The role of artificial intelligence, knowledge and wisdom in automatic image understanding

In the paper, the roles of intelligence, knowledge, learning and wisdom are discussed in the context of image content understanding. The known model of automatic image understanding is extended by the role of learning. References to example implementations are also given

OPTYCZNE ROZPOZNAWANIE ZNAKÓW Z UŻYCIEM SZTUCZNEJ INTELIGENCJI

The article represents results of the research of an Optical Character Recognition system. Proposed OCR system is able to convert a raster image into the text string, which represents the text shown on the input image. The main innovation is the fact that the system was created without following any strict rules. It was more an innovative research rather than simple programming using ready guidelines.Celem projektu opisywanego w artykule było przygotowanie działającego systemu do optycznego rozpoznawania znaków, tj. zdolnego przekształcić rastrowy obraz wejściowy w łańcuch znaków odpowiadający zapisanemu tekstowi na obrazie. Nowością jest m.in. fakt wykonania tego systemu bez podążania za z góry znaną architekturą aplikacji, a przygotowanie go w sposób bardziej doświadczalny, czyli wykorzystując podejście nowatorskie

Active partition based medical image understanding with self-organised competitive spatch eduction

Medical Image Understanding is a recently defined semantic oriented image recognition task. Its specific requirements, highlighting complex characteristics of recognised objects as well as indispensable use of human-level expert knowledge almost every step of data processing sets new requirements for implemented algorithms. This paper focuses on linguistic image description method, designed to segment low level, semantically coherent image regions and mine adjacency relations among them. Example method results on medical images are presented to specify some methods properties

Increased plasma clot permeability and susceptibility to lysis are associated with heavy menstrual bleeding of unknown cause : a case-control study

Formation of compact and poorly lysable clots has been reported in thromboembolic disorders. Little is known about clot properties in bleeding disorders.We hypothesized that more permeable and lysis-sensitive fibrin clots can be detected in women with heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB).We studied 52 women with HMB of unknown cause and 52 age-matched control women. Plasma clot permeability (Ks), turbidity and efficiency of fibrinolysis, together with coagulation factors, fibrinolysis proteins, and platelet aggregation were measured.Women with HMB formed looser plasma fibrin clots (+16% [95%CI 7-18%] Ks) that displayed lower maximum absorbancy (-7% [95%CI -9 - -1%] ΔAbsmax), and shorter clot lysis time (-17% [95%CI -23 - -11%] CLT). The HMB patients and controls did not differ with regard to coagulation factors, fibrinogen, von Willebrand antigen, thrombin generation markers and the proportion of subjects with defective platelet aggregation. The patients had lower platelet count (-12% [95%CI -19 - -2%]), tissue plasminogen activator antigen (-39% [95%CI -41 - -29%] tPA:Ag), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 antigen (-28% [95%CI -38 - -18%] PAI-1:Ag) compared with the controls. Multiple regression analysis upon adjustment for age, body mass index, glucose, and fibrinogen showed that decreased tPA:Ag and shortened CLT were the independent predictors of HMB.Increased clot permeability and susceptibility to fibrinolysis are associated with HMB, suggesting that altered plasma fibrin clot properties might contribute to bleeding disorders of unknown origin

Celiac disease in children - diagnosis in light of the current 2020 ESPGHAN guidelines

Celiac disease is a chronic immune disorder of the small intestine that is triggered by the consumption of gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. The disease is difficult to diagnose and treat, and its incidence is increasing. It can have different symptoms and clinical manifestations in individuals. Diagnosis is usually based on the presence of specific antibodies and histopathological examination of biopsy specimens from the small intestine. The only effective treatment is a gluten-free diet for life. Diagnosis of celiac disease in children is mainly based on the presence of specific an- tibodies in the blood, such as antibodies to tissue transglutaminase (tTG), antibodies to endomysium (EMA) or deamidated gliadin peptides (DGP). In addition, genetic testing is also used in diagnosis to detect the presence of HLA DQ2 or DQ8 genes, which are often present in people with celiac disease. The final diagnosis of celiac disease is based on a combination of the results of these tests and the presence of characteristic lesions in the small intestine, which are detected during endoscopy and small bowel biopsy

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in Vistula river (Poland) sediments by using magnetic methods

The present study evaluated the level of heavy metal (HM) pollution in Vistula river sediments in a highly urbanized Warsaw agglomeration (Poland). Magnetometry was used to assess the pollution level by measuring the fine fractions (0.071 mm and <0.071 mm) of sediments collected from the surface layer of the riverbank. The magnetic methods (e.g., mass magnetic susceptibility χ, temperature-dependence magnetic susceptibility, and hysteresis loop parameters) were supplemented by microscopy observations and chemical element analyses. The results showed the local impact of Warsaw’s activity on the level of HM pollution, indicated by the maximum concentrations of magnetic particles and HM in the city center. The sediment fraction <0.071 mm was dominated by magnetite and by a large amount of spherical-shaped anthropogenic magnetic particles. The pollution from the center of Warsaw was transported down-river over a relatively short distance of approximately 11 km. There was a gradual decrease in the concentrations of magnetic particles and HM in areas located to the north of the city center (down-river); furthermore, χ and concentrations of HM did not decrease to the values observed for the area to the south of Warsaw (up-river). The study showed two possible sources of sediment pollution: traffic-related and heat and power plant emissions. The influence of an additional source of pollution cannot be excluded as the amount of spherules in the sediments at the center was extremely high. The present study demonstrates that magnetometry has a practical application in detecting and mapping HM pollution in river systems

Intuicjonistyczne relacje rozmyte w przeszukiwaniu domen e-commerce

Poniższy referat prezentuje koncepcją wykorzystania intuicjonistycznych relacji rozmytych do przeszukiwania domen e-commerce. Zaprezentowana została miara podobieństwa słów i fragmentów tekstów, zakorzeniona w teorii zbiorów rozmytych Zadeha [7]. Następnie na dwóch przykładach wyjaśnione zostały korzyść i płynące z zastosowania nowej miary podobieństwa w handlu elektronicznym.This paper focuses on application of intuitionistic fuzzy relations applied to services available within the e-commeice domains. Firstly, concepts for comparison of natural language words and sentences rooted in the theory of fuzzy sets, and in the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy relation in particular, are presented. Then, on two examples of application to the e-commerce domain, the aspect of the user-friendliness of the approach is demonstrated.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej nauk

Spatch based active partitions with linguistically formulated energy

The present paper shows the method of cognitive hierarchical active partitions that can be applied to creation of automatic image understanding systems. The approach, which stems from active contours techniques, allows one to use not only the knowledge contained in an image, but also any additional expert knowledge. Special emphasis is put on the effcient way of knowledge retrieval, which could minimise the necessity to render information expressed in a natural language into a description convenient for recognition algorithms and machine learning

Hypertensive effect of downregulation of the opioid system in mouse model of different activity of the endogenous opioid system

The opioid system is well-known for its role in modulating nociception and addiction development. However, there are premises that the endogenous opioid system may also affect blood pressure. The main goal of the present study was to determine the impact of different endogenous opioid system activity and its pharmacological blockade on blood pressure. Moreover, we examined the vascular function in hyper- and hypoactive states of the opioid system and its pharmacological modification. In our study, we used two mouse lines which are divergently bred for high (HA) and low (LA) swim stress-induced analgesia. The obtained results indicated that individuals with low endogenous opioid system activity have higher basal blood pressure compared to those with a hyperactive opioid system. Additionally, naloxone administration only resulted in the elevation of blood pressure in HA mice. We also showed that the hypoactive opioid system contributes to impaired vascular relaxation independent of endothelium, which corresponded with decreased guanylyl cyclase levels in the aorta. Together, these data suggest that higher basal blood pressure in LA mice is a result of disturbed mechanisms in vascular relaxation in smooth muscle cells. We believe that a novel mechanism which involves endogenous opioid system activity in the regulation of blood pressure will be a promising target for further studies in hypertension development