Language and Cognition

Interaction between language and cognition remains an unsolved scientific problem. What are the differences in neural mechanisms of language and cognition? Why do children acquire language by the age of six, while taking a lifetime to acquire cognition? What is the role of language and cognition in thinking? Is abstract cognition possible without language? Is language just a communication device, or is it fundamental in developing thoughts? Why are there no animals with human thinking but without human language? Combinations even among 100 words and 100 objects (multiple words can represent multiple objects) exceed the number of all the particles in the Universe, and it seems that no amount of experience would suffice to learn these associations. How does human brain overcome this difficulty

Improving the presentation of search results by multipartite graph clustering of multiple reformulated queries and a novel document representation

The goal of clustering web search results is to reveal the semantics of the retrieved documents. The main challenge is to make clustering partition relevant to a user’s query. In this paper, we describe a method of clustering search results using a similarity measure between documents retrieved by multiple reformulated queries. The method produces clusters of documents that are most relevant to the original query and, at the same time, represent a more diverse set of semantically related queries. In order to cluster thousands of documents in real time, we designed a novel multipartite graph clustering algorithm that has low polynomial complexity and no manually adjusted hyper–parameters. The loss of semantics resulting from the stem–based document representation is a common problem in information retrieval. To address this problem, we propose an alternative novel document representation, under which words are represented by their synonymy groups.This work was supported by Yandex grant 110104

Designing biomimetic-inspired middleware for anticipative sensor-actor networks

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. Developing software environments for Sensor-Actor Networks (Sanets) is a promising research concern in systems engineering. Current concepts in software would adopt Sanets in a singular communications methodology, but the solution in this work is to take biological inspiration for the systems solution, thus the design of the system achieves a biomimetic construct as a result. Sanets are configurable for a variety of network structures and topologies, with the research aim in designing a network that is interactive and anticipatory to external and internal adaptations. Meanwhile, the event-based changes are composed of scenarios, and the interactivity between external and internal actors. From the requirements of the end-user, the system must be responsive and interactive from the user perspective in real-time, while in addition offering the contextual data to make useful interpretation of systemic conditions from an anticipative view Chiu and Chaczko Design of biomimetic middleware for anticipatory sensor-actor network systems. In: Proceedings of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer-Aided System Engineering, APCASE 2014, pp. 22–23. South Kuta, Indonesia, 10–12 February 2014. ISBN 978-0- 9924518-0-6 [2]

Neural Network-Based Equations for Predicting PGA and PGV in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas

Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas have experienced increased rates of seismicity in recent years, providing new datasets of earthquake recordings to develop ground motion prediction models for this particular region of the Central and Eastern North America (CENA). This paper outlines a framework for using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to develop attenuation models from the ground motion recordings in this region. While attenuation models exist for the CENA, concerns over the increased rate of seismicity in this region necessitate investigation of ground motions prediction models particular to these states. To do so, an ANN-based framework is proposed to predict peak ground acceleration (PGA) and peak ground velocity (PGV) given magnitude, earthquake source-to-site distance, and shear wave velocity. In this framework, approximately 4,500 ground motions with magnitude greater than 3.0 recorded in these three states (Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas) since 2005 are considered. Results from this study suggest that existing ground motion prediction models developed for CENA do not accurately predict the ground motion intensity measures for earthquakes in this region, especially for those with low source-to-site distances or on very soft soil conditions. The proposed ANN models provide much more accurate prediction of the ground motion intensity measures at all distances and magnitudes. The proposed ANN models are also converted to relatively simple mathematical equations so that engineers can easily use them to predict the ground motion intensity measures for future events. Finally, through a sensitivity analysis, the contributions of the predictive parameters to the prediction of the considered intensity measures are investigated.Comment: 5th Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics Conference, Austin, TX, USA, June 10-13. (2018

Past, present and future mathematical models for buildings (i)

This is the first of two articles presenting a detailed review of the historical evolution of mathematical models applied in the development of building technology, including conventional buildings and intelligent buildings. After presenting the technical differences between conventional and intelligent buildings, this article reviews the existing mathematical models, the abstract levels of these models, and their links to the literature for intelligent buildings. The advantages and limitations of the applied mathematical models are identified and the models are classified in terms of their application range and goal. We then describe how the early mathematical models, mainly physical models applied to conventional buildings, have faced new challenges for the design and management of intelligent buildings and led to the use of models which offer more flexibility to better cope with various uncertainties. In contrast with the early modelling techniques, model approaches adopted in neural networks, expert systems, fuzzy logic and genetic models provide a promising method to accommodate these complications as intelligent buildings now need integrated technologies which involve solving complex, multi-objective and integrated decision problems

Past, present and future mathematical models for buildings (ii)

This article is the second part of a review of the historical evolution of mathematical models applied in the development of building technology. The first part described the current state of the art and contrasted various models with regard to the applications to conventional buildings and intelligent buildings. It concluded that mathematical techniques adopted in neural networks, expert systems, fuzzy logic and genetic models, that can be used to address model uncertainty, are well suited for modelling intelligent buildings. Despite the progress, the possible future development of intelligent buildings based on the current trends implies some potential limitations of these models. This paper attempts to uncover the fundamental limitations inherent in these models and provides some insights into future modelling directions, with special focus on the techniques of semiotics and chaos. Finally, by demonstrating an example of an intelligent building system with the mathematical models that have been developed for such a system, this review addresses the influences of mathematical models as a potential aid in developing intelligent buildings and perhaps even more advanced buildings for the future