Universal morphologies for the Caucasus region

The Caucasus region is famed for its rich and diverse arrays of languages and language families, often challenging European-centered views established in traditional linguistics. In this paper, we describe ongoing efforts to improve the coverage of Universal Morphologies for languages of the Caucasus region. The Universal Morphologies (UniMorph) are a recent community project aiming to complement the Universal Dependencies which focus on morphosyntax and syntax. We describe the development of UniMorph resources for Nakh-Daghestanian and Kartvelian languages as a well as for Classical Armenian, we discuss challenges that the complex morphology of these and related languages poses to the current design of UniMorph, and suggest possibilities to improve the applicability of UniMorph for languages of the Caucasus region in particular and for low resource languages in general. We also criticize the UniMorph TSV format for its limited expressiveness, and suggest to complement the existing UniMorph workflow with support for additional source formats on grounds of Linked Open Data technology

"Monsters on the Brain: An Evolutionary Epistemology of Horror"

The article discusses the evolutionary development of horror and fear in animals and humans, including in regard to cognition and physiological aspects of the brain. An overview of the social aspects of emotions, including the role that emotions play in interpersonal relations and the role that empathy plays in humans' ethics, is provided. An overview of the psychological aspects of monsters, including humans' simultaneous repulsion and interest in horror films that depict monsters, is also provided

First report on egg-parasitoids of the Asian planthopper Ricania speculum

The first findings of egg-parasitoids of the invasive planthopper Ricania speculum (Walker) (Hemiptera Ricaniidae) are presented. Aprostocetus (Ootetrastichus) crino (Walker) (Hymenoptera Eulophidae), a native species until now only associated with Oecanthus spp. (Orthoptera Oecanthidae) eggs, was the most common. Chaetostricha similis (Silvestri) (Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae) and Polynema sp. (Hymenoptera Mymaridae), which also emerged from R. speculum egg clusters, should be confirmed as parasitoids of this planthopper

First report on egg-parasitoids of the Asian planthopper Ricania speculum

The first findings of egg-parasitoids of the invasive planthopper Ricania speculum (Walker) (Hemiptera Ricaniidae) are presented. Aprostocetus (Ootetrastichus) crino (Walker) (Hymenoptera Eulophidae), a native species until now only associated with Oecanthus spp. (Orthoptera Oecanthidae) eggs, was the most common. Chaetostricha similis (Silvestri) (Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae) and Polynema sp. (Hymenoptera Mymaridae), which also emerged from R. speculum egg clusters, should be confirmed as parasitoids of this planthopper

Saltbush-associated Asphondylia species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in the Mediterranean Basin and their chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)

Numerous species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) have been recorded from saltbush (Chenopodiaceae: Atriplex) around the world but only 11 of them belong to the large cecidomyiid genus Asphondylia. Of these, two species were de-scribed in the late 19th century from complex bud galls on Atriplex halimus in the Mediterranean Basin. In the present study Asphondylia punica is redescribed, A. conglomerata is synonymized with it, and Asphondylia scopuli is described from Atriplex lanfrancoi, an endemic plant to the Maltese Islands. Descriptions are accompanied by information about the galls and life history of the gall midges, and a review of the parasitic Hymenoptera associated with A. scopuli is provided. Four species of parasitoids were found and attributed to the families Eurytomidae, Pteromalidae, Eupelmidae and Eulophidae, of which the pteromalid Mesopolobus melitensis is described as new.peer-reviewe

Elevation as a category of grammar: Sanzhi Dargwa and beyond

Nakh-Daghestanian languages have encountered growing interest from typologists and linguists from other subdiscplines, and more and more languages from the Nakh-Daghestanian language family are being studied. This paper provides a grammatical overview of the hitherto undescribed Sanzhi Dargwa language, followed by a detailed analysis of the grammaticalized expression of spatial elevation in Sanzhi. Spatial elevation, a topic that has not received substantial attention in Caucasian linguistics, manifests itself across different parts of speech in Sanzhi Dargwa and related languages. In Sanzhi, elevation is a deictic category in partial opposition with participant-oriented deixis/horizontally-oriented directional deixis. This paper treats the spatial uses of demonstratives, spatial preverbs and spatial cases that express elevation as well as the semantic extension of this spatial category into other, non-spatial domains. It further compares the Sanzhi data to other Caucasian and non-Caucasian languages and makes suggestions for investigating elevation as a subcategory within a broader category of topographical deixis

cpDNA supports the identification of the major lineages of American <i>Blechnum</i> (Blechnaceae, Polypodiopsida) established by morphology

Blechnaceae is an important leptosporangiate family (9–10 genera, about 250 species). It is monophyletic and distributed mainly in tropical America and Australasia. Among the species 80% belong to Blechnum, a genus with a very complex taxonomy and uncertain internal relationships. In terms of American diversity, the results of morphological studies have arrived at 8 informal groups. Molecular works on this genus are scarce, and there is no information for the majority of American species. The main objective of this work was to evaluate whether the groups proposed to organise the diversity of American of Blechnum are consistent with a molecular analysis. We sequenced 2 chloroplastic regions from species representing all of the groups. In our molecular analysis most of the informal groups were maintained as well supported clades. Only 2 species, B. brasiliense and B. spicant, appear to be isolated from their alleged relatives. Combining our molecular results with previous morphological knowledge, we propose the recognition of 4 lineages: 1) B. serrulatum , 2) B. spicant, and 3) core Blechnum, which represents a large clade that can be divided into core Blechnum I (arborescent species, cordatoids, and B. brasiliense) and core Blechnum II (epiphytic species and herbaceous terrestrials, both monomorphic and dimorphic groups).Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Method of creating vernacular houses pictograms based on “climate – form” impact and relationship: houses’ pictograms; Part 1

The purpose of this paper is to present a method of creation of a pictogram system describing architectural form components of vernacular houses; those components acquire their form due to influences imposed by a particular climatic context. Many books and articles have been written on the topic but they suffer from one of the following disadvantages regarding the current goal: they are too comprehensive and specific or they are oriented towards particular philosophical or cultural thinking. The pictograms proposed in this research are on the other hand based on a global approach of many views of a specific problem such as form, scale, enveloping, openings and others. The research method is based on the existing literature, important guidelines for creating pictograms in general, and a unique investigation of 87 vernacular houses. A template for the extracted data about their form, function, structure, composition and technology is used for this investigation. Following established methods, it is proposed to use (and respectively exclude) some of the climate influences which may or may not be relevant to certain house’s features. A set of pictogram rules has been created and based on them ten houses’ pictograms from different climate zones and different continents were created as a test. The pictogram method of studying vernacular houses provides an important global overview of the most essential house members generated in reaction to the climate. It allows for rough estimation and partial comparison in order to spread an indispensable foundation for future deeper research. This research will ultimately lead to the creation of a world map of vernacular houses’ pictograms as an electronic source, which is further explored in part 2 of this study