Wherein is Human Cognition Systematic?

The ??systematicity argument?? has been used to argue for a classical cognitive architecture (Fodor in The Language of Thought. Harvester Press, London, 1975, Why there still has to be a language of thought? In Psychosemantics, appendix. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 135?C154, 1987; Fodor and Pylyshyn in Cognition 28:3?C71, 1988; Aizawa in The systematicity arguments. Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 2003). From the premises that cognition is systematic and that the best/only explanation of systematicity is compositional structure, it concludes that cognition is to be explained in terms of symbols (in a language of thought) and formal rules. The debate, with connectionism, has mostly centered on the second premise-whether an explanation of systematicity requires compositional structure, which neural networks do not to exhibit (for example, Hadley and Hayward, in Minds and Machines, 7:1?C37). In this paper, I will take issue with the first premise. Several arguments will be deployed that show that cognition is not systematic in general; that, in fact, systematicity seems to be related to language. I will argue that it is just verbal minds that are systematic, and they are so because of the structuring role of language in cognition. A dual-process theory of cognition will be defended as the best explanation of the facts.     

Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in an anaerobic fixed bed digester

The anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge in conventional reactors requires a hydraulic retention time of around 20 days. By using a fixed bed reactor the hydraulic retention time was reduced to 3–7 days. Recirculation increased the removal of organic matter in this system.     

Treatment of settled piggery waste by a down‐flow anaerobic fixed bed reactor

A study of the effect of organic volumetric loading rate (B_V) on the performance of a down‐flow anaerobic fixed bed reactor (DFAFBR) treating settled piggery waste was carried out at a range of between 1.1 and 6.8 g COD dm^?3 d^?1. The reactor operated at good removal efficiencies and stability under the operational conditions studied. Logarithmic empirical equations described adequately the removal efficiency for different parameters studied (COD, SCOD, BOD, TS, VS, TSS, VSS and phosphorous). Although process stability was affected by the increase of B_V, process failure was not observed. A logarithmic relationship was found to describe the influence of B_V on the TVFA/alkalinity ratio (p). A linear correlation was found between the effluent substrate concentration and the values of p and between p and the CO₂/CH₄ ratio in the biogas. The effect of the hydraulic volumetric loading rate (H_V) on the flow pattern of the reactor was evaluated. Dispersion number (D_n) was in the range of 0.17–0.37 for the maximum and minimum values of H_V studied, respectively. The ratio between the real and theoretical HRT increased as the H_V decreased. These results demonstrate that axial dispersion increased as the H_V and the Reynolds number decreased. Due to the hydraulic behaviour of the reactor, the kinetic model developed by Lawrence and McCarty was used for describing the experimental results obtained. Maximum specific substrate removal rate (K), specific organic loading rate constant (K_L), microbial decay coefficient (K_d), microbial yield coefficient (Y), maximum microbial growth rate (U_M) and saturation constant (K_S) were found to be: 3.1 (g COD g VSS^?1 d^?1), 3.0 (g COD g VSS^?1 d^?1), 0.062 (d^?1), 0.15 (g VSS g COD removed^?1), 0.39 (d^?1) and 2.6 (g SCOD dm^?3), respectively. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Study of the crystalline transformation of a ZSM-5 type zeolite by thermal treatments

Changes in the framework of an ethanol-ZSM-5 type zeolite by thermal effects between 673 and 1173 K were investigated using the methods of thermal analysis, infrared, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Crystalline transformation of ZSM-5 into cristobalite at about 973 K was observed in either an air or nitrogen stream and using different heating programmes. The breakdown of the lattice is related to the thermal removal of some species of ethanol from the framework. Total removal of the organic promoter by washing with water prior to thermal treatment leads to a material in which the phase transition temperature is above 1173 K.     

Recommender systems in model-driven engineering

Software and Systems Modeling - Recommender systems are information filtering systems used in many online applications like music and video broadcasting and e-commerce platforms. They are also...     

Fathers' ratings in the assessment of their child's anxiety symptoms: A comparison to mothers' ratings and their associations with paternal symptomatology.

We examined the comparability between mothers' and fathers' ratings in the assessment of their child's anxiety symptoms. The sample consisted of 78 youth (6 to 17 years) and their mothers and fathers who presented to a childhood anxiety disorders specialty research clinic. Using intraclass correlation coefficients, mother?father agreement of their child's anxiety symptoms was found to be moderate. Mean differences between mothers' and fathers' ratings of their child's anxiety were not significantly different. Both maternal and paternal self-ratings of psychopathology predicted respective ratings of their child's anxiety. Although either mothers or fathers can provide useful information, use of multiple informants is encouraged, especially when parental psychopathology is present. Additional implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anaerobic fluidized bed reactor application to tropical fruit wine effluent.

The influence of the organic loading rate (OLR), the fluidization level (FL) and the particle diameter of natural zeolite used as support (D(p)), was evaluated at a laboratory scale anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AFBR), treating tropical fruit wine effluent (vinasse). The experiment was carried out at an OLR from 2-5 kg COD/m3 d, FL of 20 and 40% and D(p) from 0.25 to 0.80 mm. It was demonstrated that OLR and FL had a slight influence on chemical oxygen demand removal and strong influence on the methane production rate. The COD removal was slightly higher for the higher particle diameter used. Additionally using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), it was observed that natural zeolites have excellent physical characteristics as a support medium in AFBR.     

Heavy metal removal by microalgae

The liver is one of the principal sites of iron overload in diseases such as hemochromatosis and beta thalassemia. Hence, much effort has been invested in examining the mechanisms of Fe uptake by hepatocytes. In the present study we have examined the effect of small molecular weight (M(r)) Fe complexes on Fe uptake from iron 59-labeled transferrin (Tf) and 59Fe-labeled citrate by primary cultures of hepatocytes. This was important to assess because Fe-citrate and saturated diferric Tf coexist in the serum of patients with untreated Fe overload. Preincubation of hepatocytes with the low-M(r) Fe complex ferric ammonium citrate (FAC; 25 microg/mL; (Fe) = 4.4 microg/mL) followed by incubation with 59Fe-Tf or 59Fe-citrate ((Fe) = 0.25 to 25 micromol/L) resulted in the marked stimulation of 59Fe uptake. For example, at a physiologically relevant Tf-Fe concentration of 25 micromol/L, there was an 8-fold increase in 59Fe uptake by cells incubated with FAC compared to control cells. In contrast, at Tf-Fe concentrations of 0.25 to 2.5 micromol/L, 59Fe uptake in FAC-treated cells was only 1-fold to 3-fold greater than that in the corresponding controls. These data suggest that the FAC-activated Fe uptake process predominates at physiologically relevant Tf concentrations above the saturation of the Tf receptor (TfR). This is the first study to demonstrate that preincubation of hepatocytes with Iow-M(r)Fe complexes can markedly increase Fe uptake from diferric Tf. In conclusion, these results may help to explain the loading of hepatocytes with Fe that occurs in Fe-overload disease despite marked down-regulation of the TfR.