Bayesian Compositional Hierarchies - A Probabilistic Structure for Scene Interpretation

In high-level vision, it is often useful to organize conceptual models in compositional hierarchies. For example, models of building facades (which are used here as examples) can be described in terms of constituent parts such as balconies or window arrays which in turn may be further decomposed. While compositional hierarchies are widely used in scene interpretation, it is not clear how to model and exploit probabilistic dependencies which may exist within and between aggregates. In this contribution I present Bayesian Aggregate Hierarchies as a means to capture probabilistic dependencies in a compositional hierarchy. The formalism integrates well with object-centered representations and extends Bayesian Networks by allowing arbitrary probabilistic dependencies within aggregates. To obtain efficient inference procedures, the aggregate structure must possess abstraction properties which ensure that internal aggregate properties are only affected in accordance with the hierarchical structure. Using examples from the building domain, it is shown that probabilistic aggregate information can thus be integrated into a logic-based scene interpretation system and provide a preference measure for interpretation steps

Mercury Uptake by Aquatic Macrophytes in Urban and Rural Watersheds, Albany County, NY

Plants growing in metalliferous soils may restrict metal uptake and transport depending on metal concentration, sediment characteristics, and plant species. As native plants are replaced by invasives, different patterns of metal cycling can occur, making continued study of this process important. Sediments and tissues of four aquatic plant species/genera: Phragmites australis (common reed); Iris versicolor (blueflag iris); Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail); and genera Cyperus sp. (sedge) from three urban and two rural sites in Albany County, NY were analyzed for total mercury (Hg­T) by cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy. Sediments were also measured for organic carbon (OC) by coulometry. Sediment HgT ranged from 54 to 483 ng/g and root tissues ranged from 11 ng/g to 354 ng/g. Strong Hg partitioning was found between roots and other tissues by comparing sediment:root and root:rhizome Hg concentration ratios which ranged from 1:1 to 10:1 and 1:1 to 18:1, respectively, indicating strong Hg partitioning among sediment, root, and rhizome. However, the two sites with the highest Hg sediment levels (356 ng/g and 483 ng/g), had markedly different sediment:root ratios (3.5:1 and 1.5:1, respectively) that correlated directly with sediment OC levels (4.51% and 1.87%, respectively). These results suggest that sediment OC may limit the bioavailability of Hg to plants as Hg becomes bound to OC in sediment. Since sediment Hg can exist in several forms, sequential chemical extraction may be a better predictor of Hg available for plant uptake than HgT. Root plaques were observed on samples of common reed at two different sites. One sample had the highest HgT seasonal root concentration for common reed at that site, samples from the other site had both the highest and lowest seasonal HgT concentrations. While SEM microprobe analysis revealed concentrations of iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn), it is inconclusive if root plaques are an important adheration site for Hg

Entwicklung der Brutvogelbestände des Hofes Ritzerau während der schrittweisen Betriebsumstellung auf ökologischen Landbau

The development of breeding bird populations during conversion to organic farming was surveyed on an arable farm in northern Germany. The change of farming prac-tices tended to result in a higher abundance of skylarks (Alauda arvenis). The popula-tions of other farmland bird species as well as the diversity of species showed no apparent trend during conversion

Forming sheets of metal and fibre-reinforced plastics to hybrid parts in one deep drawing process

Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of its mechanical, chemical and physical properties. Metallic materials are comparatively ductile and easy to process. Fibre reinforced plastics are very stiff and endure high tensile stresses based on their weight. By intelligent combination of these materials into one overall-part light but strong components may be established. However, the conventional production of a separate fibre reinforced plastic (FRP)-component and a metal component and a subsequent joining is time- And labour-intensive and therefore not economical in mass-production. Thus in this paper a new fabrication technology is presented.German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF)European Research Association for Sheet Metal Working (EFB)Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi

Umrisse einer Dritten Kultur im interdisziplinären Zusammenspiel zwischen Literatur und Naturwissenschaft

In diesem Open-Access-band geht es um die Thematisierung des Verhältnisses zwischen den gegenwärtig getrennten „Zwei Kulturen“ und Umrisse ihrer neuen Synthese in Richtung auf eine zeitgenössische, auf Interdisziplinarität gegründeten „Dritten Kultur“ als Zusammenschau von Literaturwissenschaft, Philosophie und Naturwissenschaft. Dabei wird Kafka als ein Autor ernst genommen, dessen Nähe zu Autoren der Romantik (Kleist etwa als einer seiner „Blutsbrüder“) ihn dazu bestimmte, deren zentrales Interesse an der Elektrizität (in Form des Mesmerismus beispielsweise) zu teilen. Als eine Weiterführung hinein in die neueste Moderne gelangt Kafkas besondere Begegnung mit Einstein und dessen Relativitätstheorie zur Darstellung, deren Einwirkung insbesondere auf Kafkas Spätwerk dargelegt wird. Als moderne Spielform solch „electrisch“- transdisziplinär orientierten literarischen Schreibens wird diesen Ausführungen Botho Strauß` gegenwärtiges Novellenwerk zur Seite gestellt

Neue 1,4-Chelatkomplexe von Rhenium, Ruthenium, Rhodium, Iridium, Palladium und Platin mit aromatischen N,N'- und N,P-Liganden

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden stabile Übergangsmetall-Komplexe der d6-konfigurierten Metalle Rhenium(1), Ruthenium(2), Rhodium(3) und Iridium(3), sowie von Rhodium(1), Iridium(1), Palladium(2) und Platin(2) mit d8-Konfiguration hergestellt. Als Liganden kommen zweizähnige, aromatische N,N'- und N,P-Liganden ohne weitere funktionelle Gruppen zum Einsatz, bei denen die beiden Donor-Atome in einer 1,4-Relation zueinander stehen. Die gebildeten 5-Ring-Metallacyclen weisen entsprechend der beiden unterschiedlichen Donor-Atome zwei verschieden stark gebundene Koordinationsstellen auf. Die aus dieser Konstellation resultierenden Eigenschaften der isolierten Komplexe werden spektroskopisch (IR-, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 31P-NMR) untersucht und die Molekülstrukturen durch Einkristall-Röntgenstrukturanalyse ermittelt. Bei den untersuchten relativ stabilen Systemen kann der Ligandenaustausch so gesteuert werden, dass voll charakterisierbare Spezies erhalten werden. Diese sollen das Verständnis katalytischer Reaktionen in labileren Systemen vertiefen, welche auch durch Modifikation der vorgestellten Liganden zugänglich sind

08091 Abstracts Collection -- Logic and Probability for Scene Interpretation

From 25.2.2008 to Friday 29.2.2008, the Dagstuhl Seminar 08091 ``Logic and Probability for Scene Interpretation\u27\u27 was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper

Comparison of different methods for preparation and characterization of total RNA from cartilage samples to uncover osteoarthritis in vivo

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The isolation of intact RNA can be very difficult when tissues are used that contain many RNAses or that are hard to homogenize, e.g. cartilage samples. Additionally, cartilaginous tissues are characterized by a low cellularity and an abundance of extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules. But given the growing interest in understanding pathogenesis of degenerative diseases, e.g. osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), studies have to consider expression pattern of cells in its natural environment.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We compared the current RNA isolation methods for the extraction of high-quality RNA of snap-frozen biopsies from limited amounts of hypocellular cartilaginous tissue. The focus of the study was to gather information about procedure-related differences in RNA quality and yield. Here, we describe two protocols, the phenol/chloroform-free filter-based method (RN<it>Aqueous</it>™ kit) and the combined protocol (TRIzol^®/RNeasy Mini™ kit), working in a reproducible and reliable manner.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that preparation, storage, homogenization, and quality control are altogether critical steps for in-depth analysis of differential gene expression, especially in hypocellular tissues with highly crosslinked ECM like cartilage.</p