Process Of Specialization Research Articles

Peopling island rainforests: global trends from the Early Pleistocene to the Late Holocene

ABSTRACTThis paper is a cross-comparative examination of how tropical forested islands were populated by humans. It first describes the unique ecological conditions of these environments, how they fluctuated during glacial cycles, and the challenges and affordances they provided people. The paper then explores the global archaeological record, classifying modes of colonisation that led insular tropical forests to be populated. These modes include terrestrial colonisation followed by insularisation (Mode A), maritime colonisation followed by major landmass reconfiguration (Mode B), maritime colonisation of uninhabited islands that always remained insular (Mode C), and maritime colonisation of already inhabited islands (Mode D). Finally, the paper discusses how, amongst Homo sapiens, ongoing dynamism between human adaptive behaviours and environmental flux stimulated processes of diversification, specialisation, and connectivity in these crucial ecologies; by contrast, archaic hominins like Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis, and Homo luzonensis may have found changes associated with forest expansion and insularity extremely challenging.

Climatic stability, not average habitat temperature, determines thermal tolerance of subterranean beetles

The climatic variability hypothesis predicts the evolution of species with wide thermal tolerance ranges in environments with variable temperatures, and the evolution of thermal specialists in thermally stable environments. In caves, the extent of spatial and temporal thermal variability experienced by taxa decreases with their degree of specialization to deep subterranean habitats. We use phylogenetic generalized least squares to model the relationship among thermal tolerance (upper lethal limits), subterranean specialization (estimated using ecomorphological traits), and habitat temperature in 16 beetle species of the tribe Leptodirini (Leiodidae). We found a significant, negative relationship between thermal tolerance and the degree of subterranean specialization. Conversely, habitat temperature had only a marginal effect on lethal limits. In agreement with the climatic variability hypothesis and under a climate change context, we show that the specialization process to live in deep subterranean habitats involves a reduction of upper lethal limits, but not an adjustment to habitat temperature. Thermal variability seems to exert a higher evolutionary pressure than mean habitat temperature to configure the thermal niche of subterranean species. Our results provide novel insights on thermal physiology of species with poor dispersal capabilities and on the evolutionary process of adaptation to subterranean environments. We further emphasize that the pathways determining vulnerability of subterranean species to climate change greatly depend on the degree of specialization to deep subterranean environments.

Decision-Making Model of Social Work Specialization Process Using Big Data Analysis and Chaos Cloud

Big data and mobile edge computing information technology have revolutionized traditional industries’ development. The organic integration of community social work and big data technology will undoubtedly promote the growth of community social work services, thanks to the new information technology platform for big data. In terms of the future of big data-driven social work, it is primarily reflected in the following: in the application of social work, big data can acquire and update real human behavior data in real time, and eliminating the need for subjects’ subjective reports in the data collection process; It can also provide a basis for public decision-making, which is worthy of our active exploration and innovation, provide efficient and accurate technical means for risk population assessment and crisis intervention and have a more accurate and intuitive grasp of the temporal and spatial distribution of service personnel and basic social service facilities. The core of professionalization of social work is improving the post-setting system for social workers in our country, improving their treatment, and strengthening the construction of professional ethics for social workers in our country. A big data social workflow adaptive scheduling optimization algorithm based on the chaotic cloud diversion mechanism is proposed to address the problems of high costs, poor time convergence performance, and poor cost accounting quality in the current social workflow adaptive scheduling optimization algorithm. As an important part of social governance, social work accelerates the process of social work specialization to improve decision-making efficiency.

Asyndetic complementation and referential integration in Spanish

AbstractThis paper examines a distinctive syntactic feature of (pre)classical Spanish: asyndetic complementation (without complementizerque‘that’). While many authors regard this construction as a stylistic variant which eventually declined (i.a.,Girón 2005), so far no exhaustive morphosyntactic study of the phenomenon has been presented, as previous works either have focused on only one predicate (Blas Arroyo & Porcar Miralles 2016,2018) or do not contain detailed quantitative data (Pountain 2015). Using evidence from richly annotated corpus data spanning between 1400 and 1799 (GITHE 2015), we adopt the diachronic probabilistic grammar framework (Szmrecsanyi 2013) by means of multifactorial statistical models, to identify the language-internal probabilistic constraints that regulated theque/Ø alternation, and to explore whether their relevance changed diachronically. The results indicate that asyndetic complementation is promoted in the domain of manipulation verbs (e.g., requests and commands) and, more generally, by the semantic and syntactic integration of events (Givón 2001a). Diachronically we observe that some of the effects strengthened over time, suggesting a syntactic specialization process, which might have eventually led to the restricted and marked use of the asyndeton in Modern Spanish.

Circuitos espaciais de produção da tilapicultura nos contextos regionais norte e oeste do Paraná.

The spatial concentration of productive activities and the consequent formation of regions characterized by a given productive specialization are topics of permanent interest for economic geography. In the current historical period, marked by globalization, the processes of concentration and productive specialization are characterized by relations between local and regional conditions and global dynamics. Considering the relevance of Brazil’s participation in the global production of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and, in the Brazilian context, the importance of this activity in the state of Paraná, this article analyzes the particularities of the spatial circuits of production (production-distribution-exchange-consumption) and cooperation circles that define two main regional contexts in the territory of Parana, the west and the north, in which this productive activity is concentrated. The results obtained demonstrate that the spatial conditions enable different manifestations of tilapia culture in the regional contexts analyzed, resulting in different technical modalities, and different material and immaterial flows, even though both produce the same commodity, tilapia.

ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННАЯ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОГО СЕЛЬСКОГО ХОЗЯЙСТВА ПРИ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ ГОСУДАРСТВ-ЧЛЕНОВ ЕАЭС

Spatial development of agriculture in Russia is a natural, but at the same time complex and diverse process of social division of labor, which is largely capable of ensuring the effective functioning of the economy of the industry of each region and country as a whole, reducing costs, improving the quality and competitiveness of its products. It has more real prerequisites for its development and will provide a more significant positive effect when the territorial and sectoral division of labor in agriculture is more clearly manifested, interregional exchange is expanding, cooperation and integration between individual regions of the country and the EAEU countries are strengthening. At the same time, rural territories, traditionally occupying huge areas of the country, being at the same time the habitat and vital activity of one quarter of its population, largely remain the guarantor of stable spatial development of the state, in which rural settlements act as its peculiar foundation, linking together economic centers with the periphery. In Russia, with its historically characteristic significant diversity of natural, territorial, social, economic, regional and many other conditions for agriculture, it is the spatial organization that traditionally actively influences its development, and of a twofold nature, being a strong acting impulse or, conversely, a constant brake and even an insurmountable obstacle. This is evidenced primarily by the domestic long-term experience, when the country, due to the mobilization of internal resources in a relatively short time, not only created large-scale specialized zones for the production of certain types of agricultural products and mastered huge deserted and remote territories for farming, but also relatively quickly lost its territorial advantages associated with rational placement, deepening specialization and the optimal concentration of agricultural production. The spatial development of agriculture in the country is an indistinctly expressed territorial organization of the industry with relatively poorly interconnected regional processes of placement, specialization and concentration of production of certain types of agricultural products aimed at increasing their volumes and reducing costs. The intensity of their development is mainly due to the demand for the products of the industry and its possible supply to the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the effectiveness of state support for agriculture and regulation of certain product segments of the domestic agro-food market.

The Profiles of Political Science and Political Scientists in Mexico: a Meta-Analysis (1947-2015)

This article presents a meta-analysis of the history and the literature on the current state of political science in Mexico with the aim of obtaining an overall picture of the characteristics and profiles of political scientists and political science. It notes that there has been a process of change in the profiles of authors and the foci of texts, with a tendency to formalize analysis and a growing influence of the American tradition, along with a process of professional academic specialization and the growth of academic entities offering academic and research programs in political science.

Wywiad na Niemcy oczami kierownika Referatu „Zachód” Oddziału II Sztabu Głównego Wojska Polskiego 1932–1939

As part of the transition of the armed forces to a peaceful structure in the summer of 1921, the process of strict specialization of the information and intelligence apparatus concentrated in the Second Department of the General (Main) Staff of the Polish Army in two key operational directions: west and east began. This process was fully justified due to the conditions Poland faced at the time, and in order to maintain its recently regained independence it was absolutely essential to know the secrets of the USSR and the Third Reich.

Smart Specializations from the Standpoint of Leading Schools of Economic Theory

Focus on smart specialization is a key element of regional development strategizing in Ukraine, which, for example, is reflected in the State Regional Development Strategy for 2021-2027. But a comparative analysis of individual indicators of the economic development of the EU, the USA and China shows that smart specialization itself is not a competitive advantage on a global scale. At the same time, the researchers note that there is a gap between the theory and the practice of strategizing on the basis of smart specialization. Although theoretical issues related to smart specialization are not overlooked by researchers, the direct understanding of smart specialization processes from the standpoint of specific schools of economic theory is extremely limited. Therefore, the goal of the study is to reduce the essence of the concept of smart specialization from the standpoint of leading schools of economic theory. For the analysis, a classification was chosen, according to which 9 schools of economic theory are distinguished: (1) Classical, (2) Neoclassical, (3) Marxist, (4) Developmentalist, (5) Austrian, (6) Schumpeterian, (7) Keynesian, (8) Institutionalist, (9) Behaviouralist. Of the nine considered leading schools of economic theory, almost half of the schools (Classical, Developmentalist, Schumpeterian, and Institutionalist) significantly influenced the formation of the essence of smart specialization. Smart specialization has been moderately influenced by Neoclassical, Marxist and Keynesian schools. Austrian and Behaviouralist schools are characterized by a slight influence on smart specialization. Thus, smart specialization to a significant or moderate degree corresponds to individual provisions of 7 out of the 9 leading schools of economic theory considered in this study. Smart specialization synthesizes the positions of different schools of economic theory. Two alternatives follow from this: either the concept of smart specialization is a “constructive” tool for combining the “best” practices of various schools of economic theory, or it is an eclectic combination of ideas that are fundamentally incompatible. An unambiguous solution to this dilemma is possible on a practical level in the long term. Keywords smart specialization, schools of economic theory, definition, reduction.

How does curve sprint evolve across different age categories in soccer players?

Research has shown that soccer players regularly execute curved sprints during matches. The purpose of this study was to determine the age-related effects on curve sprint (CS) performance to both sides, asymmetry, and association with linear sprint (LS). Eighty-four soccer players (aged 16.1 ± 1.6 categorized in U15, U17, and U20) were recruited, who performed CS and LS tests. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and effect size (ES) were used to compare CS performance between age categories, and relationships between physical performance measures were calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The main findings of this study were that: 1) there were significant differences in the “good” side CS among age groups (p < 0.001; ES from moderate to large), but not in the “weak” side CS, 2) curve asymmetry was significantly higher in U20 than U15 (p < 0.05; ES large) and U17 players (p < 0.05; ES moderate), and 3) relationships between CS and LS times decreased with age (from significant and very large [p < 0.001] to non-significant and smallmoderate [p > 0.05]). This study highlights the importance of assessing and training CS in different age categories, an action that becomes less correlated with LS as age increases, with the aim of mitigating the increase in asymmetries as a result of the specialization process, focusing interventions mainly on improving the CS “weak” side.

Accurate respiratory sound classification model based on piccolo pattern

Auscultation, or listening to body sounds with a stethoscope, is the most basic and instructive part of the physical examination. Although it is a quick and effective way of diagnosing respiratory tract disorders, the precision of the diagnosis demands a considerable deal of clinical knowledge. As a result, we've created a computerized diagnostic system that will detect breathing sounds automatically, assisting physicians and trainees in the specialization process. Automated respiratory sound classification is a complex issue for advanced biomedical signal processing. Therefore, variable models and methods have been introduced to overcome this problem. This research aims to introduce a high accurate sound classification model using a nonlinear histogram-based generator. To reach this aim, piccolo pattern (it uses S-box of the piccolo cipher as a pattern), statistical moments, tunable q-factor wavelet transform (TQWT), iterative neighborhood component analysis (INCA), and conventional classifiers are used together. This model uses TQWT to create levels. Piccolo pattern is employed to generate textural features (it is the main feature generator of this model), and statistics are deployed to extract statistical features. INCA chooses the relevant features. Decision tree (DT), support vector machine (SVM), and k nearest neighbors (KNN) classifiers are applied to the selected feature vectors to calculate results. Three cases are defined using ICHBI 2017 dataset to calculate results comprehensively. The defined cases contain seven, three, and eight categories, respectively.Furthermore, five performance calculation metrics are employed to evaluate the presented piccolo-pattern-based model comprehensively. The introduced piccolo pattern-based model reaches 99.45%, 99.31%, and 99.19% accuracies for Case 1, Case 2, and Case 3 by employing KNN. These accuracies denote the success of the piccolo pattern-based model. Furthermore, this model attains higher accuracies than the previously presented deep learning-based methods for respiratory sound classification.

Interregional exchange is a condition for extending the specialization of grain farming

The goal is to substantiate the need for new approaches to considering the issues of interregional exchange as a factor in strengthening and deepening the processes of specialization in grain farming and agricultural sector as a whole. Methods – analysis and synthesis, accumulation and selection of facts, establishing links between them, comparison. Results – the article indicates that the development of interregional trade is aimed at saturating agricultural market of Kazakhstan with high-quality food products, expanding their range, reducing the total costs of production, selling agricultural raw materials and food, ensuring their guaranteed sale by domestic producers. The analysis of the trade turnover of the republic with the countries of the world, export and import of food products is presented. Information on the volume of gross agricultural production in 2020 compared to 2019 is presented, including crop and livestock production. It is noted that the previously established territorial-sectoral division of labor in the agro-industrial complex was violated, due to the orientation of each region towards maximum self-sufficiency in food products, which led to the ineffective use of bioclimatic potential, caused a decrease in production and a rise in the product cost, a decrease in its quality, deterioration of interregional ties. Differences in the yield of grain crops by regions, insufficient renewal of the infrastructure of the grain market and high tariffs for vehicles are shown. Conclusions – the implementation of the State Program on Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2017-2021, the Business Roadmap - 2025 has expanded the benefits of specializing grain production in the country. It is necessary to revive the active participation of agricultural entities in interregional exchange, to find internal reserves for increasing commodity resources, and to search for optimal directions of cargo flows.

Economics in the Social Science Spectrum: Evolution and Overlap with Different Academic Areas

Causes for the distinct and growing separation of the academic domains of economics and neighboring fields are ongoing processes of specialization, fragmentation, and evolution. Thanks to the proliferation of publications and knowledge in economics, degrees of specialization have emerged. One of the great paradoxes in economics is the existence of mainstream economics, which is taught to undergraduate students and dominates textbooks, alongside new contributions that enter the arena via other disciplines (e.g., psychology, history, and law). The paper delineates some developments in economics over the last 100 years oscillating between continuity and change. Especially, the interplay between different domains in the social sciences is discussed as fields of tension and cooperation between economics and other disciplines. The message of the article is that economics is not a homogeneous body of being, content, and learning. Economics has a diverse knowledge base on a theoretical and methodological level with different forms of economic capacity, conceptual sensitivity, and methodological rigor. Many different approaches coexist with corresponding camps of authors. A multiplicity of topics and discourses can be observed with an interesting division of economics with one branch focused on mathematics, econometric tools, and applications, and the other branch moving towards increasing social scientification with strong links to psychology, history, philosophy, and sociology. The Oxford credo of politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE) has undergone a revival in this respect.

Characterization of simulation centers and programs in Latin America according to the ASPIRE and SSH quality criteria

BackgroundLatin American clinical simulation has had an important development; there are no studies that characterize simulation centers and programs in the entire region. The aims of this work are to characterize the current state of simulation-based education in the health sciences, to determine the structure of Latin American simulation centers in terms of teaching, research, and continuing medical education (CME), as well as to determine the perception of quality based on international standards of simulation practices for the directors of Latin American centers.MethodsA quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study with a demographic questionnaire and a Likert-type survey was conducted to the directors of the simulation centers found in Latin America.ResultsFour hundred eight simulation centers were documented, the survey was answered by 240 directors, and the data from 149 were complete responses on the 42 quality self-perception scale and considered valid on further analyses related to the quality of the programs. Most of the centers that responded correspond to Chile, Brazil, and Mexico (37.5%, 18.1%, 12.7%). 84% of the centers are university-based, and 71% of the centers are medium-sized, with less than 10 instructors (54%). The directors are mostly women (61.7%), medical doctors (50%), and nurses (40%), with clinical specialization (37%), master’s degree (53%), and doctorate (13%). 75% have completed a simulation instructor course, and 6% have developed a fellowship. Most consider the maintenance of international quality standards to be relevant in their centers, mainly in reflective training techniques, ethical aspects, and adequate learning environments.ConclusionsSimulation-based education in health sciences has had an increasing development in Latin America, within a university environment, in an important academic specialization process that seeks to adhere to high-quality standards to improve training and development of clinical skills, human factors, and critical thinking. We recommend starting accreditation processes in Latin America and studies that measure the quality of simulation-based education in our region, based on objective observations more than in self-reporting.

It’s All about the Zone: Spider Assemblages in Different Ecological Zones of Levantine Caves

Caves possess a continuum of ecological zones that differ in their microhabitat conditions, resulting in a gradient of nutrients, climate, and illumination. These conditions engender relatively rapid speciation and diverse assemblages of highly specialised spider fauna. It is unclear, however, how zonation of these caves affects spider assemblage composition and structure. Surveys of 35 Levantine caves were conducted to compare the assemblages of spiders between their different ecological zones. The diverse spider assemblages of these caves differed between the entrance, twilight, and dark zones, with troglophiles and accidental species occupying the cave entrance, endemic troglobites occupying the dark zones, and hybrid assemblages existing in the twilight zones. The progression of assemblage composition and divergence throughout cave zones is suggestive of processes of ecological specialisation, speciation, and adaptation of cave-endemic troglobites in the deepest zones of caves, while cave entrance assemblages are composed of relatively common species that can also be found in epigean habitats. Moreover, the cave entrance zone assemblages in our study were similar in the different caves, while the cave dark zone assemblages were relatively distinct between caves. Cave entrance assemblages are a subset of the regional species pool filtered by the cave conditions, while dark zone assemblages are likely a result of adaptations leading to local speciation events.

Lie symmetry analysis and invariant solutions of 3D Euler equations for axisymmetric, incompressible, and inviscid flow in the cylindrical coordinates

Through the Lie symmetry analysis method, the axisymmetric, incompressible, and inviscid fluid is studied. The governing equations that describe the flow are the Euler equations. Under intensive observation, these equations do not have a certain solution localized in all directions (r,t,z) due to the presence of the term frac{1}{r}, which leads to the singularity cases. The researchers avoid this problem by truncating this term or solving the equations in the Cartesian plane. However, the Euler equations have an infinite number of Lie infinitesimals; we utilize the commutative product between these Lie vectors. The specialization process procures a nonlinear system of ODEs. Manual calculations have been done to solve this system. The investigated Lie vectors have been used to generate new solutions for the Euler equations. Some solutions are selected and plotted as two-dimensional plots.

Motivational profiles across domains and academic choices within Eccles et al.'s situated expectancy-value theoretical framework.

This longitudinal person-centered study aimed to identify profiles of subjective task values and ability self-concepts of adolescents in the domain of mathematics, English, biology, and physics in Grades 10 and 12. We were interested in gendered changes of profile membership, and in relations between profile membership and educational and occupational outcomes in adulthood. Data were drawn from the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Adult Life Transitions. We focused on students who participated in the data collection in Grades 10 and 12 (N = 911; 56.1% female; Mage = 16.49, SD = .63; 91.2% European American, 4.6% African American, and 2.1% other ethnic groups such as Hispanic, Asian, Native American). Data on subsequent college majors were assessed 2, 6, and 10 years after finishing high school and data on occupational outcomes was assessed up to 22 years after high school. Using Latent Profile Analyses, our findings revealed five profiles in grade 10 and four profiles in grade 12, which were meaningfully related to student gender. Latent Transition Analyses showed that motivational beliefs became more hierarchical over time. Gendered changes in profile membership occurred, with boys experiencing a process of specialization into mathematics domains. We were also able to show that gender-specific intraindividual hierarchies of motivational beliefs were related to gender-specific specialization processes in adolescence and to subsequent gendered choices throughout the life course. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Contemporary Processes of Concentration and Specialization of Industrial Activity in Post-Socialist States as Illustrated by the Case of Wrocław and Its Suburbs (Poland)

This paper explores the issues of contemporary spatial differentiation in the process of industry concentration and the accompanying specialization according to the intensity of research and development in urban agglomerations, as exemplified by Wrocław and its suburbs. The aim of the study was to assess the degree and directions of advancement of these processes and to identify spatial patterns in the location and relocation of industry operators in the analyzed area. The industrial location was analyzed on the basis of industry operators registered in section C (industrial processing) according to the Polish Classification of Activities (PKA) in city districts in 2008 and 2016. The industry’s spatial structures were presented using the classification of industrial processing according to R&amp;D intensity broken down into high-, medium-high-, medium-low-, and low-tech industry sectors. Quantitative methods were used to analyze and identify the degree of spatial concentration and specialization of the industry. The underlying analytical statistics included relative indicators, such as the location quotient (LQ), Florence’s location quotient, or the Krugman Specialization Index, as well as analyses of market structures (Herfindahl–Hirschman index or discrete index). The findings of this research revealed quite significant changes taking place in the internal spatial structure of Wrocław and its immediate vicinity in terms of the industry concentration and specialization. This phenomenon was much more dynamic and turbulent in the post-socialist countries than in the cities of Western Europe. Likewise, Wrocław and its suburban zone are characterized by a significant diversification and intensity of the processes subject to this analysis. These processes proved to be complex and selective.

Early Phonological Neural Specialization Predicts Later Growth in Word Reading Skills.

According to the Interactive Specialization Theory, cognitive skill development is facilitated by a process of neural specialization. In line with this theory, the current study investigated whether neural specialization for phonological and semantic processing at 5-to-6 years old was predictive of growth in word reading skills 2 years later. Specifically, four regression models were estimated in which reading growth was predicted from: (1) an intercept-only model; (2) measures of semantic and phonological neural specialization; (3) performance on semantic and phonological behavioral tasks; or (4) a combination of neural specialization and behavioral performance. Results from the preregistered analyses revealed little evidence in favor of the hypothesis that early semantic and phonological skills are predictive of growth in reading. However, results from the exploratory analyses, which included a larger sample, added age at Time 1 as a covariate, and investigated relative growth in reading, demonstrated decisive evidence that variability in phonological processing is predictive of reading growth. The best fitting model included both measures of specialization within the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and behavioral performance. This work provides important evidence in favor of the Interactive Specialization Theory and, more specifically, for the role of phonological neural specialization in the development of early word reading skills.

Reconstruction designs of an early Chinese astronomical clock with a waterwheel steelyard clepsydra

Abstract. During the 8th century, ancient China began to use a steelyard clepsydra to control the waterwheel, giving it a time-keeping function for use in hydromechanical astronomical clocks. In the Tang Dynasty, the monk I-Hsing (683–723 CE) and Liang Lingzan jointly built a water-powered celestial globe (shuiyun huntian), which, according to historical records, was China's first hydromechanical astronomical clock with a waterwheel steelyard clepsydra. However, the original device has since been lost. The objective of this study is to use the design methodology for the reconstruction of lost ancient machinery to systematically reconstruct this lost clock. The methodology included the study of ancient literature to formulate reconstruction design specifications. Through the process of generalization and specialization, the target device was analyzed to determine its function, and different mechanical configurations that achieved the same function were developed. Thereafter, an atlas of possible mechanical sketches that were consistent with the technological level of ancient times was built. A computer 3D reconstruction of the waterwheel steelyard clepsydra, time-reporting device, and astronomical device was carried out, and 50 possible configurations were developed. One was selected to build a physical model.