698 research outputs found
Geometric representations for minimalist grammars
We reformulate minimalist grammars as partial functions on term algebras for
strings and trees. Using filler/role bindings and tensor product
representations, we construct homomorphisms for these data structures into
geometric vector spaces. We prove that the structure-building functions as well
as simple processors for minimalist languages can be realized by piecewise
linear operators in representation space. We also propose harmony, i.e. the
distance of an intermediate processing step from the final well-formed state in
representation space, as a measure of processing complexity. Finally, we
illustrate our findings by means of two particular arithmetic and fractal
representations.Comment: 43 pages, 4 figure
Circadian Rhythms of Risk Factors and Management in Atherosclerotic and Hypertensive Vascular Disease: Modern Chronobiological Perspectives of an Ancient Disease
Atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the arteries that appears to have been as prevalent in ancient as in modern civilizations, is predisposing to life-threatening and life-ending cardiac and vascular complications, such as myocardial and cerebral infarctions. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis involves intima plaque buildup caused by vascular endothelial dysfunction, cholesterol deposition, smooth muscle proliferation, inflammatory cell infiltration and connective tissue accumulation. Hypertension is an independent and controllable risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Conversely, atherosclerosis hardens the arterial wall and raises arterial blood pressure. Many CVD patients experience both atherosclerosis and hypertension and are prescribed medications to concurrently mitigate the two disease conditions. A substantial number of publications document that many pathophysiological changes caused by atherosclerosis and hypertension occur in a manner dependent upon circadian clocks or clock gene products. This article reviews progress in the research of circadian regulation of vascular cell function, inflammation, hemostasis and atherothrombosis. In particular, it delineates the relationship of circadian organization with signal transduction and activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system as well as disturbance of the sleep/wake circadian rhythm, as exemplified by shift work, metabolic syndromes and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), as promoters and mechanisms of atherogenesis and risk for non-fatal and fatal CVD outcomes. This article additionally updates advances in the clinical management of key biological processes of atherosclerosis to optimally achieve suppression of atherogenesis through chronotherapeutic control of atherogenic/hypertensive pathological sequelae
Universal neural field computation
Turing machines and G\"odel numbers are important pillars of the theory of
computation. Thus, any computational architecture needs to show how it could
relate to Turing machines and how stable implementations of Turing computation
are possible. In this chapter, we implement universal Turing computation in a
neural field environment. To this end, we employ the canonical symbologram
representation of a Turing machine obtained from a G\"odel encoding of its
symbolic repertoire and generalized shifts. The resulting nonlinear dynamical
automaton (NDA) is a piecewise affine-linear map acting on the unit square that
is partitioned into rectangular domains. Instead of looking at point dynamics
in phase space, we then consider functional dynamics of probability
distributions functions (p.d.f.s) over phase space. This is generally described
by a Frobenius-Perron integral transformation that can be regarded as a neural
field equation over the unit square as feature space of a dynamic field theory
(DFT). Solving the Frobenius-Perron equation yields that uniform p.d.f.s with
rectangular support are mapped onto uniform p.d.f.s with rectangular support,
again. We call the resulting representation \emph{dynamic field automaton}.Comment: 21 pages; 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1204.546
Context Dependence, MOPs,WHIMs and procedures Recanati and Kaplan on Cognitive Aspects in Semantics
After presenting Kripke’s criticism to Frege’s ideas on context dependence of thoughts, I present two recent attempts of considering cognitive aspects of context dependent expressions inside a truth conditional pragmatics or semantics: Recanati’s non-descriptive modes of presentation (MOPs) and Kaplan’s ways of having in mind (WHIMs). After analysing the two attempts and verifying which answers they should give to the problem discussed by Kripke, I suggest a possible interpretation of these attempts: to insert a procedural or algorithmic level in semantic representations of indexicals. That a function may be computed by different procedures might suggest new possibilities of integrating contextual cognitive aspects in model theoretic semanti
Diffuse Neutron Scattering Study of a Disordered Complex Perovskite Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 Crystal
Diffuse scattering around the (110) reciprocal lattice point has been
investigated by elastic neutron scattering in the paraelectric and the relaxor
phases of the disordered complex perovskite crystal-Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3(PZN). The
appearance of a diffuse intensity peak indicates the formation of polar
nanoregions at temperature T*, approximately 40K above Tc=413K. The analysis of
this diffuse scattering indicates that these regions are in the shape of
ellipsoids, more extended in the direction than in the direction.
The quantitative analysis provides an estimate of the correlation length, \xi,
or size of the regions and shows that \xi ~1.2\xi , consistent with
the primary or dominant displacement of Pb leading to the low temperature
rhombohedral phase. Both the appearance of the polar regions at T*and the
structural transition at Tc are marked by kinks in the \xi curve but not
in the \xi one, also indicating that the primary changes take place in a
direction at both temperatures.Comment: REVTeX file. 4 pages, 3 figures embedded, New version after referee
cond-mat/010605
High frequency polarization switching of a thin ferroelectric film
We consider both experimentally and analytically the transient oscillatory
process that arises when a rapid change in voltage is applied to a
ferroelectric thin film deposited on an substrate.
High frequency () polarization oscillations are observed
in the ferroelectric sample. These can be understood using a simple
field-polarization model. In particular we obtain analytic expressions for the
oscillation frequency and the decay time of the polarization fluctuation in
terms of the material parameters. These estimations agree well with the
experimental results
Pretenuring for Java
Pretenuring is a technique for reducing copying costs in garbage collectors. When pretenuring, the allocator places long-lived objects into regions that the garbage collector will rarely, if ever, collect. We extend previous work on profiling-driven pretenuring as follows. (1) We develop a collector-neutral approach to obtaining object lifetime profile information. We show that our collection of Java programs exhibits a very high degree of homogeneity of object lifetimes at each allocation site. This result is robust with respect to different inputs, and is similar to previous work on ML, but is in contrast to C programs, which require dynamic call chain context information to extract homogeneous lifetimes. Call-site homogeneity considerably simplifies the implementation of pretenuring and makes it more efficient. (2) Our pretenuring advice is neutral with respect to the collector algorithm, and we use it to improve two quite different garbage collectors: a traditional generational collector and an older-first collector. The system is also novel because it classifies and allocates objects into 3 categories: we allocate immortal objects into a permanent region that the collector will never consider, long-lived objects into a region in which the collector placed survivors of the most recent collection, and shortlived objects into the nursery, i.e., the default region. (3) We evaluate pretenuring on Java programs. Our simulation results show that pretenuring significantly reduces collector copying for generational and older-first collectors. 1
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Fewer epistemological challenges for connectionism
Seventeen years ago, John McCarthy wrote the note Epistemological challenges for connectionism as a response to Paul Smolensky’s paper 'On the proper treatment of connectionism'. I will discuss the extent to which the four key challenges put forward by McCarthy have been solved, and what are the new challenges ahead. I argue that there are fewer epistemological challenges for connectionism, but progress has been slow. Nevertheless, there is now strong indication that neural-symbolic integration can provide effective systems of expressive reasoning and robust learning due to the recent developments in the field
Estimation of Absolute States of Human Skeletal Muscle via Standard B-Mode Ultrasound Imaging and Deep Convolutional Neural Networks
Objective: To test automated in vivo estimation of active and passive skeletal muscle states using ultrasonic imaging. Background: Current technology (electromyography, dynamometry, shear wave imaging) provides no general, non-invasive method for online estimation of skeletal muscle states. Ultrasound (US) allows non-invasive imaging of muscle, yet current computational approaches have never achieved simultaneous extraction nor generalisation of independently varying, active and passive states. We use deep learning to investigate the generalizable content of 2D US muscle images. Method: US data synchronized with electromyography of the calf muscles, with measures of joint moment/angle were recorded from 32 healthy participants (7 female, ages: 27.5, 19-65). We extracted a region of interest of medial gastrocnemius and soleus using our prior developed accurate segmentation algorithm. From the segmented images, a deep convolutional neural network was trained to predict three absolute, driftfree, components of the neurobiomechanical state (activity, joint angle, joint moment) during experimentally designed, simultaneous, independent variation of passive (joint angle) and active (electromyography) inputs. Results: For all 32 held-out participants (16-fold cross-validation) the ankle joint angle, electromyography, and joint moment were estimated to accuracy 55±8%, 57±11%, and 46±9% respectively. Significance: With 2D US imaging, deep neural networks can encode in generalizable form, the activitylength-tension state relationship of these muscles. Observation only, low power, 2D US imaging can provide a new category of technology for non-invasive estimation of neural output, length and tension in skeletal muscle. This proof of principle has value for personalised muscle assessment in pain, injury, neurological conditions, neuropathies, myopathies and ageing
Ground State of Relaxor Ferroelectric
High energy x-ray diffraction measurements on Pb(ZnNb)O
(PZN) single crystals show that the system does not have a rhombohedral
symmetry at room temperature as previously believed. The new phase (X) in the
bulk of the crystal gives Bragg peaks similar to that of a nearly cubic lattice
with a slight tetragonal distortion. The Bragg profile remains sharp with no
evidence of size broadening due to the polar micro crystals (MC). However, in
our preliminary studies of the skin, we have found the expected rhombohedral
(R) phase as a surface state. On the other hand, studies on an electric-field
poled PZN single crystal clearly indicate a rhombohedral phase at room
temperature.Comment: 11 pages with 3 figure
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