Probabilistic Search for Object Segmentation and Recognition

The problem of searching for a model-based scene interpretation is analyzed within a probabilistic framework. Object models are formulated as generative models for range data of the scene. A new statistical criterion, the truncated object probability, is introduced to infer an optimal sequence of object hypotheses to be evaluated for their match to the data. The truncated probability is partly determined by prior knowledge of the objects and partly learned from data. Some experiments on sequence quality and object segmentation and recognition from stereo data are presented. The article recovers classic concepts from object recognition (grouping, geometric hashing, alignment) from the probabilistic perspective and adds insight into the optimal ordering of object hypotheses for evaluation. Moreover, it introduces point-relation densities, a key component of the truncated probability, as statistical models of local surface shape

Improving organic market data collection by using the supply balance sheet approach

Analyses of national markets for organic agricultural products are constrained by the lack of official statistics on production, consumption or international trade in any European country. As a result there are several, often very contradictory and inconsistent estimations on the amount of the organic production or consumption in the EU or even in individual EU countries. The main sources for market data estima-tions are surveys with market actors and sometimes extrapolations of household or retailer panel studies. One possibility to reduce the problem of inconsistent market data for a geographical region is to use the method of supply balance sheets (SBS). By using SBS which compare the resources and uses of a product, it is easier to detect inconsistencies between produc-tion, consumption or foreign trade data. Additional quality checks can support the identification of inconsistencies between organic and conventional market data

Beyond information extraction: The role of ontology in military report processing

Information extraction tools like SMES transform natural language into formal representation, e.g. into feature structures. Doing so, these tools exploit and apply linguistic knowledge about the syntactic and morphological regularities of the language used. However, these tools apply semantic as well as pragmatic knowledge only partially at best. Automatic processing of military reports has to result in a visualization of the reports content by map as well as in an actualization of the underlying database in order to allow for the actualization of the common operational picture. Normally, however, the information provided by the result of the information extraction is not explicit enough for visualization processes and database insertions. This originates from the reports themselves that are elliptical, ambiguous, and vague. In order to overcome this obstacle, the situational context and thus semantic and pragmatic aspects have to be taken into account. In the paper at hand, we present a system that uses an ontological module to integrate semantic and pragmatic knowledge. The result of the completion contains all the specifications to allow for a visualization of the report’s content on a map as well as for a database actualization

Does Corticothalamic Feedback Control Cortical Velocity Tuning?

The thalamus is the major gate to the cortex and its contribution to cortical receptive field properties is well established. Cortical feedback to the thalamus is, in turn, the anatomically dominant input to relay cells, yet its influence on thalamic processing has been difficult to interpret. For an understanding of complex sensory processing, detailed concepts of the corticothalamic interplay need yet to be established. To study corticogeniculate processing in a model, we draw on various physiological and anatomical data concerning the intrinsic dynamics of geniculate relay neurons, the cortical influence on relay modes, lagged and nonlagged neurons, and the structure of visual cortical receptive fields. In extensive computer simulations we elaborate the novel hypothesis that the visual cortex controls via feedback the temporal response properties of geniculate relay cells in a way that alters the tuning of cortical cells for speed

Spatiotemporal adaptation through corticothalamic loops: A hypothesis

The thalamus is the major gate to the cortex and its control over cortical responses is well established. Cortical feedback to the thalamus is, in turn, the anatomically dominant input to relay cells, yet its influence on thalamic processing has been difficult to interpret. For an understanding of complex sensory processing, detailed concepts of the corticothalamic interplay need yet to be established. Drawing on various physiological and anatomical data, we elaborate the novel hypothesis that the visual cortex controls the spatiotemporal structure of cortical receptive fields via feedback to the lateral geniculate nucleus. Furthermore, we present and analyze a model of corticogeniculate loops that implements this control, and exhibit its ability of object segmentation by statistical motion analysis in the visual field

'Reflexive Monism' versus 'Complementarism': An analysis and criticism of the conceptual groundwork of Max Velmans's 'reflexive model' of consciousness

From 1990 on, the London psychologist Max Velmans developed a novel approach to (phenomenal) consciousness according to which an experience of an object is phenomenologically identical to an object as experienced. On the face of it I agree; but unlike Velmans I argue that the latter should be understood as comparable, not to a Kantian, but rather to a noematic ‘phenomenon’ in the Husserlian sense. Consequently, I replace Velmans’s reflexive model with a complementaristic approach in a strict sense which leaves no room for either monistic or dualistic views (including Velmans’s ontological monism and his dual-aspect interpretation of complementarity) and hence requires us to radically reinterpret the concept of psychophysical causation

Organic Pilot Farms in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

Since 1993, research, advisory service and practice work together in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on solutions for selected issues of plant cultivation and animal husbandry with practical relevance for organic farmers. The project that is funded by NRW and the European Union entails demonstration and optimisation of selected organically operating farms and their methods of production as well as professional advice. The project is coordinated by the Institute of Organic Agriculture and executed in cooperation with the Chamber of Agriculture and contributes effectively to the expansion of Organic Agriculture (OA) in NRW. In this successful participatory and interdisciplinary cooperation between practice, extension service and research, 30 farms that are distributed all over NRW and integrate a wide range of different types of production in their typical local region are involved in developing the research questions, executing experiments and discussing results. Solutions are assessed and optimised on farm level and demonstrated in the practice of major farms in order to secure the knowledge transfer in extended agricultural practice. The feasibility of the methods is immediately assessed by practitioners and transmitted to colleagues

In Search of an Integrated Logic of Conviction and Intention

According to a two-level criterion for combination tests in the field of ordinary language (C-CT), moral 'ought'-sentences may be taken to imply 'I intend'-sentences partly semantically and partly pragmatically. If so, a trenchant linguistic analysis of the concept of moral obligation cannot do without a non-classical logic which allows to model these important kinds of ordinary-language implications by means of purely syntactical derivations. For this purpose, an integrated logic of conviction and intention has been tentatively devised by way of a doxastically, buletically, and pragmatically extended calculus of natural deduction. This system of buletic logic cannot even be launched without one or two derivation rules of deductive closedness. However, these very closedness rules appear to be responsible for buletic paradoxes which are analogous to paradoxes long since known from other, less exotic branches of logic but at first sight look much more virulent. After having scrutinized two potential strategies for coping with the paradoxes of buletic logic, finally we can convince ourselves that these paradoxes, as well as their familiar non-buletic counterparts, are but apparent paradoxes, provided we consistently lean on C-CT and do not let pragmatical considerations intrude into purely logical ones

The Conception of Anthropological Complementarism. An Introduction

The aims of 'Anthropological Complementarism' in a nutshell(sect. 1). Against a watered-down conception of psychophysical complementarity (sect. 2). Linguistic and logical problems of identity and non-identity (sect. 3). A 'noematic' approach to consciousness (sect. 4). A plea for a pure noematics (sect. 5). My own consciousness as experienced by myself is not a part of nature (sect. 6). The major ontological tenets of mine (sect. 7). Complementarism proper (sect. 8). Suitable and unsuitable methods in philosophy (sect. 9). How to determine the methods suitable for philosophical inquiries (sect. 10). Linguistic and phenomenological methods (sect. 11). 'Linguistic phenomenology' (sect. 12). A note on philosophical truth (sect. 13)

From Reports to Maps

In this paper, we will sketch a project in progress. The project aims at an application of a command and control system. The application is meant to process military reports written in natural language. It exploits computer linguistic techniques, especially information extraction and ontological augmentation. A prototype has already be completed. A real world application of report processing has to go beyond pure syntactic parsing. Semantic analysis is needed and the meaning of the report has to be constructed. Even more, the meaning has to be represented in a format such that it can be visualized within the so called ``common operational picture'' (COP). The COP is an interactive map displaying information. COP standards are provided by NATO. Since military operations of our days -- war operations as well as peace-keeping and nation building ones -- involve forces of many nations, the COP serves as main tool for synchronizing actions and plans. The paper at hand will provide some insights what kind of problems come along if language processing has to result in map visualization. It also will describe some solutions to overcome these problems