Symbol Coding Research Articles

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Serbian Version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia Scale.

The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) scale was developed for the assessment of cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of this study was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the BACS in to the Serbian language. The study was conducted at the Laza Lazarevic Clinic for Mental Disorders and the Clinic for Psychiatry of the University Clinical Center of Serbia from March 2021 to January 2022. The study enrolled 61 inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 61 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Compared with the healthy control group, the schizophrenia patient group had worse cognitive function in all dimensions measured using BACS (p < 0.001 for all measures). The mean standardized composite BACS score was z = -2.46, and symbol coding (z = -2.54) was the most deficient function. Principal component analysis suggests a two-factor structure, where the first factor consisted of loading the measures of verbal and working memory, attention, speed of information processing, and executive function, while the second factor regarded the loading of motor speed. Cronbach's alpha coefficient demonstrated an excellent level of internal consistency (0.798). These outcomes suggest that the Serbian BACS neurocognitive battery's psychometric properties are satisfactory, with good overall discriminant validity and high internal consistency. The Serbian BACS appears to be a quick and reliable neuropsychological instrument for evaluating global cognition in schizophrenia patients in Serbia.

Resonance dependence of electrically reconfigurable VO2-based THz metadevice for memory information processing

A terahertz hybrid metamaterial incorporated with active media VO2 holds great promise for the realization of a new generation of reconfigurable and multifunctional devices. However, for the electrical control, many efforts on reducing high working threshold are usually based on the utilization of patterned VO2 patches or additional insulation layers, which will increase the complexity of the fabrication procedure. Here, we have proposed an effective strategy only by combining the surface microstructure and the unpatterned VO2 film to realize the tunability of working current and uncover its highly dependent correlation with the structural resonance responses. It is shown the fully modulated current in our hybrid metastructures can be reduced with the prominently separated hysteresis loops. Further developed binary encoders can perform not only the information transformation of the fixed code symbols but also the arbitrary encoding with the programmable current pulse. Additionally, the dynamic color display can be accomplished to illustrate the intriguing function of the information encryption and multi-image reappearance with the current as the decryption key. Our work provides an approach to reduce the operating current and paves a pathway for the development of photonic memory information processors.

Characteristic association of symbol coding test score with occupational function in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

Studies showed that cognitive function affects occupational function in patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to determine the effects of cognitive function on occupational function in Japanese patients with schizophrenia using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Participants were 198 outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (66 females; mean age 34.5 ± 6.8 years). Occupational function was assessed using the work subscale of the Life Assessment Scale for Mental Ill (LASMI-w). Multiple regression analysis was performed using the BACS as the independent variable and LASMI-w as the dependent variable. Furthermore, we divided the LASMI-w score into three groups, <11, 11-20, and >21, and performed a multinomial logistic regression analysis. Multiple regression analysis revealed that LASMI-w score was negatively associated with BACS composite score (β=-0.20, p < 0.01). Among the sub-items of the BACS, only the symbol-coding score showed a significant negative association (β=-0.19, p < 0.05). Multinomial logistic analysis showed that the better the composite and symbol coding scores, the smaller the impairment of the occupational function (composite score: β=2.39 between mild and moderate occupational impairments, p < 0.05; symbol coding score: β=2.44 between mild and severe impairments, p < 0.05). The occupational function of patients with schizophrenia was associated with overall cognitive function (composite score). In particular, the symbol coding score of the BACS was suggested to be related to work ability. These results might be useful in the assessment and training of cognitive rehabilitation aimed at employment support.

PLURALITAS MAKNA DALAM “BEN GO TUN” KARYA SAINI K. M. MELALUI SEMIOTIKA BARTHESIAN

This article discusses one of Saini K.M’s drama plays entitled Ben Go Tun (1977), which was published in a book titled Five Witnesses (1999, 2000). The play is regarded as one of the best texts written by this senior playwright , which emphasizes on social problems and inequality in the setting of the New Order Era . Through literature studies and Barthesian's semiotic approach, this paper intends to explore various meanings in the text, in which a literary work is seen as a plural sign system. In its analysis processes, this approach follows a number of steps or procedures that include: 1) the division of the text into units of analysis (lexia), 2) the interpretation of lexias, and 3) a list of codes and their interpretations. Through hermeneutic, semic, symbolic, proairetic, and cultural codes, a number of interpretations are obtained , which illustrate that in the Ben Go Tun manuscript , there are some voices and perspectives in seeing the problems that arise in the story. The drama script is very dynamic in presenting the characters. It also presents various social criticisms with symbols that appear in diverse characters.

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive function in older US adults: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Cognitive assessment, including the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), Digit Symbol Coding (DSC), and Digit Span (DS), was completed in 4392 older participants in the United States during 2010-2012. Residence-specific air pollution exposures (i.e., oxides of nitrogen [NO2/NOx], PM2.5 and its components: elemental carbon [EC], organic carbon [OC], sulfur [S], and silicon [Si]) were estimated by geo-statistical models. Linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between each air pollutants metric and cognitive function. An interquartile range (IQR) increase in EC (0.8 μg/m3) and Si (23.1 ng/m3) was associated with -1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.09, -2.45) and -0.88 (95% CI: -0.21, -1.54) lower CASI scores in global cognitive function. For each IQR increase in Si, the odds of low cognitive function (LCF) across domains was 1.29 times higher (95% CI: 1.04, 1.60). For other tests, NO X was associated with slower processing speed (DSC: -2.01, 95% CI: -3.50, -0.52) and worse working memory (total DS: -0.4, 95% CI: -0.78, -0.01). No associations were found for PM2.5 and two PM2.5 components (OC and S) with any cognitive function outcomes. Higher exposure to traffic-related air pollutants including both tailpipe (EC and NO x ) and non-tailpipe (Si) species were associated with lower cognitive function in older adults.

Historical environment as a prototype of a new urban typology

The prerequisites of transition from the typology of high-rise residential development of dormitory districts, remote from the epicenter of urban activity, to the typology of mixed functionality, interpreting the morphological and symbolic codes of the metropolis historical heritage are considered. The criticism of modernist strategy is based on the understanding of functional zoning as an excessively rigid model of the city. The historic environment with its hierarchical structure of space and parcellation into yards and blocks provides an opportunity for fractal organization of neighborhoods and self-government. The article hypothesizes possible translation of the codes of historic environment into the basis of modern typology of compact buildings, preserving human scale of environment and effective size of neighborhoods.

Simulation Study of Aviation Emergency Rescue Process Based on Application Scenario Features

In the process of emergency relief material dispatching, most of the traditional algorithms for dispatching are for single rescue point and single material dispatching, which cannot solve the problem of multirescue emergency relief dispatching. The various supply and demand points for emergency relief materials and the multiple emergency relief material dispatching are utilized to create the multiobjective planning model, which is then used as the optimization objective to create the best material dispatching plan. Genetic algorithm (GA) is used to solve the optimal material dispatching scheme and symbolic coding; special pulse crossover operator and variational operator are used to ensure the quality of the solution. The experiment proves that the simulation method of the aviation emergency rescue process considering the application scenario characteristics is efficient in the emergency rescue process and can meet the application requirements of material dispatching in the process of civil emergency disaster relief.

The Arctic and the North: The Problem of Conceptualization

The article is dеvoted to the problem of conceptualizing a holistic image of the Arctic and the North from a transdisciplinary perspective, as well as in the context of the spiritual and civilizational identity of Russia, the search for the national idea. The objectives of the study are to draw attention to the need to develop an integrative paradigm of Arctic socio-humanitarian knowledge, to identify cultural and symbolic codes in the mass consciousness that characterize the conceptual field “Arctic and North”. The notions of the Arctic and the North are considered as universal concepts of world culture, a deep understanding of which is possible only by interconnection of humanitarian component with natural science aspects of cognition. For full-fledged interpretation of the mental image of a place, “the spirit of a place”, not only specific spatial coordinates, event line and personalities are extremely important, but also artistic symbolism (literature, painting, cinema, etc.), as well as linguistic-communicative component (symbolic words, verbal associations, stable expressions). The article characterizes the phenomenon of northern literature based on the perception of the Russian North and the Arctic as a special mythopoetic space, the semantic cores of which are both concrete historical and sacred-mythological semantic components. The article briefly presents the results of associative experiment conducted with the students of Saint Petersburg Mining University in order to identify stereotypical ideas about the circumpolar region in the linguistic consciousness of young people. The representation of Arctic megatrends in the Russian and global media communication space is noted as a promising research direction, especially in connection with the intensification of geopolitical disagreements. The article makes a conclusion about the actualizing of the symbolic and ideological value of the Arctic and the North for modern Russia, which is especially important in the aspect of value-semantic interaction of generations.

Comparing a Computerized Digit Symbol Test to a Pen-and-Paper Classic.

Processing speed dysfunction is a core feature of psychosis and predictive of conversion in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. Although traditionally measured with pen-and-paper tasks, computerized digit symbol tasks are needed to meet the increasing demand for remote assessments. Therefore we: (1) assessed the relationship between traditional and computerized processing speed measurements; (2) compared effect sizes of impairment for progressive and persistent subgroups of CHR individuals on these tasks; and (3) explored causes contributing to task performance differences. Participants included 92 CHR individuals and 60 healthy controls who completed clinical interviews, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia Symbol Coding test, the computerized TestMyBrain Digit Symbol Matching Test, a finger-tapping task, and a self-reported motor abilities measure. Correlations, Hedges' g, and linear models were utilized, respectively, to achieve the above aims. Task performance was strongly correlated (r = 0.505). A similar degree of impairment was seen between progressive (g = -0.541) and persistent (g = -0.417) groups on the paper version. The computerized task uniquely identified impairment for progressive individuals (g = -477), as the persistent group performed similarly to controls (g = -0.184). Motor abilities were related to the computerized version, but the paper version was more related to symptoms and psychosis risk level. The paper symbol coding task measures impairment throughout the CHR state, while the computerized version only identifies impairment in those with worsening symptomatology. These results may be reflective of sensitivity differences, an artifact of existing subgroups, or evidence of mechanistic differences.

Barthes Five Codes In The John Cheever’s Short Story The Enormous Radio: A Structural Analysis

The study applies Roland Barthes' notion of five codes to present a structural analysis of John Cheever's 1947 short tale "The Enormous Radio" (hermeneutic, symbolic, semantic, proairetic and cultural code). Without these rules, a reader cannot comprehend the notion of the story. A reader may learn about the cultural and societal features of that period, the hidden background or meanings that the writer wishes to express, and the inconsistencies of the characters by using these codes. In his short narrative, John Cheever employs these codes in order for readers to grasp the heart of his work. The analysis concludes that the author established a delicate balance in the short narrative via the characteristics of Jim and Irene. The application of five codes in selected texts increases readers' aesthetic enjoyment as well as their knowledge of the text's genre and topics, according to the article.

Barthes Five Codes In The John Cheever’s Short Story The Enormous Radio: A Structural Analysis

The study applies Roland Barthes' notion of five codes to present a structural analysis of John Cheever's 1947 short tale "The Enormous Radio" (hermeneutic, symbolic, semantic, proairetic and cultural code). Without these rules, a reader cannot comprehend the notion of the story. A reader may learn about the cultural and societal features of that period, the hidden background or meanings that the writer wishes to express, and the inconsistencies of the characters by using these codes. In his short narrative, John Cheever employs these codes in order for readers to grasp the heart of his work. The analysis concludes that the author established a delicate balance in the short narrative via the characteristics of Jim and Irene. The application of five codes in selected texts increases readers' aesthetic enjoyment as well as their knowledge of the text's genre and topics, according to the article.

Daytime Sleepiness Is Associated with Lower Cognitive Scores: The Look AHEAD Study.

Daytime sleepiness is common in older adults and may result from poor nighttime sleep due to sleep disordered breathing, fragmented sleep, or other sleep disorders. Daytime sleepiness may be associated with cognition in older adults. We investigated the association between self-reported daytime sleepiness and cognitive function in the Look AHEAD clinical trial. Observational follow-up of a randomized clinical trial of an intensive lifestyle intervention. Clinic. Participants (n=1,778) aged 45-76 years at baseline with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity. Participants were randomized to an intensive lifestyle intervention for weight loss or a control condition of diabetes support and education. Participants provided self-reported levels of daytime sleepiness at baseline and years 12-13. Cognitive function was assessed with a neurocognitive battery at years 12-13 and 18-20. Participants who reported having frequent daytime sleepiness (often or always) performed significantly worse than others on the cognitive composite (-0.35; p-value=0.014) after controlling for covariates. When stratified by intervention arm, participants assigned to the intensive lifestyle intervention who reported often/always having daytime sleepiness performed worse on Digit Symbol Coding (-0.63; p-value=0.05) and Trail Making Part-B (-0.56; p-value=0.02) after controlling for covariates. Statistical interactions revealed associations between daytime sleepiness and the following covariates: race and ethnicity, APOE ε4 carrier status, baseline history of cardiovascular disease, and depression. Daytime sleepiness over ~13 years predicted poorer cognitive performance in older individuals who, by virtue of having diabetes and overweight/obesity, are at high risk for sleep disorders and cognitive impairment.

Мистериальный метатекст в стихотворении А. Тарковского "Полевой госпиталь"

The article interprets the mystery codes in the poem “Field Hospital” by Arseny Tarkovsky. The research is based on the principles of mythopoetic and structuralsemantic analysis of the text, and provides a systematic approach to the work, taking into account the specifics of its plot-genre paradigmatics and figurative-symbolic language. The inner world of the poem is organized by the logic of the mystery topos with its key coordinates: frontier ontology; the evolving character of time and the reflection of its dynamics in the “dialectic of the soul”; existential self-reflection and detachment of the hero’s consciousness. The motivic complex of the border, repeatedly manifested in the text and culminating in the symbolism of the limb, becomes a meta-image, in the semantic field of which all the named parameters of the mystery continuum intersect. The model of reality recreated in Tarkovsky’s poem goes beyond mythological monism, but it clearly correlates with the mystery organization of the chronotope: the mystic is aware of the multidimensionality of the universe and the existence of boundaries between different spheres of reality – primarily profane-everyday and sacred – as well as the possibility of moving across these boundaries, which, ultimately, is one of the results of mystery initiations. The plot-forming meaning in “Field Hospital” is acquired by allusive references to the mystery texts of culture: the ancient Egyptian, Christian, alchemical mysteries are dialogically integrated in the act of birth – transfiguration – resurrection experienced by Tarkovsky’s hero. The central place in this paradigm is given to the mystery of Osiris and Isis, the symbolic codes of which are reflected in a number of iconic motifs, images, and details. The key among them are the motif of dismemberment and the semantic complex of the victim associated with it; the symbolism of death – resurrection; the archetypal dyad of a newborn – infant; a tree-natural code associated with the lyrical hero; the allusively designated image of Isis, personifying the female harmonizing principle of the universe. If the motif of dismemberment contains a specific reference to the theme of Osiris, then the other elements in this series also relate to the mystery of Christ and, accordingly, to the texts of culture associated with it, including the mysteries of the alchemists. The study leads to the conclusion that Tarkovsky’s “Field Hospital” is read as a metatext, where in a situation of semantic dialogue different culturological modes of mystery coexist, and the mystery consciousness itself enters into a relationship of mutual reflection with the mythological and tragic worldview. The logic of the myth is intertwined in the development of the lyrical plot with the logic of tragedy, which in turn is overcome through a detached view of the tragic situations experienced and the mystery-conscious acceptance of fate and life in all their manifestations.

Post-City (IV): Co-Spatiality Politics and Planetary Ontologies

The nomos of the post-city forms specific phenomenologies of spatial development that go beyond the classical interpretations of the concepts of the biosphere and the noosphere. The ontology of planetarity is based on the spatial “inclusiveness” of any planetary object due to its specific localization, determined both by planetary conditions and the co-spatiality of the planet within the intelligible and explored cosmos. Post-urban co–spatialities are the ontological “base” for the emergence of specific terrestrial planetarities of special intensity. A post-city can be a topos of terrestrial planetariums becoming trans-planetary, first in metaphysical and then in physical relations. Post-urban trans-planetarity is the relativity of multiple imaginative cartographies representing the corresponding meta-geographies. Planetary post-urbanism is formed as coexisting planetary cartographies of the imagination, self-organizing into meta-cartography and relying on appropriate communicative co-spatialities. Trans-planetary post-urban geo-cultures in “cloning” local symbolic codes associated with the Earth include them in new cartographies of the imagination in co-spatial extraterrestrial loci. The co-spatialities of human communities become divided during the transitions from artificial internal environments to external trans-planetary environments that are not related to terrestrial geo-cultures. Post-urbanism, in contributing to the expansion of ambivalent networks of presence/absence cartographies, creates new opportunities for the ontological intensification of space-as-a-relationship, allowing post-urban human communities to think and act trans-planetarily. “Rhizomatic” post-nomadism makes or re-creates the Earth in the ontological sense as a giant cosmic “desire machine”. Fragments of trans-planetary post-urban noospheres will be understood as organic and autonomous geo-cultures, representing communicative fractals, whose placement can be considered as a kind of cosmo-geopolitics.

“Making the wound bleed”: Nostalgia, Mourning, and Morality among Turkish Revolutionaries in Istanbul

:This article investigates nostalgia and mourning among former Turkish revolutionary militants, the main victims of state violence in the wake of the Turkish 1980 military coup. It understands these emotions as ethically imbued moods that are both conscious and unconscious and permeate both public discourses and the innermost spheres of former fighters. These moods pervade the everydayness of former revolutionaries, their discourses on the past and the present as well as ritualized occasions, such as anniversaries, gatherings, and commemorations. Based on fieldwork research conducted in Istanbul, this article conceptualizes these moods as inter-subjective emotional practices with a certain degree of agency that work as political and moral modes of engaging with the world. Although former revolutionaries intend these moods as practices of resistance against the ongoing state repression, this article argues that their active perpetuation does not lie in their political success in the public battle for memory and recognition, but in their ability to shape former militants’ subjectivity, invigorate their generational bond, keep alive the moral economy of revolutionary fighter, and create a community of loss. Likewise, this contribution demonstrates how revolutionary feelings of nostalgia and mourning shape a social poetics that reduces possibilities for acting in new ways on history and contributes to the creation of a community as cohesive as isolated from the rest of society. Notwithstanding the endurance of state oppression over time, this contribution warns against restraining our analysis to an unmasking of asymmetrical violence and unequal power relationships in the public sphere. It instead argues that, even in repressive contexts, it is important to investigate the symbolic codes and the political feelings that shape social actors’ subjectivities, their moral horizon and their possibilities of actions.

Peran Tari Zapin dalam Dakwah Islam Di Sumatera Utara

The purpose of this study was to find out the role of the zapin dance in Islamic da'wah in North Sumatra. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with data collection techniques of observation, interviews and documentation. The research results obtained are, First, the make-up used in the zapin dance is a realist make-up which functions to emphasize or thicken facial lines and sharpen the expressions of the dance characters being performed. The dress code for the Arabic zapin dance is a symbolic dress code, that is, it has special symbols for a performance that are different from everyday clothes. The clothes used are typical clothes of the Malay tribe.&#x0D; Second, the value of religious education is found in song lyrics, alif worship movements and there are also alif movements that contain the meaning of determination, patience and strength to face all challenges of steadfast life. This is also a religious value where every human being will definitely not escape the problem of being patient and steadfast is the key because patience is part of faith.Third, the zapin dance in Islamic da'wah acts as a means of propaganda through its dance movements which contain Islamic meanings, music which contains the Oneness of Allah and the musical instrument used is the tambourine which is an Islamic musical instrument.&#x0D; &#x0D;

Literary creativity and Russian philosophy

The article traces the lines of interrelation of philosophy as a systematic knowledge of the world and literature as a form of artistic contemplation. Conceptual and figurative comprehension of the world, according to the author, are attributive properties of the spiritual life of society. In the paradigm of this understanding, the union of philosophy with diverse types of literary creativity is considered as a basic component of the national spiritual culture of the XIX — early XX century, which determined its national peculiarity, becoming a kind of symbolic code. On the one hand, she set the main vector of literary creativity, including the search for the meanings of being, and filled the intuitions of artistic and imaginative thinking with philosophical content, on the other hand, she "added" metaphysics of philosophical thought with ideological questions about progress, social justice and equality, insuring philosophical reflection from the dictates of rigid conceptual schemes

Liu Hai teases the golden toad

This paper analyses auspicious motifs on the wooden mirror frame from the Skušek Collection, housed in the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. The auspicious patterns are discussed in the broader context of Chinese cultural and linguistic structures, which in the visual representation of combined plant, animal, and figure motifs, leads to innumerable combinations of rebuses and puns with homonyms based on Chinese historical, literary, philosophical, religious, and mythological tradition. In this way, auspicious motifs developed into a standard decorative scheme, providing a rich source for both literati and artisans, and were exported to neighbouring countries and the West. They are particularly widespread on objects for daily use given as tokens of good wishes for happiness, prosperity, wealth, longevity and progeny, which are also meant to ensure their fulfilment. This can be seen on the wooden mirror frame purchased in Beijing between 1914 and 1920 by naval officer Ivan Skušek Jr. In the first part of the paper, an iconographic analysis of the motifs is made, while in the second part, the messages contained in the visual symbolic codes are analysed in more detail, taking into account the arrangement of the motifs in the completed narrative and the way in which these images are interpreted.

O zdolności odróżniającej symboli kodów QR w prawie znaków towarowych

The contactless new normal dictated by the global pandemic has re-introduced the nearly three-decade-old QR codes as a new standard of conveyance of information. Not only are they now ubiquitous to the general public but also inseparable to social, commercial and bureaucratic life. Recent history has been witnessing plenty of technical and artistic effort to make these normally abstract and unattractive clusters of dark and light quadratic shapes more eye-catching. In commercial terms, this is particularly motivated by the aim of rendering the code symbols a point of attraction as such, thus securing a more engaging customer interaction. Customized QR codes, having often been associated with brand images and commercial identities, are observed to come closer to the proximity of trademark law. However, the ubiquity and the technically necessary format standards of QR symbols tend to root against the primary premise of the trademarks: distinctiveness. This article seeks to answer whether the signs consisting of or incorporating QR symbols could fulfill the distinctiveness requirement within the framework of the EU law. Given the lack of jurisprudential apprehension of the question at hand, the article, first, sets about reasoning a distinctiveness test on the face of the EU trademark law and that of the relatable jurisprudential interpretations. Secondly, it goes on to administer this test on the signs that consist of or incorporate QR symbols. In the latter respect, limited jurisprudential hints from the Member States and the EUIPO practices shall be put in perspective and compounded with the imperatives of substantive law. The article, consequently substantiates that there is no one-fits-all formula to the question at hand and that QR symbols shall not be excluded as trademarks merely because they are essentially standardized.

Optimal quaternary $$(r,\delta )$$-locally recoverable codes: their structures and complete classification

Locally recoverable codes (LRCs) have been introduced as a family of erasure codes that support the repair of a failed storage node by contacting a small number of other nodes in the cluster. Boosted by their applications in distributed storage, LRCs have attracted a lot of attention in recent literature since the concept of codes with locality r was introduced by Gopalan et al. in 2012. Aiming to recover the data from several concurrent node failures, the concept of r-locality was later generalized as $$(r, \delta )$$ -locality by Prakash et al. An $$(r, \delta )$$ -LRCs in which every code symbol has $$(r, \delta )$$ -locality is said to be optimal if it achieves the Singleton-like bound with equality. In present paper, we are interested in optimal $$(r, \delta )$$ -LRCs over small fields, more precisely, over quaternary field. We study their parity-check matrices or generator matrices, using the properties of projective space. The classification of optimal quaternary $$(r,\delta )$$ -LRCs and their explicit code constructions are proposed by examining all possible parameters.