A Semantic Model for Federated Queries Over a Normalized Corpus

We present here a model implemented in OWL which improves information retrieval and data integration of the corpus. The model is populated with entities from CALBC and some simple queries over it are presented.
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Reciprocal anatomical relationship between primary sensory and prefrontal cortices in the human brain

The human brain exhibits remarkable interindividual variability in cortical architecture. Despite extensive evidence for the behavioral consequences of such anatomical variability in individual cortical regions, it is unclear whether and how different cortical regions covary in morphology. Using a novel approach that combined noninvasive cortical functional mapping with whole-brain voxel-based morphometric analyses, we investigated the anatomical relationship between the functionally mapped visual cortices and other cortical structures in healthy humans. We found a striking anticorrelation between the gray matter volume of primary visual cortex and that of anterior prefrontal cortex, independent from individual differences in overall brain volume. Notably, this negative correlation formed along anatomically separate pathways, as the dorsal and ventral parts of primary visual cortex showed focal anticorrelation with the dorsolateral and ventromedial parts of anterior prefrontal cortex, respectively. Moreover, a similar inverse correlation was found between primary auditory cortex and anterior prefrontal cortex, but no anatomical relationship was observed between other visual cortices and anterior prefrontal cortex. Together, these findings indicate that an anatomical trade-off exists between primary sensory cortices and anterior prefrontal cortex as a possible general principle of human cortical organization. This new discovery challenges the traditional view that the sizes of different brain areas simply scale with overall brain size and suggests the existence of shared genetic or developmental factors that contributes to the formation of anatomically and functionally distant cortical regions

Integration of the scientific literature into the Semantic Web: Facts from biomedical data resources

Scientific literature is the primary resource for relevant and innovative information. The integration of the literature with other data resources in the biomedical research community generates overhead that can be avoided through the used of Semantic Web Technology generating openly accessible data. Projects such as SESL and CALBC have producted significant amount of data that that are ready for exploitation.
The tutorial will teach different approaches on how to integrate the scientific literature with the content from biomedical databases, and will discuss the inferences that can be achieved. Furthermore, the tutorial will point to the resources that are ready for use and enable integration of the literature at your discretion. A good understanding of Semantic Web technology, ontologies, OWL and the existing biomedical data resources is advantageous to easily follow the tutorial

Reducing the Risk of Birds Colliding into Windows: A Practical Guide for Homes and Businesses

This fact sheet explains the problem of birds colliding into windows, why they fly into windows, windows that pose the greatest threat, what you can do to reduce the risk, and what to do if you find an injured bird

Scientific modeling of Optical 3D Measuring Devices based on GPU-accelerated Ray Tracing using the NVIDIA OptiX Engine

Scientific optical 3D modeling requires the possibility to implement highly flexible and customizable mathematical models as well as high computing power. However, established ray tracing software for optical design and modeling purposes often has limitations in terms of access to underlying mathematical models and the possibility of accelerating the mostly CPU-based computation. To address these limitations, we propose the use of NVIDIA's OptiX Ray Tracing Engine as a highly flexible and high-performing alternative. OptiX offers a highly customizable ray tracing framework with onboard GPU support for parallel computing, as well as access to optimized ray tracing algorithms for accelerated computation. To demonstrate the capabilities of our approach, a realistic focus variation instrument is modeled, describing optical instrument components (light sources, lenses, detector, etc.) as well as the measuring sample surface mathematically or as meshed files. Using this focus variation instrument model, exemplary virtual measurements of arbitrary and standardized sample surfaces are carried out, generating image stacks of more than 100 images and tracing more than 1E9 light rays per image. The performance and accuracy of the simulations are qualitatively evaluated, and virtually generated detector images are compared with images acquired by a respective physical measuring device.Comment: conferenc

Weighting of binocular experience in visual cortical development

After birth the brain adapts to characteristics in the environment in order to optimise its resources with respect to the individual's circumstances. For instance, early monocular deprivation results in reduced cortical representation and visual acuity of the deprived eye. However, such a loss of visual function in one eye after only transient periods of compromised vision through injury or infection would seem to be maladaptive. I examined here whether cortical deprivation effects can be counteracted by daily periods of normal experience. Cats received variable daily regimens of monocular deprivation (by wearing a mask) and binocular exposure. Visual cortex function was subsequently assessed with optical imaging of intrinsic signals, visually evoked potentials, and extracellular electrophysiological recordings. Regardless of the overall length of visual experience, daily binocular vision for as little as 30 minutes, but no less, allowed normal ocular dominance and visual responses to be maintained despite several times longer periods of deprivation. Thus, the absolute amount of daily binocular vision rather than its relative share of the total daily exposure determined the outcome. When 30 minutes binocular exposure were broken up into two 15-minute blocks flanking the deprivation period, ocular dominance resembled that of animals with only 15 minutes binocular vision, suggesting that binocular experience must be continuous to be most effective. My results demonstrate that normal experience is clearly more efficacious in maintaining a binocular visual cortex than abnormal experience is in shifting the ocular dominance distribution. These findings con tribute to the larger debate about how much nature and nurture, respectively, contribute to the development of the brain they suggest that while experience plays a significant role, for some functions there may be an intrinsic bias towards a state that is optimally adapted to the most probable environment.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Weighting of binocular experience in visual cortical development.

After birth the brain adapts to characteristics in the environment in order to optimise its resources with respect to the individual's circumstances. For instance, early monocular deprivation results in reduced cortical representation and visual acuity of the deprived eye. However, such a loss of visual function in one eye after only transient periods of compromised vision through injury or infection would seem to be maladaptive. I examined here whether cortical deprivation effects can be counteracted by daily periods of normal experience. Cats received variable daily regimens of monocular deprivation (by wearing a mask) and binocular exposure. Visual cortex function was subsequently assessed with optical imaging of intrinsic signals, visually evoked potentials, and extracellular electrophysiological recordings. Regardless of the overall length of visual experience, daily binocular vision for as little as 30 minutes, but no less, allowed normal ocular dominance and visual responses to be maintained despite several times longer periods of deprivation. Thus, the absolute amount of daily binocular vision rather than its relative share of the total daily exposure determined the outcome. When 30 minutes binocular exposure were broken up into two 15-minute blocks flanking the deprivation period, ocular dominance resembled that of animals with only 15 minutes binocular vision, suggesting that binocular experience must be continuous to be most effective. My results demonstrate that normal experience is clearly more efficacious in maintaining a binocular visual cortex than abnormal experience is in shifting the ocular dominance distribution. These findings con tribute to the larger debate about how much nature and nurture, respectively, contribute to the development of the brain; they suggest that while experience plays a significant role, for some functions there may be an intrinsic bias towards a state that is optimally adapted to the most probable environment