Recognition by directed attention to recursively partitioned images

A learning/recognition model (and instantiating program) is described which recursively combines the learning paradigms of conceptual clustering (Michalski, 1980) and learning-from-examples to resolve the ambiguities of real-world recognition. The model is based on neuropsychological and psychological evidence that the visual system is analytic, hierarchical, and composed of a parallel/serial dichotomy (many, see conclusions by Crick, 1984). Emulating the experimental evidence, parallel processes in the model decompose the image into components and cluster the constituents in much the same way as the image processing technique known as moment analysis (Alt, 1962). Serial, attentive mechanisms then reassemble the decompositions by investigating spatial relationships between components. The use of attentive mechanisms extends the moment analysis technique to handle alterations in structure and solves the contention problem created by combining the two learning paradigms. The contention results from a disagreement between the teacher and the model on what constitutes the salient features at the highest level of the symbol. There are four cases ZBT must handle, two of which result from the disagreement with the teacher. The parallel/serial dichotomy represents a vertical/horizontal tradeoff between the invariant and variant features of a domain. The resultant learned hierarchy allows ZBT to recognize structural differences while avoiding problems of exponential growth

Therapeutic decision making in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system in children.

ABSTRACT Autoimmune and inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Through the recognition of syndromes using diagnostic biomarkers, the clinician is now able to use immune suppressive therapies to improve outcomes. However, the therapeutic decision-making process is complex. The clinician has to balance the risk of disease, with the risk of treatment side effects. To achieve this balance, it is important to understand the natural history of disease, the risk of residual disability, the risk of relapse, and risk of a fatal outcome. It is also important to have some understanding of the pathological processes, as some of the entities have more reversible processes, whereas others have destructive processes. This review will assess the dynamic nature of this decision-making process, and compare some of the more severe diseases such as neuromyelitis optica, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis and opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia syndrome, with disorders with more favourable outcomes such as Sydenham chorea and post-infectious cerebellar ataxia

Therapeutic decision making in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system in children.

ABSTRACT Autoimmune and inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Through the recognition of syndromes using diagnostic biomarkers, the clinician is now able to use immune suppressive therapies to improve outcomes. However, the therapeutic decision-making process is complex. The clinician has to balance the risk of disease, with the risk of treatment side effects. To achieve this balance, it is important to understand the natural history of disease, the risk of residual disability, the risk of relapse, and risk of a fatal outcome. It is also important to have some understanding of the pathological processes, as some of the entities have more reversible processes, whereas others have destructive processes. This review will assess the dynamic nature of this decision-making process, and compare some of the more severe diseases such as neuromyelitis optica, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis and opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia syndrome, with disorders with more favourable outcomes such as Sydenham chorea and post-infectious cerebellar ataxia

CAP-TSD analysis of the F-15 aircraft

The F-15 fighter aircraft was modeled using Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance (CAP-TSD). The complete aircraft was modeled including the wing, stabilator, flow through inlets, and fuselage body. CAP-TSD was used to make static pressure runs for Mach numbers of 0.8, 0.9, 0.95 and 1.2. The angle of attack for these runs ranged from 0 to 5 degs. The CAP-TSD program showed good agreement between the computed fuselage and wing pressures and the measured wind tunnel pressures. Including the fuselage and inlets in the CAP-TSD analysis is important and improves the correlation of wing pressures with test data

A Wolf in Sheep���s Clothing? An analysis of student engagement with virtual learning environments.

The article is freely available on-line via The Higher Education Academy website.The growth in the use of virtual learning environments to support learning and teaching should be accompanied by research to examine their effectiveness. The aim of this study was twofold: a) To explore the views, opinions and experiences of student engagement or non-engagement in online learning activities; b) To use this knowledge to develop learning and teaching strategies that enhance student engagement with online learning activities. Focus groups were conducted with students studying leisure and tourism degree programmes to explore reasons for usage and non-usage of the online activities in the Wolverhampton Online Learning Framework (WOLF). Results identified issues related to student awareness, motivation, behaviour and learning approaches, assessment and technical factors. Findings from the study have implications for practice, including how to enhance the relevance of information, technical factors, enhancing awareness and links with assessment

Learning and memory in machines and animals : an AI model that accounts for some neurobiological data

The CEL model of learning and memory (Components of Episodic Learning) [Granger 1982, 1983a, 1983b] provides a process model of certain aspects of learning and memory in animals and humans. The model consists of a set of asynchronous and semi-independent functional operators that collectively create and modify memory traces as a result of experience. The model conforms to relevant results in the learning literature of psychology and neurobiology. There are two goals to this work: one is to create a set of working learning systems that will improve their performance on the basis of experience, and the other is to compare these systems' performance with that of living systems, as a step towards the eventual comparative characterizations of different learning systems.Parts of the model have been implemented in the CEL-0 program, which operates in a 'Maze-World' simulated maze environment. The program exhibits simple exploratory behavior that leads to the acquisition of predictive and discriminatory schemata. A number of interesting theoretical predictions have arisen in part from observation of the operation of the program, some of which are currently being tested in neurobiological experiments. In particular, some neurobiological evidence for the existence of multiple, seperable memory systems in humans and animals is interpreted in terms of the model, and some new experiments are suggested arising from the model's predictions

Computer‐assisted learning as an alternative to didactic lectures: A study of teaching the physics of diagnostic imaging

A computer‐assisted learning (CAL) package entitled Physics of Diagnostic Imaging was developed in 1995 to replace five hours of didactic lectures at the University of Glasgow Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and has been available as an additional learning resource for students in the other five UK veterinary schools for over three years. The package was reviewed by peer experts and the reaction of the students to its use gauged by post‐task questionnaire administration, informal discussions and observation. To assess the effect of integration into the curriculum, analyses of fourth‐year degree examination results over a six‐year period were carried out. Analyses of students’ examination results for pre‐ and post‐CAL delivery of the diagnostic imaging course showed that performance in the CAL‐based course was significantly higher than in other subjects. This confirmed that the courseware can be used to replace didactic lectures as part of a rich learning environment supported by other resources. Initial student resistance to lecture replacement with CAL occurred, but has lessened as the use of the package has become established in the curriculum

Method of fabricating an article with cavities

An article having a cavity with a thin bottom wall is provided by assembling a thin sheet, for example, a metal sheet, adjacent to the surface of a member having one or more apertures. A bonding adhesive is interposed between the thin sheet and the subadjacent member, and the thin sheet is subjected to a high fluid pressure. In order to prevent the differential pressure from being exerted against the thin sheet, the aperture is filled with a plug of solid material having a linear coefficient of thermal expansion higher than that of the member. When the assembly is subjected to pressure, the material is heated to a temperature such that its expansion exerts a pressure against the thin sheet thus reducing the differential pressure

Compounds Exuded by \u3cem\u3ePhaseolus vulgaris\u3c/em\u3e That Induce a Modification of \u3cem\u3eRhizobium etli\u3c/em\u3e Lipopolysaccharide

Exudates released from germinating seeds and roots of a black-seeded bean (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Midnight Black Turtle Soup) induce an antigenic change in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Rhizobium etli CE3. By spectroscopic analyses and chromatographic comparisons with derived standards, the chemical structures of the aglycone portions of the major inducing molecules from seed exudate were deduced, and they were identified as delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, and malvidin. These anthocyanidins were present in seed exudate mainly as glycosides, the chief inducer being delphinidin 3-glucoside. Also present were 3-glucosides of petunidin and malvidin and glycosides of cyanidin and delphinidin. Seed exudate from a bean variety deficient in anthocyanins did not induce the LPS conversion. The ability of root exudate to induce an antigenic change in the LPS was due to compounds other than anthocyanins

NASTRAN level 16 programmer's manual updates for aeroelastic analysis of bladed discs

The programming routines for the NASTRAN Level 16program are presented. Particular emphasis is placed on its application to aeroelastic analyses, mode development, and flutter analysis for turbomachine blades