investigation. Evidence commonly analyzed by linguists in criminal cases includes transcripts of police interviews and language crimes (such as bribery) and anonymous or questioned texts. Forensic linguistic testimony is rarely…

  12. Sample Undergraduate Linguistics Courses. Linguistics in the Undergraduate Curriculum, Appendix 5.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linguistic Society of America, Washington, DC.

    Thirty-six nontraditional undergraduate courses in linguistics are described. Course topics include: animal communication, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, introductory linguistics, language and formal reasoning, language and human conflict, language and power, language and sex, language and the brain, language planning, language typology and…

  13. Analysis of a Model for the Morphological Structure of Renal Arterial Tree: Fractal Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurora Espinoza-Valdez

    2013-01-01

    experimental data measurements of the rat kidneys. The fractal dimension depends on the probability of sprouting angiogenesis in the development of the arterial vascular tree of the kidney, that is, of the distribution of blood vessels in the morphology generated by the analytical model. The fractal dimension might determine whether a suitable renal vascular structure is capable of performing physiological functions under appropriate conditions. The analysis can describe the complex structures of the development vasculature in kidney.

  14. Genre analysis of linguistics research introductions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Porras

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The emergence of exploring genre analysis has been a trend in Applied Linguistics, not only for its interesting factor, but also because of its pedagogical implications. This study aimed to determine the overall structure, specifically the presence and conformity of moves and steps of the research introductions in the field of Linguistics. Twelve (12 available research introductions were analyzed using Create-A-Research-Space (CARS model. The findings revealed that moves and steps across the research introductions are present. Majority of the research introductions conformed to the CARS model, but did not necessarily follow the suggested sequence. Results imply that teachers of research writing should acknowledge and introduce the CARS model as a basis for teaching the method of writing research introductions effectively.

  15. Using Multi-Spectral UAV Imagery to Extract Tree Crop Structural Properties and Assess Pruning Effects

    KAUST Repository

    Johansen, Kasper; Raharjo, Tri; McCabe, Matthew

    2018-01-01

    Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provide an unprecedented capacity to monitor the development and dynamics of tree growth and structure through time. It is generally thought that the pruning of tree crops encourages new growth, has a positive effect

  16. Linguistics and the digital humanities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Kim Ebensgaard

    2014-01-01

    Corpus linguistics has been closely intertwined with digital technology since the introduction of university computer mainframes in the 1960s. Making use of both digitized data in the form of the language corpus and computational methods of analysis involving concordancers and statistics software......, corpus linguistics arguably has a place in the digital humanities. Still, it remains obscure and figures only sporadically in the literature on the digital humanities. This article provides an overview of the main principles of corpus linguistics and the role of computer technology in relation to data...... and method and also offers a bird's-eye view of the history of corpus linguistics with a focus on its intimate relationship with digital technology and how digital technology has impacted the very core of corpus linguistics and shaped the identity of the corpus linguist. Ultimately, the article is oriented...

  17. INVESTIGATING TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE: A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF TEACHERS’ REPORT TEXTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudarsono M. I. Sudarsono

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This research aims at observing the teachers’ professional competence by investigating the report texts written by three English teachers in a junior high school in terms of their schematic structures and linguistic features. To achieve this aim, a qualitative case study design involving analysis of English teachers’ report texts and interviews with these English teachers was employed in this research. The results of this research showed that generally the three English teachers have demonstrated sufficient ability in applying appropriate schematic structures and linguistic features relevant to the criteria of a report text. However, the results of this research also indicate that some improvements in understanding and writing a report text, especially in terms of schematic structure, linguistic features, and theme progressions, are needed to enhance the teachers’ subject matter content knowledge about report text.

  18. Menzerath-Altmann Law: Statistical Mechanical Interpretation as Applied to a Linguistic Organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eroglu, Sertac

    2014-10-01

    The distribution behavior described by the empirical Menzerath-Altmann law is frequently encountered during the self-organization of linguistic and non-linguistic natural organizations at various structural levels. This study presents a statistical mechanical derivation of the law based on the analogy between the classical particles of a statistical mechanical organization and the distinct words of a textual organization. The derived model, a transformed (generalized) form of the Menzerath-Altmann model, was termed as the statistical mechanical Menzerath-Altmann model. The derived model allows interpreting the model parameters in terms of physical concepts. We also propose that many organizations presenting the Menzerath-Altmann law behavior, whether linguistic or not, can be methodically examined by the transformed distribution model through the properly defined structure-dependent parameter and the energy associated states.

  19. The Routledge Applied Linguistics Reader

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Li, Ed.

    2011-01-01

    "The Routledge Applied Linguistics Reader" is an essential collection of readings for students of Applied Linguistics. Divided into five sections: Language Teaching and Learning, Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Identity and Power and Language Use in Professional Contexts, the "Reader" takes a broad…

  20. Population structure of Aphis spiraecola (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on pear trees in China identified using microsatellites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Jinjun; Li, Jie; Niu, Jianqun; Liu, Xiaoxia; Zhang, Qingwen

    2012-04-01

    The spiraea aphid (Aphis spiraecola Patch) is a primary pest of fruit trees, particularly pear trees in China. Despite the economic importance of this pest, little is known about its genetic structure or its patterns of dispersal at local and regional scales; however, knowledge of these characteristics is important for establishing effective control strategies for this pest. The genetic variability of 431 individuals from 21 populations on pear trees in China was investigated using eight polymorphic microsatellite loci. The high polymorphism of these markers was evident from the expected heterozygosity value (He = 0.824) and the Polymorphism Information Content (PIC = 0.805), indicating that the spiraea aphid maintains a high level of genetic diversity. The analysis of molecular variance revealed a middle level of population differentiation (F(ST) = 0.1478) among A. spiraecola populations. This result is consistent with the results of the STRUCTURE analysis (K = 3), the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average tree and the Mantel test (r = 0.6392; P < 0.05). Our results indicate high levels of genetic exchange in the spiraea aphid, possibly facilitated by geography and climate. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering regional differences in studies of population structure, even when strong isolation-by-distance influences the genetic population structure of species.

  1. Semantics, contrastive linguistics and parallel corpora

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Violetta Koseska

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Semantics, contrastive linguistics and parallel corpora In view of the ambiguity of the term “semantics”, the author shows the differences between the traditional lexical semantics and the contemporary semantics in the light of various semantic schools. She examines semantics differently in connection with contrastive studies where the description must necessary go from the meaning towards the linguistic form, whereas in traditional contrastive studies the description proceeded from the form towards the meaning. This requirement regarding theoretical contrastive studies necessitates construction of a semantic interlanguage, rather than only singling out universal semantic categories expressed with various language means. Such studies can be strongly supported by parallel corpora. However, in order to make them useful for linguists in manual and computer translations, as well as in the development of dictionaries, including online ones, we need not only formal, often automatic, annotation of texts, but also semantic annotation - which is unfortunately manual. In the article we focus on semantic annotation concerning time, aspect and quantification of names and predicates in the whole semantic structure of the sentence on the example of the “Polish-Bulgarian-Russian parallel corpus”.

  2. Measuring Linguistic Empathy: An Experimental Approach to Connecting Linguistic and Social Psychological Notions of Empathy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kann, Trevor

    2017-01-01

    This dissertation investigated the relationship between Linguistic Empathy and Psychological Empathy by implementing a psycholinguistic experiment that measured a person's acceptability ratings of sentences with violations of Linguistic Empathy and correlating them with a measure of the person's Psychological Empathy. Linguistic Empathy…

  3. Using Florida Keys Reference Sites As a Standard for Restoration of Forest Structure in Everglades Tree Islands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, M.S.; Sah, J.P.; Ruiz, P.L.; Ross, M.S.; Ogurcak, D.E.

    2010-01-01

    In south Florida, tropical hardwood forests (hammocks) occur in Everglades tree islands and as more extensive forests in coastal settings in the nearby Florida Keys. Keys hammocks have been less disturbed by humans, and many qualify as old-growth, while Everglades hammocks have received much heavier use. With improvement of tree island condition an important element in Everglades restoration efforts, we examined stand structure in 23 Keys hammocks and 69 Everglades tree islands. Based on Stand Density Index and tree diameter distributions, many Everglades hammocks were characterized by low stocking and under-representation in the smaller size classes. In contrast, most Keys forests had the dense canopies and open under stories usually associated with old-growth hardwood hammocks. Subject to the same caveats that apply to off-site references elsewhere, structural information from mature Keys hammocks can be helpful in planning and implementing forest restoration in Everglades tree islands. In many of these islands, such restoration might involve supplementing tree stocking by planting native trees to produce more complete site utilization and a more open under story.

  4. Linguistic Communications 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monash Univ., Clayton, Victoria (Australia).

    The present compilation of papers on linguistics is the result of joint efforts by the Classical Studies, French, Japanese, Linguistics, and Russian Departments of Monash University. Selections in the Pre-Prints and Articles section include: "For/Arabic Bilingualism in the Zalingei Area," by B. Jernudd; "Prosodic Problems in a Generative Phonology…

  5. Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudner, Mary

    2018-01-01

    Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.

  6. LINGUISTICS AND SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING: AN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The relationship between linguistics and second language teaching has always been a controversial one. Many linguists have argued that linguistics has nothing to say to the teacher. Sampson (1980, p.10), for example, says: ·"1 do not believe that linguistics has any contribution to make to the teaching of English or the.

  7. Cache-Oblivious Search Trees via Binary Trees of Small Height

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brodal, G.S.; Fagerberg, R.; Jacob, R.

    2002-01-01

    We propose a version of cache oblivious search trees which is simpler than the previous proposal of Bender, Demaine and Farach-Colton and has the same complexity bounds. In particular, our data structure avoids the use of weight balanced B-trees, and can be implemented as just a single array......, and range queries in worst case O(logB n + k/B) memory transfers, where k is the size of the output.The basic idea of our data structure is to maintain a dynamic binary tree of height log n+O(1) using existing methods, embed this tree in a static binary tree, which in turn is embedded in an array in a cache...... oblivious fashion, using the van Emde Boas layout of Prokop.We also investigate the practicality of cache obliviousness in the area of search trees, by providing an empirical comparison of different methods for laying out a search tree in memory....

  8. Clinical Linguistics--Retrospect and Prospect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grunwell, Pamela

    In the past 20 years, linguistics has gained a prominent position in speech and language pathology in Britain, evolving into a new field, clinical linguistics. It includes three related areas of activity: training of speech pathologists/therapists; professional practice; and research. Linguistics and speech/language pathology have developed as…

  9. Mitochondrial DNA variability among six South American Amerindian villages from the Pano linguistic group.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendes-Junior, Celso T; Simoes, Aguinaldo L

    2014-01-01

    Although scattered throughout a large geographic area, the members of the Pano linguistic group present strong ethnic, linguistic, and cultural homogeneity, a feature that causes them to be considered components of a same "Pano" tribe. Nevertheless, the genetic homogeneity between Pano villages has not yet been examined. To study the genetic structure of the Pano linguistic group, four major Native American mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) founder haplogroups were analyzed in 77 Amerindians from six villages of four Pano tribes (Katukina, Kaxináwa, Marúbo, and Yaminawa) located in the Brazilian Amazon. The central position of these tribes in the continent makes them relevant for attempts to reconstruct population movements in South America. Except for a single individual that presented an African haplogroup L, all remaining individuals presented one of the four Native American haplogroups. Significant heterogeneity was observed across the six Pano villages. Although Amerindian populations are usually characterized by considerable interpopulational diversity, the high heterogeneity level observed is unexpected if the strong ethnic, linguistic, and cultural homogeneity of the Pano linguistic group is taken into account. The present findings indicate that the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural homogeneity does not imply genetic homogeneity. Even though the genetic heterogeneity uncovered may be a female-specific process, the most probable explanation for that is the joint action of isolation and genetic drift as major factors influencing the genetic structure of the Pano linguistic group. Copyright © 2014 Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201-1309.

  10. The Foundations of Linguistics: Two Theses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrios, Edison

    2009-01-01

    Linguists tell us that the sentence "I enjoyed yourself" is ungrammatical because it violates structural constraints on English sentences. Is this a fact about the "psychology" of English speakers, or a fact about some "mind-independent" state of affairs? If it is indeed a fact about the speaker's psychological makeup then is it so in virtue of…

  11. Disentangling environmental and spatial effects on phylogenetic structure of angiosperm tree communities in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Hong; Chen, Shengbin; Zhang, Jin-Long

    2017-07-17

    Niche-based and neutrality-based theories are two major classes of theories explaining the assembly mechanisms of local communities. Both theories have been frequently used to explain species diversity and composition in local communities but their relative importance remains unclear. Here, we analyzed 57 assemblages of angiosperm trees in 0.1-ha forest plots across China to examine the effects of environmental heterogeneity (relevant to niche-based processes) and spatial contingency (relevant to neutrality-based processes) on phylogenetic structure of angiosperm tree assemblages distributed across a wide range of environment and space. Phylogenetic structure was quantified with six phylogenetic metrics (i.e., phylogenetic diversity, mean pairwise distance, mean nearest taxon distance, and the standardized effect sizes of these three metrics), which emphasize on different depths of evolutionary histories and account for different degrees of species richness effects. Our results showed that the variation in phylogenetic metrics explained independently by environmental variables was on average much greater than that explained independently by spatial structure, and the vast majority of the variation in phylogenetic metrics was explained by spatially structured environmental variables. We conclude that niche-based processes have played a more important role than neutrality-based processes in driving phylogenetic structure of angiosperm tree species in forest communities in China.

  12. Etymology and Modern Linguistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malkiel, Yakov

    1975-01-01

    Discusses the estrangement between etymology and modern linguistics, and concludes that a reconciliation between spatio-temporal linguistics and etymology must occur, because without it, both disciplines are doomed to inanition. (Author/AM)

  13. MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Hese

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available OTF (Off The Shelf quadro copter systems provide a cost effective (below 2000 Euro, flexible and mobile platform for high resolution point cloud mapping. Various studies showed the full potential of these small and flexible platforms. Especially in very tight and complex 3D environments the automatic obstacle avoidance, low copter weight, long flight times and precise maneuvering are important advantages of these small OTS systems in comparison with larger octocopter systems. This study examines the potential of the DJI Phantom 4 pro series and the Phantom 3A series for within-stand and forest tree crown 3D point cloud mapping using both within stand oblique imaging in different altitude levels and data captured from a nadir perspective. On a test site in Brandenburg/Germany a beach crown was selected and measured with 3 different altitude levels in Point Of Interest (POI mode with oblique data capturing and deriving one nadir mosaic created with 85/85 % overlap using Drone Deploy automatic mapping software. Three different flight campaigns were performed, one in September 2016 (leaf-on, one in March 2017 (leaf-off and one in May 2017 (leaf-on to derive point clouds from different crown structure and phenological situations – covering the leaf-on and leafoff status of the tree crown. After height correction, the point clouds where used with GPS geo referencing to calculate voxel based densities on 50 × 10 × 10 cm voxel definitions using a topological network of chessboard image objects in 0,5 m height steps in an object based image processing environment. Comparison between leaf-off and leaf-on status was done on volume pixel definitions comparing the attributed point densities per volume and plotting the resulting values as a function of distance to the crown center. In the leaf-off status SFM (structure from motion algorithms clearly identified the central stem and also secondary branch systems. While the penetration into the

  14. Multiseasonal Tree Crown Structure Mapping with Point Clouds from OTS Quadrocopter Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hese, S.; Behrendt, F.

    2017-08-01

    OTF (Off The Shelf) quadro copter systems provide a cost effective (below 2000 Euro), flexible and mobile platform for high resolution point cloud mapping. Various studies showed the full potential of these small and flexible platforms. Especially in very tight and complex 3D environments the automatic obstacle avoidance, low copter weight, long flight times and precise maneuvering are important advantages of these small OTS systems in comparison with larger octocopter systems. This study examines the potential of the DJI Phantom 4 pro series and the Phantom 3A series for within-stand and forest tree crown 3D point cloud mapping using both within stand oblique imaging in different altitude levels and data captured from a nadir perspective. On a test site in Brandenburg/Germany a beach crown was selected and measured with 3 different altitude levels in Point Of Interest (POI) mode with oblique data capturing and deriving one nadir mosaic created with 85/85 % overlap using Drone Deploy automatic mapping software. Three different flight campaigns were performed, one in September 2016 (leaf-on), one in March 2017 (leaf-off) and one in May 2017 (leaf-on) to derive point clouds from different crown structure and phenological situations - covering the leaf-on and leafoff status of the tree crown. After height correction, the point clouds where used with GPS geo referencing to calculate voxel based densities on 50 × 10 × 10 cm voxel definitions using a topological network of chessboard image objects in 0,5 m height steps in an object based image processing environment. Comparison between leaf-off and leaf-on status was done on volume pixel definitions comparing the attributed point densities per volume and plotting the resulting values as a function of distance to the crown center. In the leaf-off status SFM (structure from motion) algorithms clearly identified the central stem and also secondary branch systems. While the penetration into the crown

  15. Genetic structure of two pseudoscorpion species living in tree hollows in Sweden

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranius, T.

    2002-12-01

    Full Text Available Two saproxylic pseudoscorpions, Larca lata and Allochernes wideri, were compared in an analysis of genetic structure in southern Sweden. Allochernes wideri is a relatively widely distributed species that occurs in single-standing trees and in small tree hollows, while L. lata is on the Swedish red list and confined to larger assemblages of very old trees with hollows containing large amounts of wood mould. In A. wideri, the polymorphism of PGM was used, whereas in L. lata the variation for PGI was studied. The genetic differentiation between trees within a site was low for both species, indicating that the migration between nearby trees is considerable despite the fact that phoretic dispersal has only been occasionally observed in these species. Between sites, situated four to 900 km from each other, the genetic differentiation was small both in A. wideri and L. lata with no difference between the species, when considered on the mainland only. The small differentiation suggests the habitat was fragmented recently (100-170 years ago. The relation between the rate of migration and long-term population survival and the risk of mis-interpretation due to selection for alleles is discussed

  16. Linguistic Corpora and Language Teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murison-Bowie, Simon

    1996-01-01

    Examines issues raised by corpus linguistics concerning the description of language. The article argues that it is necessary to start from correct descriptions of linguistic units and the contexts in which they occur. Corpus linguistics has joined with language teaching by sharing a recognition of the importance of a larger, schematic view of…

  17. Linguistic dating of biblical texts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Young, Ian; Rezetko, Robert; Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

    Since the beginning of critical scholarship biblical texts have been dated using linguistic evidence. In recent years this has become a controversial topic, especially with the publication of Ian Young (ed.), Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology (2003). However, until now there has...... been no introduction and comprehensive study of the field. Volume 1 introduces the field of linguistic dating of biblical texts, particularly to intermediate and advanced students of biblical Hebrew who have a reasonable background in the language, having completed at least an introductory course...... in this volume are: What is it that makes Archaic Biblical Hebrew archaic , Early Biblical Hebrew early , and Late Biblical Hebrew late ? Does linguistic typology, i.e. different linguistic characteristics, convert easily and neatly into linguistic chronology, i.e. different historical origins? A large amount...

  18. An introduction to tree-structured modeling with application to quality of life data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Xiaogang; Azuero, Andres; Cho, June; Kvale, Elizabeth; Meneses, Karen M; McNees, M Patrick

    2011-01-01

    Investigators addressing nursing research are faced increasingly with the need to analyze data that involve variables of mixed types and are characterized by complex nonlinearity and interactions. Tree-based methods, also called recursive partitioning, are gaining popularity in various fields. In addition to efficiency and flexibility in handling multifaceted data, tree-based methods offer ease of interpretation. The aims of this study were to introduce tree-based methods, discuss their advantages and pitfalls in application, and describe their potential use in nursing research. In this article, (a) an introduction to tree-structured methods is presented, (b) the technique is illustrated via quality of life (QOL) data collected in the Breast Cancer Education Intervention study, and (c) implications for their potential use in nursing research are discussed. As illustrated by the QOL analysis example, tree methods generate interesting and easily understood findings that cannot be uncovered via traditional linear regression analysis. The expanding breadth and complexity of nursing research may entail the use of new tools to improve efficiency and gain new insights. In certain situations, tree-based methods offer an attractive approach that help address such needs.

  19. Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mary Rudner

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.

  20. A simplified description of the three-dimensional structure of agroforestry trees for use with a radiative transfer model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meloni, S.

    1998-01-01

    To simulate transmitted radiation in agroforestry systems, radiative transfer models usually require a detailed three-dimensional description of the tree canopy. We propose here a simplification of the description of the three-dimensional structure of wild cherry trees (Prunus avium). The simplified tree description was tested against the detailed one for five-year-old wild cherry. It allowed accurate simulation of transmitted radiation and avoided tedious measurements of tree structure. The simplified description was then applied to older trees. Allometric relationships were used to compute the parameters not available on free-grown trees. The transmitted radiation in an agroforestry system was simulated at four different ages: 5, 10, 15 and 20 years. The trees were planted on a 5 m square grid. Two row orientations, chosen to provide different transmitted radiation patterns, were tested: north/south and north- east/south-west. The simulations showed that the daily mean transmitted radiation was reduced from 92% of incident radiation under five-year-old trees to 37% under 20-year-old trees. The variability of transmitted radiation increased with tree growth. The row orientation had only small effects on the shaded area at the beginning and end of the day when solar elevation was low. (author)

  1. Evolutionary approaches to cultural and linguistic diversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, James; Jordan, Peter; Cochrane, Ethan

    2010-12-12

    Evolutionary approaches to cultural change are increasingly influential, and many scientists believe that a 'grand synthesis' is now in sight. The papers in this Theme Issue, which derives from a symposium held by the AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity (University College London) in December 2008, focus on how the phylogenetic tree-building and network-based techniques used to estimate descent relationships in biology can be adapted to reconstruct cultural histories, where some degree of inter-societal diffusion will almost inevitably be superimposed on any deeper signal of a historical branching process. The disciplines represented include the three most purely 'cultural' fields from the four-field model of anthropology (cultural anthropology, archaeology and linguistic anthropology). In this short introduction, some context is provided from the history of anthropology, and key issues raised by the papers are highlighted.

  2. Analysis of tree stand horizontal structure using random point field methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. P. Sekretenko

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper uses the model approach to analyze the horizontal structure of forest stands. The main types of models of random point fields and statistical procedures that can be used to analyze spatial patterns of trees of uneven and even-aged stands are described. We show how modern methods of spatial statistics can be used to address one of the objectives of forestry – to clarify the laws of natural thinning of forest stand and the corresponding changes in its spatial structure over time. Studying natural forest thinning, we describe the consecutive stages of modeling: selection of the appropriate parametric model, parameter estimation and generation of point patterns in accordance with the selected model, the selection of statistical functions to describe the horizontal structure of forest stands and testing of statistical hypotheses. We show the possibilities of a specialized software package, spatstat, which is designed to meet the challenges of spatial statistics and provides software support for modern methods of analysis of spatial data. We show that a model of stand thinning that does not consider inter-tree interaction can project the size distribution of the trees properly, but the spatial pattern of the modeled stand is not quite consistent with observed data. Using data of three even-aged pine forest stands of 25, 55, and 90-years old, we demonstrate that the spatial point process models are useful for combining measurements in the forest stands of different ages to study the forest stand natural thinning.

  3. Classification and Compression of Multi-Resolution Vectors: A Tree Structured Vector Quantizer Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-01-01

    their expression profile and for classification of cells into tumerous and non- tumerous classes. Then we will present a parallel tree method for... cancerous cells. We will use the same dataset and use tree structured classifiers with multi-resolution analysis for classifying cancerous from non- cancerous ...cells. We have the expressions of 4096 genes from 98 different cell types. Of these 98, 72 are cancerous while 26 are non- cancerous . We are interested

  4. Mapping Urban Tree Canopy Coverage and Structure using Data Fusion of High Resolution Satellite Imagery and Aerial Lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elmes, A.; Rogan, J.; Williams, C. A.; Martin, D. G.; Ratick, S.; Nowak, D.

    2015-12-01

    Urban tree canopy (UTC) coverage is a critical component of sustainable urban areas. Trees provide a number of important ecosystem services, including air pollution mitigation, water runoff control, and aesthetic and cultural values. Critically, urban trees also act to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect by shading impervious surfaces and via evaporative cooling. The cooling effect of urban trees can be seen locally, with individual trees reducing home HVAC costs, and at a citywide scale, reducing the extent and magnitude of an urban areas UHI. In order to accurately model the ecosystem services of a given urban forest, it is essential to map in detail the condition and composition of these trees at a fine scale, capturing individual tree crowns and their vertical structure. This paper presents methods for delineating UTC and measuring canopy structure at fine spatial resolution (body of methods, relying on a data fusion method to combine the information contained in high resolution WorldView-3 satellite imagery and aerial lidar data using an object-based image classification approach. The study area, Worcester, MA, has recently undergone a large-scale tree removal and reforestation program, following a pest eradication effort. Therefore, the urban canopy in this location provides a wide mix of tree age class and functional type, ideal for illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Early results show that the object-based classifier is indeed capable of identifying individual tree crowns, while continued research will focus on extracting crown structural characteristics using lidar-derived metrics. Ultimately, the resulting fine resolution UTC map will be compared with previously created UTC maps of the same area but for earlier dates, producing a canopy change map corresponding to the Worcester area tree removal and replanting effort.

  5. The linguistic repudiation of Wundt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nerlich, B; Clarke, D D

    1998-08-01

    Wilhelm Wundt's influence on the development of linguistics and psychology was pervasive. The foundations for this web of influence on the sciences of mind and language were laid down in Wundt's own research program, which was quite different from other attempts at founding a new psychology, as it was deeply rooted in German philosophy. This resulted in certain gaps in Wundt's conception of mind and language. These gaps provoked a double repudiation of Wundt's theories, by linguists and psychologists. The psychological repudiation has been studied by historians of psychology, and the linguistic repudiation has been studied by historians of linguistics. The intent of this article is to bring the linguistic repudiation to the attention of historians of psychology, especially the one outlined by two important figures in the history of psychology: Karl Buhler and George Mead.

  6. The development of perceptual grouping biases in infancy: a Japanese-English cross-linguistic study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshida, Katherine A; Iversen, John R; Patel, Aniruddh D; Mazuka, Reiko; Nito, Hiromi; Gervain, Judit; Werker, Janet F

    2010-05-01

    Perceptual grouping has traditionally been thought to be governed by innate, universal principles. However, recent work has found differences in Japanese and English speakers' non-linguistic perceptual grouping, implicating language in non-linguistic perceptual processes (Iversen, Patel, & Ohgushi, 2008). Two experiments test Japanese- and English-learning infants of 5-6 and 7-8 months of age to explore the development of grouping preferences. At 5-6 months, neither the Japanese nor the English infants revealed any systematic perceptual biases. However, by 7-8 months, the same age as when linguistic phrasal grouping develops, infants developed non-linguistic grouping preferences consistent with their language's structure (and the grouping biases found in adulthood). These results reveal an early difference in non-linguistic perception between infants growing up in different language environments. The possibility that infants' linguistic phrasal grouping is bootstrapped by abstract perceptual principles is discussed. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus: Journal Sponsorship

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Publisher. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is published by the Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University. Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University. Sources of Support. The Department of General Linguistics acknowledges the financial support provided by the Fonds ...

  8. Peace linguistics for language teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco GOMES DE MATOS

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This text aims at presenting the concept of Peace Linguistics - origins and recent developments -- as being implemented in the author's ongoing work in that emerging branch of Applied Linguistics. Examples of applicational possibilities are given, with a focus on language teaching-learning and a Checklist is provided, of topics for suggested linguistic-educational research, centered on communicative peace.

  9. Legal Linguistics as a Mutual Arena for Cooperation: Recent Developments in the Field of Applied Linguistics and Law

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engberg, Jan

    2013-01-01

    This article reports on some of the recent projects and individual works in the field of Legal Linguistics as examples of cooperation between Applied Linguistics and law. The article starts by discussing relevant prototypical concepts of Legal Linguistics. Legal Linguistics scrutinizes interactions between human beings in the framework of legal…

  10. INTELLIGENT AUTOMATED SYSTEM OF CONTROL OF KNOWLEDGE: LINGUISTIC SUBSYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Katerynchuk

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available A flowchart linguistic structure (morfological, syntactical, semantic and pragmatic analysis of sentences of the automated system of control of intellectual knowledge. The model of artificial intelligence recognition and evaluation of textual answers.

  11. Structural Complexity and Ecosystem Functions in a Natural Mixed Forest under a Single-Tree Selection Silviculture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toshiya Yoshida

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The objective of forest management has become broader, and it is essential to harmonize timber production with conservation of the forest ecosystem. Selection cutting is recognized as a major alternative of clear-cutting, because it can maintain the complexity and heterogeneity of a natural forest; however, its long-term evaluations are limited. This study compared various attributes of stand structures, which are indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem carbon stock between managed and unmanaged blocks (12.6 ha area in total in a natural mixed forest in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. We found that 30 years’ implementation of single-tree selection did not affect the volume, size structure, species diversity nor spatial distribution of overstory trees in the managed stands. Also, the total carbon stock in the managed stands was almost equal to that of the unmanaged stands. In contrast, several structural attributes and indicator elements that are significant for biodiversity (such as large-diameter live trees, dead trees, cavities, epiphytic bryophytes, and some avian guilds showed marked decrease in the managed stands. We conclude that it is required to leave these structures and elements to some extent for deriving the merit of the management as an alternative silvicultural regime in the region.

  12. Linguistic Extensions of Topic Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-01

    Movie Legally Multiplex Heralded As Linchpin To Growth The Shape of Cinema , Transformed At the Click of a Mouse A Peaceful Crew Puts Muppets...Linguistic Representation of Multiple Languages The formalism of WordNet has been applied to many languages from different language families, e.g. Japanese ...could be also share information gleaned from 100 reviews on Amazon.com’s Japanese and German language sites. 6.2.3 Learning Deeper Structures and Testing

  13. Tree-space statistics and approximations for large-scale analysis of anatomical trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feragen, Aasa; Owen, Megan; Petersen, Jens

    2013-01-01

    parametrize the relevant parts of tree-space well. Using the developed approximate statistics, we illustrate how the structure and geometry of airway trees vary across a population and show that airway trees with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease come from a different distribution in tree-space than...

  14. An idealized model for tree-grass coexistence in savannas : The role of life stage structure and fire disturbances

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baudena, Mara|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/340303867; D'Andrea, Fabio; Provenzale, A.

    2010-01-01

    1. We discuss a simple implicit-space model for the competition of trees and grasses in an idealized savanna environment. The model represents patch occupancy dynamics within the habitat and introduces life stage structure in the tree population, namely adults and seedlings. A tree can be

  15. Measuring the diffusion of linguistic change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nerbonne, John

    2010-12-12

    We examine situations in which linguistic changes have probably been propagated via normal contact as opposed to via conquest, recent settlement and large-scale migration. We proceed then from two simplifying assumptions: first, that all linguistic variation is the result of either diffusion or independent innovation, and, second, that we may operationalize social contact as geographical distance. It is clear that both of these assumptions are imperfect, but they allow us to examine diffusion via the distribution of linguistic variation as a function of geographical distance. Several studies in quantitative linguistics have examined this relation, starting with Séguy (Séguy 1971 Rev. Linguist. Romane 35, 335-357), and virtually all report a sublinear growth in aggregate linguistic variation as a function of geographical distance. The literature from dialectology and historical linguistics has mostly traced the diffusion of individual features, however, so that it is sensible to ask what sort of dynamic in the diffusion of individual features is compatible with Séguy's curve. We examine some simulations of diffusion in an effort to shed light on this question.

  16. Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

    2003-01-01

    For two centuries, scholars have pointed to consistent differences in the Hebrew of certain biblical texts and interpreted these differences as reflecting the date of composition of the texts. Until the 1980s, this was quite uncontroversial as the linguistic findings largely confirmed the chronol......For two centuries, scholars have pointed to consistent differences in the Hebrew of certain biblical texts and interpreted these differences as reflecting the date of composition of the texts. Until the 1980s, this was quite uncontroversial as the linguistic findings largely confirmed...... the chronology of the texts established by other means: the Hebrew of Genesis-2 Kings was judged to be early and that of Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles to be late. In the current debate where revisionists have questioned the traditional dating, linguistic arguments in the dating of texts have...... come more into focus. The study critically examines some linguistic arguments adduced to support the traditional position, and reviewing the arguments it points to weaknesses in the linguistic dating of EBH texts to pre-exilic times. When viewing the linguistic evidence in isolation it will be clear...

  17. Linguistic Markers of Stereotype in National Character Descriptions (Based on Ukrainian Newspaper Articles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Falafivka Olesya

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Ethnic stereotypes are in the focus of current linguistic research, because they play an important role in the formation of international relations that develop rapidly in the modern world. The majority of linguistic studies today are devoted to the cognitive nature of stereotypes. However, researchers also pay attention to means of stereotype verbalization in different languages. The main ones have been identified already: these are ethnonyms, toponyms, ethnically marked anthroponyms, ethnically marked color names, names of religions, names of national symbols and values, ethnic and national realia and code switching. Nevertheless, not always do these units verbalize ethnic stereotypes in discourse. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to develop a method of identification and suggest a typology of linguistic markers of stereotype that occur in descriptions of different national characters in Ukrainian journalistic discourse. Results: Linguistic markers of stereotype have been identified at almost all levels of the language structure. They are morphemes, lexemes, set phrases, idioms, proverbs, certain syntactic structures and even texts (anecdotes, the semantic structure of which contains the semes MANY and ALWAYS. Importantly, linguistic markers of stereotype are used in combination rather than separately. Discussion: Ethnic stereotypes can be identified in discourse using two basic criteria. The first one is explicit description or implicit reference to the features of a certain national character (ethnonyms, toponyms, realia etc. are indispensable elements of such a description or reference; the second one is occurrence of the aforesaid markers of stereotype (different language units, the semantic structure of which includes the semes MANY and ALWAYS in the text. The prospect of this research is comparative analysis of markers of ethnic stereotypes in Ukrainian and other languages.

  18. Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L.-S.

    2018-01-01

    -paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh-questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results. PMID:29375417

  19. Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L-S

    2017-01-01

    -paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh -questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results.

  20. Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leticia Pablos

    2018-01-01

    four self-paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh-questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results.

  1. Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIntyre, Patrick J; Thorne, James H; Dolanc, Christopher R; Flint, Alan L; Flint, Lorraine E; Kelly, Maggi; Ackerly, David D

    2015-02-03

    We document changes in forest structure between historical (1930s) and contemporary (2000s) surveys of California vegetation through comparisons of tree abundance and size across the state and within several ecoregions. Across California, tree density in forested regions increased by 30% between the two time periods, whereas forest biomass in the same regions declined, as indicated by a 19% reduction in basal area. These changes reflect a demographic shift in forest structure: larger trees (>61 cm diameter at breast height) have declined, whereas smaller trees (Forest composition in California in the last century has also shifted toward increased dominance by oaks relative to pines, a pattern consistent with warming and increased water stress, and also with paleohistoric shifts in vegetation in California over the last 150,000 y.

  2. Machine Learning from Garden Path Sentences: The Application of Computational Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiali Du

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the application of computational linguistics in the machine learning (ML system for the processing of garden path sentences. ML is closely related to artificial intelligence and linguistic cognition. The rapid and efficient processing of the complex structures is an effective method to test the system. By means of parsing the garden path sentence, we draw a conclusion that the integration of theoretical and statistical methods is helpful for the development of ML system.

  3. Mitered fractal trees: constructions and properties

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoeff, T.; Verhoeff, K.; Bosch, R.; McKenna, D.; Sarhangi, R.

    2012-01-01

    Tree-like structures, that is, branching structures without cycles, are attractive for artful expression. Especially interesting are fractal trees, where each subtree is a scaled and possibly otherwise transformed version of the entire tree. Such trees can be rendered in 3D by using beams with a

  4. Linguistic Intuitions and Cognitive Penetrability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Devitt

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Metalinguistic intuitions play a very large evidential role in both linguistics and philosophy. Linguists think that these intuitions are products of underlying linguistic competence. I call this view “the voice of competence” (“VoC”. Although many philosophers seem to think that metalinguistic intuitions are a priori many may implicitly hold the more scientifically respectable VoC. According to VoC, I argue, these intuitions can be cognitively penetrated by the central processor. But, I have argued elsewhere, VoC is false. Instead, we should hold “the modest explanation” (“ME” according to which these intuitions are fairly unreflective empirical theory-laden central-processor responses to phenomena. On ME, no question of cognitive penetration arises. ME has great methodological significance for the study of language. Insofar as we rely on intuitions as evidence we should prefer those of linguists and philosophers because they are more expert. But, more importantly, we should be seeking other evidence in linguistic usage.

  5. M.Yu. Lermontov’s linguistic/literary personality through perspective of linguistic personality perception by philologist V.V. Vinogrado

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Larisa N. Kuznetsova

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The article considers M.Yu. Lermontov’s linguistic / literary personality through perspective of linguistic personality perception by Great Russian scientist-philologist and linguist, Academician V.V. Vinogradov.

  6. Teaching Hispanic Linguistics: Strategies to Engage Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knouse, Stephanie M.; Gupton, Timothy; Abreau, Laurel

    2015-01-01

    Even though many post-secondary institutions offer a variety of Hispanic linguistics classes (Hualde 2006; Lipski 2006), research on the pedagogy of Hispanic linguistics is an underdeveloped or non-existent area of the discipline. Courses in Hispanic linguistics can present not only linguistic challenges for non-native speakers of Spanish, but…

  7. Mathematics and linguistics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Landauer, C.; Bellman, K.L.

    1996-12-31

    In this paper, we study foundational issues that we believe will help us develop a theoretically sound approach to constructing complex systems. The two theoretical approaches that have helped us understand and develop computational systems in the past are mathematics and linguistics. We describe some differences and strengths of the approaches, and propose a research program to combine the richness of linguistic reasoning with the precision of mathematics.

  8. TreePlus: interactive exploration of networks with enhanced tree layouts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Bongshin; Parr, Cynthia S; Plaisant, Catherine; Bederson, Benjamin B; Veksler, Vladislav D; Gray, Wayne D; Kotfila, Christopher

    2006-01-01

    Despite extensive research, it is still difficult to produce effective interactive layouts for large graphs. Dense layout and occlusion make food webs, ontologies, and social networks difficult to understand and interact with. We propose a new interactive Visual Analytics component called TreePlus that is based on a tree-style layout. TreePlus reveals the missing graph structure with visualization and interaction while maintaining good readability. To support exploration of the local structure of the graph and gathering of information from the extensive reading of labels, we use a guiding metaphor of "Plant a seed and watch it grow." It allows users to start with a node and expand the graph as needed, which complements the classic overview techniques that can be effective at (but often limited to) revealing clusters. We describe our design goals, describe the interface, and report on a controlled user study with 28 participants comparing TreePlus with a traditional graph interface for six tasks. In general, the advantage of TreePlus over the traditional interface increased as the density of the displayed data increased. Participants also reported higher levels of confidence in their answers with TreePlus and most of them preferred TreePlus.

  9. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is an annual/biannual open access, peer-reviewed international journal, published by the Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University. The papers published in SPiL are ... Poetry in South African Sign Language: What is different? EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL ...

  10. The Use of Non-linguistic Data in a Terminology and Knowledge Bank

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Bodil Nistrup

    2016-01-01

    is carried out at Copenhagen Business School, will be introduced. In order to illustrate the need for a taxonomy for terminological data, some examples from the Data Category Registry of ISO TC 37 (ISOcat) will be given, and the taxonomy which has been developed for the DanTermBank project will be compared...... to the structure of ISOcat, the first printed standard comprising data categories for terminology management, ISO 12620:1999, and other standards from ISO TC 37. Finally some examples of linguistic and non-linguistic representations of concepts which we plan to introduce into the DanTermBank will be presented.......This paper will discuss definitions and give examples of linguistic and non -linguistic representation of concepts in a terminology and knowledge bank, and it will be argued that there is a need for a taxonomy of terminological data categories. As a background the DanTermBank project, which...

  11. Tree growth visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    L. Linsen; B.J. Karis; E.G. McPherson; B. Hamann

    2005-01-01

    In computer graphics, models describing the fractal branching structure of trees typically exploit the modularity of tree structures. The models are based on local production rules, which are applied iteratively and simultaneously to create a complex branching system. The objective is to generate three-dimensional scenes of often many realistic- looking and non-...

  12. Tree Line Structure and Dynamics at the Northern Limit of the Larch Forest: Anabar Plateau, Siberia, Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kharuk, Viacheslav I.; Ranson, Kenneth J.; Im, Sergey T.; Oskorbin, Pavel A.; Dvinskaya, Maria L.; Ovchinnikov, Dmitriy V.

    2013-01-01

    The goal of the study was to provide an analysis of climate impact before, during, and after the Little Ice Age (LIA) on the larch (Larix gmelinii) tree line at the northern extreme of Siberian forests. Recent decadal climate change impacts on the tree line, regeneration abundance, and age structure were analyzed. The location of the study area was within the forest-tundra ecotone (elevation range 170-450 m) in the Anabar Plateau, northern Siberia. Field studies were conducted along elevational transects. Tree natality/mortality and radial increment were determined based on dendrochronology analyses. Tree morphology, number of living and subfossil trees, regeneration abundance, and age structure were studied. Locations of pre-LIA, LIA, and post-LIA tree lines and refugia boundaries were established. Long-term climate variables and drought index were included in the analysis. It was found that tree mortality from the 16th century through the beginning of the 19th century caused a downward tree line recession. Sparse larch stands experienced deforestation, transforming into tundra with isolated relict trees. The maximum tree mortality and radial growth decrease were observed to have occurred at the beginning of 18th century. Now larch, at its northern boundary in Siberia, is migrating into tundra areas. Upward tree migration was induced by warming in the middle of the 19th century. Refugia played an important role in repopulation of the forest-tundra ecotone by providing a seed source and shelter for recruitment of larch regeneration. Currently this ecotone is being repopulated mainly by tree cohorts that were established after the 1930s. The last two decades of warming did not result in an acceleration of regeneration recruitment because of increased drought conditions. The regeneration line reached (but did not exceed) the pre-LIA tree line location, although contemporary tree heights and stand densities are comparatively lower than in the pre-LIA period. The mean

  13. Spatial Structure of Soil Macrofauna Diversity and Tree Canopy in Riparian Forest of Maroon River

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ehsan Sayad

    2017-02-01

    with a mean temperature of 24.5oc. Plant cover, mainly comprises Populus euphratica Olivie and Tamarix arceuthoides Bge and Lycium shawii Roemer & Schultes. Soil macrofauna were sampled using 175 sampling point along parallel transects (perpendicular to the river. The distance between transects was 100m. We considered distance between samples as 50 m. tree canopy were measured in 5* 5 plots. soil macrofauna were extracted from 50 cm×50 cm×10 cm soil monolith by hand-sorting procedure. All soil macrofauna were identified to family level. Evenness (Sheldon index, richness (Menhinich index and diversity (Shannon H’ index by using PAST version 1.39, were determined in each sample. Classical statistical parameters, i.e. mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, minimum and maximum, were calculated using SPSS17 software. For analysis of the relationship between Soil macrofauna diversity indices and tree canopy (Total canopy, Populous canopy, Tamarix canopy and Serim canopy we calculated the correlation among soil properties and macrofauna using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Next, to determining the spatial structure, we calculated the semivariances. Semivariance quantifies the spatial dependence of spatially ordered variable values. In order to gather information about the spatial connection between any two variables, and to compare the similarity of their spatial structure patterns, cross-variograms were constructed. Cross-variograms are plots of cross-semivariance against the lag distance. Results and Discussion: Soil macrofauna communities were dominated by earthworm, diplopods, coleoptera, gastropoda, araneae, and insect larvae. Correlation analysis of soil macrofauna and tree canopy indicated weak relationships between them. Weak, but significant relationships were found between macrofauna diversity, evenness, richness and total canopy, Populous canopy and Tamarix canopy (positive. Macrofauna indices and tree canopy(excepted Tamarix canopy were

  14. The Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol: a valid linguistic approach to awake brain surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Witte, E; Satoer, D; Robert, E; Colle, H; Verheyen, S; Visch-Brink, E; Mariën, P

    2015-01-01

    Intraoperative direct electrical stimulation (DES) is increasingly used in patients operated on for tumours in eloquent areas. Although a positive impact of DES on postoperative linguistic outcome is generally advocated, information about the neurolinguistic methods applied in awake surgery is scarce. We developed for the first time a standardised Dutch linguistic test battery (measuring phonology, semantics, syntax) to reliably identify the critical language zones in detail. A normative study was carried out in a control group of 250 native Dutch-speaking healthy adults. In addition, the clinical application of the Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol (DuLIP) was demonstrated by means of anatomo-functional models and five case studies. A set of DuLIP tests was selected for each patient depending on the tumour location and degree of linguistic impairment. DuLIP is a valid test battery for pre-, intraoperative and postoperative language testing and facilitates intraoperative mapping of eloquent language regions that are variably located. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Slope variation and population structure of tree species from different ecological groups in South Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bianchini, Edmilson; Garcia, Cristina C; Pimenta, José A; Torezan, José M D

    2010-09-01

    Size structure and spatial arrangement of 13 abundant tree species were determined in a riparian forest fragment in Paraná State, South Brazil (23°16'S and 51°01'W). The studied species were Aspidosperma polyneuron Müll. Arg., Astronium graveolens Jacq. and Gallesia integrifolia (Spreng) Harms (emergent species); Alseis floribunda Schott, Ruprechtia laxiflora Meisn. and Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. (shade-intolerant canopy species); Machaerium paraguariense Hassl, Myroxylum peruiferum L. and Chrysophyllum gonocarpum (Mart. & Eichler ex Miq.) Engl. (shade-tolerant canopy species); Sorocea bonplandii (Baill.) Bürger, Trichilia casaretti C. Dc, Trichilia catigua A. Juss. and Actinostemon concolor (Spreng.) Müll. Arg. (understory small trees species). Height and diameter structures and basal area of species were analyzed. Spatial patterns and slope correlation were analyzed by Moran's / spatial autocorrelation coefficient and partial Mantel test, respectively. The emergent and small understory species showed the highest and the lowest variations in height, diameter and basal area. Size distribution differed among emergent species and also among canopy shade-intolerant species. The spatial pattern ranged among species in all groups, except in understory small tree species. The slope was correlated with spatial pattern for A. polyneuron, A. graveolens, A. floribunda, R. laxiflora, M. peruiferum and T. casaretti. The results indicated that most species occurred in specific places, suggesting that niche differentiation can be an important factor in structuring the tree community.

  16. The Unbalanced Linguistic Aggregation Operator in Group Decision Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Zou

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Many linguistic aggregation methods have been proposed and applied in the linguistic decision-making problems. In practice, experts need to assess a number of values in a side of reference domain higher than in the other one; that is, experts use unbalanced linguistic values to express their evaluation for problems. In this paper, we propose a new linguistic aggregation operator to deal with unbalanced linguistic values in group decision making, we adopt 2-tuple representation model of linguistic values and linguistic hierarchies to express unbalanced linguistic values, and moreover, we present the unbalanced linguistic ordered weighted geometric operator to aggregate unbalanced linguistic evaluation values; a comparison example is given to show the advantage of our method.

  17. Detecting regular sound changes in linguistics as events of concerted evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hruschka, Daniel J; Branford, Simon; Smith, Eric D; Wilkins, Jon; Meade, Andrew; Pagel, Mark; Bhattacharya, Tanmoy

    2015-01-05

    Concerted evolution is normally used to describe parallel changes at different sites in a genome, but it is also observed in languages where a specific phoneme changes to the same other phoneme in many words in the lexicon—a phenomenon known as regular sound change. We develop a general statistical model that can detect concerted changes in aligned sequence data and apply it to study regular sound changes in the Turkic language family. Linguistic evolution, unlike the genetic substitutional process, is dominated by events of concerted evolutionary change. Our model identified more than 70 historical events of regular sound change that occurred throughout the evolution of the Turkic language family, while simultaneously inferring a dated phylogenetic tree. Including regular sound changes yielded an approximately 4-fold improvement in the characterization of linguistic change over a simpler model of sporadic change, improved phylogenetic inference, and returned more reliable and plausible dates for events on the phylogenies. The historical timings of the concerted changes closely follow a Poisson process model, and the sound transition networks derived from our model mirror linguistic expectations. We demonstrate that a model with no prior knowledge of complex concerted or regular changes can nevertheless infer the historical timings and genealogical placements of events of concerted change from the signals left in contemporary data. Our model can be applied wherever discrete elements—such as genes, words, cultural trends, technologies, or morphological traits—can change in parallel within an organism or other evolving group. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Quantitative Research in Systemic Functional Linguistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Qingshun

    2018-01-01

    The research of Systemic Functional Linguistics has been quite in-depth in both theory and practice. However, many linguists hold that Systemic Functional Linguistics has no hypothesis testing or experiments and its research is only qualitative. Analyses of the corpus, intelligent computing and language evolution on the ideological background of…

  19. Linguistic fuzzy selection of liquid levelmeters in nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghyym, S. H.

    1999-01-01

    In this work, a selection methodology of liquid levelmeters, especially, level sensors in non-nuclear category, to be installed in nuclear facilities is developed using a linguistic fuzzy approach. Depending on defuzzification techniques, the linguistic fuzzy methodology leads to either linguistic (exactly, fully-linguistic) or cardinal (i.e., semi-linguistic) evaluation. In the case of the linguistic method, for each alternative, fuzzy preference index is converted to linguistic utility value by means of a similarity measure determining the degree of similarity between fuzzy index and linguistic ratings. For the cardinal method, the index is translated to cardinal overall utility value. According to these values, alternatives of interest are linguistically or numerically evaluated and a suitable alternative can be selected. Under given selection criteria, the suitable selections out of some liquid levelmeters for nuclear facilities are dealt with using the linguistic fuzzy methodology proposed. Then, linguistic fuzzy evaluation results are compared with numerical results available in the literature. It is found that as to a suitable option the linguistic fuzzy selection is in agreement with the crisp numerical selection. In addition, this comparison shows that the fully-linguistic method facilitates linguistic interpretation regarding evaluation results

  20. Linguistic fuzzy selection of liquid levelmeters in nuclear facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ghyym, S. H. [KEPRI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-10-01

    In this work, a selection methodology of liquid levelmeters, especially, level sensors in non-nuclear category, to be installed in nuclear facilities is developed using a linguistic fuzzy approach. Depending on defuzzification techniques, the linguistic fuzzy methodology leads to either linguistic (exactly, fully-linguistic) or cardinal (i.e., semi-linguistic) evaluation. In the case of the linguistic method, for each alternative, fuzzy preference index is converted to linguistic utility value by means of a similarity measure determining the degree of similarity between fuzzy index and linguistic ratings. For the cardinal method, the index is translated to cardinal overall utility value. According to these values, alternatives of interest are linguistically or numerically evaluated and a suitable alternative can be selected. Under given selection criteria, the suitable selections out of some liquid levelmeters for nuclear facilities are dealt with using the linguistic fuzzy methodology proposed. Then, linguistic fuzzy evaluation results are compared with numerical results available in the literature. It is found that as to a suitable option the linguistic fuzzy selection is in agreement with the crisp numerical selection. In addition, this comparison shows that the fully-linguistic method facilitates linguistic interpretation regarding evaluation results.

  1. Logic Programming for Linguistics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Henning

    2010-01-01

    This article gives a short introduction on how to get started with logic pro- gramming in Prolog that does not require any previous programming expe- rience. The presentation is aimed at students of linguistics, but it does not go deeper into linguistics than any student who has some ideas of what...

  2. Functional MR imaging of cerebral auditory cortex with linguistic and non-linguistic stimulation: preliminary study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Su Jin; Kim, Jae Hyoung; Shin, Tae Min

    1999-01-01

    To obtain preliminary data for understanding the central auditory neural pathway by means of functional MR imaging (fMRI) of the cerebral auditory cortex during linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimulation. In three right-handed volunteers we conducted fMRI of auditory cortex stimulation at 1.5 T using a conventional gradient-echo technique (TR/TE/flip angle: 80/60/40 deg). Using a pulsed tone of 1000 Hz and speech as non-linguistic and linguistic auditory stimuli, respectively, images-including those of the superior temporal gyrus of both hemispheres-were obtained in sagittal plases. Both stimuli were separately delivered binaurally or monoaurally through a plastic earphone. Images were activated by processing with homemade software. In order to analyze patterns of auditory cortex activation according to type of stimulus and which side of the ear was stimulated, the number and extent of activated pixels were compared between both temporal lobes. Biaural stimulation led to bilateral activation of the superior temporal gyrus, while monoaural stimulation led to more activation in the contralateral temporal lobe than in the ipsilateral. A trend toward slight activation of the left (dominant) temporal lobe in ipsilateral stimulation, particularly with a linguistic stimulus, was observed. During both biaural and monoaural stimulation, a linguistic stimulus produced more widespread activation than did a non-linguistic one. The superior temporal gyri of both temporal lobes are associated with acoustic-phonetic analysis, and the left (dominant) superior temporal gyrus is likely to play a dominant role in this processing. For better understanding of physiological and pathological central auditory pathways, further investigation is needed

  3. Shapes of tree representations of spin-glass landscapes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hordijk, Wim; Fontanari, Jose F; Stadler, Peter F

    2003-01-01

    Much of the information about the multi-valley structure of disordered spin systems can be convened in a simple tree structure - a barrier tree - the leaves and internal nodes of which represent, respectively, the local minima and the lowest energy saddles connecting those minima. Here we apply several statistics used in the study of phylogenetic trees to barrier trees that result from the energy landscapes of p-spin models. These statistics give information about the shape of these barrier trees, in particular about balance and symmetry. We then ask if they can be used to classify different types of landscapes, compare them with results obtained from random trees, and investigate the structure of subtrees of the barrier trees. We conclude that at least one of the used statistics is capable of distinguishing different types of landscapes, that the barrier trees from p-spin energy landscapes are quite different from random trees, and that subtrees of barrier trees do not reflect the overall tree structure, but their structure is correlated with their 'depth' in the tree

  4. Stanford Occasional Papers in Linguistics, No. 3. Papers from the Annual California Linguistics Conference (3rd, May 5-6, 1973).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gee, James Paul, Ed.; And Others

    This volume includes 12 of the 24 papers presented at the Third Annual California Linguistics Conference. Selections are drawn from each of the four sessions, covering semantic and lexical structure, phonology, syntax, and language in context. Each of the papers includes a bibliography, as well as diagrams, charts, and appendixes when necessary.…

  5. Residents’ Support Intentions and Behaviors Regarding Urban Trees Programs: A Structural Equation Modeling-Multi Group Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Zhao

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Urban trees are more about people than trees. Urban trees programs need public support and engagement, from the intentions to support to implement actions in supporting the programs. Built upon the theory of planned behavior and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM, this study uses Beijing as a case study to investigate how subjective norm (cognition of urban trees, attitude (benefits residents’ believe urban trees can provide, and perceived behavioral control (the believed ability of what residents can do affect intention and its transformation into implemented of supporting action. A total of 800 residents were interviewed in 2016 and asked about their opinion of neighborhood trees, park trees, and historical trees, and analyzed, respectively. The results show that subjective norm has a significant positive effect on intentions pertaining to historical and neighborhood trees. Attitudes influence intentions, but its overall influence is much lower than that of the subjective norm, indicating that residents are more likely to be influenced by external factors. The perceived behavioral control has the strongest effect among the three, suggesting the importance of public participation in strengthening intention. The transformation from intention to behavior seems relatively small, especially regarding neighborhood trees, suggesting that perceptions and participation need to be strengthened.

  6. On Some of the Aspects of the Linguistic Theory of Law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andruszkiewicz Marta

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The article analyses the approach to the study of the sphere of language between theory of law and the philosophy of language. The aim of the paper is to study the range of applicability of philosophical and linguistic conceptions in theory of law. Law theory reflects certain movements and controversies that have been significant in linguistic sciences. The analyses, which, so far, have been conducted in theory of law, concentrated mainly on the use of the results of such achievements made by the representatives of the philosophy of language and linguistics as formal languages theories, transformational-generative theories, structuralism, formalism, pragmalinguistics. In this article, it is claimed that contemporary changes in the humanities justify the expansion of the range of jurisprudence integration to some other approaches, different from formalistic and pragmatic ones.

  7. Tree structural and species diversities in Okwangwo Forest, Cross ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Tree species were grouped into abundance classes. A total of 125 tree species belonging to 36 families and 96 genera were recorded in the area with Margaleffs index of species richness of 2.2754. Most (99) of the tree species encountered were threatened/endangered, 23 species were rare with only 3 tree species ...

  8. Having Linguistic Rules and Knowing Linguistic Facts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Ludlow

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available

    'Knowledge' doesn't correctly describe our relation to linguistic rules. It is too thick a notion (for example, we don't believe linguistic rules. On the other hand, 'cognize', without further elaboration, is too thin a notion, which is to say that it is too thin to play a role in a competence theory. One advantage of the term 'knowledge'-and presumably Chomsky's original motivation for using it-is that knowledge would play the right kind of role in a competence theory: Our competence would consist in a body of knowledge which we have and which we may or may not act upon-our performance need not conform to the linguistic rules that we know.

    Is there a way out of the dilemma? I'm going to make the case that the best way to talk about grammatical rules is simply to say that we have them. That doesn't sound very deep, I know, but saying that we have individual rules leaves room for individual norm guidance in a way that 'cognize' does not. Saying we have a rule like subjacency is also thicker than merely saying we cognize it. Saying I have such a rule invites the interpretation that it is a rule for me-that I am normatively guided by it. The competence theory thus becomes a theory of the rules that we have. Whether we follow those rules is another matter entirely.

  9. Structure of an urban Christmas tree market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas H. Pendleton; Lawrence D. Garrett; Lawrence D. Garrett

    1973-01-01

    The retail Christmas tree market in Winston-Salem, N.C., was studied 3 years. Types of retailers and their sales are described. Best sales were made by dealers who had lots on heavily traveled streets in business districts, had ample parking facilities, advertised, and displayed their trees well.

  10. Structural lumber from dense stands of small-diameter Douglas-fir trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    David W. Green; Eini C. Lowell; Roland Hernandez

    2005-01-01

    Small-diameter trees growing in overstocked dense stands are often targeted for thinning to reduce fire hazard and improve forest health and ecosystem diversity. In the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain regions, Douglas-fir can be a predominant species in such stands. In this study, mechanical properties and grade yield of structural products were estimated for 2 by...

  11. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 2001. Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tannen, Deborah, Ed.; Alatis, James E., Ed.

    This book contains papers from the 2001 Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, "Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond." Papers include: "Introduction" (Deborah Tannen); "A Brief History of the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics" (James E.…

  12. Mentalist vs Behaviorist : Chomsky`s Linguistic Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solehah Yaacob

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The research emphasizes on the relationship between linguistics and logic according modern views and approaches. However, linguistic argumentation is needed for analyzing a language system that uses the meaning of expressions in a sentence to provide the complete meaning of the sentence, as there lies a dependence between expressions. In fact, the connection between expressions enhances the overall meaning from the fundamentals of the sentence structure in the logical relationship between ideas; where there lies a relation between words and thought, which is dependent on the logic of combined utterances. In order to signify the above concept of thinking, the researcher has reviewed the theory of the early system of Arabic grammar that focuses more on an analogical approach rather than anomaly. The analogical approach in the system is based on the underlying theory that implies the aforementioned relationship, even though some modern views may disagree on the interpretation of this issue. To add to the discussion, the researcher has included similar existing theories on Chomsky`s approaches, which have shown the logical approach as a result from the connection between linguistic argumentation and logic. As a result of this discussion, the connection between words and logic is shown to be a universal concept.

  13. Conversation Analysis and Applied Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schegloff, Emanuel A.; Koshik, Irene; Jacoby, Sally; Olsher, David

    2002-01-01

    Offers biographical guidance on several major areas of conversation-analytic work--turn-taking, repair, and word selection--and indicates past or potential points of contact with applied linguistics. Also discusses areas of applied linguistic work. (Author/VWL)

  14. Linguistic aspects of eponymic professional endocrinologic terminology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.I. Bytsko

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background. Special linguistic researches of terminological units of different branches of medicine allow analyzing in details the ways of creating the systems of clinical terminology from different aspects: historical, scientific, cultural, linguistic and semantic. There is a wide area of terminology related to the clinical and experimental endocrino­logy within general medical terminological system. The purpose of the study: to demonstrate the structure of endocrine medical terms — eponyms through the prism of systematization of methodological researches on eponymic vocabulary. Materials and methods. The actual material received as a result of a total choice of eponyms (there were 296 terms from the “Reference dictionary for endocrinologist”, which was composed by the scientists of V. Danilevsky Institute of Endocrine Pathology Problems and Kharkiv Medical Academy of Postgraduate education — A.V. Kozakov, N.A. Kravchun, I.M. Ilyina, M.I. Zubko, O.A. Goncharova, I.V. Cherniavska has 10,000 endocrine terms, the authors successfully streamlined medical terms of the clinical and experimental endocrinology into the vocabulary. The method of total choice of terms from professional literature, the descriptive method and distributive method were used in the study that allowed distinguishing lexical and semantic features of eponymic terms in the branch of endocrinology. Results. The obtained results point out to the modernity of studies in the field of clinical and experimental endocrinology, which is due to the fact that this is the oldest terminology, by the example of which it is possible to trace the ways of formation, development and improvement of terms, the realization of semantic processes, certain trends, ways and means of word formation. Conclusions. The results of the research on the above mentioned sublanguage of clinical medicine at the level of linguistic observations of the functio­ning in dictionaries and scientific works will

  15. General linguistics and the study of Dutch. The case of C.F.P. Stutterheim (1903-1991)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noordegraaf, J.

    The mingling of linguistics and philosophy of language is characteristic of structuralism in the Netherlands. In this paper the case of the Dutch linguist C.F.P. Stutterheim (1903-1991), professor of Dutch language in the University of Leiden, is used to examine the extent to which this alliance

  16. Lancaster Summer School in Corpus Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaka Čibej

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Med 12. in 15. julijem je na Univerzi v Lancastru potekala poletna šola korpusnega jezikoslovja Lancaster Summer Schools in Corpus Linguistics and Other Digital Methods. Poletno šolo so organizirali UCREL (University Centre for Computer Corpus Research on Language, ERC (Evropski svet za raziskave – European Research Council, CASS (ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science in ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council, razdeljena pa je bila na šest programov, prilagojenih različnim področjem: Korpusno jezikoslovje za proučevanje jezikov (Corpus Linguistics for Language Studies, Korpusno jezikoslovje za družbene vede (Corpus Linguistics for Social Science, Korpusno jezikoslovje za humanistiko (Corpus Linguistics for Humanities, Statistika za korpusno jezikoslovje (Statistics for Corpus Linguistics, Geografski informacijski sistemi za digitalno humanistiko (Geographical Information Systems for the Digital Humanities in Korpusno podprta obdelava naravnih jezikov (Corpus-based Natural Language Processing.

  17. Predicting panel scores by linguistic analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van den Besselaar, P.; Stout, L.; Gou, X

    2016-07-01

    In this paper we explore the use of text analysis for deriving quality indicators of project proposals. We do full text analysis of 3030 review reports. After term extraction, we aggregate the term occurrences to linguistic categories. Using thse linguistic categories as independent variables, we study how well these predict the grading by the review panels. Together, the different linguistic categories explain about 50% of the variance in the grading of the applications. The relative importance of the different linguistic categories inform us about the way the panels work. This can be used to develop altmetrics for the quality of the peer and panel review processes. (Author)

  18. Floristic Composition, Tree Canopy Structure and Regeneration in a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Trees were the predominant plant form with 46 species (172 trees ha-1) while 7 shrubs, 15 lianas, 13 herbs, 1 grass and 1 fern species were recorded. Tree basal area and total volume were 10.29±0.88 m2 ha-1 and 22.43±1.85 m3 ha-1 respectively. The tallest tree height (35m) was recorded for Terminalia superba while ...

  19. Including RNA secondary structures improves accuracy and robustness in reconstruction of phylogenetic trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Alexander; Förster, Frank; Müller, Tobias; Dandekar, Thomas; Schultz, Jörg; Wolf, Matthias

    2010-01-15

    In several studies, secondary structures of ribosomal genes have been used to improve the quality of phylogenetic reconstructions. An extensive evaluation of the benefits of secondary structure, however, is lacking. This is the first study to counter this deficiency. We inspected the accuracy and robustness of phylogenetics with individual secondary structures by simulation experiments for artificial tree topologies with up to 18 taxa and for divergency levels in the range of typical phylogenetic studies. We chose the internal transcribed spacer 2 of the ribosomal cistron as an exemplary marker region. Simulation integrated the coevolution process of sequences with secondary structures. Additionally, the phylogenetic power of marker size duplication was investigated and compared with sequence and sequence-structure reconstruction methods. The results clearly show that accuracy and robustness of Neighbor Joining trees are largely improved by structural information in contrast to sequence only data, whereas a doubled marker size only accounts for robustness. Individual secondary structures of ribosomal RNA sequences provide a valuable gain of information content that is useful for phylogenetics. Thus, the usage of ITS2 sequence together with secondary structure for taxonomic inferences is recommended. Other reconstruction methods as maximum likelihood, bayesian inference or maximum parsimony may equally profit from secondary structure inclusion. This article was reviewed by Shamil Sunyaev, Andrea Tanzer (nominated by Frank Eisenhaber) and Eugene V. Koonin. Reviewed by Shamil Sunyaev, Andrea Tanzer (nominated by Frank Eisenhaber) and Eugene V. Koonin. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewers' comments section.

  20. Writing, Literacy, and Applied Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leki, Ilona

    2000-01-01

    Discusses writing and literacy in the domain of applied linguistics. Focus is on needs analysis for literacy acquisition; second language learner identity; longitudinal studies as extensions of identity work; and applied linguistics contributions to second language literacy research. (Author/VWL)

  1. Understanding recruitment failure in tropical tree species: Insights from a tree ring study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vlam, M.; Baker, P.J.; Bunyavejchewin, S.; Mohren, G.M.J.; Zuidema, P.A.

    2014-01-01

    Many tropical tree species have population structures that exhibit strong recruitment failure. While the presence of adult trees indicates that appropriate regeneration conditions occurred in the past, it is often unclear why small individuals are absent. Knowing how, when and where these tree

  2. Linguistic Privilege and Justice: What can we learn from STEM?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pronskikh, V. [Fermilab

    2018-01-19

    The linguistic privilege of native speakers in scientific communication, both oral and written, has been widely reported to influence researchers’ publications and careers in and beyond academia. I analyze social structure and communication in the STEM field through the example of big science and attempt to answer the question of why language injustice has a less significant effect on nonnative scientists and engineers than on humanity scholars, scrutinizing the role of signs and nonlinguistic boundary objects in STEM practice and written communication and how they mitigate the emphasis on linguistic eloquence. I suggest that although big science is relatively linguistically inclusive, for collaborative publications and presentations the rhetoric component requirements nevertheless remain at a level comparable to that of the humanities. I draw on the theory of justice to argue that to increase L2 speakers’ and writers’ satisfaction, language standards for international communication must be adjusted to a level convenient for an average L2.

  3. On possible linguistic correlates to brain lateralization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tania Kouteva/Kuteva

    2014-04-01

    phenomena and brain lateralization. More precisely, on the basis of substantial neurolinguistic research it is argued that novel speech is represented in the left hemisphere, whereas formulaic speech is modulated by a subcortical right hemisphere circuit. Within the framework of Discourse Grammar (Heine et al. 2013 it is argued that there is a similar correlation between two domains of grammar, namely Sentence Grammar and Thetical Grammar: Aphasic patients and other persons with left hemisphere damage appear to draw mainly on linguistic expressions within the domain of Thetical Grammar; persons with right hemisphere damage, by contrast, use primarily Sentence Grammar as their main domain of structuring speech (Heine et al. 2014. While arriving at similar conclusions, there are a few differences between these two frameworks. In particular, the dual process model relies on the distinction between novel and formulaic speech as its main parameter, while in the framework of Discourse Grammar it is distinctions in the functions and the syntactic and prosodic independence of linguistic units that are most central. The present paper argues that such differences can be accounted for with reference to the differential role played by the situation of discourse in linguistic communication.

  4. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics: Contact

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mailing Address. Editors SPiL. Department of General Linguistics University of Stellenbosch Private Bag X1 Matieland, 7602. Stellenbosch South Africa. Principal Contact. Dr Kate Huddlestone Journal Manager Department of General Linguistics. University of Stellenbosch. Private Bag X1. Matieland, 7602. Stellenbosch.

  5. Evaluating automatically annotated treebanks for linguistic research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bloem, J.; Bański, P.; Kupietz, M.; Lüngen, H.; Witt, A.; Barbaresi, A.; Biber, H.; Breiteneder, E.; Clematide, S.

    2016-01-01

    This study discusses evaluation methods for linguists to use when employing an automatically annotated treebank as a source of linguistic evidence. While treebanks are usually evaluated with a general measure over all the data, linguistic studies often focus on a particular construction or a group

  6. Recursive Trees for Practical ORAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moataz Tarik

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available We present a new, general data structure that reduces the communication cost of recent tree-based ORAMs. Contrary to ORAM trees with constant height and path lengths, our new construction r-ORAM allows for trees with varying shorter path length. Accessing an element in the ORAM tree results in different communication costs depending on the location of the element. The main idea behind r-ORAM is a recursive ORAM tree structure, where nodes in the tree are roots of other trees. While this approach results in a worst-case access cost (tree height at most as any recent tree-based ORAM, we show that the average cost saving is around 35% for recent binary tree ORAMs. Besides reducing communication cost, r-ORAM also reduces storage overhead on the server by 4% to 20% depending on the ORAM’s client memory type. To prove r-ORAM’s soundness, we conduct a detailed overflow analysis. r-ORAM’s recursive approach is general in that it can be applied to all recent tree ORAMs, both constant and poly-log client memory ORAMs. Finally, we implement and benchmark r-ORAM in a practical setting to back up our theoretical claims.

  7. Linguistica matematica, statistica linguistica e linguistica applicata. Una nota storica sui lessici di frequenza e l'educazione linguistica (Mathematical Linguistics, Linguistic Statistics, and Applied Linguistics. An Historical Note on Word Frequencies and Linguistic Education)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elia, Annibale

    1977-01-01

    This article traces the history of several themes in applied linguistics and to show the relationships between linguistic theory and the sciences concerned with the learning and teaching of languages. Interest in word frequency statistics is discussed in particular. (Text is in Italian.) (CFM)

  8. DEVELOPING LINGUISTIC SKILLS AND ABILITIES IN EMP STUDENTS

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    Nataša Milosavljević

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available English for medical purposes falls within the category of discipline-specific language learning. It is characterized by specific linguistic features and requires specific study that is possible to carry out using specially designed programmes. Reading skill is one way of learning strategy of English for medical purposes. Most often, students use this skill in order to obtain information for some particular topic from the area of medical science, or because they need some sort of instruction in order to carry out certain task. Vocabulary acquisition plays a very important role in EMP teaching. It is achieved best through learning vocabulary in context, rather than in isolation. One of the most important questions in EMP teaching is related to what grammatical constructions should be analysed and emphasised. Some types of these activities would include, for example, asking students to find examples of one particular structure in the text or fill in the blanks with the missing forms such as tenses, passive forms, prepositions, etc. Speaking skill represents productive skill the aim of which is communication. In order for foreign language communication to be suucessful, a student should know linguistic and cultural features of native speakers and follow certain rules and conventions that are not easy to define. It is of crucial importance that during teaching process students develop strategies and techniques that will help them use linguistic structures fluently, apply language in different situations, take part in discussions, and use acquired vocabulary in accurate and precise way.

  9. Literacy in Somali: Linguistic Consequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biber, Douglas; Hared, Mohamed

    1991-01-01

    Linguistic consequences of literacy in Somalia are examined in a review of the literature and through a study of five dimensions of variation among Somali registers and the expansion of linguistic variation in Somali resulting from the introduction of written registers. (36 references) (LB)

  10. Functional categories in comparative linguistics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rijkhoff, Jan

    , Roger M. 1979. Linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge: some doubts and speculation. American Anthropologist 81-1, 14-36. Levinson, Stephen C. 1997. From outer to inner space: linguistic categories and non-linguistic thinking. In J. Nuyts and E. Pederson (eds.), Language and Conceptualization, 13......). Furthermore certain ‘ontological categories’ are language-specific (Malt 1995). For example, speakers of Kalam (New Guinea) do not classify the cassowary as a bird, because they believe it has a mythical kinship relation with humans (Bulmer 1967).       In this talk I will discuss the role of functional...

  11. Image reconstruction of fluorescent molecular tomography based on the tree structured Schur complement decomposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Jiajun

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The inverse problem of fluorescent molecular tomography (FMT often involves complex large-scale matrix operations, which may lead to unacceptable computational errors and complexity. In this research, a tree structured Schur complement decomposition strategy is proposed to accelerate the reconstruction process and reduce the computational complexity. Additionally, an adaptive regularization scheme is developed to improve the ill-posedness of the inverse problem. Methods The global system is decomposed level by level with the Schur complement system along two paths in the tree structure. The resultant subsystems are solved in combination with the biconjugate gradient method. The mesh for the inverse problem is generated incorporating the prior information. During the reconstruction, the regularization parameters are adaptive not only to the spatial variations but also to the variations of the objective function to tackle the ill-posed nature of the inverse problem. Results Simulation results demonstrate that the strategy of the tree structured Schur complement decomposition obviously outperforms the previous methods, such as the conventional Conjugate-Gradient (CG and the Schur CG methods, in both reconstruction accuracy and speed. As compared with the Tikhonov regularization method, the adaptive regularization scheme can significantly improve ill-posedness of the inverse problem. Conclusions The methods proposed in this paper can significantly improve the reconstructed image quality of FMT and accelerate the reconstruction process.

  12. Error analysis for creating 3D face templates based on cylindrical quad-tree structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutfeter, Weronika

    2015-09-01

    Development of new biometric algorithms is parallel to advances in technology of sensing devices. Some of the limitations of the current face recognition systems may be eliminated by integrating 3D sensors into these systems. Depth sensing devices can capture a spatial structure of the face in addition to the texture and color. This kind of data is yet usually very voluminous and requires large amount of computer resources for being processed (face scans obtained with typical depth cameras contain more than 150 000 points per face). That is why defining efficient data structures for processing spatial images is crucial for further development of 3D face recognition methods. The concept described in this work fulfills the aforementioned demands. Modification of the quad-tree structure was chosen because it can be easily transformed into less dimensional data structures and maintains spatial relations between data points. We are able to interpret data stored in the tree as a pyramid of features which allow us to analyze face images using coarse-to-fine strategy, often exploited in biometric recognition systems.

  13. Classification and regression trees

    CERN Document Server

    Breiman, Leo; Olshen, Richard A; Stone, Charles J

    1984-01-01

    The methodology used to construct tree structured rules is the focus of this monograph. Unlike many other statistical procedures, which moved from pencil and paper to calculators, this text's use of trees was unthinkable before computers. Both the practical and theoretical sides have been developed in the authors' study of tree methods. Classification and Regression Trees reflects these two sides, covering the use of trees as a data analysis method, and in a more mathematical framework, proving some of their fundamental properties.

  14. Machine Learning and Applied Linguistics

    OpenAIRE

    Vajjala, Sowmya

    2018-01-01

    This entry introduces the topic of machine learning and provides an overview of its relevance for applied linguistics and language learning. The discussion will focus on giving an introduction to the methods and applications of machine learning in applied linguistics, and will provide references for further study.

  15. Ontological problems of contemporary linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    А В Бондаренко

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available The article studies linguistic ontology problems such as evolution of essential-existential views of language, interrelation within Being-Language-Man triad, linguistics gnosiological principles, language essence localization, and «expression» as language metalinguistic unit as well as architectonics of language personality et alia.

  16. Concise Lexicon for Sign Linguistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    dr. Jan Nijen Twilhaar; Dr. Beppie van den Bogaerde

    2016-01-01

    This extensive, well-researched and clearly formatted lexicon of a wide variety of linguistic terms is a long overdue. It is an extremely welcome addition to the bookshelves of sign language teachers, interpreters, linguists, learners and other sign language users, and of course of the Deaf

  17. Influence of competition and age on tree growth in structurally complex old-growth forests in northern Minnesota, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuomas Aakala; Shawn Fraver; Anthony W. D' Amato; Brian J. Palik

    2013-01-01

    Factors influencing tree growth in structurally complex forests remain poorly understood. Here we assessed the influence of competition on Pinus resinosa (n = 224) and Pinus strobus (n = 90) growth in four old-growth stands in Minnesota, using mixed effects models. A subset of trees, with...

  18. The Linguistic Memory of Composition and the Rhetoric and Composition PhD: Forgetting (and Remembering) Language and Language Difference in Doctoral Curricula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilfoil, Carrie Byars

    2017-01-01

    This article analyzes the decline of linguistics in rhetoric and composition PhD programs in terms of the "linguistic memory" (Trimbur) of composition. Since the field of linguistics once offered the primary means for composition to address the structural, psychological, sociohistorical, and cultural dimensions of language in student…

  19. Linguistic spatial classifications of event domains in narratives of crime

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blake Stephen Howald

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Structurally, formal definitions of the linguistic narrative minimally require two temporally linked past-time events. The role of space in this definition, based on spatial language indicating where events occur, is considered optional and non-structural. However, based on narratives with a high frequency of spatial language, recent research has questioned this perspective, suggesting that space is more critical than may be readily apparent. Through an analysis of spatially rich serial criminal narratives, it will be demonstrated that spatial information qualitatively varies relative to narrative events. In particular, statistical classifiers in a supervised machine learning task achieve a 90% accuracy in predicting Pre-Crime, Crime, and Post-Crime events based on spatial (and temporal information. Overall, these results suggest a deeper spatial organization of discourse, which not only provides practical event resolution possibilities, but also challenges traditional formal linguistic definitions of narrative.

  20. The Extension of Quality Function Deployment Based on 2-Tuple Linguistic Representation Model for Product Design under Multigranularity Linguistic Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Li

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Quality function deployment (QFD is a customer-driven approach for product design and development. A QFD analysis process includes a series of subprocesses, such as determination of the importance of customer requirements (CRs, the correlation among engineering characteristics (ECs, and the relationship between CRs and ECs. Usually more than group of one decision makers are involved in the subprocesses to make the decision. In most decision making problems, they often provide their evaluation information in the linguistic form. Moreover, because of different knowledge, background, and discrimination ability, decision makers may express their linguistic preferences in multigranularity linguistic information. Therefore, an effective approach to deal with the multi-granularity linguistic information in QFD analysis process is highly needed. In this study, the QFD methodology is extended with 2-tuple linguistic representation model under multi-granularity linguistic environment. The extended QFD methodology can cope with multi-granularity linguistic evaluation information and avoid the loss of information. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated with a numerical example.

  1. Including RNA secondary structures improves accuracy and robustness in reconstruction of phylogenetic trees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dandekar Thomas

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In several studies, secondary structures of ribosomal genes have been used to improve the quality of phylogenetic reconstructions. An extensive evaluation of the benefits of secondary structure, however, is lacking. Results This is the first study to counter this deficiency. We inspected the accuracy and robustness of phylogenetics with individual secondary structures by simulation experiments for artificial tree topologies with up to 18 taxa and for divergency levels in the range of typical phylogenetic studies. We chose the internal transcribed spacer 2 of the ribosomal cistron as an exemplary marker region. Simulation integrated the coevolution process of sequences with secondary structures. Additionally, the phylogenetic power of marker size duplication was investigated and compared with sequence and sequence-structure reconstruction methods. The results clearly show that accuracy and robustness of Neighbor Joining trees are largely improved by structural information in contrast to sequence only data, whereas a doubled marker size only accounts for robustness. Conclusions Individual secondary structures of ribosomal RNA sequences provide a valuable gain of information content that is useful for phylogenetics. Thus, the usage of ITS2 sequence together with secondary structure for taxonomic inferences is recommended. Other reconstruction methods as maximum likelihood, bayesian inference or maximum parsimony may equally profit from secondary structure inclusion. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Shamil Sunyaev, Andrea Tanzer (nominated by Frank Eisenhaber and Eugene V. Koonin. Open peer review Reviewed by Shamil Sunyaev, Andrea Tanzer (nominated by Frank Eisenhaber and Eugene V. Koonin. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewers' comments section.

  2. Accounting for density reduction and structural loss in standing dead trees: Implications for forest biomass and carbon stock estimates in the United States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domke Grant M

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Standing dead trees are one component of forest ecosystem dead wood carbon (C pools, whose national stock is estimated by the U.S. as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Historically, standing dead tree C has been estimated as a function of live tree growing stock volume in the U.S.'s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Initiated in 1998, the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis program (responsible for compiling the Nation's forest C estimates began consistent nationwide sampling of standing dead trees, which may now supplant previous purely model-based approaches to standing dead biomass and C stock estimation. A substantial hurdle to estimating standing dead tree biomass and C attributes is that traditional estimation procedures are based on merchantability paradigms that may not reflect density reductions or structural loss due to decomposition common in standing dead trees. The goal of this study was to incorporate standing dead tree adjustments into the current estimation procedures and assess how biomass and C stocks change at multiple spatial scales. Results Accounting for decay and structural loss in standing dead trees significantly decreased tree- and plot-level C stock estimates (and subsequent C stocks by decay class and tree component. At a regional scale, incorporating adjustment factors decreased standing dead quaking aspen biomass estimates by almost 50 percent in the Lake States and Douglas-fir estimates by more than 36 percent in the Pacific Northwest. Conclusions Substantial overestimates of standing dead tree biomass and C stocks occur when one does not account for density reductions or structural loss. Forest inventory estimation procedures that are descended from merchantability standards may need to be revised toward a more holistic approach to determining standing dead tree biomass and C attributes (i.e., attributes of tree biomass outside of sawlog

  3. New Conceptualizations of Linguistic Giftedness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biedron, Adriana; Pawlak, Miroslaw

    2016-01-01

    This state-of-the art paper focuses on the issue of linguistic giftedness, somewhat neglected in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature, attempting to reconceptualize, expand and update this concept in response to latest developments in the fields of psychology, linguistics and neurology. It first discusses contemporary perspectives on…

  4. Critical and Alternative Directions in Applied Linguistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennycook, Alastair

    2010-01-01

    Critical directions in applied linguistics can be understood in various ways. The term "critical" as it has been used in "critical applied linguistics," "critical discourse analysis," "critical literacy" and so forth, is now embedded as part of applied linguistic work, adding an overt focus on questions of power and inequality to discourse…

  5. Structural overshoot of tree growth with climate variability and the global spectrum of drought-induced forest dieback

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jump, Alistair S.; Ruiz-Benito, Paloma; Greenwood, Sarah; Allen, Craig D.; Kitzberger, Thomas; Fensham, Rod; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Lloret, Francisco

    2017-01-01

    Ongoing climate change poses significant threats to plant function and distribution. Increased temperatures and altered precipitation regimes amplify drought frequency and intensity, elevating plant stress and mortality. Large-scale forest mortality events will have far-reaching impacts on carbon and hydrological cycling, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. However, biogeographical theory and global vegetation models poorly represent recent forest die-off patterns. Furthermore, as trees are sessile and long-lived, their responses to climate extremes are substantially dependent on historical factors. We show that periods of favourable climatic and management conditions that facilitate abundant tree growth can lead to structural overshoot of aboveground tree biomass due to a subsequent temporal mismatch between water demand and availability. When environmental favourability declines, increases in water and temperature stress that are protracted, rapid, or both, drive a gradient of tree structural responses that can modify forest self-thinning relationships. Responses ranging from premature leaf senescence and partial canopy dieback to whole-tree mortality reduce canopy leaf area during the stress period and for a lagged recovery window thereafter. Such temporal mismatches of water requirements from availability can occur at local to regional scales throughout a species geographical range. As climate change projections predict large future fluctuations in both wet and dry conditions, we expect forests to become increasingly structurally mismatched to water availability and thus overbuilt during more stressful episodes. By accounting for the historical context of biomass development, our approach can explain previously problematic aspects of large-scale forest mortality, such as why it can occur throughout the range of a species and yet still be locally highly variable, and why some events seem readily attributable to an ongoing drought while others do not. This

  6. On Redundancy in Describing Linguistic Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir Borissov Pericliev

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available On Redundancy in Describing Linguistic Systems The notion of system of linguistic elements figures prominently in most post-Saussurian linguistics up to the present. A “system” is the network of the contrastive (or, distinctive features each element in the system bears to the remaining elements. The meaning (valeur of each element in the system is the set of features that are necessary and jointly sufficient to distinguish this element from all others. The paper addresses the problems of “redundancy”, i.e. the occurrence of features that are not strictly necessary in describing an element in a system. Redundancy is shown to smuggle into the description of linguistic systems, this infelicitous practice illustrated with some examples from the literature (e.g. the classical phonemic analysis of Russian by Cherry, Halle, and Jakobson, 1953. The logic and psychology of the occurrence of redundancy are briefly sketched and it is shown that, in addition to some other problems, redundancy leads to a huge and unresolvable ambiguity of descriptions of linguistic systems (the Buridan’s ass problem.

  7. Linguistic Theory and Actual Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segerdahl, Par

    1995-01-01

    Examines Noam Chomsky's (1957) discussion of "grammaticalness" and the role of linguistics in the "correct" way of speaking and writing. It is argued that the concern of linguistics with the tools of grammar has resulted in confusion, with the tools becoming mixed up with the actual language, thereby becoming the central…

  8. Language Works. Linguistic Journal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hartling, Anna Sofie; Nørreby, Thomas Rørbeck; Skovse, Astrid Ravn

    2016-01-01

    Language works! – and with this initiative and this journal we want to give the opportunity to many more students to present their linguistic research to each other, to the scientific community and to all interested.......Language works! – and with this initiative and this journal we want to give the opportunity to many more students to present their linguistic research to each other, to the scientific community and to all interested....

  9. Collective Variables in Apphed Linguistics Research

    OpenAIRE

    ヘンスリー, ジョール; HENSLEY, Joel

    2011-01-01

    This paper focuses on the key dynamic(al)systems theory concept of collective variables as it relates to developmental research in applied linguistics. Dynamic(al) systems theory is becoming prevalent in linguistic research and in the past two decades has jumped to the forefront of cutting edge in the field. One key concept in dynamic(al) systems theory is that of collective variables. In order to help properly orient this concept in the field of applied linguistics, this paper discusses the ...

  10. The consequence of motivation and linguistic self-confidence in relation to pupils’ oral interaction

    OpenAIRE

    Molberg, Hans-Kristian Kiil

    2010-01-01

    This thesis discusses which consequences motivation and linguistic self-confidence have on pupils’ oral interaction in the English classroom. I bring up aspects such as the importance of oral interaction and pupils’ willingness to communicate, as well as theory regarding motivation and linguistic self-confidence. In order to investigate this, I used a qualitative approach and conducted a semi-structured interview with six 10th graders and their English teacher. My findings show that moti...

  11. Linguistics and the TEFL Teacher.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraser, Bruce

    This paper asserts the "unquestionable" relevance of linguistic insights in the training of and subsequent use by teachers of English as a foreign language. Although the author agrees with Chomsky's view that linguistics has nothing to offer the teacher in the form of specific proposals for language teaching methodology, he argues that linguistics…

  12. Effects of acid rain and surfactant pollution on the foliar structure of some tree species

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raddi, P.; Moricca, S.; Paoletti, E.

    1994-01-01

    For 10 years we have been studying the effects of acid rain and ABS (a surfactant always found in sea aerosols) on several tree species. Alterations of the leaf structure were considered as damage index. We tried to quantify the damage to the wax structure by scoring in accordance with a damage scale given by SEM observations and by computing a damage index that allowed for a comparison among tree provenances and within individuals of the same provenance or clone. We tested the response of several species: Norway spruce, silver fir, cypress, London plane, chestnut, walnut, Italian alder, tree of heaven, common maple, European white elm, manna ash, holm oak, European beech. The different species exhibited different levels of damage in relation to the type of treatment: when ABS was present, the damage was always more severe. In the broadleaved trees, the most frequent disturbances noted were: erosion of the epicuticular wax, alterations in the stomata, lesions, abscission and/or alternation of hairs. Damage from ABS treatments was compared to damge observed in coastal vegetation after strong sea winds. By comparing natural and induced damage, we were able to demonstrate that ABS is one of the possible causes of coastal vegetation decline and that ABS may also impact significantly on vegetation growing far away from the sea. (orig.)

  13. From a dictionary to an atlas: segmental mapping of the linguistic picture of the world

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey N. Gagarin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available 'At the heart of any language lies a vision. It embraces the world around us in myriads of complex ways. It is the lifeblood of every people's identity. It is so essential and indispensable that few assets of humankind can rival it for value or timelessness. It is known as the linguistic picture of the world, and it is notorious for being among the knottiest study subjects of language science. No coherent methodology has been proposed to date as to how it should be consistently structured to result in a systemic and navigable map of its core words and concepts. This constitutes a conspicuous gap in contemporary linguistics, which the present article addresses from the perspective of cognitive lexicology and lexicography while engaging the linguistic picture of the world on a segment-by-segment basis. In keeping with the aforesaid approach, one segment at a time is selected, and the discourse that reflects it is analysed with a view to identifying transcendental notions contained therein. The latter are construed as a type of cognitive concepts which epitomise the core ideas inherent in a particular type of spoken or written discourse. Being verbalised by means of relevant verbal fields, these transcendental notions permeate the cognitive and textual fabric of the selected segment of a linguistic picture of the world. By way of demonstrating the feasibility of this approach, a new type of dictionary has been compiled by the author, which captures and reveals in a semantically structured way the verbal side of the transcendental notion "countering" in the socio-political discourse of English-language media. Along with other transcendental notions, such as "facilitation", "communication", "attitude", etc., it is viewed as part of a range of the cognitive pillars which are essential to a limited segment of a linguistic picture of the world, but are by no means reserved to it, stretching far beyond and reaching throughout the vision of the world

  14. FAT-miner: mining frequent attribute trees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Knijf, de J.; Cho, Y.; Wainwright, R.L.; Haddad, H.; Shin, S.Y.; Koo, Y.W.

    2007-01-01

    Data that can conceptually be viewed as tree structures abounds in domains such as bio-informatics, web logs, XML databases and multi-relational databases. Besides structural information such as nodes and edges, tree structured data also often contains attributes, that represent properties of nodes.

  15. Understanding Online Health Groups for Depression: Social Network and Linguistic Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Ronghua; Zhang, Qingpeng

    2016-03-10

    Mental health problems have become increasingly prevalent in the past decade. With the advance of Web 2.0 technologies, social media present a novel platform for Web users to form online health groups. Members of online health groups discuss health-related issues and mutually help one another by anonymously revealing their mental conditions, sharing personal experiences, exchanging health information, and providing suggestions and support. The conversations in online health groups contain valuable information to facilitate the understanding of their mutual help behaviors and their mental health problems. We aimed to characterize the conversations in a major online health group for major depressive disorder (MDD) patients in a popular Chinese social media platform. In particular, we intended to explain how Web users discuss depression-related issues from the perspective of the social networks and linguistic patterns revealed by the members' conversations. Social network analysis and linguistic analysis were employed to characterize the social structure and linguistic patterns, respectively. Furthermore, we integrated both perspectives to exploit the hidden relations between them. We found an intensive use of self-focus words and negative affect words. In general, group members used a higher proportion of negative affect words than positive affect words. The social network of the MDD group for depression possessed small-world and scale-free properties, with a much higher reciprocity ratio and clustering coefficient value as compared to the networks of other social media platforms and classic network models. We observed a number of interesting relationships, either strong correlations or convergent trends, between the topological properties and linguistic properties of the MDD group members. (1) The MDD group members have the characteristics of self-preoccupation and negative thought content, according to Beck's cognitive theory of depression; (2) the social structure

  16. Linguistics and the Literary Text.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrar, Madeleine

    1984-01-01

    Discusses the opposing viewpoints of the two most influential linguists of this century--Saussure and Chomsky--suggesting that while both are interested in form as opposed to substance, Saussure sees linguistics as a branch of semiotics and Chomsky sees it as part of cognitive psychology. Evaluates the relevance of these two viewpoints to the…

  17. THE LINGUISTICS OF SPEECH PRINCIPLES TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE LISTENING COMPREHENSION CLASS TO ENHANCE LEARNERS‟ SPEAKING SKILLS

    OpenAIRE

    Oktavia Tri Sanggala Dewi; Nukmatus Syahria

    2017-01-01

    Linguistics of Speech as linguistic science is about language in use, and the only way to get data is through observations of how language works in real language contexts, and in which the focus is on meaning rather than structure (Kretszmar, W.A.Jr. 2009: 11). The emphasis in meaning is also currently implemented in the implementation of SFL–GBA (Systematic Funtional Linguistic - Genre Based Approach) in Indonesia, in which the use of translation is encouraged (to a certain extend) to improv...

  18. [Population structure and regeneration strategy of relict deciduous broadleaved trees on Mount Tianmu, Zhejiang Province, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shang, Kan Kan; Chen, Bo; Da, Liang Jun

    2018-02-01

    The population structure, regeneration ways and spatial relationships of six relict deci-duous broadleaved trees were examined based on community investigation on Mount Tianmu, East China. The results showed that relict deciduous broadleaved trees had a strong ability of vegetative reproduction and their population structure was generally belonged to intermittent type. Some relict species such as Cyclocarya paliurus and Liquidamb aracalycina regenerated discontinuously at appropriate sites via long-distance diffusion. Some species such as Emmenoptery henryi and Euptelea pleiospermum regenerated discontinuously around mature trees due to habitat limitation and frequent disturbance. After occupying forest gaps by seedling regeneration, C. paliurus, L. acalycina, Nyssasinensis and Liquidambar formosana could recruit and form multi-stemmed individuals by their inherent sprouting ability at relatively stable sites such as crest slope and side slope. At riverbed, valley slope and head hollow, recognized as unstable habitats, Emmenopterys henryi, E. pleiospermum, and L. formosana could also recruit by strong sprouting ability due to sparse seedlings and individual loss incurred by disturbance. Therefore, the relict deciduous broadleaved trees could be classified into two ecological species groups (repairment species for forest gap and supplement species for special habitat) based on spatial distribution and strategy of regeneration and competition. We suggested that the protection of special habitats of their communities should be strengthened.

  19. The computational linguistics of biological sequences

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Searls, D. [Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

    1995-12-31

    This tutorial was one of eight tutorials selected to be presented at the Third International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology which was held in the United Kingdom from July 16 to 19, 1995. Protein sequences are analogous in many respects, particularly their folding behavior. Proteins have a much richer variety of interactions, but in theory the same linguistic principles could come to bear in describing dependencies between distant residues that arise by virtue of three-dimensional structure. This tutorial will concentrate on nucleic acid sequences.

  20. The valuative tree

    CERN Document Server

    Favre, Charles

    2004-01-01

    This volume is devoted to a beautiful object, called the valuative tree and designed as a powerful tool for the study of singularities in two complex dimensions. Its intricate yet manageable structure can be analyzed by both algebraic and geometric means. Many types of singularities, including those of curves, ideals, and plurisubharmonic functions, can be encoded in terms of positive measures on the valuative tree. The construction of these measures uses a natural tree Laplace operator of independent interest.

  1. Timing-Driven-Testable Convergent Tree Adders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johnnie A. Huang

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Carry lookahead adders have been, over the years, implemented in complex arithmetic units due to their regular structure which leads to efficient VLSI implementation for fast adders. In this paper, timing-driven testability synthesis is first performed on a tree adder. It is shown that the structure of the tree adder provides for a high fanout with an imbalanced tree structure, which likely contributes to a racing effect and increases the delay of the circuit. The timing optimization is then realized by reducing the maximum fanout of the adder and by balancing the tree circuit. For a 56-b testable tree adder, the optimization produces a 6.37%increase in speed of the critical path while only contributing a 2.16% area overhead. The full testability of the circuit is achieved in the optimized adder design.

  2. Assessing the Effects of Periodic Flooding on the Population Structure and Recruitment Rates of Riparian Tree Forests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Sébastien Berthelot

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Riparian forest stands are subjected to a variety of hydrological stresses as a result of annual fluctuations in water levels during the growing season. Spring floods create additional water-related stress as a result of a major inflow of water that floods riverside land. This exploratory study assesses the impacts of successive floods on tree dynamics and regeneration in an active sedimentation area, while determining the age of the stands using the recruitment rates, tree structure and tree rings based on dendrochronological analysis. Environmental data were also recorded for each vegetation quadrat. In total, 2633 tree stems were tallied throughout the quadrats (200 m2, and tree specimens were analyzed based on the various flood zones. A total of 720 specimens were counted (100 m2 strip to measure natural regeneration. Higher recruitment rates are noted for the no-flood zones and lower rates in active floodplains. During the period of the establishment of tree species, the survival rates are comparable between the flood zones and the no-flood zones. Tree diameter distribution reveals a strong predominance of young trees in flooded areas. Different factors appear to come into play in the dynamics of riparian forest stands, including the disruptions associated with successive flooding.

  3. Linguistic measures of chemical diversity and the "keywords" of molecular collections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woźniak, Michał; Wołos, Agnieszka; Modrzyk, Urszula; Górski, Rafał L; Winkowski, Jan; Bajczyk, Michał; Szymkuć, Sara; Grzybowski, Bartosz A; Eder, Maciej

    2018-05-15

    Computerized linguistic analyses have proven of immense value in comparing and searching through large text collections ("corpora"), including those deposited on the Internet - indeed, it would nowadays be hard to imagine browsing the Web without, for instance, search algorithms extracting most appropriate keywords from documents. This paper describes how such corpus-linguistic concepts can be extended to chemistry based on characteristic "chemical words" that span more than traditional functional groups and, instead, look at common structural fragments molecules share. Using these words, it is possible to quantify the diversity of chemical collections/databases in new ways and to define molecular "keywords" by which such collections are best characterized and annotated.

  4. Are tree ontogenetic structure and allometric relationship independent of vegetation formation type? A case study with Cordia oncocalyx in the Brazilian caatinga

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silveira, Andréa P.; Martins, Fernando R.; Araújo, Francisca S.

    2012-08-01

    In temperate and tropical rainforests, ontogenetic structure and allometry during tree ontogeny are often associated with light gradients. Light is not considered a limiting resource in deciduous thorny woodland (DTW), but establishment and growth occur during a short rainy period, when the canopy is fully leaved and light in the understory may be modified. Our aim was to investigate whether the light gradient in DTW and the biomechanical limitations of tree growth would be enough to produce an ontogenetic structure and allometric growth similar to rainforest canopy trees. We investigated the ontogenetic stages and diameter-height relationship of Cordia oncocalyx (Boraginaceae), a dominant canopy tree of the DTW of semiarid northeastern Brazil. We tagged, measured and classified the ontogenetic stages of 2.895 individuals in a 1 ha area (5°6'58.1″S and 40°52'19.4″W). In the rainy season only 4.7% of the light falling on the canopy reached the ground. Initial ontogenetic stages, mainly infant (50.9%) and seedling (42.1%), were predominant in the population, with the remaining 7% distributed among juvenile, immature, virginile and reproductive. The ontogenetic structure was similar to that of rainforest tree species, but the population formed both permanent seed and infant banks in response to long dry periods and erratic rainy spells. Like many other Boraginaceae tree species in tropical rainforests, C. oncocalyx has a Prévost architectural model, but allometric growth was quite different from rainforest trees. C. oncocalyx invested slightly more in diameter at first, then in height and finally invested greatly in diameter and attained an asymptotic height. The continued high investment in diameter growth at late stages and the asymptotic height point to low tree density and more frequent xylem embolism as the main drivers of tree allometric shape in DTW. This indicates that tree ontogenetic structure and allometric relationships depend on vegetation

  5. Could Values and Social Structures in Singapore Facilitate Attainment of Patient-Focused, Cultural, and Linguistic Competency Standards in a Patient-Centered Medical Home Pilot?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shih, Jenny A; Shiow, Sue-Anne Toh Ee; Wee, Hwee-Lin

    2015-01-01

    Primary care practices in the United States are transforming into patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) at a rapid pace. Newer PCMH standards have emphasized culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS), but at this time, only some states in the United States have proposed or passed cultural competency training for health care professionals. Other countries are moving to PCMH models. Singapore, a small, ethnically diverse island nation, has national values and social structures that emphasize cultural and linguistic cohesion. In this piece, we examine Singapore’s first PCMH pilot with a national academic center and primary care practice group. Features such as common shared values, self-reliance, racial and religious harmony, patient experience surveillance, and incorporation of CLAS standards in routine health care transactions may predict success for the PCMH in Singapore, with some implications for the United States. PMID:28725822

  6. Relations between Formal Linguistic Insecurity and the Perception of Linguistic Insecurity: A Quantitative Study in an Educational Environment at the Valencian Community (Spain)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldaqui Escandell, Josep M.

    2011-01-01

    What is the relationship between the awareness of linguistic prestige and the security or insecurity in the use of minoritised languages? Is formal linguistic insecurity (as initially described by Labov) the same as the speakers' perception of linguistic insecurity? Which are the variables related to the various types of linguistic insecurity in…

  7. Psychological and Linguistic Portrait of Criminals. Introduction to Discussion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jadwiga Stawnicka

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article concerns one aspect of forensic linguistics, which concerns determination by the challenged statements. This is done in collaboration with linguist – creating a profile linguistic songwriter – and a psychologist – that creates a psychological profile. The cooperation of specialists can be used at the level of assessment, which is used for the purposes of investigation and legal proceedings. Expertise in the field of forensic linguistics (forensic linguistics, German. Forensische Linguistik include setting by/performance of speech based on the content of spoken or written (eg. The farewell letters, threatening letters, ransom demands; the possibility of setting texts by anonymous on the Internet, to determine the characteristics of linguistic stalkers and cyberstalkerów that can identify the sender of the message sender identification of the origin country, constructing linguistic profile anonymous author, the linguistic profile of the author of the well-known text. It should be added that the analysis of the content in content-language document contains emotional component, which is related to our knowledge about the determinants of language to express emotions, both negative and positive. An important element of the text is a matter of psychological portrait of the sender (author and / or performer of the text based on the identified linguistic features.

  8. The Structure and Contents of the English Written Entry Examination as a Major Subject at the Department of Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Светлана Евгеньевна Боброва

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The author of the article has been writing English entry examinations for PFUR for over a decade. In this article she analyses the structure and contents of the English language entry examination for prospective students of Linguistics at the Faculty of Philology. The requirements for the entry written test are set by the State standards of complete secondary education for foreign languages at the level of a major subject. The PFUR entry examination has always been written in accordance with recommendations of the Education and Science Ministry and the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Assessment.

  9. What can literature do for linguistics?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, Nina

    2007-01-01

      Through analyses of selected passages from James Joyce's Ulysses, this article demonstrates how the challenging of the boundaries between linguistics and literary studies can be more than a one-way process aimed at uncovering linguistic patterns of literary texts. The theoretical basis...

  10. Tree growth and competition in an old-growth Picea abies forest of boreal Sweden: influence of tree spatial patterning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraver, Shawn; D'Amato, Anthony W.; Bradford, John B.; Jonsson, Bengt Gunnar; Jönsson, Mari; Esseen, Per-Anders

    2013-01-01

    Question: What factors best characterize tree competitive environments in this structurally diverse old-growth forest, and do these factors vary spatially within and among stands? Location: Old-growth Picea abies forest of boreal Sweden. Methods: Using long-term, mapped permanent plot data augmented with dendrochronological analyses, we evaluated the effect of neighbourhood competition on focal tree growth by means of standard competition indices, each modified to include various metrics of trees size, neighbour mortality weighting (for neighbours that died during the inventory period), and within-neighbourhood tree clustering. Candidate models were evaluated using mixed-model linear regression analyses, with mean basal area increment as the response variable. We then analysed stand-level spatial patterns of competition indices and growth rates (via kriging) to determine if the relationship between these patterns could further elucidate factors influencing tree growth. Results: Inter-tree competition clearly affected growth rates, with crown volume being the size metric most strongly influencing the neighbourhood competitive environment. Including neighbour tree mortality weightings in models only slightly improved descriptions of competitive interactions. Although the within-neighbourhood clustering index did not improve model predictions, competition intensity was influenced by the underlying stand-level tree spatial arrangement: stand-level clustering locally intensified competition and reduced tree growth, whereas in the absence of such clustering, inter-tree competition played a lesser role in constraining tree growth. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that competition continues to influence forest processes and structures in an old-growth system that has not experienced major disturbances for at least two centuries. The finding that the underlying tree spatial pattern influenced the competitive environment suggests caution in interpreting traditional tree

  11. The temporal structure of the autistic voice: A cross-linguistic investigation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fusaroli, Riccardo; Grossman, Ruth; Cantio, Cathriona

    , even across linguistic and cultural boundaries. [1] R.B. Grossman, L. Edelson, H. Tager-Flusberg, Production of emotional facial and vocal expressions during story retelling by children and adolescents with high-functioning autism, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 56 (2013) 1035...... and communication and socialization ratings in high functioning speakers with autism spectrum disorders, Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 35 (2005) 861–869. [5] R.B. Grossman, H. Tager-Flusberg, Quality matters! Differences between expressive and receptive non-verbal communication skills in children...

  12. VC-dimension of univariate decision trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yildiz, Olcay Taner

    2015-02-01

    In this paper, we give and prove the lower bounds of the Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC)-dimension of the univariate decision tree hypothesis class. The VC-dimension of the univariate decision tree depends on the VC-dimension values of its subtrees and the number of inputs. Via a search algorithm that calculates the VC-dimension of univariate decision trees exhaustively, we show that our VC-dimension bounds are tight for simple trees. To verify that the VC-dimension bounds are useful, we also use them to get VC-generalization bounds for complexity control using structural risk minimization in decision trees, i.e., pruning. Our simulation results show that structural risk minimization pruning using the VC-dimension bounds finds trees that are more accurate as those pruned using cross validation.

  13. A Hybrid Vector Quantization Combining a Tree Structure and a Voronoi Diagram

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yeou-Jiunn Chen

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Multimedia data is a popular communication medium, but requires substantial storage space and network bandwidth. Vector quantization (VQ is suitable for multimedia data applications because of its simple architecture, fast decoding ability, and high compression rate. Full-search VQ can typically be used to determine optimal codewords, but requires considerable computational time and resources. In this study, a hybrid VQ combining a tree structure and a Voronoi diagram is proposed to improve VQ efficiency. To efficiently reduce the search space, a tree structure integrated with principal component analysis is proposed, to rapidly determine an initial codeword in low-dimensional space. To increase accuracy, a Voronoi diagram is applied to precisely enlarge the search space by modeling relations between each codeword. This enables an optimal codeword to be efficiently identified by rippling an optimal neighbor from parts of neighboring Voronoi regions. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed approach improved VQ performance, outperforming other approaches. The proposed approach also satisfies the requirements of handheld device application, namely, the use of limited memory and network bandwidth, when a suitable number of dimensions in principal component analysis is selected.

  14. Constructal tree-shaped flow structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bejan, A.; Lorente, S.

    2007-01-01

    This paper is an introduction to a new trend in the conceptual design of energy systems: the generation of flow configuration based on the 'constructal' principle that the global performance is maximized by balancing and arranging the various flow resistances (the irreversibilities) in a flow system that is free to morph. The paper focuses on distribution and collection, which are flows that connect one point (source, or sink) with an infinity of points (volume, area, curve). The flow configurations that emerge from this principle are tree-shaped, and the systems that employ them are 'vascularized'. The paper traces the most recent progress made on constructal vascularization. The direction is from large-scale applications toward microscales. The large-scale tree-shaped designs of electric power distribution systems and networks for natural gas and water are now invading small-scale designs such as fuel cells, heat exchangers and cooled packages of electronics. These flow configurations have several properties in common: freedom to morph, multiple scales, hierarchy, nonuniform (optimal) distribution of scales through the available volume, compactness and finite complexity

  15. FTAP, Minimal Cut Sets of Arbitrary Fault Trees. FRTPLT, Fault Tree Structure and Logical Gates Plot for Program FTAP. FRTGEN, Fault Trees by Sub-tree Generator from Parent Tree for Program FTAP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willie, Randall R.; Rabien, U.

    1997-01-01

    1 - Description of problem or function: FTAP is a general-purpose program for deriving minimal reliability cut and path set families from the fault tree for a complex system. The program has a number of useful features that make it well-suited to nearly all fault tree applications. An input fault tree may specify the system state as any logical function of subsystem or component state variables or complements of these variables; thus, for instance, 'exclusive-or' type relations may be formed. When fault tree logical relations involve complements of state variables, the analyst may instruct FTAP to produce a family of prime implicants, a generalization of the minimal cut set concept. The program offers the flexibility of several distinct methods of generating cut set families. FTAP can also identify certain subsystems as system modules and provide a collection of minimal cut set families that essentially expresses the system state as a function of these module state variables. Another feature allows a useful subfamily to be obtained when the family of minimal cut sets or prime implicants is too large to be found in its entirety; this subfamily may consist of only those sets not containing more than some fixed number of elements or only those sets 'interesting' to the analyst in some special sense. Finally, the analyst can modify the input fault tree in various ways by declaring state variables identically true or false. 2 - Method of solution: Fault tree methods are based on the observation that the system state, either working or failed, can usually be expressed as a Boolean relation between states of several large, readily identifiable subsystems. The state of each subsystem in turn depends on states of simpler subsystems and components which compose it, so that the state of the system itself is determined by a hierarchy of logical relationships between states of subsystems. A fault tree is a graphical representation of these relationships. 3 - Restrictions on the

  16. Structural overshoot of tree growth with climate variability and the global spectrum of drought-induced forest dieback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jump, Alistair S; Ruiz-Benito, Paloma; Greenwood, Sarah; Allen, Craig D; Kitzberger, Thomas; Fensham, Rod; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Lloret, Francisco

    2017-09-01

    Ongoing climate change poses significant threats to plant function and distribution. Increased temperatures and altered precipitation regimes amplify drought frequency and intensity, elevating plant stress and mortality. Large-scale forest mortality events will have far-reaching impacts on carbon and hydrological cycling, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. However, biogeographical theory and global vegetation models poorly represent recent forest die-off patterns. Furthermore, as trees are sessile and long-lived, their responses to climate extremes are substantially dependent on historical factors. We show that periods of favourable climatic and management conditions that facilitate abundant tree growth can lead to structural overshoot of aboveground tree biomass due to a subsequent temporal mismatch between water demand and availability. When environmental favourability declines, increases in water and temperature stress that are protracted, rapid, or both, drive a gradient of tree structural responses that can modify forest self-thinning relationships. Responses ranging from premature leaf senescence and partial canopy dieback to whole-tree mortality reduce canopy leaf area during the stress period and for a lagged recovery window thereafter. Such temporal mismatches of water requirements from availability can occur at local to regional scales throughout a species geographical range. As climate change projections predict large future fluctuations in both wet and dry conditions, we expect forests to become increasingly structurally mismatched to water availability and thus overbuilt during more stressful episodes. By accounting for the historical context of biomass development, our approach can explain previously problematic aspects of large-scale forest mortality, such as why it can occur throughout the range of a species and yet still be locally highly variable, and why some events seem readily attributable to an ongoing drought while others do not. This

  17. Towards a theoretical framework for analyzing complex linguistic networks

    CERN Document Server

    Lücking, Andy; Banisch, Sven; Blanchard, Philippe; Job, Barbara

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this book is to advocate and promote network models of linguistic systems that are both based on thorough mathematical models and substantiated in terms of linguistics. In this way, the book contributes first steps towards establishing a statistical network theory as a theoretical basis of linguistic network analysis the boarder of the natural sciences and the humanities.This book addresses researchers who want to get familiar with theoretical developments, computational models and their empirical evaluation in the field of complex linguistic networks. It is intended to all those who are interested in statisticalmodels of linguistic systems from the point of view of network research. This includes all relevant areas of linguistics ranging from phonological, morphological and lexical networks on the one hand and syntactic, semantic and pragmatic networks on the other. In this sense, the volume concerns readers from many disciplines such as physics, linguistics, computer science and information scien...

  18. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AT PORTUGUESE TEXTBOOK: SOME CONSIDERATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula Gaida Winch

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available It is analyzed how linguistic diversity is dealt with in a Portuguese textbook, where two chapters are designated to it. In these, it is pointed out that speaker ethnic origin can be manifested differently by: morphological changes; use of foreign expressions; accent in oral language. In synthesis, the linguistic diversity is dealt with through activities of identification and reproduction of linguistic varieties to be carried out by the students.

  19. Cognitive linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Vyvyan

    2012-03-01

    Cognitive linguistics is one of the fastest growing and influential perspectives on the nature of language, the mind, and their relationship with sociophysical (embodied) experience. It is a broad theoretical and methodological enterprise, rather than a single, closely articulated theory. Its primary commitments are outlined. These are the Cognitive Commitment-a commitment to providing a characterization of language that accords with what is known about the mind and brain from other disciplines-and the Generalization Commitment-which represents a dedication to characterizing general principles that apply to all aspects of human language. The article also outlines the assumptions and worldview which arises from these commitments, as represented in the work of leading cognitive linguists. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:129-141. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1163 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  20. Linguistic Characteristics of Advertising English

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    易高燕

    2010-01-01

    Advertising language takes form under the influence of linguistics,psychology and sociology,etc,and its way of choosing words and building sentences are quite different from normal English.And as a practical language,advertising English has its specific functions,and it has been distinguished from normal English as an independent language,and it has plentiful values.This paper aims to discuss some linguistic characteristics of advertising English.

  1. Are Prospective English Teachers Linguistically Intelligent?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezel, Kadir Vefa

    2017-01-01

    Language is normally associated with linguistic capabilities of individuals. In the theory of multiple intelligences, language is considered to be related primarily to linguistic intelligence. Using the theory of Multiple Intelligences as its starting point, this descriptive survey study investigated to what extent prospective English teachers'…

  2. Linguistic Recycling and the Open Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dasgupta, Probal

    2001-01-01

    Examines linguistic recycling in the context of domestic Esperanto use. Argues that word-meaning recycling reflects the same fundamental principles as sentential recursion, and that a linguistics theoretically sensitive to these principles strengthens practical efforts towards the social goal of an open speech community. (Author/VWL)

  3. Coded Splitting Tree Protocols

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Jesper Hemming; Stefanovic, Cedomir; Popovski, Petar

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a novel approach to multiple access control called coded splitting tree protocol. The approach builds on the known tree splitting protocols, code structure and successive interference cancellation (SIC). Several instances of the tree splitting protocol are initiated, each...... instance is terminated prematurely and subsequently iterated. The combined set of leaves from all the tree instances can then be viewed as a graph code, which is decodable using belief propagation. The main design problem is determining the order of splitting, which enables successful decoding as early...

  4. Visualization of Uncertain Contour Trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kraus, Martin

    2010-01-01

    Contour trees can represent the topology of large volume data sets in a relatively compact, discrete data structure. However, the resulting trees often contain many thousands of nodes; thus, many graph drawing techniques fail to produce satisfactory results. Therefore, several visualization methods...... were proposed recently for the visualization of contour trees. Unfortunately, none of these techniques is able to handle uncertain contour trees although any uncertainty of the volume data inevitably results in partially uncertain contour trees. In this work, we visualize uncertain contour trees...... by combining the contour trees of two morphologically filtered versions of a volume data set, which represent the range of uncertainty. These two contour trees are combined and visualized within a single image such that a range of potential contour trees is represented by the resulting visualization. Thus...

  5. On Norms and Linguistic Categories in Linguistic Diversity Management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marácz, L.

    2014-01-01

    Due to globalization there is an increase in the appearances of languages in the multilingual linguistic landscape in urban spaces. Commentators have described this state of affairs as super-, mega- or complex diversity. Mainstream sociolinguists have argued that languages have no fixed boundaries

  6. Tree Transduction Tools for Cdec

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Austin Matthews

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available We describe a collection of open source tools for learning tree-to-string and tree-to-tree transducers and the extensions to the cdec decoder that enable translation with these. Our modular, easy-to-extend tools extract rules from trees or forests aligned to strings and trees subject to different structural constraints. A fast, multithreaded implementation of the Cohn and Blunsom (2009 model for extracting compact tree-to-string rules is also included. The implementation of the tree composition algorithm used by cdec is described, and translation quality and decoding time results are presented. Our experimental results add to the body of evidence suggesting that tree transducers are a compelling option for translation, particularly when decoding speed and translation model size are important.

  7. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics: Journal Sponsorship

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Publisher. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is published by the Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University. Publisher contact person: Mrs Christine Smit. Email: linguis@sun.ac.za. Phone: 021 808 2052. Fax: 021 808 2009. Mailing address: Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602. Department of General ...

  8. Applied Linguistics in Its Disciplinary Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liddicoat, Anthony J.

    2010-01-01

    Australia's current attempt to develop a process to evaluate the quality of research (Excellence in Research for Australia--ERA) places a central emphasis on the disciplinary organisation of academic work. This disciplinary focus poses particular problems for Applied Linguistics in Australia. This paper will examine Applied Linguistics in relation…

  9. "Growing trees backwards": Description of a stand reconstruction model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonathan D. Bakker; Andrew J. Sanchez Meador; Peter Z. Fule; David W. Huffman; Margaret M. Moore

    2008-01-01

    We describe an individual-tree model that uses contemporary measurements to "grow trees backward" and reconstruct past tree diameters and stand structure in ponderosa pine dominated stands of the Southwest. Model inputs are contemporary structural measurements of all snags, logs, stumps, and living trees, and radial growth measurements, if available. Key...

  10. Effects of contact network structure on epidemic transmission trees: implications for data required to estimate network structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnegie, Nicole Bohme

    2018-01-30

    Understanding the dynamics of disease spread is key to developing effective interventions to control or prevent an epidemic. The structure of the network of contacts over which the disease spreads has been shown to have a strong influence on the outcome of the epidemic, but an open question remains as to whether it is possible to estimate contact network features from data collected in an epidemic. The approach taken in this paper is to examine the distributions of epidemic outcomes arising from epidemics on networks with particular structural features to assess whether that structure could be measured from epidemic data and what other constraints might be needed to make the problem identifiable. To this end, we vary the network size, mean degree, and transmissibility of the pathogen, as well as the network feature of interest: clustering, degree assortativity, or attribute-based preferential mixing. We record several standard measures of the size and spread of the epidemic, as well as measures that describe the shape of the transmission tree in order to ascertain whether there are detectable signals in the final data from the outbreak. The results suggest that there is potential to estimate contact network features from transmission trees or pure epidemic data, particularly for diseases with high transmissibility or for which the relevant contact network is of low mean degree. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Quantum field theory and the linguistic Minimalist Program: a remarkable isomorphism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piattelli-Palmarini, M.; Vitiello, G.

    2017-08-01

    By resorting to recent results, we show that an isomorphism exist between linguistic features of the Minimalist Program and the quantum field theory formalism of condensed matter physics. Specific linguistic features which admit a representation in terms of the many-body algebraic formalism are the unconstrained nature of recursive Merge, the operation of the Labeling Algorithm, the difference between pronounced and un-pronounced copies of elements in a sentence and the build-up of the Fibonacci sequence in the syntactic derivation of sentence structures. The collective dynamical nature of the formation process of Logical Forms leading to the individuation of the manifold of concepts and the computational self-consistency of languages are also discussed.

  12. Ninth international conference on computational linguistics Coling 82

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1983-01-01

    This paper presents the summary reports presented at the concluding session and evaluating the state of the art, trends and perspectives as reflected in the papers presented at Coling 82 in six domains: machine translation, grammatico-semantic analysis, linguistics in its relations to computational linguistics, question answering, artificial intelligence and knowledge representation, and information retrieval and linguistic data bases.

  13. A phylogenetic and cognitive perspective on linguistic complexity ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In recent years a growing interest in the nature of linguistic complexity has emerged in linguistic circles. A striking feature of this interest is that linguistic complexity is taken to be a phenomenon in its own right. In fact, an extreme construal of the inherent complexity of language is represented in the notion of universal ...

  14. Ideologeme "Order" in Modern American Linguistic World Image

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibatova, Aygul Z.; Vdovichenko, Larisa V.; Ilyashenko, Lubov K.

    2016-01-01

    The paper studies the topic of modern American linguistic world image. It is known that any language is the most important instrument of cognition of the world by a person but there is also no doubt that any language is the way of perception and conceptualization of this knowledge about the world. In modern linguistics linguistic world image is…

  15. GSHR-Tree: a spatial index tree based on dynamic spatial slot and hash table in grid environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Zhanlong; Wu, Xin-cai; Wu, Liang

    2008-12-01

    Computation Grids enable the coordinated sharing of large-scale distributed heterogeneous computing resources that can be used to solve computationally intensive problems in science, engineering, and commerce. Grid spatial applications are made possible by high-speed networks and a new generation of Grid middleware that resides between networks and traditional GIS applications. The integration of the multi-sources and heterogeneous spatial information and the management of the distributed spatial resources and the sharing and cooperative of the spatial data and Grid services are the key problems to resolve in the development of the Grid GIS. The performance of the spatial index mechanism is the key technology of the Grid GIS and spatial database affects the holistic performance of the GIS in Grid Environments. In order to improve the efficiency of parallel processing of a spatial mass data under the distributed parallel computing grid environment, this paper presents a new grid slot hash parallel spatial index GSHR-Tree structure established in the parallel spatial indexing mechanism. Based on the hash table and dynamic spatial slot, this paper has improved the structure of the classical parallel R tree index. The GSHR-Tree index makes full use of the good qualities of R-Tree and hash data structure. This paper has constructed a new parallel spatial index that can meet the needs of parallel grid computing about the magnanimous spatial data in the distributed network. This arithmetic splits space in to multi-slots by multiplying and reverting and maps these slots to sites in distributed and parallel system. Each sites constructs the spatial objects in its spatial slot into an R tree. On the basis of this tree structure, the index data was distributed among multiple nodes in the grid networks by using large node R-tree method. The unbalance during process can be quickly adjusted by means of a dynamical adjusting algorithm. This tree structure has considered the

  16. Adjustable chain trees for proteins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Winter, Pawel; Fonseca, Rasmus

    2012-01-01

    A chain tree is a data structure for changing protein conformations. It enables very fast detection of clashes and free energy potential calculations. A modified version of chain trees that adjust themselves to the changing conformations of folding proteins is introduced. This results in much...... tighter bounding volume hierarchies and therefore fewer intersection checks. Computational results indicate that the efficiency of the adjustable chain trees is significantly improved compared to the traditional chain trees....

  17. A Survey on the Exchange of Linguistic Resources: Publishing Linguistic Linked Open Data on the Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lezcano, Leonardo; Sanchez-Alonso, Salvador; Roa-Valverde, Antonio J.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of the principal formats and frameworks that have been used in the last 20 years to exchange linguistic resources. It aims to give special attention to the most recent approaches to publishing linguistic linked open data on the Web. Design/methodology/approach: Research papers…

  18. A robotic vision system to measure tree traits

    Science.gov (United States)

    The autonomous measurement of tree traits, such as branching structure, branch diameters, branch lengths, and branch angles, is required for tasks such as robotic pruning of trees as well as structural phenotyping. We propose a robotic vision system called the Robotic System for Tree Shape Estimati...

  19. MODERN LINGUISTICS, ITS DEVELOPMENT AND SCOPE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LEVIN, SAMUEL R.

    THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN LINGUISTICS STARTED WITH JONES' DISCOVERY IN 1786 THAT SANSKRIT IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE CLASSICAL, GERMANIC, AND CELTIC LANGUAGES, AND HAS ADVANCED TO INCLUDE THE APPLICATION OF COMPUTERS IN LANGUAGE ANALYSIS. THE HIGHLIGHTS OF LINGUISTIC RESEARCH HAVE BEEN DE SAUSSURE'S DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE DIACHRONIC AND THE…

  20. Applied Linguistics: The Challenge of Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNamara, Tim

    2015-01-01

    Language has featured prominently in contemporary social theory, but the relevance of this fact to the concerns of Applied Linguistics, with its necessary orientation to practical issues of language in context, represents an ongoing challenge. This article supports the need for a greater engagement with theory in Applied Linguistics. It considers…

  1. Structures, Not Strings: Linguistics as Part of the Cognitive Sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Everaert, Martin B H; Huybregts, Marinus A C; Chomsky, Noam; Berwick, Robert C; Bolhuis, Johan J

    2015-12-01

    There are many questions one can ask about human language: its distinctive properties, neural representation, characteristic uses including use in communicative contexts, variation, growth in the individual, and origin. Every such inquiry is guided by some concept of what 'language' is. Sharpening the core question--what is language?--and paying close attention to the basic property of the language faculty and its biological foundations makes it clear how linguistics is firmly positioned within the cognitive sciences. Here we will show how recent developments in generative grammar, taking language as a computational cognitive mechanism seriously, allow us to address issues left unexplained in the increasingly popular surface-oriented approaches to language. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Using fragmentation trees and mass spectral trees for identifying unknown compounds in metabolomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaniya, Arpana; Fiehn, Oliver

    2015-06-01

    Identification of unknown metabolites is the bottleneck in advancing metabolomics, leaving interpretation of metabolomics results ambiguous. The chemical diversity of metabolism is vast, making structure identification arduous and time consuming. Currently, comprehensive analysis of mass spectra in metabolomics is limited to library matching, but tandem mass spectral libraries are small compared to the large number of compounds found in the biosphere, including xenobiotics. Resolving this bottleneck requires richer data acquisition and better computational tools. Multi-stage mass spectrometry (MSn) trees show promise to aid in this regard. Fragmentation trees explore the fragmentation process, generate fragmentation rules and aid in sub-structure identification, while mass spectral trees delineate the dependencies in multi-stage MS of collision-induced dissociations. This review covers advancements over the past 10 years as a tool for metabolite identification, including algorithms, software and databases used to build and to implement fragmentation trees and mass spectral annotations.

  3. Linguistic and Structural Analyses of Stand-Alone Literature Reviews: Seventy-Five Years of Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Heidi Rachel

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this dissertation is to offer a multifaceted overview of stand-alone literature reviews. These texts, literature reviews published unattached to research articles, have existed for centuries but remained largely unstudied by linguists. Thus, the goal of this project is to present these reviews' situational, grammatical, and…

  4. Ghana Journal of Linguistics: Editorial Policies

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Focus and Scope. The Ghana Journal of Linguistics is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal appearing twice a year, published by the Linguistics Association of Ghana. Beginning with Volume 2 (2013) it is published in electronic format only, open access, at www.ajol.info. However print-on-demand copies can be made ...

  5. Physical Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tice, Bradley S.

    Physical linguistics is defined as the use of treatments from the field of speech pathology to enhance first and second language production in healthy individuals, resulting in increased quality and strength of phonation and articulation. A series of exercises for treating dysarthria (weakness, paralysis, discoordination, primary and secondary…

  6. Coordination of physiological and structural traits in Amazon forest trees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patiño, S.; Fyllas, N. M.; Baker, T. R.; Paiva, R.; Quesada, C. A.; Santos, A. J. B.; Schwarz, M.; Ter Steege, H.; Phillips, O. L.; Lloyd, J.

    2012-02-01

    Many plant traits covary in a non-random manner reflecting interdependencies associated with "ecological strategy" dimensions. To understand how plants integrate their structural and physiological investments, data on leaf and leaflet size and the ratio of leaf area to sapwood area (ΦLS) obtained for 1020 individual trees (encompassing 661 species) located in 52 tropical forest plots across the Amazon Basin were incorporated into an analysis utilising existing data on species maximum height (Hmax), seed size, leaf mass per unit area (MA), foliar nutrients and δ13C, and branch xylem density (ρx). Utilising a common principal components approach allowing eigenvalues to vary between two soil fertility dependent species groups, five taxonomically controlled trait dimensions were identified. The first involves primarily cations, foliar carbon and MA and is associated with differences in foliar construction costs. The second relates to some components of the classic "leaf economic spectrum", but with increased individual leaf areas and a higher ΦLS newly identified components for tropical tree species. The third relates primarily to increasing Hmax and hence variations in light acquisition strategy involving greater MA, reductions in ΦLS and less negative δ13C. Although these first three dimensions were more important for species from high fertility sites the final two dimensions were more important for low fertility species and were associated with variations linked to reproductive and shade tolerance strategies. Environmental conditions influenced structural traits with ρx of individual species decreasing with increased soil fertility and higher temperatures. This soil fertility response appears to be synchronised with increases in foliar nutrient concentrations and reductions in foliar [C]. Leaf and leaflet area and ΦLS were less responsive to the environment than ρx. Thus, although genetically determined foliar traits such as those associated with leaf

  7. Low genetic diversity and intrapopulation spatial genetic structure of the Atlantic Forest tree, Esenbeckia leiocarpa Engl. (Rutaceae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Forti

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Studies on population genetics are the key to designing effective in situ management plans for tree species, in particular, those subjected to pressure from anthropogenic processes, such as forest fragmentation and logging. To investigate genetic diversity, inbreeding and intrapopulation spatial genetic structure (SGS in a fragmented population of the insect-pollinated tropical tree, Esenbeckia leiocarpa, we developed specific microsatellite markers for this species and mapped and sampled 100 individuals in a forest plot. Two issues were addressed in particular: (i the level of genetic diversity, inbreeding and effective population size, (ii whether intrapopulation spatial genetic structure exists. Among the 14 loci developed, we only used the three that presented polymorphism to estimate the genetic parameters. Genetic diversity was low, whereby the average number of alleles per locus (A was 3.3 and observed (H0 and expected heterozygosities (He were 0.336 and 0.298, respectively. The average fixation index was significantly higher than zero (F = 0.112, suggesting inbreeding. Significant SGS was found up to 7 m and between 31 to 38 m, indicating that trees growing within these distances may be related. Estimates of the effective population size indicated that the 100 sampled trees correspond to 14 individuals that are neither related nor inbred. Our results suggest that the microsatellite markers developed in this study are suitable for studies on geneticdiversity and structure, mating systems, gene flow and SGS in this species.

  8. Dissociating linguistic and non-linguistic gesture processing: electrophysiological evidence from American Sign Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grosvald, Michael; Gutierrez, Eva; Hafer, Sarah; Corina, David

    2012-04-01

    A fundamental advance in our understanding of human language would come from a detailed account of how non-linguistic and linguistic manual actions are differentiated in real time by language users. To explore this issue, we targeted the N400, an ERP component known to be sensitive to semantic context. Deaf signers saw 120 American Sign Language sentences, each consisting of a "frame" (a sentence without the last word; e.g. BOY SLEEP IN HIS) followed by a "last item" belonging to one of four categories: a high-close-probability sign (a "semantically reasonable" completion to the sentence; e.g. BED), a low-close-probability sign (a real sign that is nonetheless a "semantically odd" completion to the sentence; e.g. LEMON), a pseudo-sign (phonologically legal but non-lexical form), or a non-linguistic grooming gesture (e.g. the performer scratching her face). We found significant N400-like responses in the incongruent and pseudo-sign contexts, while the gestures elicited a large positivity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Tree spatial structure, host composition and resource availability influence mirid density or black pod prevalence in cacao agroforests in Cameroon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gidoin, Cynthia; Babin, Régis; Bagny Beilhe, Leïla; Cilas, Christian; ten Hoopen, Gerben Martijn; Bieng, Marie Ange Ngo

    2014-01-01

    Combining crop plants with other plant species in agro-ecosystems is one way to enhance ecological pest and disease regulation mechanisms. Resource availability and microclimatic variation mechanisms affect processes related to pest and pathogen life cycles. These mechanisms are supported both by empirical research and by epidemiological models, yet their relative importance in a real complex agro-ecosystem is still not known. Our aim was thus to assess the independent effects and the relative importance of different variables related to resource availability and microclimatic variation that explain pest and disease occurrence at the plot scale in real complex agro-ecosystems. The study was conducted in cacao (Theobroma cacao) agroforests in Cameroon, where cocoa production is mainly impacted by the mirid bug, Sahlbergella singularis, and black pod disease, caused by Phytophthora megakarya. Vegetation composition and spatial structure, resource availability and pest and disease occurrence were characterized in 20 real agroforest plots. Hierarchical partitioning was used to identify the causal variables that explain mirid density and black pod prevalence. The results of this study show that cacao agroforests can be differentiated on the basis of vegetation composition and spatial structure. This original approach revealed that mirid density decreased when a minimum number of randomly distributed forest trees were present compared with the aggregated distribution of forest trees, or when forest tree density was low. Moreover, a decrease in mirid density was also related to decreased availability of sensitive tissue, independently of the effect of forest tree structure. Contrary to expectations, black pod prevalence decreased with increasing cacao tree abundance. By revealing the effects of vegetation composition and spatial structure on mirids and black pod, this study opens new perspectives for the joint agro-ecological management of cacao pests and diseases at the

  10. LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL STUDIES: THE QUEST FOR NEW IDEAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vitalii Kononenko

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The article highlights the principles of researching into text from the interdisciplinary linguistic and cultural perspective. Cognitological analysis of linguistic and extralinguistic cultural meanings reveals that there exist of specific linguistic and aesthetic formations best presented through the ‘language – culture – identity’ triad. One of the components of literary discourse is monocultural layer, which secures the continuity of national cultural tradition; researching into it, one should take into account mental and historical, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and other factors. Linguistic and aesthetic analysis helps to establish the system of linguistic and cultural means (metaphorization, imagery, verbal symbols, linguistic conceptualization, connotative meanings, which reveals its potential in literary texts. The lingual identity as a general notional category shows its nationally-oriented characteristics through the dichotomies of ‘addresser-addressee’ , ‘author-reader’, ‘narrator-narratee’ and is presented in the author’s idiolect.

  11. The music of trees: the intergenerative tie between primary care and public health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitehouse, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Stories help us frame and understand complex ideas and challenges. Metaphors are particularly powerful linguistic devices that guide and extend our thinking by bridging conceptual domains, for example to consider the brain as a digital computer. Trees are widely used as metaphors for broad concepts like evolution, history, society, and even life itself, i.e. 'the tree of life'. Tree-like diagrams of roots and branches are used to demonstrate historical and cultural relationships, for example, between different species or different languages. In this paper, we describe a theatrical character called a tree doctor which is a living metaphor. A human being, namely the author, lectures, acts or dances as a tree and offers lessons to Homo Sapiens about 'holistic' ideas of health. The character teaches us to not only see the value of our relationships to trees, but the importance of seeing forests as well the individual trees. The metaphorical statement that we should not 'miss the forest for the trees' means we should learn to think of health embedded in systems and communities. In medicine, we too often focus on individual molecules, pharmaceuticals, or even patients and miss the bigger picture of public and environmental health. In a time of great ecological system change, the tree doctor points to broad ethical responsibility for each other and future generations of humans and other living creatures. The character embraces arts and particularly music as a powerful way of infusing purpose and improving the qualities of our lives together, especially as we age. The tree doctor knows the value of intergenerational relationships. But it also points to intergenerative innovations across many cultural domains, disciplines and professions. The tree doctor supports primary care and empowers the value of intergenerational relationships, art and music in the recommendations doctors make to patients to improve their health and well-being.

  12. Role of linguistic skills in fifth-grade mathematics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleemans, Tijs; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2018-03-01

    The current study investigated the direct and indirect relations between basic linguistic skills (i.e., phonological skills and grammatical ability) and advanced linguistic skills (i.e., academic vocabulary and verbal reasoning), on the one hand, and fifth-grade mathematics (i.e., arithmetic, geometry, and fractions), on the other, taking working memory and general intelligence into account and controlling for socioeconomic status, age, and gender. The results showed the basic linguistic representations of 167 fifth graders to be indirectly related to their geometric and fraction skills via arithmetic. Furthermore, advanced linguistic skills were found to be directly related to geometry and fractions after controlling for arithmetic. It can be concluded that linguistic skills directly and indirectly relate to mathematical ability in the upper grades of primary education, which highlights the importance of paying attention to such skills in the school curriculum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Wittgenstein and the linguistic turn in social theory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hermansen, Jens Christian

    of Winch in social theory, the wider and more recent influence of Wittgenstein in areas such as technology and science studies, social theory, feminist and gender studies and conversation and discourse analysis is also considered. Historically, the readings of Wittgenstein in the social sciences have taken...... of the linguistic turn in social theory, the linguistic turn is a double-edged sword of both profound insights and limits; the claim is that the limits of the linguistic turn are the strengths of functionalist, structuralist and materialist approaches to the social sciences. The approach of the critical turn...... is to develop a more comprehensive social theory that is sensitive to these strengths and thus supersedes the limits of the linguistic turn. This paper suggests a different approach. Against the critical turn, the paper argues that the limits of the linguistic turn are identical with the very assumptions...

  14. Visual exploration of parameter influence on phylogenetic trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hess, Martin; Bremm, Sebastian; Weissgraeber, Stephanie; Hamacher, Kay; Goesele, Michael; Wiemeyer, Josef; von Landesberger, Tatiana

    2014-01-01

    Evolutionary relationships between organisms are frequently derived as phylogenetic trees inferred from multiple sequence alignments (MSAs). The MSA parameter space is exponentially large, so tens of thousands of potential trees can emerge for each dataset. A proposed visual-analytics approach can reveal the parameters' impact on the trees. Given input trees created with different parameter settings, it hierarchically clusters the trees according to their structural similarity. The most important clusters of similar trees are shown together with their parameters. This view offers interactive parameter exploration and automatic identification of relevant parameters. Biologists applied this approach to real data of 16S ribosomal RNA and protein sequences of ion channels. It revealed which parameters affected the tree structures. This led to a more reliable selection of the best trees.

  15. Educational language planning and linguistic identity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutton, Peter

    1991-03-01

    There are cases in which a "high" form of a language is taught and used in formal situations, but linguistic variation is also caused by geography, ethnicity and socioeconomic class. Certain variants are regarded as inferior and restricted in expressive capacity, and are disadvantageous. The paper suggests that it is possible to map each person's linguistic identity in two dimensions: the number of languages spoken, and the situation-specific variants of each language. Further, it is argued that the distance between a "low" variant and a "high" standard form of a language may present to the "low" learner of a standardized mother tongue a barrier just as great as that posed by the learning of a related foreign language to a speaker of the high variant. It is proposed that greater tolerance be exercised in acceptance of variation and in recognition of linguistic identity, so that this can be built on in the necessary and desirable expansion of linguistic competence, rather than being devalued. The relevance of the communicative approach to language teaching is touched on.

  16. Structure, function and value of street trees in California, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    E. Gregory McPherson; Natalie van Doorn; John de Goede

    2016-01-01

    This study compiled recent inventory data from 929,823 street trees in 50 cities to determine trends in tree number and density, identify priority investments and create baseline data against which the efficacy of future practices can be evaluated. The number of street trees increased from 5.9 million in 1988 to 9.1 million in 2014, about one for every four residents....

  17. Edge-Disjoint Fibonacci Trees in Hypercube

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indhumathi Raman

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The Fibonacci tree is a rooted binary tree whose number of vertices admit a recursive definition similar to the Fibonacci numbers. In this paper, we prove that a hypercube of dimension h admits two edge-disjoint Fibonacci trees of height h, two edge-disjoint Fibonacci trees of height h-2, two edge-disjoint Fibonacci trees of height h-4 and so on, as subgraphs. The result shows that an algorithm with Fibonacci trees as underlying data structure can be implemented concurrently on a hypercube network with no communication latency.

  18. Plenary Speeches: Applied Linguists without Borders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarone, Elaine

    2013-01-01

    Until 1989, the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) could have been viewed as an interest group of the Linguistics Society of America (LSA); AAAL met in two designated meeting rooms as a subsection of the LSA conference. In 1991, I was asked to organize the first independent meeting of AAAL in New York City, with the help of…

  19. Educational Linguistics and College English Syllabus Design

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LIU Ji-xin

    2016-01-01

    The direct application of linguistic theories to syllabus design gives rise to frequent change of syllabus type in the histo-ry of syllabus development, which makes language teachers feel difficult to adapt to, to adopt and to implement. The recognition and popularization of the new-born discipline educational linguistics servers as a method to ease the situation, especially in the college English syllabus design in China. The development and application of the fruitful achievements in educational linguis-tics is bound to provide us with a more scientific approach to syllabus design in the future.

  20. Translating Linguistic Jokes for Dubbing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena ALEKSANDROVA

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study has attempted to establish the possible ways of translating linguistic jokes whendubbing. The study is also intended to identify the most problematic cases of screen translation andthe factors which cause these problems. In order to support such an approach a corpus of 7American and British films has been compiled, including as many as 16 as their various dubbingtranslations into Russian. In the films, almost 12 instances of original linguistic jokes have beenidentified.

  1. Dynamic Ising model: reconstruction of evolutionary trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Oliveira, P M C

    2013-01-01

    An evolutionary tree is a cascade of bifurcations starting from a single common root, generating a growing set of daughter species as time goes by. ‘Species’ here is a general denomination for biological species, spoken languages or any other entity which evolves through heredity. From the N currently alive species within a clade, distances are measured through pairwise comparisons made by geneticists, linguists, etc. The larger is such a distance that, for a pair of species, the older is their last common ancestor. The aim is to reconstruct the previously unknown bifurcations, i.e. the whole clade, from knowledge of the N(N − 1)/2 quoted distances, which are taken for granted. A mechanical method is presented and its applicability is discussed. (paper)

  2. Preserved statistical learning of tonal and linguistic material in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omigie, Diana; Stewart, Lauren

    2011-01-01

    Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder whereby individuals have pervasive difficulties in perceiving and producing music. In contrast, typical individuals display a sophisticated understanding of musical structure, even in the absence of musical training. Previous research has shown that they acquire this knowledge implicitly, through exposure to music's statistical regularities. The present study tested the hypothesis that congenital amusia may result from a failure to internalize statistical regularities - specifically, lower-order transitional probabilities. To explore the specificity of any potential deficits to the musical domain, learning was examined with both tonal and linguistic material. Participants were exposed to structured tonal and linguistic sequences and, in a subsequent test phase, were required to identify items which had been heard in the exposure phase, as distinct from foils comprising elements that had been present during exposure, but presented in a different temporal order. Amusic and control individuals showed comparable learning, for both tonal and linguistic material, even when the tonal stream included pitch intervals around one semitone. However analysis of binary confidence ratings revealed that amusic individuals have less confidence in their abilities and that their performance in learning tasks may not be contingent on explicit knowledge formation or level of awareness to the degree shown in typical individuals. The current findings suggest that the difficulties amusic individuals have with real-world music cannot be accounted for by an inability to internalize lower-order statistical regularities but may arise from other factors.

  3. Preserved Statistical Learning of Tonal and Linguistic Material in Congenital Amusia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana eOmigie

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder whereby individuals have pervasive difficulties in perceiving and producing music. In contrast, typical individuals display a sophisticated understanding of musical structure, even in the absence of musical training. Previous research has shown that they acquire this knowledge implicitly, through exposure to music’s statistical regularities. The present study tested the hypothesis that congenital amusia may result from a failure to internalize statistical regularities - specifically, lower-order transitional probabilities. To explore the specificity of any potential deficits to the musical domain, learning was examined with both tonal and linguistic material. Participants were exposed to structured tonal and linguistic sequences and, in a subsequent test phase, were required to identify items which had been heard in the exposure phase, as distinct from foils comprising elements that had been present during exposure, but presented in a different temporal order. Amusic and control individuals showed comparable learning, for both tonal and linguistic material, even when the tonal stream included pitch intervals around one semitone. However analysis of binary confidence ratings revealed that amusic individuals have less confidence in their abilities and that their performance in learning tasks may not be contingent on explicit knowledge formation or level of awareness to the degree shown in typical individuals. The current findings suggest that the difficulties amusic individuals have with real-world music cannot be accounted for by an inability to internalize lower-order statistical regularities but may arise from other factors.

  4. Principles of Linguistic Composition Below and Beyond the Clause—Elements of a semantic combinatorial system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bundgaard, Peer

    2006-01-01

    beyond the scope of the clause. To this end it exposes two major principles of semantic combination that are active through all levels of linguistic composition: viz. frame-schematic structure and narrative structure. These principles are considered as being components of a semantic combinatorial system...

  5. A Durable Flash Memory Search Tree

    OpenAIRE

    Clay III, James; Wortman, Kevin

    2012-01-01

    We consider the task of optimizing the B-tree data structure, used extensively in operating systems and databases, for sustainable usage on multi-level flash memory. Empirical evidence shows that this new flash memory tree, or FM Tree, extends the operational lifespan of each block of flash memory by a factor of roughly 27 to 70 times, while still supporting logarithmic-time search tree operations.

  6. Structural Analysis Of CD59 Of Chinese Tree Shrew: A New Reference Molecule For Human Immune System Specific CD59 Drug Discovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panda, Subhamay; Kumari, Leena; Panda, Santamay

    2017-11-17

    Chinese tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) bear several characteristics that are considered to be very crucial for utilizing in animal experimental models in biomedical research. Subsequent to the identification of key aspects and signaling pathways in nervous and immune systems, it is revealed that tree shrews acquires shared common as well as unique characteristics, and hence offers a genetic basis for employing this animal as a prospective model for biomedical research. CD59 glycoprotein, commonly referred to as MAC-inhibitory protein (MAC-IP), membrane inhibitor of reactive lysis (MIRL), or protectin, is encoded by the CD59 gene in human beings. It is the member of the LY6/uPAR/alpha-neurotoxin protein family. With this initial point the objective of this study was to determine a comparative composite based structure of CD59 of Chinese tree shrew. The additional objective of this study was to examine the distribution of negatively and positively charged amino acid over molecular modeled structure, distribution of secondary structural elements, hydrophobicity molecular surface analysis and electrostatic potential analysis with the assistance of several bioinformatical analytical tools. CD59 Amino acid sequence of Chinese tree shrew collected from the online database system of National Centre for Biotechnology Information. SignalP 4.0 online server was employed for detection of signal peptide instance within the protein sequence of CD59. Molecular model structure of CD59 protein was generated by the Iterative Threading ASSEmbly Refinement (I-TASSER) suite. The confirmation for three-dimensional structural model was evaluated by structure validation tools. Location of negatively and positively charged amino acid over molecular modeled structure, distribution of secondary structural elements, and hydrophobicity molecular surface analysis was performed with the help of Chimera tool. Electrostatic potential analysis was carried out with the adaptive Poisson

  7. Structural qualification of the multifunctional instrument tree for installation in double-shell and 100-series single-shell tanks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strohlow, J.P.

    1995-12-01

    This document provides the technical basis and methodology for qualifying the multifunctional instrument tree (MIT) structure for installation in double-shell and 100-series single-shell tanks. Structural qualification for MIT installations in specific tanks are also contained in this document

  8. New patterns in human biogeography revealed by networks of contacts between linguistic groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capitán, José A; Bock Axelsen, Jacob; Manrubia, Susanna

    2015-03-07

    Human languages differ broadly in abundance and are distributed highly unevenly on the Earth. In many qualitative and quantitative aspects, they strongly resemble biodiversity distributions. An intriguing and previously unexplored issue is the architecture of the neighbouring relationships between human linguistic groups. Here we construct and characterize these networks of contacts and show that they represent a new kind of spatial network with uncommon structural properties. Remarkably, language networks share a meaningful property with food webs: both are quasi-interval graphs. In food webs, intervality is linked to the existence of a niche space of low dimensionality; in language networks, we show that the unique relevant variable is the area occupied by the speakers of a language. By means of a range model analogous to niche models in ecology, we show that a geometric restriction of perimeter covering by neighbouring linguistic domains explains the structural patterns observed. Our findings may be of interest in the development of models for language dynamics or regarding the propagation of cultural innovations. In relation to species distribution, they pose the question of whether the spatial features of species ranges share architecture, and eventually generating mechanism, with the distribution of human linguistic groups. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  9. The Transition from Animal to Linguistic Communication

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smit, Harry

    2016-01-01

    Darwin's theory predicts that linguistic behavior gradually evolved out of animal forms of communication (signaling). However, this prediction is confronted by the conceptual problem that there is an essential difference between signaling and linguistic behavior: using words is a normative practice.

  10. Citation Analysis and Authorship Patterns of Two Linguistics Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezema, Ifeanyi J.; Asogwa, Brendan E.

    2014-01-01

    This article analyzes the sources cited in articles published in two linguistics journals, "Applied Linguistics and Journal of Linguistics," from 2001 to 2010. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using bibliometric indicators, such as types of cited sources, timeliness of cited sources, authorship patterns, rank lists of the…

  11. Australia and New Zealand Applied Linguistics (ANZAL): Taking Stock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleinsasser, Robert C.

    2004-01-01

    This paper reviews some emerging trends in applied linguistics in both Australia and New Zealand. It sketches the current scene of (selected) postgraduate applied linguistics programs in higher education and considers how various university programs define applied linguistics through the classes (titles) they have postgraduate students complete to…

  12. A departure from cognitivism: Implications of Chomsky's second revolution in linguistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoneberger, Ted

    2000-01-01

    In 1957 Noam Chomsky published Syntactic Structures, expressing views characterized as constituting a “revolution” in linguistics. Chomsky proposed that the proper subject matter of linguistics is not the utterances of speakers, but what speakers and listeners know. To that end, he theorized that what they know is a system of rules that underlie actual performance. This theory became known as transformational grammar. In subsequent versions of this theory, rules continued to play a dominant role. However, in 1980 Chomsky began a second revolution by proposing the elimination of rules in a new theory: the principles-and-parameters approach. Subsequent writings finalized the abandonment of rules. Given the centrality of rules to cognitivism, this paper argues that Chomsky's second revolution constitutes a departure from cognitivism. PMID:22477214

  13. A departure from cognitivism: Implications of Chomsky's second revolution in linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoneberger, T

    2000-01-01

    In 1957 Noam Chomsky published Syntactic Structures, expressing views characterized as constituting a "revolution" in linguistics. Chomsky proposed that the proper subject matter of linguistics is not the utterances of speakers, but what speakers and listeners know. To that end, he theorized that what they know is a system of rules that underlie actual performance. This theory became known as transformational grammar. In subsequent versions of this theory, rules continued to play a dominant role. However, in 1980 Chomsky began a second revolution by proposing the elimination of rules in a new theory: the principles-and-parameters approach. Subsequent writings finalized the abandonment of rules. Given the centrality of rules to cognitivism, this paper argues that Chomsky's second revolution constitutes a departure from cognitivism.

  14. Motion Tree Delineates Hierarchical Structure of Protein Dynamics Observed in Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kei Moritsugu

    Full Text Available Molecular dynamics (MD simulations of proteins provide important information to understand their functional mechanisms, which are, however, likely to be hidden behind their complicated motions with a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. A straightforward and intuitive analysis of protein dynamics observed in MD simulation trajectories is therefore of growing significance with the large increase in both the simulation time and system size. In this study, we propose a novel description of protein motions based on the hierarchical clustering of fluctuations in the inter-atomic distances calculated from an MD trajectory, which constructs a single tree diagram, named a "Motion Tree", to determine a set of rigid-domain pairs hierarchically along with associated inter-domain fluctuations. The method was first applied to the MD trajectory of substrate-free adenylate kinase to clarify the usefulness of the Motion Tree, which illustrated a clear-cut dynamics picture of the inter-domain motions involving the ATP/AMP lid and the core domain together with the associated amplitudes and correlations. The comparison of two Motion Trees calculated from MD simulations of ligand-free and -bound glutamine binding proteins clarified changes in inherent dynamics upon ligand binding appeared in both large domains and a small loop that stabilized ligand molecule. Another application to a huge protein, a multidrug ATP binding cassette (ABC transporter, captured significant increases of fluctuations upon binding a drug molecule observed in both large scale inter-subunit motions and a motion localized at a transmembrane helix, which may be a trigger to the subsequent structural change from inward-open to outward-open states to transport the drug molecule. These applications demonstrated the capabilities of Motion Trees to provide an at-a-glance view of various sizes of functional motions inherent in the complicated MD trajectory.

  15. Colourings of (k-r,k-trees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Borowiecki

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Trees are generalized to a special kind of higher dimensional complexes known as \\((j,k\\-trees ([L. W. Beineke, R. E. Pippert, On the structure of \\((m,n\\-trees, Proc. 8th S-E Conf. Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, 1977, 75-80], and which are a natural extension of \\(k\\-trees for \\(j=k-1\\. The aim of this paper is to study\\((k-r,k\\-trees ([H. P. Patil, Studies on \\(k\\-trees and some related topics, PhD Thesis, University of Warsaw, Poland, 1984], which are a generalization of \\(k\\-trees (or usual trees when \\(k=1\\. We obtain the chromatic polynomial of \\((k-r,k\\-trees and show that any two \\((k-r,k\\-trees of the same order are chromatically equivalent. However, if \\(r\

  16. Historical Trajectory of the Quechuan Linguistic Family and its Relations to the Aimaran Linguistic Family

    OpenAIRE

    Adelaar, Willem

    2012-01-01

    This article seeks to present the principal stages of the prehistory and history of the Quechuan language family in its interaction with the Aimaran family. It reconstructs a plausible scenario for a unique, intensive process of linguistic convergence that underlies the protolanguages of both families. From there on, it traces the principal developments that characterize the history of the Quechuan linguistic family, such as the initial split in two main branches, Quechua I and Quechua II (fo...

  17. Statistical tracking of tree-like tubular structures with efficient branching detection in 3D medical image data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, X; Heimann, T; Meinzer, H P; Wegner, I; Lo, P; Sumkauskaite, M; Puderbach, M; De Bruijne, M

    2012-01-01

    The segmentation of tree-like tubular structures such as coronary arteries and airways is an essential step for many 3D medical imaging applications. Statistical tracking techniques for the extraction of elongated structures have received considerable attention in recent years due to their robustness against image noise and pathological changes. However, most tracking methods are limited to a specific application and do not support branching structures efficiently. In this work, we present a novel statistical tracking approach for the extraction of different types of tubular structures with ringlike cross-sections. Domain-specific knowledge is learned from training data sets and integrated into the tracking process by simple adaption of parameters. In addition, an efficient branching detection algorithm is presented. This approach was evaluated by extracting coronary arteries from 32 CTA data sets and distal airways from 20 CT scans. These data sets were provided by the organizers of the workshop ‘3D Segmentation in the Clinic: A Grand Challenge II-Coronary Artery Tracking (CAT08)’ and ‘Extraction of Airways from CT 2009 (EXACT’09)’. On average, 81.5% overlap and 0.51 mm accuracy for the tracking of coronary arteries were achieved. For the extraction of airway trees, 51.3% of the total tree length, 53.6% of the total number of branches and a 4.98% false positive rate were attained. In both experiments, our approach is comparable to state-of-the-art methods. (paper)

  18. Implicit learning of non-linguistic and linguistic regularities in children with dyslexia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nigro, Luciana; Jiménez-Fernández, Gracia; Simpson, Ian C; Defior, Sylvia

    2016-07-01

    One of the hallmarks of dyslexia is the failure to automatise written patterns despite repeated exposure to print. Although many explanations have been proposed to explain this problem, researchers have recently begun to explore the possibility that an underlying implicit learning deficit may play a role in dyslexia. This hypothesis has been investigated through non-linguistic tasks exploring implicit learning in a general domain. In this study, we examined the abilities of children with dyslexia to implicitly acquire positional regularities embedded in both non-linguistic and linguistic stimuli. In experiment 1, 42 children (21 with dyslexia and 21 typically developing) were exposed to rule-governed shape sequences; whereas in experiment 2, a new group of 42 children were exposed to rule-governed letter strings. Implicit learning was assessed in both experiments via a forced-choice task. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a similar pattern of results. ANOVA analyses revealed no significant differences between the dyslexic and the typically developing group, indicating that children with dyslexia are not impaired in the acquisition of simple positional regularities, regardless of the nature of the stimuli. However, within group t-tests suggested that children from the dyslexic group could not transfer the underlying positional rules to novel instances as efficiently as typically developing children.

  19. An analytical model of stand dynamics as a function of tree growth, mortality and recruitment: the shade tolerance-stand structure hypothesis revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zavala, Miguel A; Angulo, Oscar; Bravo de la Parra, Rafael; López-Marcos, Juan C

    2007-02-07

    Light competition and interspecific differences in shade tolerance are considered key determinants of forest stand structure and dynamics. Specifically two main stand diameter distribution types as a function of shade tolerance have been proposed based on empirical observations. All-aged stands of shade tolerant species tend to have steeply descending, monotonic diameter distributions (inverse J-shaped curves). Shade intolerant species in contrast typically exhibit normal (unimodal) tree diameter distributions due to high mortality rates of smaller suppressed trees. In this study we explore the generality of this hypothesis which implies a causal relationship between light competition or shade tolerance and stand structure. For this purpose we formulate a partial differential equation system of stand dynamics as a function of individual tree growth, recruitment and mortality which allows us to explore possible individual-based mechanisms--e.g. light competition-underlying observed patterns of stand structure--e.g. unimodal or inverse J-shaped equilibrium diameter curves. We find that contrary to expectations interspecific differences in growth patterns can result alone in any of the two diameter distributions types observed in the field. In particular, slow growing species can present unimodal equilibrium curves even in the absence of light competition. Moreover, light competition and shade intolerance evaluated both at the tree growth and mortality stages did not have a significant impact on stand structure that tended to converge systematically towards an inverse J-shaped curves for most tree growth scenarios. Realistic transient stand dynamics for even aged stands of shade intolerant species (unimodal curves) were only obtained when recruitment was completely suppressed, providing further evidence on the critical role played by juvenile stages of tree development (e.g. the sampling stage) on final forest structure and composition. The results also point out the

  20. Influences of the trees plantation in structures of Santa Fe of Bogota

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acuna, John Fabio

    1999-01-01

    Through the project - Evaluation of damages caused by forest species planted in Santa Fe of Bogota and of the publication: Lungs for Santa Fe de Bogota; the Agricultural Engineering Department of the National University of Colombia, in collaboration with the Botanical Garden of Bogota Jose Celestino Mutis, offers to the capital a valuable contribution on trees plantation and its influence on the structures. Keeping in mind that trees are vital for any city, because they constitute a relating a fundamental for the appropriate use of the senses because forms behave, scents, colors and natural flavors in a means where the rest of the landscape is artificial. They contribute with the health when purifying the air; with the ecology and environment because they are hosts of many other forms of life, they are source of beauty, recreation and harmony, also giving a stamp of identity to the city; however, their implantation and handle, demands knowledge and cares, to assure a harmonious and lasting integration with the city

  1. A high-performance Riccati based solver for tree-structured quadratic programs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frison, Gianluca; Kouzoupis, Dimitris; Diehl, Moritz

    2017-01-01

    the online solution of such problems challenging and the development of tailored solvers crucial. In this paper, an interior point method is presented that can solve Quadratic Programs (QPs) arising in multi-stage MPC efficiently by means of a tree-structured Riccati recursion and a high-performance linear...... algebra library. A performance comparison with code-generated and general purpose sparse QP solvers shows that the computation times can be significantly reduced for all problem sizes that are practically relevant in embedded MPC applications. The presented implementation is freely available as part...

  2. Actes des Journees de linguistique (Proceedings of the Linguistics Conference) (6th, 1992).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brousseau, Martin, Ed.; And Others

    Papers, all in French, presented at a conference on linguistics include: "Machine Translation: Historic Aspects" (Ghada Attieh); "Translation and Conditioning" (Stephanie Bedard); "Semantic or Pre-Semantic Structures? From Perception to Causation" (Denise Belanger); "Presentation of Poetry Sung in Maroc"…

  3. Social network size can influence linguistic malleability and the propagation of linguistic change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lev-Ari, Shiri

    2018-07-01

    We learn language from our social environment, but the more sources we have, the less informative each source is, and therefore, the less weight we ascribe its input. According to this principle, people with larger social networks should give less weight to new incoming information, and should therefore be less susceptible to the influence of new speakers. This paper tests this prediction, and shows that speakers with smaller social networks indeed have more malleable linguistic representations. In particular, they are more likely to adjust their lexical boundary following exposure to a new speaker. Experiment 2 uses computational simulations to test whether this greater malleability could lead people with smaller social networks to be important for the propagation of linguistic change despite the fact that they interact with fewer people. The results indicate that when innovators were connected with people with smaller rather than larger social networks, the population exhibited greater and faster diffusion. Together these experiments show that the properties of people's social networks can influence individuals' learning and use as well as linguistic phenomena at the community level. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Infinite queueing system with tree structure

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Fajfrová, Lucie

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 42, č. 5 (2006), s. 585-604 ISSN 0023-5954 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/03/0478 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : invariant measures * zero range process * binary tree Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.293, year: 2006

  5. Drawing Contour Trees in the Plane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heine, C; Schneider, D; Carr, Hamish; Scheuermann, G

    2011-11-01

    The contour tree compactly describes scalar field topology. From the viewpoint of graph drawing, it is a tree with attributes at vertices and optionally on edges. Standard tree drawing algorithms emphasize structural properties of the tree and neglect the attributes. Applying known techniques to convey this information proves hard and sometimes even impossible. We present several adaptions of popular graph drawing approaches to the problem of contour tree drawing and evaluate them. We identify five esthetic criteria for drawing contour trees and present a novel algorithm for drawing contour trees in the plane that satisfies four of these criteria. Our implementation is fast and effective for contour tree sizes usually used in interactive systems (around 100 branches) and also produces readable pictures for larger trees, as is shown for an 800 branch example.

  6. Listening to patients' voices: linguistic indicators related to diabetes self-management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connor, Ulla; Anton, Marta; Goering, Elizabeth; Lauten, Kathryn; Hayat, Amir; Roach, Paris; Balunda, Stephanie

    2012-01-01

    A great deal of research in health care has examined a wide range of variables to better understand the degree to which patients follow the advice of medical professionals in managing their health, known as adherence. This paper explains the development of the linguistic systems to describe and evaluate two psychosocial constructs (i.e. control orientation and agency) that have been found to be related to adherence in previous research for subjects with diabetes (Trento et al. 2007; Wangberg 2007; O'Hea et al. 2009). The present data came from 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews of subjects with Type 2 diabetes. One-on-one interviews with open-ended questions elicited subjects' 'stories' about living with diabetes, and the transcribed interviews were analyzed to develop the linguistic systems of control orientation and agency. The resultant systems were applied to the 43 interviews by raters with high inter-rater reliability. The results showed demarcations of clearly identified codings of patient types. The paper presents the linguistic coding systems developed in the study, the results of their application to the patient interview data, and recommendations for improved communication with patients.

  7. Maintenance of carbohydrate transport in tall trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Savage, Jessica A.; Beecher, Sierra D.; Clerx, Laura

    2017-01-01

    Trees present a critical challenge to long-distance transport because as a tree grows in height and the transport pathway increases in length, the hydraulic resistance of the vascular tissue should increase. This has led many to question whether trees can rely on a passive transport mechanism to ...... that reduce transport resistance. As a result, the key to the long-standing mystery of how trees maintain phloem transport as they increase in size lies in the structure of the phloem and its ability to change hydraulic properties with plant height.......Trees present a critical challenge to long-distance transport because as a tree grows in height and the transport pathway increases in length, the hydraulic resistance of the vascular tissue should increase. This has led many to question whether trees can rely on a passive transport mechanism...... in the leaves of a tall tree in situ. Across nine deciduous species, we find that hydraulic resistance in the phloem scales inversely with plant height because of a shift in sieve element structure along the length of individual trees. This scaling relationship seems robust across multiple species despite large...

  8. Field guide to red tree vole nests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damon B. Lesmeister; James K. Swingle

    2017-01-01

    Surveys for red tree vole (Arborimus longicaudus) nests require tree climbing because the species is a highly specialized arboreal rodent that live in the tree canopy of coniferous forests in western Oregon and northwestern California. Tree voles are associated with old coniferous forest (≥80 years old) that are structurally complex, but are often...

  9. Chomsky and Wittgenstein on Linguistic Competence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas McNally

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available In his Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, Saul Kripke presents his influential reading of Wittgenstein’s later writings on language. One of the largely unexplored features of that reading is that Kripke makes a small number of suggestive remarks concerning the possible threat that Wittgenstein’s arguments pose for Chomsky’s linguistic project. In this paper, we attempt to characterise the relevance of Wittgenstein’s later work on meaning and rule-following for transformational linguistics, and in particular to identify the potentially negative impact it has on that project. Although we use Kripke’s remarks to articulate some of the pertinent issues, we return to Wittgenstein’s later writings to address them. We argue that Wittgenstein’s main target in the relevant sections of the Philosophical Investigations is the notion of ‘logical compulsion’, which involves assuming that there is more to applying a word or rule than how we are naturally or “psychologically” compelled to apply. We characterise two of the main lines of argument in the Investigations in terms of the rejection of logical compulsion. We thus propose to address the relevance of Wittgenstein’s writings for Chomsky by considering whether Chomsky’s linguistics presupposes the targeted notion of logical compulsion. We argue that Chomsky’s conception of linguistic competence in terms of successive states of the “language faculty” (containing the principles of universal grammar does presuppose this problematic notion. Chomsky responded to Kripke by devoting a chapter of his Knowledge of Language to defending this conception of linguistic competence against the Wittgensteinian arguments. We evaluate his response and argue that he has misidentified the threat to his linguistic project as consisting in the attack on its ‘individual psychology’ standpoint, rather than its commitment to logical compulsion. We conclude by arguing that Chomsky

  10. Linguistic complex networks as a young field of quantitative linguistics. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by J. Cong and H. Liu

    Science.gov (United States)

    Köhler, Reinhard

    2014-12-01

    We have long been used to the domination of qualitative methods in modern linguistics. Indeed, qualitative methods have advantages such as ease of use and wide applicability to many types of linguistic phenomena. However, this shall not overshadow the fact that a great part of human language is amenable to quantification. Moreover, qualitative methods may lead to over-simplification by employing the rigid yes/no scale. When variability and vagueness of human language must be taken into account, qualitative methods will prove inadequate and give way to quantitative methods [1, p. 11]. In addition to such advantages as exactness and precision, quantitative concepts and methods make it possible to find laws of human language which are just like those in natural sciences. These laws are fundamental elements of linguistic theories in the spirit of the philosophy of science [2,3]. Theorization effort of this type is what quantitative linguistics [1,4,5] is devoted to. The review of Cong and Liu [6] has provided an informative and insightful survey of linguistic complex networks as a young field of quantitative linguistics, including the basic concepts and measures, the major lines of research with linguistic motivation, and suggestions for future research.

  11. What controls stemflow? A LiDAR-based investigation of individual tree canopy structure, neighborhood conditions, and meteorological factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yankine, S. A.; Van Stan, J. T., II; Mesta, D. C.; Côté, J. F.; Hildebrandt, A.; Friesen, J.; Maldonado, G.

    2017-12-01

    Stemflow is a pointed hydrologic flux at the base of tree stems that has been linked to a host of biogeochemical processes in vegetated landscapes. Much work has been done to examine controls over stemflow water yield, finding three major factors: individual tree canopy structure, meteorological variables, and neighborhood conditions. However, the authors are unaware of any study to directly quantify all factors using a combination of terrestrial LiDAR and micrometeorological monitoring methods. This study directly quantifies individual Pinus palustris tree canopy characteristics (trunk volume and angle, branch volume and angle from 1st-to-3rd order, bark roughness, and height), 10-m radius neighborhood properties (number of trees, mean diameter and height, mean distance from study tree, and canopy overlap), and above-canopy storm conditions (magnitude, intensity, mean/max wind speed, and vapor pressure deficit) directly at the site. Stemflow production was 1% of rainfall, ranging from 0.3-59 L per storm from individual trees. Preliminary findings from storms (5-176 mm in magnitude) indicate that all individual tree characteristics, besides bark roughness, have little influence on stemflow generation. Bark roughness altered stemflow generation by affecting trunk water storage (0.1-0.7 mm) and wet trunk evaporation rates (0.005-0.03 mm/h). The strongest influence over stemflow generation from individual trees was the interaction between neighborhood characteristics and meteorological conditions (primarily rainfall amount and, secondarily, rainfall intensity).

  12. Detecting Difference between Process Models Based on the Refined Process Structure Tree

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Fan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The development of mobile workflow management systems (mWfMS leads to large number of business process models. In the meantime, the location restriction embedded in mWfMS may result in different process models for a single business process. In order to help users quickly locate the difference and rebuild the process model, detecting the difference between different process models is needed. Existing detection methods either provide a dissimilarity value to represent the difference or use predefined difference template to generate the result, which cannot reflect the entire composition of the difference. Hence, in this paper, we present a new approach to solve this problem. Firstly, we parse the process models to their corresponding refined process structure trees (PSTs, that is, decomposing a process model into a hierarchy of subprocess models. Then we design a method to convert the PST to its corresponding task based process structure tree (TPST. As a consequence, the problem of detecting difference between two process models is transformed to detect difference between their corresponding TPSTs. Finally, we obtain the difference between two TPSTs based on the divide and conquer strategy, where the difference is described by an edit script and we make the cost of the edit script close to minimum. The extensive experimental evaluation shows that our method can meet the real requirements in terms of precision and efficiency.

  13. [An essay about science and linguistics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cugini, P

    2011-01-01

    Both the methodology and epistemology of science provided the criteria by which the scientific research can describe and interpret data and results of its observational or experimental studies. When the scientist approaches the conclusive inference, it is mandatory to think that both the knowledge and truth imply the use of words semantically and etymologically (semiologically) appropriate, especially if neologisms are required. Lacking a vocabulary, there will be the need of popularizing the inference to the linguistics of the context to which the message is addressed. This could imply a discrepancy among science, knowledge, truth and linguistics, that can be defined "semiologic bias". To avoid this linguistic error, the scientist must feel the responsibility to provide the scientific community with the new words that are semantically and etymologically coherent with what it has been scientifically discovered.

  14. Political Liberalism, Linguistic Diversity and Equal Treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonotti, Matteo

    2017-01-01

    This article explores the implications of John Rawls' political liberalism for linguistic diversity and language policy, by focusing on the following question: what kind(s) of equality between speakers of different languages and with different linguistic identities should the state guarantee under political liberalism? The article makes three…

  15. Child Participant Roles in Applied Linguistics Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinter, Annamaria

    2014-01-01

    Children's status as research participants in applied linguistics has been largely overlooked even though unique methodological and ethical concerns arise in projects where children, rather than adults, are involved. This article examines the role of children as research participants in applied linguistics and discusses the limitations of…

  16. Term Bases and Linguistic Linked Open Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    for pursuing their work. The theme of this year’s TKE is ‘Term Bases and Linguistic Linked Open Data’. Mono- and multi-lingual term bases, which contain information about concepts (terms, definitions, examples of use, references, comments on equivalence etc.), have always made up valuable linguistic resources...

  17. A parallel buffer tree

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sitchinava, Nodar; Zeh, Norbert

    2012-01-01

    We present the parallel buffer tree, a parallel external memory (PEM) data structure for batched search problems. This data structure is a non-trivial extension of Arge's sequential buffer tree to a private-cache multiprocessor environment and reduces the number of I/O operations by the number of...... in the optimal OhOf(psortN + K/PB) parallel I/O complexity, where K is the size of the output reported in the process and psortN is the parallel I/O complexity of sorting N elements using P processors....

  18. Comparative analysis of the anatomical structure of heartwood and sapwood selected Gymnocladus canadensis Lam. trees in Srpska Crnja

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vilotić Dragica

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper shows the results obtained from the study of the macroscopic-microscopic structure (capillary system in the growth stem of Gymnocladus canadensis Lam. originating from North America, which grows in “Muzljanski rit” in the area of Srpska Crnja. Gymnocladus canadensis Lam. falls under the ring-porous species according to its porosity, with large tracheas in its early zone. The early zone trachea lumens, contained in the sapwood, reach dimensions of up to 160 μm, while early zone trachea lumens in the growth stem rings of the sapwood reach dimensions of up to 120 μm. Examination of the microscopic structure of this tree show good properties of the tree.

  19. First typology of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) systems in Colombian Amazonia, based on tree species richness, canopy structure and light availability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez Salazar, Juan Carlos; Ngo Bieng, Marie Ange; Melgarejo, Luz Marina; Di Rienzo, Julio A; Casanoves, Fernando

    2018-01-01

    We present a typology of cacao agroforest systems in Colombian Amazonia. These systems had yet to be described in the literature, especially their potential in terms of biodiversity conservation. The systems studied are located in a post-conflict area, and a deforestation front in Colombian Amazonia. Cacao cropping systems are of key importance in Colombia: cacao plays a prime role in post conflict resolution, as cacao is a legal crop to replace illegal crops; cacao agroforests are expected to be a sustainable practice, promoting forest-friendly land use. We worked in 50 x 2000 m2 agroforest plots, in Colombian Amazonia. A cluster analysis was used to build a typology based on 28 variables characterised in each plot, and related to diversity, composition, spatial structure and light availability for the cacao trees. We included variables related to light availability to evaluate the amount of transmitted radiation to the cacao trees in each type, and its suitability for cacao ecophysiological development. We identified 4 types of cacao agroforests based on differences concerning tree species diversity and the impact of canopy spatial structure on light availability for the cacao trees in the understorey. We found 127 tree species in the dataset, with some exclusive species in each type. We also found that 3 out of the 4 types identified displayed an erosion of tree species diversity. This reduction in shade tree species may have been linked to the desire to reduce shade, but we also found that all the types described were compatible with good ecophysiological development of the cacao trees. Cacao agroforest systems may actually be achieving biodiversity conservation goals in Colombian Amazonia. One challenging prospect will be to monitor and encourage the conservation of tree species diversity in cacao agroforest systems during the development of these cropping systems, as a form of forest-friendly management enhancing sustainable peace building in Colombia.

  20. Linguistic approaches to the study of Persian Literature

    OpenAIRE

    محمد امین ناصح

    2010-01-01

    Since the start of the last century, along with those literary men who took a literary approach to the study of literary texts, there has been another group who has taken a linguistic approach. The ancient and ever flourishing tradition of literary studies of translation can no doubt take benefit from linguistic methods and tools in the investigations of literary texts. As a result of this we come across linguistic terms in three high school textbooks of Persian language and literature. In f...

  1. Ideology, Linguistic Capital and the Medium of Instruction in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, Keith; Lui, Icy

    2000-01-01

    Examines the links between linguistic capital, cultural capital, linguistic imperialism, and the use of English as the medium of instruction (MOI) in Hong Kong. Suggests that the notion of linguistic imperialism in Hong Kong is superceded by the notion of linguistic capital, although neither presents a complete analysis of the MOI issue in Hong…

  2. Words Get in the Way: Linguistic Effects on Talker Discrimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayan, Chandan R; Mak, Lorinda; Bialystok, Ellen

    2017-07-01

    A speech perception experiment provides evidence that the linguistic relationship between words affects the discrimination of their talkers. Listeners discriminated two talkers' voices with various linguistic relationships between their spoken words. Listeners were asked whether two words were spoken by the same person or not. Word pairs varied with respect to the linguistic relationship between the component words, forming either: phonological rhymes, lexical compounds, reversed compounds, or unrelated pairs. The degree of linguistic relationship between the words affected talker discrimination in a graded fashion, revealing biases listeners have regarding the nature of words and the talkers that speak them. These results indicate that listeners expect a talker's words to be linguistically related, and more generally, indexical processing is affected by linguistic information in a top-down fashion even when listeners are not told to attend to it. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  3. Exploring Linguistic Identity in Young Multilingual Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dressler, Roswita

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the linguistic identity of young multilingual learners through the use of a Language Portrait Silhouette. Examples from a research study of children aged 6-8 years in a German bilingual program in Canada provide teachers with an understanding that linguistic identity comprises expertise, affiliation, and inheritance. This…

  4. Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyman, Leisy

    2012-01-01

    Detailing a decade of life and language use in a remote Alaskan Yup'ik community, Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance provides rare insight into young people's language brokering and Indigenous people's contemporary linguistic ecologies. This book examines how two consecutive groups of youth in a Yup'ik village…

  5. Improving English Instruction through Neuro-Linguistic Programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helm, David Jay

    2009-01-01

    This study examines the background information and numerous applications of neuro-linguistic programming as it applies to improving English instruction. In addition, the N.L.P. modalities of eye movement, the use of predicates, and posturing are discussed. Neuro-linguistic programming presents all students of English an opportunity to reach their…

  6. Linguistics, cognitive psychology, and the Now-or-Never bottleneck.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endress, Ansgar D; Katzir, Roni

    2016-01-01

    Christiansen & Chater (C&C)'s key premise is that "if linguistic information is not processed rapidly, that information is lost for good" (sect. 1, para. 1). From this "Now-or-Never bottleneck" (NNB), C&C derive "wide-reaching and fundamental implications for language processing, acquisition and change as well as for the structure of language itself" (sect. 2, para. 10). We question both the premise and the consequentiality of its purported implications.

  7. Linguistic Theory in the Practical Lexicography of the African Languages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emmanuel Chabata

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: In this article, we look at the relationship between linguistics and lexicography. We specifically look at the relevance of data derived from theoretical linguistic investigations to the compilation of diction-aries in African languages. Our point of departure is that since it is language description that lies at the core of both lexicography and linguistic theory, lexicographers can improve their work by using insights from theoretically-guided linguistic investigations. Our view is that as long as lexicographers focus on words and their existence in the linguistic system, they cannot work effectively without referring to linguistic theory, consciously or unconsciously. Lexicography is not only concerned with dictionary creation, that is, with the collection of lexical units and their proper description in dictionary entries, but also with the theoretical aspects concerning the lexicon. It is necessary for dictionaries to capture all lexical interrelationships of a phonetic, morphological, syntactic or semantic nature. Drawing examples from a few dictionaries on African languages, we try to show how dictionary compilers have benefited from specific theoretical investigations in general linguistics. We look at how the different linguistic theories have contributed to the improvement in the quality of the contents of some dictionaries of African languages. Our conclusion is that there is a stronger bond between linguistic theory and lexicographic practice than is generally assumed. Ways must therefore be found to understand the various links between the two disciplines. There should be a deliberate move from mutual neglect to collaboration between the two disciplines.

  8. "New linguistic issues", by Pier Pasolini, is causing scandal among linguists, philologists, writers, critics and intellectuals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teodoro Negri

    1993-12-01

    Full Text Available Pasolini departs from the diagnosis of a problem: the critical quest stage in contemporary literature, centered on the 1950s; he points out the author´s inability to create the design for a national language. He goes on to analyze the deep mutation in Italian Society, which determineted a new socio-linguistic outlook; to wit, a language clearly marked by strong technicality and instrumentation. Drawing examples from newspapers, TV features, official political speeches and commercials, Pasolini demonstrates that factual communication takes precedence over formal expression. This is ascribed to one principle which sets both rules and approvals for all forms of national language. This fact, according to Pasolini, is the result of an industrial and technological transformation process, which would  permite advent of a new linguistic bourgeoisie. The linguistic unification caused by such approving  principle would, therefore, imply the social manifestation of the bourgeoisie.

  9. Design Features for Linguistically-Mediated Meaning Construction: The Relative Roles of the Linguistic and Conceptual Systems in Subserving the Ideational Function of Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Vyvyan

    2016-01-01

    Recent research in language and cognitive science proposes that the linguistic system evolved to provide an "executive" control system on the evolutionarily more ancient conceptual system (e.g., Barsalou et al., 2008; Evans, 2009, 2015a,b; Bergen, 2012). In short, the claim is that embodied representations in the linguistic system interface with non-linguistic representations in the conceptual system, facilitating rich meanings, or simulations, enabling linguistically mediated communication. In this paper I build on these proposals by examining the nature of what I identify as design features for this control system. In particular, I address how the ideational function of language-our ability to deploy linguistic symbols to convey meanings of great complexity-is facilitated. The central proposal of this paper is as follows. The linguistic system of any given language user, of any given linguistic system-spoken or signed-facilitates access to knowledge representation-concepts-in the conceptual system, which subserves this ideational function. In the most general terms, the human meaning-making capacity is underpinned by two distinct, although tightly coupled representational systems: the conceptual system and the linguistic system. Each system contributes to meaning construction in qualitatively distinct ways. This leads to the first design feature: given that the two systems are representational-they are populated by semantic representations-the nature and function of the representations are qualitatively different. This proposed design feature I term the bifurcation in semantic representation. After all, it stands to reason that if a linguistic system has a different function, vis-à-vis the conceptual system, which is of far greater evolutionary antiquity, then the semantic representations will be complementary, and as such, qualitatively different, reflecting the functional distinctions of the two systems, in collectively giving rise to meaning. I consider the

  10. Advanced features of the fault tree solver FTREX

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Woo Sik; Han, Sang Hoon; Ha, Jae Joo

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents advanced features of a fault tree solver FTREX (Fault Tree Reliability Evaluation eXpert). Fault tree analysis is one of the most commonly used methods for the safety analysis of industrial systems especially for the probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) of nuclear power plants. Fault trees are solved by the classical Boolean algebra, conventional Binary Decision Diagram (BDD) algorithm, coherent BDD algorithm, and Bayesian networks. FTREX could optionally solve fault trees by the conventional BDD algorithm or the coherent BDD algorithm and could convert the fault trees into the form of the Bayesian networks. The algorithm based on the classical Boolean algebra solves a fault tree and generates MCSs. The conventional BDD algorithm generates a BDD structure of the top event and calculates the exact top event probability. The BDD structure is a factorized form of the prime implicants. The MCSs of the top event could be extracted by reducing the prime implicants in the BDD structure. The coherent BDD algorithm is developed to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional BDD algorithm such as the huge memory requirements and a long run time

  11. Trees and logs important to wildlife in the interior Columbia River basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evelyn L. Bull; Catherine G. Parks; Torolf R. Torgersen

    1997-01-01

    This publication provides qualitative and quantitative information on five distinct structures: living trees with decayed parts, trees with hollow chambers, trees with brooms, dead trees, and logs. Information is provided on the value of these structures to wildlife, the decay or infection processes involved in the formation of these structures, and the principles to...

  12. Using the Linguistic Landscape to Bridge Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mari, Vanessa

    2018-01-01

    In this article Vanessa Mari describes how she uses the linguistic landscape to bridge two or more languages with students learning English. The linguistic landscape is defined by Landry and Bourhis (1997, 25) as "the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on…

  13. Phylogenetic trees and Euclidean embeddings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Layer, Mark; Rhodes, John A

    2017-01-01

    It was recently observed by de Vienne et al. (Syst Biol 60(6):826-832, 2011) that a simple square root transformation of distances between taxa on a phylogenetic tree allowed for an embedding of the taxa into Euclidean space. While the justification for this was based on a diffusion model of continuous character evolution along the tree, here we give a direct and elementary explanation for it that provides substantial additional insight. We use this embedding to reinterpret the differences between the NJ and BIONJ tree building algorithms, providing one illustration of how this embedding reflects tree structures in data.

  14. LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH CHILDREN'S SONGS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ms. Valeria A. Buryakovskaya

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Linguistic and cultural specificity of children's songs is determined by the extralinguistic and linguistic characteristics that most clearly are seen in the light of comparative analysis. For a long historical period there was a stream of cultural phenomena from Western Europe to Russia including the UK, which is reflected in the language including children's songs. The purpose of the study is to identify the similarities and differences of children's songs in Russian and English folklore cultures. It is established that the main differences of the Russian song culture from the European one are determined by historical, religious, regional, ethnic, musical, poetic and other traditions. The similarities are observed in the structural, phonetic and genre-themed events. At the same time, Russian and English children's songs differ from each other in their lexical-grammatical and stylistic peculiarities, the set of concepts and characters.

  15. Can delusions be understood linguistically?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana; McKenna, Peter

    2016-07-01

    Delusions are widely believed to reflect disturbed cognitive function, but the nature of this remains elusive. The "un-Cartesian" cognitive-linguistic hypothesis maintains (a) that there is no thought separate from language, that is, there is no distinct mental space removed from language where "thinking" takes place; and (b) that a somewhat broadened concept of grammar is responsible for bestowing meaning on propositions, and this among other things gives them their quality of being true or false. It is argued that a loss of propositional meaning explains why delusions are false, impossible and sometimes fantastic. A closely related abnormality, failure of linguistic embedding, can additionally account for why delusions are held with fixed conviction and are not adequately justified by the patient. The un-Cartesian linguistic approach to delusions has points of contact with Frith's theory that inability to form meta-representations underlies a range of schizophrenic symptoms. It may also be relevant to the nature of the "second factor" in monothematic delusions in neurological disease. Finally, it can inform the current debate about whether or not delusions really are beliefs.

  16. Study of Applying Cognitive Linguistic Theory into Japanese Grammar Teaching——Taking Causative Sentence as an Example

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhang Yu[1

    2016-01-01

    The traditional Japanese grammar teaching often only pays attention to the interpretation of syntax and the integrity of grammar structure. This violates the cultivation of communicative competence, and is not in conformity with the society’s requirements of applied foreign language talents. Cognitive linguistics theory, which links language form with semantic concept, reveals the internal relation of man’s thinking and language. If we can subtly apply cognitive linguistic theory into Japanese grammar teaching to explore the cognitive process in the speakers’ brain while expressing, we can get a good understanding of diffi cult points and “special case”. This paper explores the introductory methods and efficacy of the cognitive linguistics theory applied in Japanese grammar teaching method, by lecturing causative sentences an example.

  17. "Growing trees backwards": Description of a stand reconstruction model (P-53)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonathan D. Bakker; Andrew J. Sanchez Meador; Peter Z. Fule; David W. Huffman; Margaret M. Moore

    2008-01-01

    We describe an individual-tree model that uses contemporary measurements to "grow trees backward" and reconstruct past tree diameters and stand structure in ponderosa pine dominated stands of the Southwest. Model inputs are contemporary structural measurements of all snags, logs, stumps, and living trees, and radial growth measurements, if available. Key...

  18. Formal monkey linguistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schlenker, Philippe; Chemla, Emmanuel; Schel, Anne M.; Fuller, James; Gautier, Jean Pierre; Kuhn, Jeremy; Veselinović, Dunja; Arnold, Kate; Cäsar, Cristiane; Keenan, Sumir; Lemasson, Alban; Ouattara, Karim; Ryder, Robin; Zuberbühler, Klaus

    2016-01-01

    We argue that rich data gathered in experimental primatology in the last 40 years can benefit from analytical methods used in contemporary linguistics. Focusing on the syntactic and especially semantic side, we suggest that these methods could help clarify five questions: (i) what morphology and

  19. Tree health and physiology in a changing environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter C. Shortle; Kevin T. Smith; Rakesh Minocha; Subhash Minocha; Philip M. Wargo; Kristina A. Vogt

    2000-01-01

    A tree is a large, long-lived, perennial, compartmented, woody, shedding, walling plant. This definition is based on new tree biology concepts (Shigo, 1986a,b, 1991) and explains much about how mature trees function through their unique structure. When the tree begins its life, it is mostly leaf in mass (Fig. 7.la). As a tree grows in stature, it becomes mostly stem in...

  20. Benefits and costs of street trees in Lisbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    A.L. Soares; F.C. Rego; E.G. McPherson; J.R. Simpson; P.J. Peper; Q. Xiao

    2011-01-01

    It is well known that urban trees produce various types of benefits and costs. The computer tool i-Tree STRATUM helps quantify tree structure and function, as well as the value of some of these tree services in different municipalities. This study describes one of the first applications of STRATUM outside the U.S. Lisbon’s street trees are dominated by Celtis australis...

  1. Distributed primal–dual interior-point methods for solving tree-structured coupled convex problems using message-passing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khoshfetrat Pakazad, Sina; Hansson, Anders; Andersen, Martin S.

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a distributed algorithm for solving coupled problems with chordal sparsity or an inherent tree structure which relies on primal–dual interior-point methods. We achieve this by distributing the computations at each iteration, using message-passing. In comparison to existi...

  2. MB3-Miner: efficiently mining eMBedded subTREEs using Tree Model Guided candidate generation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tan, H.; Dillon, T.; Hadzic, F.; Chang, E.; Feng, L.

    2005-01-01

    Tree mining has many useful applications in areas such as Bioinformatics, XML mining, Web mining, etc. In general, most of the formally represented information in these domains is a tree structured form. In this paper we focus on mining frequent embedded subtrees from databases of rooted labeled

  3. Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development. Miami Linguistics Series No. 9.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Humboldt, Wilhelm

    Although this edition of Wilhelm von Humboldt's "Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development" is based entirely on the original German edition, the translators (George C. Buck and Frithjof A. Raven) and the publisher have attempted to clarify certain aspects of this work for the modern-day reader. These features include the addition of…

  4. Linguistics, human communication and psychiatry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, P; Fraser, W

    1994-11-01

    Psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics have extended our understanding of the abnormal communication seen in psychosis, as well as that of people with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Psycholinguistics has the potential to increase the explanatory power of cognitive and neuropsychological approaches to psychosis and new methods of assessment and therapy are now being developed, based on linguistic theory. A MEDLINE literature search was used. Of 205 relevant articles identified, 65 were selected for review. Greater familiarity with linguistic theory could improve psychiatrists' assessment skills and their understanding of the relevance of human communication to the new cognitive models of psychosis.

  5. Untangling Linguistic Salience

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boswijk, Vincent; Coler, Matt; Loerts, Hanneke; Hilton, Nanna

    2018-01-01

    The concept of linguistic salience is broadly used within sociolinguistics to account for processes as diverse as language change (Kerswill & Williams, 2002) and language acquisition (Ellis, 2016) in that salient forms are e.g. more likely to undergo change, or are often acquired earlier than other

  6. Linguistics and Literacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kindell, Gloria

    1983-01-01

    Discusses four general areas of linguistics studies that are particularly relevant to literacy issues: (1) discourse analysis, including text analysis, spoken and written language, and home and school discourse; (2) relationships between speech and writing, the distance between dialects and written norms, and developmental writing; (3)…

  7. Saussure and Linguistic Geography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Roy

    1993-01-01

    Discusses Saussures's "Cours de linguistique generale," which was published in 1916, and devotes specific attention to the significance of Part VI, which is devoted to linguistic geography. (16 references) (Author/VWL)

  8. Habitat filtering across tree life stages in tropical forest communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldeck, C. A.; Harms, K. E.; Yavitt, J. B.; John, R.; Turner, B. L.; Valencia, R.; Navarrete, H.; Bunyavejchewin, S.; Kiratiprayoon, S.; Yaacob, A.; Supardi, M. N. N.; Davies, S. J.; Hubbell, S. P.; Chuyong, G. B.; Kenfack, D.; Thomas, D. W.; Dalling, J. W.

    2013-01-01

    Tropical tree communities are shaped by local-scale habitat heterogeneity in the form of topographic and edaphic variation, but the life-history stage at which habitat associations develop remains poorly understood. This is due, in part, to the fact that previous studies have not accounted for the widely disparate sample sizes (number of stems) that result when trees are divided into size classes. We demonstrate that the observed habitat structuring of a community is directly related to the number of individuals in the community. We then compare the relative importance of habitat heterogeneity to tree community structure for saplings, juveniles and adult trees within seven large (24–50 ha) tropical forest dynamics plots while controlling for sample size. Changes in habitat structuring through tree life stages were small and inconsistent among life stages and study sites. Where found, these differences were an order of magnitude smaller than the findings of previous studies that did not control for sample size. Moreover, community structure and composition were very similar among tree sub-communities of different life stages. We conclude that the structure of these tropical tree communities is established by the time trees are large enough to be included in the census (1 cm diameter at breast height), which indicates that habitat filtering occurs during earlier life stages. PMID:23843384

  9. FLORISTIC-STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AND SUCCESSIONAL GROUP OF TREE SPECIES IN THE CERRADO BIOME OF TOCANTINS STATE, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    EDER PEREIRA MIGUEL

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to characterize the floristic composition, vegetation structure and ecological group of tree species in a cerradão forest (Cerrado biome of Palmas, Tocantins State, Brazil. A forest inventory was performed in an area of 10.15 hectares, using systematic sampling with plots of 400 m², in which all standing trees, alive and dead, that had diameter at breast height (DBH ≥ 5 cm were sampled and identified. A linear plateau regression model (LPR was used for sample sufficiency analysis. The Shannon index (H’ was used for assess the floristic diversity, and the Importance Value Index (IVI for assess the horizontal structure. The forest was classified in three strata according to vertical structure analysis. The LPR showed that the sampling size was adequate. The predominate species in the area were Myrcia splendens, Emmotum nitens and Qualea parviflora, and species from the families Fabaceae and Chrysobalanaceae. The pioneer (613 individuals ha-1 and climax (530 individuals ha-1 species were the predominating groups. Regarding the richness index, the number of climax (57 species and pioneer (25 species species stood out. The alpha floristic diversity was 3.35 nats individuals-1 and the Pielou equability value J = 0.76. The diametric distribution showed a negative and balanced exponential pattern. Regarding the vertical stratification, the smallest amount of individuals was in the upper stratum (13% and the highest in the mid stratum (63% and in the lower stratum (24%. The use of floristic composition tools with horizontal and vertical structure analysis was effective for understand the tree community, which may be considered structured and diverse, thus able to restructure possible disturbances when preserved.

  10. What Does Corpus Linguistics Have to Offer to Language Assessment?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xi, Xiaoming

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, continuing advances in technology have increased the capacity to automate the extraction of a range of linguistic features of texts and thus have provided the impetus for the substantial growth of corpus linguistics. While corpus linguistic tools and methods have been used extensively in second language learning research, they…

  11. Border trees of complex networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villas Boas, Paulino R; Rodrigues, Francisco A; Travieso, Gonzalo; Fontoura Costa, Luciano da

    2008-01-01

    The comprehensive characterization of the structure of complex networks is essential to understand the dynamical processes which guide their evolution. The discovery of the scale-free distribution and the small-world properties of real networks were fundamental to stimulate more realistic models and to understand important dynamical processes related to network growth. However, the properties of the network borders (nodes with degree equal to 1), one of its most fragile parts, remained little investigated and understood. The border nodes may be involved in the evolution of structures such as geographical networks. Here we analyze the border trees of complex networks, which are defined as the subgraphs without cycles connected to the remainder of the network (containing cycles) and terminating into border nodes. In addition to describing an algorithm for identification of such tree subgraphs, we also consider how their topological properties can be quantified in terms of their depth and number of leaves. We investigate the properties of border trees for several theoretical models as well as real-world networks. Among the obtained results, we found that more than half of the nodes of some real-world networks belong to the border trees. A power-law with cut-off was observed for the distribution of the depth and number of leaves of the border trees. An analysis of the local role of the nodes in the border trees was also performed

  12. Inference of Transmission Network Structure from HIV Phylogenetic Trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giardina, Federica; Romero-Severson, Ethan Obie; Albert, Jan; Britton, Tom; Leitner, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Phylogenetic inference is an attractive means to reconstruct transmission histories and epidemics. However, there is not a perfect correspondence between transmission history and virus phylogeny. Both node height and topological differences may occur, depending on the interaction between within-host evolutionary dynamics and between-host transmission patterns. To investigate these interactions, we added a within-host evolutionary model in epidemiological simulations and examined if the resulting phylogeny could recover different types of contact networks. To further improve realism, we also introduced patient-specific differences in infectivity across disease stages, and on the epidemic level we considered incomplete sampling and the age of the epidemic. Second, we implemented an inference method based on approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) to discriminate among three well-studied network models and jointly estimate both network parameters and key epidemiological quantities such as the infection rate. Our ABC framework used both topological and distance-based tree statistics for comparison between simulated and observed trees. Overall, our simulations showed that a virus time-scaled phylogeny (genealogy) may be substantially different from the between-host transmission tree. This has important implications for the interpretation of what a phylogeny reveals about the underlying epidemic contact network. In particular, we found that while the within-host evolutionary process obscures the transmission tree, the diversification process and infectivity dynamics also add discriminatory power to differentiate between different types of contact networks. We also found that the possibility to differentiate contact networks depends on how far an epidemic has progressed, where distance-based tree statistics have more power early in an epidemic. Finally, we applied our ABC inference on two different outbreaks from the Swedish HIV-1 epidemic.

  13. The future of large old trees in urban landscapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Roux, Darren S; Ikin, Karen; Lindenmayer, David B; Manning, Adrian D; Gibbons, Philip

    2014-01-01

    Large old trees are disproportionate providers of structural elements (e.g. hollows, coarse woody debris), which are crucial habitat resources for many species. The decline of large old trees in modified landscapes is of global conservation concern. Once large old trees are removed, they are difficult to replace in the short term due to typically prolonged time periods needed for trees to mature (i.e. centuries). Few studies have investigated the decline of large old trees in urban landscapes. Using a simulation model, we predicted the future availability of native hollow-bearing trees (a surrogate for large old trees) in an expanding city in southeastern Australia. In urban greenspace, we predicted that the number of hollow-bearing trees is likely to decline by 87% over 300 years under existing management practices. Under a worst case scenario, hollow-bearing trees may be completely lost within 115 years. Conversely, we predicted that the number of hollow-bearing trees will likely remain stable in semi-natural nature reserves. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the number of hollow-bearing trees perpetuated in urban greenspace over the long term is most sensitive to the: (1) maximum standing life of trees; (2) number of regenerating seedlings ha(-1); and (3) rate of hollow formation. We tested the efficacy of alternative urban management strategies and found that the only way to arrest the decline of large old trees requires a collective management strategy that ensures: (1) trees remain standing for at least 40% longer than currently tolerated lifespans; (2) the number of seedlings established is increased by at least 60%; and (3) the formation of habitat structures provided by large old trees is accelerated by at least 30% (e.g. artificial structures) to compensate for short term deficits in habitat resources. Immediate implementation of these recommendations is needed to avert long term risk to urban biodiversity.

  14. Variation of Linguistic Form of News Titles of Indonesian National Newspapers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atiqa Sabardila

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This descriptive-qualitative study aims at describing the linguistic form on news title. Related to data classification, this study uses segmenting immediate constituents technique. This technique is also utilized to separate the elements of the sentence function. The data is combined based on the similarities of their pattern and category. Furthermore, in order to classify the similarity of the meaning on the phrase or clause on title, this study provides the paraphrase and substitutes the constituent position of function in clause to recognize the arrangement. Moreover, in identifying the constituent of omitted clause, the technique is by inserting or expanding the structure of the title. The variation of the linguistic form is also based on whether or not the figurative language of the title appears. The news title is written by considering these several aspects: phonology, lexicon, grammatical, sentence modus, cohesion, and figurative language. Those aspects are intended to fulfill several functions, such as informing, influencing, preserving the social connection between the server and the receiver of the information or delivering the response about a phenomenon. Based on these several aspects, the characteristics of the linguistics of the titles give the practically ease of understanding for those who are learning to write the straight news discourse.

  15. Statistical tracking of tree-like tubular structures with efficient branching detection in 3D medical image data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, X.; Heimann, T.; Lo, P.

    2012-01-01

    to their robustness against image noise and pathological changes. However, most tracking methods are limited to a specific application and do not support branching structures efficiently. In this work, we present a novel statistical tracking approach for the extraction of different types of tubular structures...... with ringlike cross-sections. Domain-specific knowledge is learned from training data sets and integrated into the tracking process by simple adaption of parameters. In addition, an efficient branching detection algorithm is presented. This approach was evaluated by extracting coronary arteries from 32 CTA data...... for the tracking of coronary arteries were achieved. For the extraction of airway trees, 51.3% of the total tree length, 53.6% of the total number of branches and a 4.98% false positive rate were attained. In both experiments, our approach is comparable to state-of-the-art methods....

  16. Ghost-tree: creating hybrid-gene phylogenetic trees for diversity analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fouquier, Jennifer; Rideout, Jai Ram; Bolyen, Evan; Chase, John; Shiffer, Arron; McDonald, Daniel; Knight, Rob; Caporaso, J Gregory; Kelley, Scott T

    2016-02-24

    Fungi play critical roles in many ecosystems, cause serious diseases in plants and animals, and pose significant threats to human health and structural integrity problems in built environments. While most fungal diversity remains unknown, the development of PCR primers for the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) combined with next-generation sequencing has substantially improved our ability to profile fungal microbial diversity. Although the high sequence variability in the ITS region facilitates more accurate species identification, it also makes multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis unreliable across evolutionarily distant fungi because the sequences are hard to align accurately. To address this issue, we created ghost-tree, a bioinformatics tool that integrates sequence data from two genetic markers into a single phylogenetic tree that can be used for diversity analyses. Our approach starts with a "foundation" phylogeny based on one genetic marker whose sequences can be aligned across organisms spanning divergent taxonomic groups (e.g., fungal families). Then, "extension" phylogenies are built for more closely related organisms (e.g., fungal species or strains) using a second more rapidly evolving genetic marker. These smaller phylogenies are then grafted onto the foundation tree by mapping taxonomic names such that each corresponding foundation-tree tip would branch into its new "extension tree" child. We applied ghost-tree to graft fungal extension phylogenies derived from ITS sequences onto a foundation phylogeny derived from fungal 18S sequences. Our analysis of simulated and real fungal ITS data sets found that phylogenetic distances between fungal communities computed using ghost-tree phylogenies explained significantly more variance than non-phylogenetic distances. The phylogenetic metrics also improved our ability to distinguish small differences (effect sizes) between microbial communities, though results were similar to non

  17. ETE: a python Environment for Tree Exploration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huerta-Cepas, Jaime; Dopazo, Joaquín; Gabaldón, Toni

    2010-01-13

    Many bioinformatics analyses, ranging from gene clustering to phylogenetics, produce hierarchical trees as their main result. These are used to represent the relationships among different biological entities, thus facilitating their analysis and interpretation. A number of standalone programs are available that focus on tree visualization or that perform specific analyses on them. However, such applications are rarely suitable for large-scale surveys, in which a higher level of automation is required. Currently, many genome-wide analyses rely on tree-like data representation and hence there is a growing need for scalable tools to handle tree structures at large scale. Here we present the Environment for Tree Exploration (ETE), a python programming toolkit that assists in the automated manipulation, analysis and visualization of hierarchical trees. ETE libraries provide a broad set of tree handling options as well as specific methods to analyze phylogenetic and clustering trees. Among other features, ETE allows for the independent analysis of tree partitions, has support for the extended newick format, provides an integrated node annotation system and permits to link trees to external data such as multiple sequence alignments or numerical arrays. In addition, ETE implements a number of built-in analytical tools, including phylogeny-based orthology prediction and cluster validation techniques. Finally, ETE's programmable tree drawing engine can be used to automate the graphical rendering of trees with customized node-specific visualizations. ETE provides a complete set of methods to manipulate tree data structures that extends current functionality in other bioinformatic toolkits of a more general purpose. ETE is free software and can be downloaded from http://ete.cgenomics.org.

  18. ETE: a python Environment for Tree Exploration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabaldón Toni

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many bioinformatics analyses, ranging from gene clustering to phylogenetics, produce hierarchical trees as their main result. These are used to represent the relationships among different biological entities, thus facilitating their analysis and interpretation. A number of standalone programs are available that focus on tree visualization or that perform specific analyses on them. However, such applications are rarely suitable for large-scale surveys, in which a higher level of automation is required. Currently, many genome-wide analyses rely on tree-like data representation and hence there is a growing need for scalable tools to handle tree structures at large scale. Results Here we present the Environment for Tree Exploration (ETE, a python programming toolkit that assists in the automated manipulation, analysis and visualization of hierarchical trees. ETE libraries provide a broad set of tree handling options as well as specific methods to analyze phylogenetic and clustering trees. Among other features, ETE allows for the independent analysis of tree partitions, has support for the extended newick format, provides an integrated node annotation system and permits to link trees to external data such as multiple sequence alignments or numerical arrays. In addition, ETE implements a number of built-in analytical tools, including phylogeny-based orthology prediction and cluster validation techniques. Finally, ETE's programmable tree drawing engine can be used to automate the graphical rendering of trees with customized node-specific visualizations. Conclusions ETE provides a complete set of methods to manipulate tree data structures that extends current functionality in other bioinformatic toolkits of a more general purpose. ETE is free software and can be downloaded from http://ete.cgenomics.org.

  19. Linguistic Policies, Linguistic Planning, and Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Quadros, Ronice Muller

    2012-01-01

    This article explains the consolidation of Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil through a linguistic plan that arose from the Brazilian Sign Language Federal Law 10.436 of April 2002 and the subsequent Federal Decree 5695 of December 2005. Two concrete facts that emerged from this existing language plan are discussed: the implementation of bilingual…

  20. Hemispheric lateralization of linguistic prosody recognition in comparison to speech and speaker recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kreitewolf, Jens; Friederici, Angela D; von Kriegstein, Katharina

    2014-11-15

    Hemispheric specialization for linguistic prosody is a controversial issue. While it is commonly assumed that linguistic prosody and emotional prosody are preferentially processed in the right hemisphere, neuropsychological work directly comparing processes of linguistic prosody and emotional prosody suggests a predominant role of the left hemisphere for linguistic prosody processing. Here, we used two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to clarify the role of left and right hemispheres in the neural processing of linguistic prosody. In the first experiment, we sought to confirm previous findings showing that linguistic prosody processing compared to other speech-related processes predominantly involves the right hemisphere. Unlike previous studies, we controlled for stimulus influences by employing a prosody and speech task using the same speech material. The second experiment was designed to investigate whether a left-hemispheric involvement in linguistic prosody processing is specific to contrasts between linguistic prosody and emotional prosody or whether it also occurs when linguistic prosody is contrasted against other non-linguistic processes (i.e., speaker recognition). Prosody and speaker tasks were performed on the same stimulus material. In both experiments, linguistic prosody processing was associated with activity in temporal, frontal, parietal and cerebellar regions. Activation in temporo-frontal regions showed differential lateralization depending on whether the control task required recognition of speech or speaker: recognition of linguistic prosody predominantly involved right temporo-frontal areas when it was contrasted against speech recognition; when contrasted against speaker recognition, recognition of linguistic prosody predominantly involved left temporo-frontal areas. The results show that linguistic prosody processing involves functions of both hemispheres and suggest that recognition of linguistic prosody is based on

  1. Guatemalan Linguistics Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linguistic Reporter, 1974

    1974-01-01

    The general goals of the Guatemalan technical institution, the Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquin, are to: create a national technical resource institution in linguistics and Mayan languages; enable Indians to influence programs for their communities; and stimulate the study of Mayan languages and their use as communication medium. (SW)

  2. Coordination of physiological and structural traits in Amazon forest trees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Patiño

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Many plant traits covary in a non-random manner reflecting interdependencies associated with "ecological strategy" dimensions. To understand how plants integrate their structural and physiological investments, data on leaf and leaflet size and the ratio of leaf area to sapwood area (ΦLS obtained for 1020 individual trees (encompassing 661 species located in 52 tropical forest plots across the Amazon Basin were incorporated into an analysis utilising existing data on species maximum height (Hmax, seed size, leaf mass per unit area (MA, foliar nutrients and δ13C, and branch xylem density (ρx.

    Utilising a common principal components approach allowing eigenvalues to vary between two soil fertility dependent species groups, five taxonomically controlled trait dimensions were identified. The first involves primarily cations, foliar carbon and MA and is associated with differences in foliar construction costs. The second relates to some components of the classic "leaf economic spectrum", but with increased individual leaf areas and a higher ΦLS newly identified components for tropical tree species. The third relates primarily to increasing Hmax and hence variations in light acquisition strategy involving greater MA, reductions in ΦLS and less negative δ13C. Although these first three dimensions were more important for species from high fertility sites the final two dimensions were more important for low fertility species and were associated with variations linked to reproductive and shade tolerance strategies.

    Environmental conditions influenced structural traits with ρx of individual species decreasing with increased soil fertility and higher temperatures. This soil fertility response appears to be synchronised with increases in foliar nutrient

  3. Functional Grammar in the Context of Linguistic Applications in Turkish Language Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epcacan, Cahit

    2013-01-01

    In the last century, language researches adopted the scientific method and linguistics became an autonomous discipline. Linguistics is a framework concept that analyzes all languages in the world in various contexts according to its own rules and draws conclusions using the systematic approach. Functional linguistics is a linguistic trend that…

  4. Toward Systemic Linguistics: A Survey of Studies by G. P. Mel'nikov from 1959 to 1972

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krupatkin, Ja. B.

    1974-01-01

    Mel'nikov's structural and mathematical studies over twelve years are reviewed beginning with studies in automation in linguistic research. It is noted that Mal'nikov is not a pure structuralist because he considers historical, social, and psychological factors to be essential to language. Function, structure and substance are later combined in…

  5. The Actualization of Literary Learning Model Based on Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nur Ihsan Halil

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article is inspired by Howard Gardner's concept of linguistic intelligence and also from some authors' previous writings. All of them became the authors' reference in developing ideas on constructing a literary learning model based on linguistic intelligence. The writing of this article is not done by collecting data empirically, but by developing and constructing an existing concept, namely the concept of linguistic intelligence, which is disseminated into a literature-based learning of verbal-linguistic intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how to apply the literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence. Then, regarding Gardner's concept, the author formulated a literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence through a story-telling learning model with five steps namely arguing, discussing, interpreting, speaking, and writing about literary works. In short, the writer draw a conclusion that learning-based models of verbal-linguistic intelligence can be designed with attention into five components namely (1 definition, (2 characteristics, (3 teaching strategy, (4 final learning outcomes, and (5 figures.

  6. The changing structure and tree composition in the traditionally grazed forests in the parish of Stenbrohult, southern Sweden

    OpenAIRE

    Nilsson, Sven

    2006-01-01

    The formerly grazed forest (utmark) was the dominant land use on most farms in southern Sweden until about 100 years ago. Here I describe the changed structure and tree species composition over time of the utmark on three farms owned by the church in the central part of Stenbrohult. In this area Carl Linnaeus spent his first 20 summers until 1728. The study is based on old forest management plans, other old documents, published and unpublished pollen analyses from 3 small bogs, tree ages on a...

  7. Unexpected pattern of pearl millet genetic diversity among ethno-linguistic groups in the Lake Chad Basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naino Jika, A K; Dussert, Y; Raimond, C; Garine, E; Luxereau, A; Takvorian, N; Djermakoye, R S; Adam, T; Robert, T

    2017-05-01

    Despite of a growing interest in considering the role of sociological factors in seed exchanges and their consequences on the evolutionary dynamics of agro-biodiversity, very few studies assessed the link between ethno-linguistic diversity and genetic diversity patterns in small-holder farming systems. This is key for optimal improvement and conservation of crop genetic resources. Here, we investigated genetic diversity at 17 SSR markers of pearl millet landraces (varieties named by farmers) in the Lake Chad Basin. 69 pearl millet populations, representing 27 landraces collected in eight ethno-linguistic farmer groups, were analyzed. We found that the farmers' local taxonomy was not a good proxy for population's genetic differentiation as previously shown at smaller scales. Our results show the existence of a genetic structure of pearl millet mainly associated with ethno-linguistic diversity in the western side of the lake Chad. It suggests there is a limit to gene flow between landraces grown by different ethno-linguistic groups. This result was rather unexpected, because of the highly outcrossing mating system of pearl millet, the high density of pearl millet fields all along the green belt of this Sahelian area and the fact that seed exchanges among ethno-linguistic groups are known to occur. In the eastern side of the Lake, the pattern of genetic diversity suggests a larger efficient circulation of pearl millet genes between ethno-linguistic groups that are less numerous, spatially intermixed and, for some of them, more prone to exogamy. Finally, other historical and environmental factors which may contribute to the observed diversity patterns are discussed.

  8. A General Overview of Motivation in Linguistics

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王航

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, the term of motivation in linguistics study has aroused the interests of scholars. Different studies of mo -tivation have been produced by different scholars. In this paper, the writer organizes the recent studies on motivation in linguistics. the paper is divided into three parts, the introduction of the term motivation, different types of motivation, and theories of moti -vation.

  9. A note on statistical methods in comparative linguistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cowan, H.K.J.

    1959-01-01

    It is desirable to distinguish between lexicostatistics as a means of proving relationships between languages or linguistic groups not previously known to be related, and glottochronology as a means of measuring the time depths of separations between languages or linguistic groups already known to

  10. Genre and Literacy-Modeling Context in Educational Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, James R.

    1992-01-01

    Complements review in previous volume concerning Australian literacy (in first- and second-language) initiatives that drew on systemic functional linguistics, highlights ongoing research within the same theoretical framework, and focuses on the question of modeling context in educational linguistics. The discussion includes modeling context as…

  11. Multiscale singularity trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Somchaipeng, Kerawit; Sporring, Jon; Johansen, Peter

    2007-01-01

    We propose MultiScale Singularity Trees (MSSTs) as a structure to represent images, and we propose an algorithm for image comparison based on comparing MSSTs. The algorithm is tested on 3 public image databases and compared to 2 state-of-theart methods. We conclude that the computational complexity...... of our algorithm only allows for the comparison of small trees, and that the results of our method are comparable with state-of-the-art using much fewer parameters for image representation....

  12. Linguistic Ethnography, Literacy Teaching and Teacher Training

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dolmer, Grete; Nielsen, Henrik Balle

    in current attempts to research-base teacher education. Lefstein, A. & J. Snell. 2014. Better than best practice. Developing teaching and learning through dialogue. London: Routledge. Keywords: literacy teaching classroom dialogue teacher feedback linguistic ethnography research-based teacher education...... material consists of field notes and video observations from the literacy classroom combined with reflective interviews with the literacy teacher and analyses of pupils’ oral and written texts. Taking a linguistic ethnographic approach, the case study investigates the interplay between teacher, pupil...... eclecticism, openness and systematicity characteristic of a linguistic ethnographic analysis (Lefstein & Snell 2014, 185-86). In the poster, we will focus on emergent data analysis. Our main points of interest are 1) the classroom dialogue between teacher and pupils and 2) the literacy teacher’s assessment...

  13. Linguistic Culture and Essentialism in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephanie Rudwick

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores how language and culture are intertwined and often regarded as “invariable fixed properties” in contemporary South Africa by focusing on one particular indigenous African language group, i.e. isiZulu-speakers. Drawing from general theoretical sociolinguistic approaches to language and culture and considering South Africa’s socio-political history, the paper demonstrates the significance and saliency of Zulu linguistic culture to Zulu people in the post-apartheid state. It is examined, how Zulu linguistic culture is regarded a resource in the isiZulu-speaking community and as one of the most salient tools of in-group identification in the larger contemporary South African society. Zulu people’s culture is profoundly language-embedded and Zulu linguistic culture often based on essentialism.

  14. Analysis of a planetary gear modelled with a contour graph considering the decision making complexity of game-tree structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deptuła Adam

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Analysis and synthesis of mechanisms is one of the fundamental tasks of engineering. Mechanisms can suffer from errors due to versatile reasons. Graph-based methods of analysis and synthesis of planetary gears constitute an alternative method for checking their correctness. Previous applications of the graph theory concerned modelling gears for dynamic analysis, kinematic analysis, synthesis, structural analysis, gearshift optimization and automatic design based on so-called graph grammars. Some tasks may be performed only with the methods resulting from the graph theory, e.g. enumeration of structural solutions. The contour plot method consists in distinguishing a series of consecutive rigid units of the analysed mechanism, forming a closed loop (so-called contour. At a later stage, it is possible to analyze the obtained contour graph as a directed graph of dependence. This work presents an example of the application of game-tree structures in describing the contour graph of a planetary gear. In addition, complex parametric tree structures are included.

  15. A responsible agenda for applied linguistics: Confessions of a philosopher

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albert Weideman

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available When we undertake academic, disciplinary work, we rely on philosophical starting points. Several straightforward illustrations of this can be found in the history of applied linguistics. It is evident from the history of our field that various historically influential approaches to our discipline base themselves upon different academic confessions. This paper examines the effects of basing our applied linguistic work on the idea that applied linguistics is a discipline concerned with design. Such a characterisation does justice to both modernist and postmodernist emphases in applied linguistics. Conceptualisations of applied linguistics that came with the proposals for communicative language teaching (CLT some thirty to forty years ago propelled the discipline squarely into postmodern times. To account for this, we need to develop a theory of applied linguistics which shows what constitutive and regulative conditions exist for doing applied linguistic designs. A responsible agenda for applied linguistics today has as its first responsibility to free the users of its designs from toil and drudgery, as well as from becoming victims of fashion, ideology or theory. Secondly, it should design solutions to language problems in such a way that the technical imagination of the designer is not restricted but supported by theory and empirical investigation, and that the productive pedagogical fantasy of the implementers of such plans is set free. Thirdly, it must seek to become accountable by designing theoretically and socially defensible solutions to language problems, solutions that relieve some of the suffering, pain, poverty and injustice in our world.

  16. Value tree analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keeney, R.; Renn, O.; Winterfeldt, D. von; Kotte, U.

    1985-01-01

    What are the targets and criteria on which national energy policy should be based. What priorities should be set, and how can different social interests be matched. To answer these questions, a new instrument of decision theory is presented which has been applied with good results to controversial political issues in the USA. The new technique is known under the name of value tree analysis. Members of important West German organisations (BDI, VDI, RWE, the Catholic and Protestant Church, Deutscher Naturschutzring, and ecological research institutions) were asked about the goals of their organisations. These goals were then ordered systematically and arranged in a hierarchical tree structure. The value trees of different groups can be combined into a catalogue of social criteria of acceptability and policy assessment. The authors describe the philosophy and methodology of value tree analysis and give an outline of its application in the development of a socially acceptable energy policy. (orig.) [de

  17. First typology of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) systems in Colombian Amazonia, based on tree species richness, canopy structure and light availability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez Salazar, Juan Carlos; Melgarejo, Luz Marina; Di Rienzo, Julio A.; Casanoves, Fernando

    2018-01-01

    Aim and background We present a typology of cacao agroforest systems in Colombian Amazonia. These systems had yet to be described in the literature, especially their potential in terms of biodiversity conservation. The systems studied are located in a post-conflict area, and a deforestation front in Colombian Amazonia. Cacao cropping systems are of key importance in Colombia: cacao plays a prime role in post conflict resolution, as cacao is a legal crop to replace illegal crops; cacao agroforests are expected to be a sustainable practice, promoting forest-friendly land use. Material and methods We worked in 50 x 2000 m2 agroforest plots, in Colombian Amazonia. A cluster analysis was used to build a typology based on 28 variables characterised in each plot, and related to diversity, composition, spatial structure and light availability for the cacao trees. We included variables related to light availability to evaluate the amount of transmitted radiation to the cacao trees in each type, and its suitability for cacao ecophysiological development. Main results We identified 4 types of cacao agroforests based on differences concerning tree species diversity and the impact of canopy spatial structure on light availability for the cacao trees in the understorey. We found 127 tree species in the dataset, with some exclusive species in each type. We also found that 3 out of the 4 types identified displayed an erosion of tree species diversity. This reduction in shade tree species may have been linked to the desire to reduce shade, but we also found that all the types described were compatible with good ecophysiological development of the cacao trees. Main conclusions and prospects Cacao agroforest systems may actually be achieving biodiversity conservation goals in Colombian Amazonia. One challenging prospect will be to monitor and encourage the conservation of tree species diversity in cacao agroforest systems during the development of these cropping systems, as a form of

  18. First typology of cacao (Theobroma cacao L. systems in Colombian Amazonia, based on tree species richness, canopy structure and light availability.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Carlos Suárez Salazar

    Full Text Available We present a typology of cacao agroforest systems in Colombian Amazonia. These systems had yet to be described in the literature, especially their potential in terms of biodiversity conservation. The systems studied are located in a post-conflict area, and a deforestation front in Colombian Amazonia. Cacao cropping systems are of key importance in Colombia: cacao plays a prime role in post conflict resolution, as cacao is a legal crop to replace illegal crops; cacao agroforests are expected to be a sustainable practice, promoting forest-friendly land use.We worked in 50 x 2000 m2 agroforest plots, in Colombian Amazonia. A cluster analysis was used to build a typology based on 28 variables characterised in each plot, and related to diversity, composition, spatial structure and light availability for the cacao trees. We included variables related to light availability to evaluate the amount of transmitted radiation to the cacao trees in each type, and its suitability for cacao ecophysiological development.We identified 4 types of cacao agroforests based on differences concerning tree species diversity and the impact of canopy spatial structure on light availability for the cacao trees in the understorey. We found 127 tree species in the dataset, with some exclusive species in each type. We also found that 3 out of the 4 types identified displayed an erosion of tree species diversity. This reduction in shade tree species may have been linked to the desire to reduce shade, but we also found that all the types described were compatible with good ecophysiological development of the cacao trees.Cacao agroforest systems may actually be achieving biodiversity conservation goals in Colombian Amazonia. One challenging prospect will be to monitor and encourage the conservation of tree species diversity in cacao agroforest systems during the development of these cropping systems, as a form of forest-friendly management enhancing sustainable peace building in

  19. Eurasianism versus IndoGermanism: Linguistics and mythology in the 1930s' controversies over European prehistory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geroulanos, Stefanos; Phillips, Jamie

    2018-06-01

    In 1935, the Russian linguist Prince Nicolai S. Trubetskoi and the French mythologist Georges Dumézil engaged in a vicious debate over a seemingly obscure subject: the structure of Northwest Caucasian languages. Based on unknown archival material in French, German, and Russian, this essay uses the debate as a pathway into the 1930s scientific and political stakes of IndoEuropeanism - the belief that European cultures emerged through the spread of a single IndoEuropean people out of a single "motherland." Each of the two authors held strong commitments to visions of European order and its origins - in "Eurasia" for Trubetskoi and a Northern European Heimat for Dumézil. The North Caucasus, long a privileged site for Russian and European scholars, now became key to the renegotiation of the origins and reach of imagined prehistoric IndoEuropean conquerors, but also the 1930s' debate over the value of different disciplines (linguistics, mythology, archaeology, folklore studies) for the origins of language, myth, and the European deep past. As a moment in the history of modern speculations about prehistory, pursued in the shadow of Nazi scholarship, the debate transformed fields of research - notably linguistics, comparative mythology, and structuralism - and the assumptions about the shape of Europe.

  20. Linguistic Barriers and Bridges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thuesen, Frederik

    2016-01-01

    The influence of language on social capital in low-skill and ethnically diverse workplaces has thus far received very limited attention within the sociology of work. As the ethnically diverse workplace is an important social space for the construction of social relations bridging different social...... groups, the sociology of work needs to develop a better understanding of the way in which linguistic diversity influences the formation of social capital, i.e. resources such as the trust and reciprocity inherent in social relations in such workplaces. Drawing on theories about intergroup contact...... and intercultural communication, this article analyses interviews with 31 employees from two highly ethnically diverse Danish workplaces. The article shows how linguistic barriers such as different levels of majority language competence and their consequent misunderstandings breed mistrust and hostility, whilst...

  1. A practical alternative to single tree selection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gary W. Miller; H. Clay Smith

    1993-01-01

    When landowners want to develop and maintain an uneven-aged tree structure in eastern hardwood stands, single-tree selection often is suggested as the only advisable, long-term partial regeneration harvest method. Single-tree selection is preferred because it provides a means for improving quality and controlling stocking of the residual stand necessary for sustained...

  2. Decision tree methods: applications for classification and prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yan-Yan; Lu, Ying

    2015-04-25

    Decision tree methodology is a commonly used data mining method for establishing classification systems based on multiple covariates or for developing prediction algorithms for a target variable. This method classifies a population into branch-like segments that construct an inverted tree with a root node, internal nodes, and leaf nodes. The algorithm is non-parametric and can efficiently deal with large, complicated datasets without imposing a complicated parametric structure. When the sample size is large enough, study data can be divided into training and validation datasets. Using the training dataset to build a decision tree model and a validation dataset to decide on the appropriate tree size needed to achieve the optimal final model. This paper introduces frequently used algorithms used to develop decision trees (including CART, C4.5, CHAID, and QUEST) and describes the SPSS and SAS programs that can be used to visualize tree structure.

  3. Can delusions be understood linguistically?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana; McKenna, Peter

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Delusions are widely believed to reflect disturbed cognitive function, but the nature of this remains elusive. The “un-Cartesian” cognitive-linguistic hypothesis maintains (a) that there is no thought separate from language, that is, there is no distinct mental space removed from language where “thinking” takes place; and (b) that a somewhat broadened concept of grammar is responsible for bestowing meaning on propositions, and this among other things gives them their quality of being true or false. It is argued that a loss of propositional meaning explains why delusions are false, impossible and sometimes fantastic. A closely related abnormality, failure of linguistic embedding, can additionally account for why delusions are held with fixed conviction and are not adequately justified by the patient. The un-Cartesian linguistic approach to delusions has points of contact with Frith’s theory that inability to form meta-representations underlies a range of schizophrenic symptoms. It may also be relevant to the nature of the “second factor” in monothematic delusions in neurological disease. Finally, it can inform the current debate about whether or not delusions really are beliefs. PMID:27322493

  4. Linguistic Features of Humor in Academic Writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen Skalicky

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available A corpus of 313 freshman college essays was analyzed in order to better understand the forms and functions of humor in academic writing. Human ratings of humor and wordplay were statistically aggregated using Factor Analysis to provide an overall Humor component score for each essay in the corpus. In addition, the essays were also scored for overall writing quality by human raters, which correlated (r = .195 with the humor component score. Correlations between the humor component scores and linguistic features were examined. To investigate the potential for linguistic features to predict the Humor component scores, regression analysis identified four linguistic indices that accounted for approximately 17.5% of the variance in humor scores. These indices were related to text descriptiveness (i.e., more adjective and adverb use, lower cohesion (i.e., less paragraph-to-paragraph similarity, and lexical sophistication (lower word frequency. The findings suggest that humor can be partially predicted by linguistic features in the text. Furthermore, there was a small but significant correlation between the humor and essay quality scores, suggesting a positive relation between humor and writing quality. Keywords: humor, academic writing, text analysis, essay score, human rating

  5. Ecological Importance of Small-Diameter Trees to the Structure, Diversity and Biomass of a Tropical Evergreen Forest at Rabi, Gabon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Memiaghe, Hervé R; Lutz, James A; Korte, Lisa; Alonso, Alfonso; Kenfack, David

    2016-01-01

    Tropical forests have long been recognized for their biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their importance, tropical forests, and particularly those of central Africa, remain understudied. Until recently, most forest inventories in Central Africa have focused on trees ≥10 cm in diameter, even though several studies have shown that small-diameter tree population may be important to demographic rates and nutrient cycling. To determine the ecological importance of small-diameter trees in central African forests, we used data from a 25-ha permanent plot that we established in the rainforest of Gabon to study the diversity and dynamics of these forests. Within the plot, we censused 175,830 trees ≥1 cm dbh from 54 families, 192 genera, and 345 species. Average tree density was 7,026 trees/ha, basal area 31.64 m2/ha, and above-ground biomass 369.40 Mg/ha. Fabaceae, Ebenaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most important families by basal area, density and above-ground biomass. Small-diameter trees (1 cm ≥ dbh tree population, 16.5% of basal area, and 4.8% of the above-ground biomass. They also had diversity 18% higher at family level, 34% higher at genus level, and 42% higher at species level than trees ≥10 cm dbh. Although the relative contribution of small-diameter trees to biomass was comparable to other forests globally, their contribution to forest density, and diversity was disproportionately higher. The high levels of diversity within small-diameter classes may give these forests high levels of structural resilience to anthropogenic/natural disturbance and a changing climate.

  6. Ethical orientation, functional linguistics, and the codes of ethics of the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Medical Association.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadjistavropoulos, Thomas; Malloy, David C; Douaud, Patrick; Smythe, William E

    2002-09-01

    The literature on codes of ethics suggests that grammatical and linguistic structures as well as the theoretical ethical orientation conveyed in codes of ethics have implications for the manner in which such codes are received by those bound by them. Certain grammatical and linguistic structures, for example, tend to have an authoritarian and disempowering impact while others can be empowering. The authors analyze and compare the codes of ethics of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in terms of their ethical orientation and grammatical/linguistic structures. The results suggest that the two codes differ substantially along these two dimensions. The CNA code contains proportionally more statements that provide a rationale for ethical behaviour; the statements of the CMA code tend to be more dogmatic. Functional grammar analysis suggests that both codes convey a strong deontological tone that does not enhance the addressee's ability to engage in discretionary decision-making. The nurses' code nonetheless implies a collaborative relationship with the client, whereas the medical code implies that the patient is the recipient of medical wisdom. The implications of these findings are discussed.

  7. Probabilistic Linguistic Power Aggregation Operators for Multi-Criteria Group Decision Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agbodah Kobina

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available As an effective aggregation tool, power average (PA allows the input arguments being aggregated to support and reinforce each other, which provides more versatility in the information aggregation process. Under the probabilistic linguistic term environment, we deeply investigate the new power aggregation (PA operators for fusing the probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs. In this paper, we firstly develop the probabilistic linguistic power average (PLPA, the weighted probabilistic linguistic power average (WPLPA operators, the probabilistic linguistic power geometric (PLPG and the weighted probabilistic linguistic power geometric (WPLPG operators. At the same time, we carefully analyze the properties of these new aggregation operators. With the aid of the WPLPA and WPLPG operators, we further design the approaches for the application of multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM with PLTSs. Finally, we use an illustrated example to expound our proposed methods and verify their performances.

  8. A Third Revolution in Linguistics: The Interplay between the Verbal and Non-Verbal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jun

    2009-01-01

    This article regards Saussure's social, static and structural perspective and Chomsky's individual, generative and formal perspective as two revolutions in linguistics in the 20th century. A third revolution is already on the way. This is characterised by considering the individual's mental mechanisms in relation to the interplay between verbal…

  9. A frequency-based linguistic approach to protein decoding and design: Simple concepts, diverse applications, and the SCS Package

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motomura, Kenta; Nakamura, Morikazu; Otaki, Joji M.

    2013-01-01

    Protein structure and function information is coded in amino acid sequences. However, the relationship between primary sequences and three-dimensional structures and functions remains enigmatic. Our approach to this fundamental biochemistry problem is based on the frequencies of short constituent sequences (SCSs) or words. A protein amino acid sequence is considered analogous to an English sentence, where SCSs are equivalent to words. Availability scores, which are defined as real SCS frequencies in the non-redundant amino acid database relative to their probabilistically expected frequencies, demonstrate the biological usage bias of SCSs. As a result, this frequency-based linguistic approach is expected to have diverse applications, such as secondary structure specifications by structure-specific SCSs and immunological adjuvants with rare or non-existent SCSs. Linguistic similarities (e.g., wide ranges of scale-free distributions) and dissimilarities (e.g., behaviors of low-rank samples) between proteins and the natural English language have been revealed in the rank-frequency relationships of SCSs or words. We have developed a web server, the SCS Package, which contains five applications for analyzing protein sequences based on the linguistic concept. These tools have the potential to assist researchers in deciphering structurally and functionally important protein sites, species-specific sequences, and functional relationships between SCSs. The SCS Package also provides researchers with a tool to construct amino acid sequences de novo based on the idiomatic usage of SCSs. PMID:24688703

  10. A FREQUENCY-BASED LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO PROTEIN DECODING AND DESIGN: SIMPLE CONCEPTS, DIVERSE APPLICATIONS, AND THE SCS PACKAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenta Motomura

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Protein structure and function information is coded in amino acid sequences. However, the relationship between primary sequences and three-dimensional structures and functions remains enigmatic. Our approach to this fundamental biochemistry problem is based on the frequencies of short constituent sequences (SCSs or words. A protein amino acid sequence is considered analogous to an English sentence, where SCSs are equivalent to words. Availability scores, which are defined as real SCS frequencies in the non-redundant amino acid database relative to their probabilistically expected frequencies, demonstrate the biological usage bias of SCSs. As a result, this frequency-based linguistic approach is expected to have diverse applications, such as secondary structure specifications by structure-specific SCSs and immunological adjuvants with rare or non-existent SCSs. Linguistic similarities (e.g., wide ranges of scale-free distributions and dissimilarities (e.g., behaviors of low-rank samples between proteins and the natural English language have been revealed in the rank-frequency relationships of SCSs or words. We have developed a web server, the SCS Package, which contains five applications for analyzing protein sequences based on the linguistic concept. These tools have the potential to assist researchers in deciphering structurally and functionally important protein sites, species-specific sequences, and functional relationships between SCSs. The SCS Package also provides researchers with a tool to construct amino acid sequences de novo based on the idiomatic usage of SCSs.

  11. Modeling and analysis of horizontal structure of a mixed tree stands (on example of sample plots in the «Bastak» nature reserve in the Middle Amur river area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. N. Kolobov

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The results of the research model and real data spatial distribution of trees in single-species, ages and mixed stands are studied. Modeling of the horizontal structure of the stand was based on a computer simulation model. Investigation of the horizontal structure of the stand allows drawing of conclusions about the processes of intraspecific and interspecific competition. It is shown that the model used to generate spatial data model reflects the basic mechanisms of stacked-mosaic structure of the stand, which is observed in natural communities. It allows future use of this model to study the characteristics of the formation of the spatial structure of mixed forest communities, developing under the influence of internal (competition and external (logging, windfalls, herbivores, etc. factors. Statistical analysis of the tree spatial distribution for shade-tolerant and light-loving species relative to each other showed that, on average, around an arbitrarily chosen shade-tolerant tree species, there is an area within which the opportunity to meet the tree light-loving species is less than it would be under their random placement. Around an arbitrarily chosen «large» tree of shade-tolerant species there is an area within which the opportunity to meet the «small» or «medium» light-loving tree species is less than would have been at their random placement. It is shown that the mutual arrangement of «large» light-loving trees and «small», «medium» shade-tolerant trees is no different from a random allocation. As a result of competitive processes of spatial arrangement for light-loving tree species is determined by the placement of shade-tolerant trees. Location of light-loving trees does not affect the location of shade-tolerant trees. The relative placement of different types of shade-tolerant trees, especially spruce, fir and pine, are independent of each other.

  12. Differences in the impacts of formal and informal recreational trails on urban forest loss and tree structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballantyne, Mark; Pickering, Catherine Marina

    2015-08-15

    Recreational trails are one of the most common types of infrastructure used for nature-based activities such as hiking and mountain biking worldwide. Depending on their design, location, construction, maintenance and use, these trails differ in their environmental impacts. There are few studies, however, comparing the impacts of different trail types including between formal management-created trails and informal visitor-created trails. Although both types of trails can be found in remote natural areas, dense networks of them often occur in forests close to cities where they experience intense visitor use. To assess the relative impacts of different recreational trails in urban forests, we compared the condition of the trail surface, loss of forest strata and changes in tree structure caused by seven types of trails (total network 46.1 km) traversing 17 remnants of an endangered urban forest in Australia. After mapping and classifying all trails, we assessed their impact on the forest condition at 125 sites (15 sites per trail type, plus 15 control sites within undisturbed forest). On the trail sites, the condition of the trail surface, distance from the trail edge to four forest strata (litter, understory, midstorey and tree cover) and structure of the tree-line were assessed. Informal trails generally had poorer surface conditions and were poorly-designed and located. Per site, formal and informal trails resulted in similar loss of forest strata, with wider trails resulting in greater loss of forest. Because there were more informal trails, however, they accounted for the greatest cumulative forest loss. Structural impacts varied, with the widest informal trails and all formal hardened trails resulting in similar reductions in canopy cover and tree density but an increase in saplings. These structural impacts are likely a function of the unregulated and intense use of large informal trails, and disturbance from the construction and maintenance of formal trails

  13. A Python Library for Historical Comparative Linguistics

    OpenAIRE

    Moran , Steven; List , Johann-Mattis

    2012-01-01

    Awarded best paper award; International audience; In this talk we will discuss a European Research Council funded collaborative effort to build a Python library for undertaking academic research in historical-comparative linguistics. Our aim of implementing quantitative methods, specifically in Python, is to transform historical-comparative linguistics from a primarily handcrafted scientific scholarly endeavor, performed by individual researchers, into a quantitative and collaborative field o...

  14. Linguistic relativity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Phillip; Holmes, Kevin J

    2011-05-01

    The central question in research on linguistic relativity, or the Whorfian hypothesis, is whether people who speak different languages think differently. The recent resurgence of research on this question can be attributed, in part, to new insights about the ways in which language might impact thought. We identify seven categories of hypotheses about the possible effects of language on thought across a wide range of domains, including motion, color, spatial relations, number, and false belief understanding. While we do not find support for the idea that language determines the basic categories of thought or that it overwrites preexisting conceptual distinctions, we do find support for the proposal that language can make some distinctions difficult to avoid, as well as for the proposal that language can augment certain types of thinking. Further, we highlight recent evidence suggesting that language may induce a relatively schematic mode of thinking. Although the literature on linguistic relativity remains contentious, there is growing support for the view that language has a profound effect on thought. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 253-265 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.104 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. The Linguistic and Embodied Nature of Conceptual Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Louwerse, Max M.; Jeuniaux, Patrick

    2010-01-01

    Recent theories of cognition have argued that embodied experience is important for conceptual processing. Embodiment can be contrasted with linguistic factors such as the typical order in which words appear in language. Here, we report four experiments that investigated the conditions under which embodiment and linguistic factors determine…

  16. Breaking Classroom Silences: A View from Linguistic Ethnography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rampton, Ben; Charalambous, Constadina

    2016-01-01

    This paper addresses potentially problematic classroom episodes in which someone foregrounds a social division that is normally taken for granted. It illustrates the way in which linguistic ethnography can unpack the layered processes that collide in the breaking of silence, showing how linguistic form and practice, individual positioning, local…

  17. An improved spatial contour tree constructed method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yi; Zhang, Ling; Guilbert, Eric; Long, Yi

    2018-05-01

    Contours are important data to delineate the landform on a map. A contour tree provides an object-oriented description of landforms and can be used to enrich the topological information. The traditional contour tree is used to store topological relationships between contours in a hierarchical structure and allows for the identification of eminences and depressions as sets of nested contours. This research proposes an improved contour tree so-called spatial contour tree that contains not only the topological but also the geometric information. It can be regarded as a terrain skeleton in 3-dimention, and it is established based on the spatial nodes of contours which have the latitude, longitude and elevation information. The spatial contour tree is built by connecting spatial nodes from low to high elevation for a positive landform, and from high to low elevation for a negative landform to form a hierarchical structure. The connection between two spatial nodes can provide the real distance and direction as a Euclidean vector in 3-dimention. In this paper, the construction method is tested in the experiment, and the results are discussed. The proposed hierarchical structure is in 3-demintion and can show the skeleton inside a terrain. The structure, where all nodes have geo-information, can be used to distinguish different landforms and applied for contour generalization with consideration of geographic characteristics.

  18. Gradual linguistic summaries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilbik, A.M.; Kaymak, U.; Laurent, A.; Strauss, O.; Bouchon-Meunier, xx

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we propose a new type of protoform-based linguistic summary – the gradual summary. This new type of summaries aims in capturing the change over some time span. Such summaries can be useful in many domains, for instance in economics, e.g., "prices of X are getting smaller" in eldercare,

  19. Cross-linguistic perspectives on speech assessment in cleft palate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Willadsen, Elisabeth; Henningsson, Gunilla

    2012-01-01

    . Finally, the influence of different languages on some aspects of language acquisition in young children with cleft palate is presented and discussed. Until recently, not much has been written about cross linguistic perspectives when dealing with cleft palate speech. Most literature about assessment......This chapter deals with cross linguistic perspectives that need to be taken into account when comparing speech assessment and speech outcome obtained from cleft palate speakers of different languages. Firstly, an overview of consonants and vowels vulnerable to the cleft condition is presented. Then......, consequences for assessment of cleft palate speech by native versus non-native speakers of a language are discussed, as well as the use of phonemic versus phonetic transcription in cross linguistic studies. Specific recommendations for the construction of speech samples in cross linguistic studies are given...

  20. A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

    2006-01-01

    As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed.......As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...

  1. The gravity apple tree

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aldama, Mariana Espinosa

    2015-01-01

    The gravity apple tree is a genealogical tree of the gravitation theories developed during the past century. The graphic representation is full of information such as guides in heuristic principles, names of main proponents, dates and references for original articles (See under Supplementary Data for the graphic representation). This visual presentation and its particular classification allows a quick synthetic view for a plurality of theories, many of them well validated in the Solar System domain. Its diachronic structure organizes information in a shape of a tree following similarities through a formal concept analysis. It can be used for educational purposes or as a tool for philosophical discussion. (paper)

  2. A Brief History of the 19th-century Historical and Comparative Linguistics

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    郭丽娟

    2016-01-01

    In a broad sense Linguistics boasts a history as long as the history of writing. Knowledge of linguistics involves its history. And a history of linguistics is related to the origin of human language. Language is one of the most wonderful phenomena in human ’s social life. This paper introduce a brief history of historical and comparative linguistics in 19th–century.

  3. SYMMETRICAL (AND GENERIC) ALGORITHMS FOR HEIGHT BALANCED TREES

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    BRON, C

    1990-01-01

    Most algorithms for height balanced trees (or AVL-trees, after Adelson-Velskii and Landis [1]) suffer from a lack of exploitation of the symmetry of balance restoring operations when insertions and deletions in such tree structures are being made. Either we find algorithms in duplicate (i.e.,

  4. Toward a theory of statistical tree-shape analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feragen, Aasa; Lo, Pechin Chien Pau; de Bruijne, Marleen

    2013-01-01

    In order to develop statistical methods for shapes with a tree-structure, we construct a shape space framework for tree-shapes and study metrics on the shape space. This shape space has singularities, which correspond to topological transitions in the represented trees. We study two closely relat...

  5. Tree Hydraulics: How Sap Rises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denny, Mark

    2012-01-01

    Trees transport water from roots to crown--a height that can exceed 100 m. The physics of tree hydraulics can be conveyed with simple fluid dynamics based upon the Hagen-Poiseuille equation and Murray's law. Here the conduit structure is modelled as conical pipes and as branching pipes. The force required to lift sap is generated mostly by…

  6. An Analysis of Social Class Classification Based on Linguistic Variables

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    QU Xia-sha

    2016-01-01

    Since language is an influential tool in social interaction, the relationship of speech and social factors, such as social class, gender, even age is worth studying. People employ different linguistic variables to imply their social class, status and iden-tity in the social interaction. Thus the linguistic variation involves vocabulary, sounds, grammatical constructions, dialects and so on. As a result, a classification of social class draws people’s attention. Linguistic variable in speech interactions indicate the social relationship between people. This paper attempts to illustrate three main linguistic variables which influence the social class, and further sociolinguistic studies need to be more concerned about.

  7. Building "Applied Linguistic Historiography": Rationale, Scope, and Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Richard

    2016-01-01

    In this article I argue for the establishment of "Applied Linguistic Historiography" (ALH), that is, a new domain of enquiry within applied linguistics involving a rigorous, scholarly, and self-reflexive approach to historical research. Considering issues of rationale, scope, and methods in turn, I provide reasons why ALH is needed and…

  8. Tree Climbing Robot Design, Kinematics and Motion Planning

    CERN Document Server

    Lam, Tin Lun

    2012-01-01

    Climbing robot is a challenging research topic that has gained much attention from researchers. Most of the robots reported in the literature are designed to climb on manmade structures, but seldom robots are designed for climbing natural environment such as trees. Trees and manmade structures are very different in nature. It brings different aspects of technical challenges to the robot design. In this book, you can find a collection of the cutting edge technologies in the field of tree-climbing robot and the ways that animals climb. It provides a valuable reference for robot designers to select appropriate climbing methods in designing tree-climbing robots for specific purposes. Based on the study, a novel bio-inspired tree-climbing robot with several breakthrough performances has been developed and presents in this book. It is capable of performing various actions that is impossible in the state-of-the-art tree-climbing robots, such as moving between trunk and branches. This book also proposes several appro...

  9. The spectral dimension of random trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Destri, Claudio; Donetti, Luca

    2002-01-01

    We present a simple yet rigorous approach to the determination of the spectral dimension of random trees, based on the study of the massless limit of the Gaussian model on such trees. As a by-product, we obtain evidence in favour of a new scaling hypothesis for the Gaussian model on generic bounded graphs and in favour of a previously conjectured exact relation between spectral and connectivity dimensions on more general tree-like structures

  10. Tank waste remediation system architecture tree

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    PECK, L.G.

    1999-01-01

    The TWRS Architecture Tree presented in this document is a hierarchical breakdown to support the TWRS systems engineering analysis of the TWRS physical system, including facilities, hardware and software. The purpose for this systems engineering architecture tree is to describe and communicate the system's selected and existing architecture, to provide a common structure to improve the integration of work and resulting products, and to provide a framework as a basis for TWRS Specification Tree development

  11. Tree species composition and structure in an old bottomland hardwood forest in south-central Arkansas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brian Roy Lockhart; James M. Guldin; Thomas Foti

    2010-01-01

    Tree species composition and structure was determined for an old bottomland hardwood forest located in the Moro Creek Bottoms Natural Area in south-central Arkansas. Diversity for this forest was high with species richness ranging from 33 for the overstory and sapling strata to 26 for the seedling stratum and Shannon-Weiner values of 2.54 to 1.02 for the overstory and...

  12. A Linguistic Analysis of Suicide-Related Twitter Posts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Dea, Bridianne; Larsen, Mark E; Batterham, Philip J; Calear, Alison L; Christensen, Helen

    2017-09-01

    Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Identifying those at risk and delivering timely interventions is challenging. Social media site Twitter is used to express suicidality. Automated linguistic analysis of suicide-related posts may help to differentiate those who require support or intervention from those who do not. This study aims to characterize the linguistic profiles of suicide-related Twitter posts. Using a dataset of suicide-related Twitter posts previously coded for suicide risk by experts, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and regression analyses were conducted to determine differences in linguistic profiles. When compared with matched non-suicide-related Twitter posts, strongly concerning suicide-related posts were characterized by a higher word count, increased use of first-person pronouns, and more references to death. When compared with safe-to-ignore suicide-related posts, strongly concerning suicide-related posts were characterized by increased use of first-person pronouns, greater anger, and increased focus on the present. Other differences were found. The predictive validity of the identified features needs further testing before these results can be used for interventional purposes. This study demonstrates that strongly concerning suicide-related Twitter posts have unique linguistic profiles. The examination of Twitter data for the presence of such features may help to validate online risk assessments and determine those in need of further support or intervention.

  13. Knowing linguistic conventions | Robinson | South African Journal of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    These are three standard accounts of the epistemic status of linguistic conventions, which all play into the first camp: (1) knowledge by intuition, (2) inferential a priori knowledge and (3) a posteriori knowledge. I give reasons why these accounts should be rejected. I then argue that linguistic conventions, if conceived of as ...

  14. Resources on Quantitative/Statistical Research for Applied Linguists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, James Dean

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of this review article is to survey and evaluate existing books on quantitative/statistical research in applied linguistics. The article begins by explaining the types of texts that will not be reviewed, then it briefly describes nine books that address how to do quantitative/statistical applied linguistics research. The review then…

  15. Abnormal motor cortex excitability during linguistic tasks in adductor-type spasmodic dysphonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suppa, A; Marsili, L; Giovannelli, F; Di Stasio, F; Rocchi, L; Upadhyay, N; Ruoppolo, G; Cincotta, M; Berardelli, A

    2015-08-01

    In healthy subjects (HS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied during 'linguistic' tasks discloses excitability changes in the dominant hemisphere primary motor cortex (M1). We investigated 'linguistic' task-related cortical excitability modulation in patients with adductor-type spasmodic dysphonia (ASD), a speech-related focal dystonia. We studied 10 ASD patients and 10 HS. Speech examination included voice cepstral analysis. We investigated the dominant/non-dominant M1 excitability at baseline, during 'linguistic' (reading aloud/silent reading/producing simple phonation) and 'non-linguistic' tasks (looking at non-letter strings/producing oral movements). Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the contralateral hand muscles. We measured the cortical silent period (CSP) length and tested MEPs in HS and patients performing the 'linguistic' tasks with different voice intensities. We also examined MEPs in HS and ASD during hand-related 'action-verb' observation. Patients were studied under and not-under botulinum neurotoxin-type A (BoNT-A). In HS, TMS over the dominant M1 elicited larger MEPs during 'reading aloud' than during the other 'linguistic'/'non-linguistic' tasks. Conversely, in ASD, TMS over the dominant M1 elicited increased-amplitude MEPs during 'reading aloud' and 'syllabic phonation' tasks. CSP length was shorter in ASD than in HS and remained unchanged in both groups performing 'linguistic'/'non-linguistic' tasks. In HS and ASD, 'linguistic' task-related excitability changes were present regardless of the different voice intensities. During hand-related 'action-verb' observation, MEPs decreased in HS, whereas in ASD they increased. In ASD, BoNT-A improved speech, as demonstrated by cepstral analysis and restored the TMS abnormalities. ASD reflects dominant hemisphere excitability changes related to 'linguistic' tasks; BoNT-A returns these excitability changes to normal. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John

  16. Structural analysis of polarizing indels: an emerging consensus on the root of the tree of life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bourne Philip E

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The root of the tree of life has been a holy grail ever since Darwin first used the tree as a metaphor for evolution. New methods seek to narrow down the location of the root by excluding it from branches of the tree of life. This is done by finding traits that must be derived, and excluding the root from the taxa those traits cover. However the two most comprehensive attempts at this strategy, performed by Cavalier-Smith and Lake et al., have excluded each other's rootings. Results The indel polarizations of Lake et al. rely on high quality alignments between paralogs that diverged before the last universal common ancestor (LUCA. Therefore, sequence alignment artifacts may skew their conclusions. We have reviewed their data using protein structure information where available. Several of the conclusions are quite different when viewed in the light of structure which is conserved over longer evolutionary time scales than sequence. We argue there is no polarization that excludes the root from all Gram-negatives, and that polarizations robustly exclude the root from the Archaea. Conclusion We conclude that there is no contradiction between the polarization datasets. The combination of these datasets excludes the root from every possible position except near the Chloroflexi. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Greg Fournier (nominated by J. Peter Gogarten, Purificación López-García, and Eugene Koonin.

  17. Language as a whole - A new framework for linguistic knowledge integration. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by Cong and Liu

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xinying

    2014-12-01

    Researchers have been talking about the language system theoretically for many years [1]. A well accepted assumption is that language is a complex adaptive system [2] which is hierarchical [3] and contains multiple levels along the meaning-form dimension [4]. Over the last decade or so, driven by the availability of digital language data and the popularity of statistical approach, many researchers interested in theoretical questions have started to try to quantitatively describe microscopic linguistic features in a certain level of a language system by using authentic language data. Despite the fruitful findings, one question remains unclear. That is, how does a whole language system look like? For answering this question, network approach, an analysis method emphasizes the macro features of structures, has been introduced into linguistic studies [5]. By analyzing the static and dynamic linguistics networks constructed from authentic language data, many macro and micro linguistic features, such as lexical, syntactic or semantic features have been discovered and successfully applied in linguistic typographical studies so that the huge potential of linguistic networks research has revealed [6].

  18. Expressive Power of Tree and String Based Wrappers

    OpenAIRE

    Ikeda, Daisuke; Yamada, Yasuhiro; Hirokawa, Sachio

    2003-01-01

    There exist two types of wrappers: the string based wrapper such as the LR wrapper, and the tree based wrapper. A tree based wrapper designates extraction regions by nodes on the trees of semistructured documents. The tree based wrapper seems to be more powerful than the string based one. There exist, however, manyHTML documents on the Web such that a standard tree based wrapper fails to extract contents because they are structured by presentational tags, punctuation symbols, and white spaces...

  19. Brand names of Portuguese medication: understanding the importance of their linguistic structure and regulatory issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pires, Carla; Vigário, Marina; Cavaco, Afonso

    2015-08-01

    Among other regulatory requirements, medicine brands should be composed of single names without abbreviations to prevent errors in prescription of medication. The purposes of the study were to investigate the compliance of a sam ple of Portuguese medicine brand names with Portuguese pharmaceutical regulations. This includes identifying their basic linguistic characteristics and comparing these features and their frequency of occurrence with benchmark values of the colloquial or informal language. A sample of 474 brand names was selected. Names were analyzed using manual (visual analyses) and computer methods (FreP - Frequency Patterns of Phonological Objects in Portuguese and MS word). A significant number of names (61.3%) failed to comply with the Portuguese phonologic system (related to the sound of words) and/or the spelling system (related to the written form of words) contained more than one word, comprised a high proportion of infrequent syllable types or stress patterns and included abbreviations. The results suggest that some of the brand names of Portuguese medication should be reevaluated, and that regulation on this issue should be enforced and updated, taking into consideration specific linguistic and spelling codes.

  20. LINGUISTIC FEATURES ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH ELECTRONIC COMMERCE WEBSITES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siti Nurani

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This research aims at identifying linguistic features used in the English electronic commerce websites used in correlation with the field, tenor and mode of discourse as parts of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL approach. Findings have shown that in the field of discourse, the linguistic features are largely appeared in the experiential domain analysis which shows that all terms of registers function as technical terms, of which the two major forms of nouns and verbs were the most frequent categories among other kinds of technical terms. The goal orientation is considered to be as a long term and the social activity is exchange. In the tenor of discourse, the linguistic features are highly appeared in the social distance analysis which shows that the social distance between participants is considered minimal. The agentive role is said to be equal and the social role is considered as non-hierarchic. In the mode of discourse, the linguistic features are excessively occurred in the language role analysis which exists equally of both constitutive and ancillary. The channel is in graphic mode. The medium is in written with a visual contact as its device.

  1. The Linguistic Landscape as a Learning Space for Contextual Language Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aladjem, Ruthi; Jou, Bibiana

    2016-01-01

    One of the challenges of teaching and learning a foreign language is that students are not being sufficiently exposed to the target language. However, it is quite common to find linguistic and cultural exponents of different foreign languages in authentic contexts (termed the "Linguistic landscape"). Using the Linguistic landscape as a…

  2. Mapping the Linguistic Landscape of Athens: The Case of Shop Signs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nikolaou, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    This paper focuses on the linguistic composition of commercial signs in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Athens, Greece. Previous studies have mainly been carried out in officially multilingual and multi-ethnic areas [Ben-Rafael, E., Shohamy, E., Amara, M. H., & Trumper-Hecht, N. (2006). "Linguistic landscape as symbolic construction of…

  3. Early Detection of Cognitive-Linguistic Change Associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleming, Valarie B.

    2014-01-01

    Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may present with subtle declines in linguistic ability that go undetected by tasks not challenging enough to tax a relatively intact cognitive-linguistic system. This study was designed to replicate and extend a previous study of cognitive-linguistic ability in MCI using a complex discourse…

  4. Linguistic & Rhetorical Paradigm as Innovative Theoretical Methodological Platform of Studying Discursive Processes of East Slavic and Western Cultures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Аlexandra A. Vorozhbitova

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper suggests studying conceptual models and mechanisms of linguistic consciousness of East Slavic and Western cultures with the application of the theoretical methodological approach of Linguistic & Rhetorical (L&R Paradigm as an integrative philological trend of an innovative type. The L&R Paradigm rests on the intersection of three categorical dimensions: ideological aspects of a speech event (ethos, logos, pathos; stages of universal cycle of idea-into-speech transformation (invention, disposition, elocution as a technology of discursive processes; levels of the structure of a linguistic personality as a discourse producer and ideology bearer (associative verbal network, thesaurus, pragmatic field. Hence, the article proposes three groups of L&R parameters of studying speech and thinking phenomena: ethos-motivational-dispositional; logos-thesaurus-inventional; pathos-verbal-elocutionary.

  5. Analyzing and synthesizing phylogenies using tree alignment graphs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen A Smith

    Full Text Available Phylogenetic trees are used to analyze and visualize evolution. However, trees can be imperfect datatypes when summarizing multiple trees. This is especially problematic when accommodating for biological phenomena such as horizontal gene transfer, incomplete lineage sorting, and hybridization, as well as topological conflict between datasets. Additionally, researchers may want to combine information from sets of trees that have partially overlapping taxon sets. To address the problem of analyzing sets of trees with conflicting relationships and partially overlapping taxon sets, we introduce methods for aligning, synthesizing and analyzing rooted phylogenetic trees within a graph, called a tree alignment graph (TAG. The TAG can be queried and analyzed to explore uncertainty and conflict. It can also be synthesized to construct trees, presenting an alternative to supertrees approaches. We demonstrate these methods with two empirical datasets. In order to explore uncertainty, we constructed a TAG of the bootstrap trees from the Angiosperm Tree of Life project. Analysis of the resulting graph demonstrates that areas of the dataset that are unresolved in majority-rule consensus tree analyses can be understood in more detail within the context of a graph structure, using measures incorporating node degree and adjacency support. As an exercise in synthesis (i.e., summarization of a TAG constructed from the alignment trees, we also construct a TAG consisting of the taxonomy and source trees from a recent comprehensive bird study. We synthesized this graph into a tree that can be reconstructed in a repeatable fashion and where the underlying source information can be updated. The methods presented here are tractable for large scale analyses and serve as a basis for an alternative to consensus tree and supertree methods. Furthermore, the exploration of these graphs can expose structures and patterns within the dataset that are otherwise difficult to

  6. Analyzing and synthesizing phylogenies using tree alignment graphs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Stephen A; Brown, Joseph W; Hinchliff, Cody E

    2013-01-01

    Phylogenetic trees are used to analyze and visualize evolution. However, trees can be imperfect datatypes when summarizing multiple trees. This is especially problematic when accommodating for biological phenomena such as horizontal gene transfer, incomplete lineage sorting, and hybridization, as well as topological conflict between datasets. Additionally, researchers may want to combine information from sets of trees that have partially overlapping taxon sets. To address the problem of analyzing sets of trees with conflicting relationships and partially overlapping taxon sets, we introduce methods for aligning, synthesizing and analyzing rooted phylogenetic trees within a graph, called a tree alignment graph (TAG). The TAG can be queried and analyzed to explore uncertainty and conflict. It can also be synthesized to construct trees, presenting an alternative to supertrees approaches. We demonstrate these methods with two empirical datasets. In order to explore uncertainty, we constructed a TAG of the bootstrap trees from the Angiosperm Tree of Life project. Analysis of the resulting graph demonstrates that areas of the dataset that are unresolved in majority-rule consensus tree analyses can be understood in more detail within the context of a graph structure, using measures incorporating node degree and adjacency support. As an exercise in synthesis (i.e., summarization of a TAG constructed from the alignment trees), we also construct a TAG consisting of the taxonomy and source trees from a recent comprehensive bird study. We synthesized this graph into a tree that can be reconstructed in a repeatable fashion and where the underlying source information can be updated. The methods presented here are tractable for large scale analyses and serve as a basis for an alternative to consensus tree and supertree methods. Furthermore, the exploration of these graphs can expose structures and patterns within the dataset that are otherwise difficult to observe.

  7. Good-enough linguistic representations and online cognitive equilibrium in language processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karimi, Hossein; Ferreira, Fernanda

    2016-01-01

    We review previous research showing that representations formed during language processing are sometimes just "good enough" for the task at hand and propose the "online cognitive equilibrium" hypothesis as the driving force behind the formation of good-enough representations in language processing. Based on this view, we assume that the language comprehension system by default prefers to achieve as early as possible and remain as long as possible in a state of cognitive equilibrium where linguistic representations are successfully incorporated with existing knowledge structures (i.e., schemata) so that a meaningful and coherent overall representation is formed, and uncertainty is resolved or at least minimized. We also argue that the online equilibrium hypothesis is consistent with current theories of language processing, which maintain that linguistic representations are formed through a complex interplay between simple heuristics and deep syntactic algorithms and also theories that hold that linguistic representations are often incomplete and lacking in detail. We also propose a model of language processing that makes use of both heuristic and algorithmic processing, is sensitive to online cognitive equilibrium, and, we argue, is capable of explaining the formation of underspecified representations. We review previous findings providing evidence for underspecification in relation to this hypothesis and the associated language processing model and argue that most of these findings are compatible with them.

  8. Reflections on Mixing Methods in Applied Linguistics Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashemi, Mohammad R.

    2012-01-01

    This commentary advocates the use of mixed methods research--that is the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study--in applied linguistics. Based on preliminary findings from a research project in progress, some reflections on the current practice of mixing methods as a new trend in applied linguistics are put forward.…

  9. Linguistic Error Analysis on Students' Thesis Proposals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pescante-Malimas, Mary Ann; Samson, Sonrisa C.

    2017-01-01

    This study identified and analyzed the common linguistic errors encountered by Linguistics, Literature, and Advertising Arts majors in their Thesis Proposal classes in the First Semester 2016-2017. The data were the drafts of the thesis proposals of the students from the three different programs. A total of 32 manuscripts were analyzed which was…

  10. Presentation of common cause failures in fault tree structure of Krsko PSA : an historical overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vrbanic, I.; Kosutic, I.; Vukovic, I.; Simic, Z.

    2003-01-01

    Failure of multiple components due to a common cause represents one of the most important issues in evaluation of system reliability or unavailability. The frequency of such events has relatively low expectancy, when compared to random failures, which affect individual components. However, in many cases the consequence is a direct loss of safety system or mitigative safety function. For this reason, the modeling of a common cause failure (CCF) and its presentation in fault tree structure is of the uttermost importance in probabilistic safety analyses (PSA). During the past decade, PSA model of Krsko NPP has undergone many small changes and a couple of major ones in fulfilling its basic purpose, which was serving as a tool for providing an appropriate information on the risk associated with actual plant design and operation. All changes to Krsko PSA model were undertaken in order to make it a better tool and / or to make it represent the plant in more accurate manner. The paper provides an overview of changes in CCF modeling in the fault tree structure from the initial PSA model development till present. (author)

  11. Interactive wood combustion for botanical tree models

    KAUST Repository

    Pirk, Sö ren; Jarząbek, Michał; Hadrich, Torsten; Michels, Dominik L.; Palubicki, Wojciech

    2017-01-01

    We present a novel method for the combustion of botanical tree models. Tree models are represented as connected particles for the branching structure and a polygonal surface mesh for the combustion. Each particle stores biological and physical

  12. Effects of soil water table regime on tree community species richness and structure of alluvial forest fragments in Southeast Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, A C; Higuchi, P; van den Berg, E

    2010-08-01

    In order to determine the influence of soil water table fluctuation on tree species richness and structure of alluvial forest fragments, 24 plots were allocated in a point bar forest and 30 plots in five forest fragments located in a floodplain, in the municipality of São Sebastião da Bela Vista, Southeast Brazil, totalizing 54, 10 X 20 m, plots. The information recorded in each plot were the soil water table level, diameter at breast height (dbh), total height and botanical identity off all trees with dbh > 5 cm. The water table fluctuation was assessed through 1 m deep observation wells in each plot. Correlations analysis indicated that sites with shallower water table in the flooding plains had a low number of tree species and high tree density. Although the water table in the point bar remained below the wells during the study period, low tree species richness was observed. There are other events taking place within the point bar forest that assume a high ecological importance, such as the intensive water velocity during flooding and sedimentation processes.

  13. Effects of soil water table regime on tree community species richness and structure of alluvial forest fragments in Southeast Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AC. Silva

    Full Text Available In order to determine the influence of soil water table fluctuation on tree species richness and structure of alluvial forest fragments, 24 plots were allocated in a point bar forest and 30 plots in five forest fragments located in a floodplain, in the municipality of São Sebastião da Bela Vista, Southeast Brazil, totalizing 54, 10 X 20 m, plots. The information recorded in each plot were the soil water table level, diameter at breast height (dbh, total height and botanical identity off all trees with dbh > 5 cm. The water table fluctuation was assessed through 1 m deep observation wells in each plot. Correlations analysis indicated that sites with shallower water table in the flooding plains had a low number of tree species and high tree density. Although the water table in the point bar remained below the wells during the study period, low tree species richness was observed. There are other events taking place within the point bar forest that assume a high ecological importance, such as the intensive water velocity during flooding and sedimentation processes.

  14. The Effects of Linguistic Labels Related to Abstract Scenes on Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kentaro Inomata

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Boundary extension is the false memory beyond the actual boundary of a picture scene. Gagnier (2011 suggested that a linguistic label has no effect on the magnitude of boundary extension. Although she controlled the timing of the presentation or information of the linguistic label, the information of stimulus was not changed. In the present study, the depiction of the main object was controlled in order to change the contextual information of a scene. In experiment, the 68 participants were shown 12 pictures. The stimulus consisted pictures that depicted the main object or did not depict the main object, and half of them were presented with linguistic description. Participants rated the object-less pictures more closely than the original pictures, when the former were presented with linguistic labels. However, when they were presented without linguistic labels, boundary extension did not occur. There was no effect of labels on the pictures that depicted the main objects. On the basis of these results, the linguistic label enhances the representation of the abstract scene like a homogeneous field or a wall. This finding suggests that boundary extension may be affected by not only visual information but also by other sensory information mediated by linguistic representation.

  15. Opening Minds or Changing Them? Some Observations on Teaching Introductory Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milambiling, Joyce

    2001-01-01

    Analyzes the teaching of linguistics and ethics of representing linguistic issues in a persuasive way, examining tensions between telling it like it is and telling it in a way that students will listen. The paper highlights persuasion, the introduction of linguistic concepts, the importance of understanding dialects and their role in education,…

  16. Ling An: Linguistic analysis of NPP instructions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karlsson, F.; Salo, L. (Helsingfors Univ., Institutionen foer allmaen spraakvetenskap (Finland)); Wahlstroem, B. (VTT (Finland))

    2008-07-15

    The project consists of two sub-projects, 1) to find out whether the available linguistic method SWECG (Swedish Constraint Grammar) might be used for analyzing the safety manuals for Forsmark nuclear power plant, and 2) to find out whether it is possible to create a working system based on the SWECG method. The conclusion of the project is that an applicable linguistic analysis system may be realized by the company Lingsoft Inc., Aabo, Finland. (ln)

  17. A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

    2006-01-01

    As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed....

  18. Ling An: LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF NPP INSTRUCTIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlsson, F.; Salo, L.; Wahlstroem, B.

    2008-07-01

    The project consists of two sub-projects, 1) to find out whether the available linguistic method SWECG (Swedish Constraint Grammar) might be used for analyzing the safety manuals for Forsmark nuclear power plant, and 2) to find out whether it is possible to create a working system based on the SWECG method. The conclusion of the project is that an applicable linguistic analysis system may be realized by the company Lingsoft Inc., Aabo, Finland. (ln)

  19. Neurological evidence linguistic processes precede perceptual simulation in conceptual processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Louwerse, Max; Hutchinson, Sterling

    2012-01-01

    There is increasing evidence from response time experiments that language statistics and perceptual simulations both play a role in conceptual processing. In an EEG experiment we compared neural activity in cortical regions commonly associated with linguistic processing and visual perceptual processing to determine to what extent symbolic and embodied accounts of cognition applied. Participants were asked to determine the semantic relationship of word pairs (e.g., sky - ground) or to determine their iconic relationship (i.e., if the presentation of the pair matched their expected physical relationship). A linguistic bias was found toward the semantic judgment task and a perceptual bias was found toward the iconicity judgment task. More importantly, conceptual processing involved activation in brain regions associated with both linguistic and perceptual processes. When comparing the relative activation of linguistic cortical regions with perceptual cortical regions, the effect sizes for linguistic cortical regions were larger than those for the perceptual cortical regions early in a trial with the reverse being true later in a trial. These results map upon findings from other experimental literature and provide further evidence that processing of concept words relies both on language statistics and on perceptual simulations, whereby linguistic processes precede perceptual simulation processes.

  20. Molecular basis of angiosperm tree architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollender, Courtney A; Dardick, Chris

    2015-04-01

    The architecture of trees greatly impacts the productivity of orchards and forestry plantations. Amassing greater knowledge on the molecular genetics that underlie tree form can benefit these industries, as well as contribute to basic knowledge of plant developmental biology. This review describes the fundamental components of branch architecture, a prominent aspect of tree structure, as well as genetic and hormonal influences inferred from studies in model plant systems and from trees with non-standard architectures. The bulk of the molecular and genetic data described here is from studies of fruit trees and poplar, as these species have been the primary subjects of investigation in this field of science. No claim to original US Government works. New Phytologist © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.