181,326 research outputs found

    Domain and Geometry Agnostic CNNs for Left Atrium Segmentation in 3D Ultrasound

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    Segmentation of the left atrium and deriving its size can help to predict and detect various cardiovascular conditions. Automation of this process in 3D Ultrasound image data is desirable, since manual delineations are time-consuming, challenging and observer-dependent. Convolutional neural networks have made improvements in computer vision and in medical image analysis. They have successfully been applied to segmentation tasks and were extended to work on volumetric data. In this paper we introduce a combined deep-learning based approach on volumetric segmentation in Ultrasound acquisitions with incorporation of prior knowledge about left atrial shape and imaging device. The results show, that including a shape prior helps the domain adaptation and the accuracy of segmentation is further increased with adversarial learning

    An analysis of persistent non-player characters in the first-person gaming genre 1998-2007: a case for the fusion of mechanics and diegetics

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    This paper describes the results of an analysis of persistent non-player characters (PNPCs) in the first-person gaming genre 1998-2007. Assessing the role, function, gameplay significance and representational characteristics of these critical important gameplay objects from over 34 major releases provides an important set of baseline data within which to situate further research. This kind of extensive, genre-wide analysis is under-represented in game studies, yet it represents a hugely important process in forming clear and robust illustrations of the medium to support understanding. Thus, I offer a fragment of this illustration, demonstrating that many of the cultural and diegetic qualities of PNPCs are a product of a self-assembling set of archetypes formed from gameplay requirements

    Perspectives on the Neuroscience of Cognition and Consciousness

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    The origin and current use of the concepts of computation, representation and information in Neuroscience are examined and conceptual flaws are identified which vitiate their usefulness for addressing problems of the neural basis of Cognition and Consciousness. In contrast, a convergence of views is presented to support the characterization of the Nervous System as a complex dynamical system operating in the metastable regime, and capable of evolving to configurations and transitions in phase space with potential relevance for Cognition and Consciousness

    Concepts, Introspection, and Phenomenal Consciousness: An Information-Theoretical Approach

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    This essay is a sustained information-theoretic attempt to bring new light on some of the perennial problems in the philosophy of mind surrounding phenomenal consciousness and introspection. Following Dretske (1981), we present and develop an informational psychosemantics as it applies to what we call <em>sensory concepts</em>, concepts that apply, roughly, to so-called secondary qualities of objects. We show that these concepts have a special informational character and semantic structure that closely tie them to the brain states realizing conscious qualitative experiences. We then develop an account of introspection which exploits this special nature of sensory concepts. The result is a new class of concepts, which, following recent terminology, we call <em>phenomenal concepts</em>: these concepts refer to phenomenal experience itself and are the vehicles used in introspection. On our account, the connection between sensory and phenomenal concepts is very tight: it consists in different semantic uses of the same cognitive structures underlying the sensory concepts, like RED. Contrary to widespread opinion, we show that information theory contains all the resources to satisfy internalist intuitions about phenomenal consciousness, while not offending externalist ones. A consequence of this account is that it explains and predicts the so-called conceivability arguments against physicalism on the basis of the special nature of sensory and phenomenal concepts. Thus we not only show why physicalism is not threatened by such arguments, but also demonstrate its strength in virtue of its ability to predict and explain away such arguments in a principled way. However, we take the main contribution of this work to be what it provides in addition to a response to those conceivability arguments, namely, a substantive account of the interface between sensory and conceptual systems and the mechanisms of introspection as based on the special nature of the information flow between them

    Symmetry-dependent phonon renormalization in monolayer MoS2 transistor

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    Strong electron-phonon interaction which limits electronic mobility of semiconductors can also have significant effects on phonon frequencies. The latter is the key to the use of Raman spectroscopy for nondestructive characterization of doping in graphene-based devices. Using in-situ Raman scattering from single layer MoS2_2 electrochemically top-gated field effect transistor (FET), we show softening and broadening of A1g_{1g} phonon with electron doping whereas the other Raman active E2g1_{2g}^{1} mode remains essentially inert. Confirming these results with first-principles density functional theory based calculations, we use group theoretical arguments to explain why A1g_{1g} mode specifically exhibits a strong sensitivity to electron doping. Our work opens up the use of Raman spectroscopy in probing the level of doping in single layer MoS2_2-based FETs, which have a high on-off ratio and are of enormous technological significance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

    Legality and venture governance around the world

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    We analyze governance with a dataset on investments of venture capitalists in 3848 portfolio firms in 39 countries from North and South America, Europe and Asia spanning 1971-2003. We find that cross-country differences in Legality have a significant impact on the governance structure of investments in the VC industry: better laws facilitate faster deal screening and deal origination, a higher probability of syndication and a lower probability of potentially harmful co-investment, and facilitate board representation of the investor. We also show better laws reduce the probability that the investor requires periodic cash flows prior to exit, which is in conjunction with an increased probability of investment in high-tech companies. Klassifikation: G24, G31, G32

    In pursuit of an expressive vocabulary for preserved new media art

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    The status of the new media, interactive and performance art context appears to complicate our ability to follow conventional preservation approaches. Documentation of digital art materials has been determined to be an appropriate means of resolving associated difficulties, but this demands high levels of expressiveness to support the encapsulation of the myriad elements and qualities of content and context that may influence value and reproducibility. We discuss a proposed Vocabulary for Preserved New Media Works, a means of encapsulating the various information and material dimensions implicit within a work and required to ensure its ongoing availability
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