PDF-VQA: A New Dataset for Real-World VQA on PDF Documents

Document-based Visual Question Answering examines the document understanding of document images in conditions of natural language questions. We proposed a new document-based VQA dataset, PDF-VQA, to comprehensively examine the document understanding from various aspects, including document element recognition, document layout structural understanding as well as contextual understanding and key information extraction. Our PDF-VQA dataset extends the current scale of document understanding that limits on the single document page to the new scale that asks questions over the full document of multiple pages. We also propose a new graph-based VQA model that explicitly integrates the spatial and hierarchically structural relationships between different document elements to boost the document structural understanding. The performances are compared with several baselines over different question types and tasks\footnote{The full dataset will be released after paper acceptance

Towards Multi-modal Interpretation and Explanation

Multimodal task processes on different modalities simultaneously. Visual Question Answering, as a type of multimodal task, aims to answer the natural question answering based on the given image. To understand and process the image, many models to solve the visual question answering task encode the object regions through the convolutional neural network based backbones. Such an image processing method captures the visual features of the object regions in the image. However, the relations between objects are also important information to comprehensively understand the image for answering the complex question, and whether such relational information is captured by the visual features of the object regions remains opaque. To explicitly extract such relational information in images for visual question answering tasks, this research explores an interpretable and structural graph representation to encode the relations between objects. This research works on the three variants of Visual Question Answering tasks with different types of images, including photo-realistic images, daily scene pictures and document pages. Different task-specific relational graphs have been used and proposed to explicitly capture and encode the relations to be used by the proposed models. Such a relational graph provides an interpretable representation of the model inputs and proves its effectiveness in improving the model performance in output prediction. In addition, to improve the interpretation of the model’s prediction, this research also explores the suitable local interpretation method to be applied to the VQA model

Common genetic variation drives molecular heterogeneity in human iPSCs.

Technology utilizing human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) has enormous potential to provide improved cellular models of human disease. However, variable genetic and phenotypic characterization of many existing iPS cell lines limits their potential use for research and therapy. Here we describe the systematic generation, genotyping and phenotyping of 711 iPS cell lines derived from 301 healthy individuals by the Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Initiative. Our study outlines the major sources of genetic and phenotypic variation in iPS cells and establishes their suitability as models of complex human traits and cancer. Through genome-wide profiling we find that 5-46% of the variation in different iPS cell phenotypes, including differentiation capacity and cellular morphology, arises from differences between individuals. Additionally, we assess the phenotypic consequences of genomic copy-number alterations that are repeatedly observed in iPS cells. In addition, we present a comprehensive map of common regulatory variants affecting the transcriptome of human pluripotent cells

Radio Communications

In the last decades the restless evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) brought to a deep transformation of our habits. The growth of the Internet and the advances in hardware and software implementations modified our way to communicate and to share information. In this book, an overview of the major issues faced today by researchers in the field of radio communications is given through 35 high quality chapters written by specialists working in universities and research centers all over the world. Various aspects will be deeply discussed: channel modeling, beamforming, multiple antennas, cooperative networks, opportunistic scheduling, advanced admission control, handover management, systems performance assessment, routing issues in mobility conditions, localization, web security. Advanced techniques for the radio resource management will be discussed both in single and multiple radio technologies; either in infrastructure, mesh or ad hoc networks

NASA Tech Briefs, June 1993

Topics include: Imaging Technology: Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences

Cervical weakness and preterm birth: The structure and function of the internal cervical os

The cervix is integral to the maintenance of pregnancy and timely delivery of the baby. Mechanical failure of the cervix resulting in spontaneous preterm birth presents with collapse of the internal os, yet little is known about why the cervix behaves in this way. This may in part be due to research being technically limited and/or limited to punch biopsies of the distal cervix that did not include tissue from the internal os. The aim of this thesis was to re-evaluate cervical anatomy using novel laboratory and imaging methods to gain further insight into the structure of the cervix and how this may influence function during pregnancy. To achieve this, whole cervical samples were obtained from women undergoing hysterectomy for benign pathology. Uterine tissue was subsequently fixed and analysed using 2D and 3D histological methods. Cervical anatomy was characterised using markers for smooth muscle and collagen and analysed using computer-assisted quantification methods. Sequential tissue slices were then reconstructed to produce 3D models of the proximal, middle and distal cervix. High-resolution diffusion-tensor imaging was used to determine whether complex cervical anatomy could be visualised using radiological methods. Tissue was assessed using quantitative and qualitative diffusion methods, and directly compared to immunohistochemically stained tissue. The results obtained demonstrated that diffusion-tensor imaging accurately assessed cervical anatomy and provided further detail in terms of fibre volume, density and organisation. Ex vivo endoscopic ultrasound was used to assess whether current, established medical imaging technology could discern cervical smooth muscle and collagen fibres. Although this method could be used to identify gross anatomical structures, it was not an appropriate method to identify cervical microanatomy. The results described in this thesis provide further insight into how the cervix resists intrauterine forces throughout pregnancy, and then dilates and effaces to allow for delivery of a fetus. Diffusion-tensor imaging accurately assessed cervical anatomy, which may have implications for in vivo characterisation of cervical remodelling during pregnancy and identifying those at risk of delivering early. Finally, observations in this thesis encourage continued re-examination of the cervix using high-resolution imaging to provide insight into function and to develop strategies to discern cervical insufficiency from other known causes of preterm birth