Netlang: A software for the linguistic analysis of corpora by means of complex networks

To date there is no software that directly connects the linguistic analysis of a conversation to a network program. Networks programs are able to extract statistical information from data basis with information about systems of interacting elements. Language has also been conceived and studied as a complex system. However, most proposals do not analyze language according to linguistic theory, but use instead computational systems that should save time at the price of leaving aside many crucial aspects for linguistic theory. Some approaches to network studies on language do apply precise linguistic analyses, made by a linguist. The problem until now has been the lack of interface between the analysis of a sentence and its integration into the network that could be managed by a linguist and that could save the analysis of any language. Previous works have used old software that was not created for these purposes and that often produced problems with some idiosyncrasies of the target language. The desired interface should be able to deal with the syntactic peculiarities of a particular language, the options of linguistic theory preferred by the user and the preservation of morpho-syntactic information (lexical categories and syntactic relations between items). Netlang is the first program able to do that. Recently, a new kind of linguistic analysis has been developed, which is able to extract a complexity pattern from the speaker’s linguistic production which is depicted as a network where words are inside nodes, and these nodes connect each other by means of edges or links (the information inside the edge can be syntactic, semantic, etc.). The Netlang software has become the bridge between rough linguistic data and the network program. Netlang has integrated and improved the functions of programs used in the past, namely the DGA annotator and two scripts (ToXML.pl and Xml2Pairs.py) used for transforming and pruning data. Netlang allows the researcher to make accurate linguistic analysis by means of syntactic dependency relations between words, while tracking record of the nature of such syntactic relationships (subject, object, etc). The Netlang software is presented as a new tool that solve many problems detected in the past. The most important improvement is that Netlang integrates three past applications into one program, and is able to produce a series of file formats that can be read by a network program. Through the Netlang software, the linguistic network analysis based on syntactic analyses, characterized for its low cost and the completely non-invasive procedure aims to evolve into a sufficiently fine grained tool for clinical diagnosis in potential cases of language disorders

Component analysis of nutritionally rich chloroplasts: recovery from conventional and unconventional green plant species

A study of the literature indicates that chloroplasts synthesise a range of molecules, many of which have nutritional value for humans, but as yet no one has established the nutritional credentials of chloroplasts recovered from plant cells. Chloroplast-rich-fractions (CRFs) were prepared from green plant species and the macro- and micronutrient composition compared with the whole leaf materials (WLMs). The results indicated that, on a dry weight basis, CRF material from a range of green biomass was enriched in lipids and proteins, and in a range of micronutrients compared with the WLM. Vitamins E, pro-vitamin A, and lutein were all greater in CRF preparations. Of the minerals, iron was most notably concentrated in CRF. Spinach CRFs possessed the highest α-tocopherol (62 mg 100 g-1 , dry weight (DW)), β-carotene (336 mg 100 g- 1 DW) and lutein (341 mg 100 g-1 DW) contents, whilst grass CRFs had the highest concentration of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (69.5 mg g-1). The higher concentrations of α-tocopherol, β-carotene, lutein, ALA and trace minerals (Fe and Mn) in CRFs suggest their potential use as concentrated ingredients in food formulations deficient in these nutrients

Alpha-Linolenic Acid: Is It Essential to Cardiovascular Health?

There is a large body of scientific evidence that has been confirmed in randomized controlled trials indicating a cardioprotective effect for omega-3 fatty acids from fish. For alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is the omega-3 fatty acid from plants, the relation to cardiovascular health is less clear. We reviewed the recent literature on dietary ALA intake, ALA tissue concentrations, and cardiovascular health in humans. Short-term trials (6–12 weeks) in generally healthy participants mostly showed no or inconsistent effects of ALA intake (1.2–3.6 g/d) on blood lipids, low-density lipoprotein oxidation, lipoprotein(a), and apolipoproteins A-I and B. Studies of ALA in relation to inflammatory markers and glucose metabolism yielded conflicting results. With regard to clinical cardiovascular outcomes, there is observational evidence for a protective effect against nonfatal myocardial infarction. However, no protective associations were observed between ALA status and risk of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and sudden death. Findings from long-term trials of ALA supplementation are awaited to answer the question whether food-based or higher doses of ALA could be important for cardiovascular health in cardiac patients and the general population

Lipid Classes and Fatty Acid Patterns are Altered in the Brain of γ-Synuclein Null Mutant Mice

The well-documented link between α-synuclein and the pathology of common human neurodegenerative diseases has increased attention to the synuclein protein family. The involvement of α-synuclein in lipid metabolism in both normal and diseased nervous system has been shown by many research groups. However, the possible involvement of γ-synuclein, a closely-related member of the synuclein family, in these processes has hardly been addressed. In this study, the effect of γ-synuclein deficiency on the lipid composition and fatty acid patterns of individual lipids from two brain regions has been studied using a mouse model. The level of phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) was increased in the midbrain whereas no changes in the relative proportions of membrane polar lipids were observed in the cortex of γ-synuclein-deficient compared to wild-type (WT) mice. In addition, higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid were found in PtdSer and phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) from the cerebral cortex of γ-synuclein null mutant mice. These findings show that γ-synuclein deficiency leads to alterations in the lipid profile in brain tissues and suggest that this protein, like α-synuclein, might affect neuronal function via modulation of lipid metabolism

Main features of the networks as a result from the analysis of corpora by means of <i>Netlang</i>.

<p>Analysis of the giant connected component of the graph: (<i>C</i>) Clustering coefficient, Nodes or number of different words, Edges or number of syntactic links, <<i>k></i> average number of edges per node, <i>L</i> or characteristic path length. Age is typically written “<i>years</i>;<i>months</i>.<i>days</i>”, hence the bilingual child is 2 years, 1 month and 20 days old.</p

Number of syntactic relations classified by age and label, recovered from each whole graph (hence, including the giant connected component and other smaller networks).

<p>Number of syntactic relations classified by age and label, recovered from each whole graph (hence, including the giant connected component and other smaller networks).</p

Six networks reflecting the twins’ language ontogeny.

<p>In three different periods of their life: at 2 years and 6 months, at 3 years and 1 month and at 7 years. The child MH (files NAM), letters (A), (B) and (C), had a focal lesion.</p

The bilingual network.

<p>Lexical categories have been customized in order to reflect whether the word is English or Spanish. An additional third color has been selected for proper names. Syntactic relations are also reflected in the network.</p

Netlang: A software for the linguistic analysis of corpora by means of complex networks

To date there is no software that directly connects the linguistic analysis of a conversation to a network program. Networks programs are able to extract statistical information from data basis with information about systems of interacting elements. Language has also been conceived and studied as a complex system. However, most proposals do not analyze language according to linguistic theory, but use instead computational systems that should save time at the price of leaving aside many crucial aspects for linguistic theory. Some approaches to network studies on language do apply precise linguistic analyses, made by a linguist. The problem until now has been the lack of interface between the analysis of a sentence and its integration into the network that could be managed by a linguist and that could save the analysis of any language. Previous works have used old software that was not created for these purposes and that often produced problems with some idiosyncrasies of the target language. The desired interface should be able to deal with the syntactic peculiarities of a particular language, the options of linguistic theory preferred by the user and the preservation of morpho-syntactic information (lexical categories and syntactic relations between items). Netlang is the first program able to do that. Recently, a new kind of linguistic analysis has been developed, which is able to extract a complexity pattern from the speaker's linguistic production which is depicted as a network where words are inside nodes, and these nodes connect each other by means of edges or links (the information inside the edge can be syntactic, semantic, etc.). The Netlang software has become the bridge between rough linguistic data and the network program. Netlang has integrated and improved the functions of programs used in the past, namely the DGA annotator and two scripts (ToXML.pl and Xml2Pairs.py) used for transforming and pruning data. Netlang allows the researcher to make accurate linguistic analysis by means of syntactic dependency relations between words, while tracking record of the nature of such syntactic relationships (subject, object, etc). The Netlang software is presented as a new tool that solve many problems detected in the past. The most important improvement is that Netlang integrates three past applications into one program, and is able to produce a series of file formats that can be read by a network program. Through the Netlang software, the linguistic network analysis based on syntactic analyses, characterized for its low cost and the completely non-invasive procedure aims to evolve into a sufficiently fine grained tool for clinical diagnosis in potential cases of language disorders