Recognition of 3-D Objects from Multiple 2-D Views by a Self-Organizing Neural Architecture

The recognition of 3-D objects from sequences of their 2-D views is modeled by a neural architecture, called VIEWNET that uses View Information Encoded With NETworks. VIEWNET illustrates how several types of noise and varialbility in image data can be progressively removed while incornplcte image features are restored and invariant features are discovered using an appropriately designed cascade of processing stages. VIEWNET first processes 2-D views of 3-D objects using the CORT-X 2 filter, which discounts the illuminant, regularizes and completes figural boundaries, and removes noise from the images. Boundary regularization and cornpletion are achieved by the same mechanisms that suppress image noise. A log-polar transform is taken with respect to the centroid of the resulting figure and then re-centered to achieve 2-D scale and rotation invariance. The invariant images are coarse coded to further reduce noise, reduce foreshortening effects, and increase generalization. These compressed codes are input into a supervised learning system based on the fuzzy ARTMAP algorithm. Recognition categories of 2-D views are learned before evidence from sequences of 2-D view categories is accumulated to improve object recognition. Recognition is studied with noisy and clean images using slow and fast learning. VIEWNET is demonstrated on an MIT Lincoln Laboratory database of 2-D views of jet aircraft with and without additive noise. A recognition rate of 90% is achieved with one 2-D view category and of 98.5% correct with three 2-D view categories.National Science Foundation (IRI 90-24877); Office of Naval Research (N00014-91-J-1309, N00014-91-J-4100, N00014-92-J-0499); Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F9620-92-J-0499, 90-0083

The Virtues of Thisness Presentism

Presentists believe that only present things exist. But opponents insist this view has unacceptable implications: if only present things exist, we can’t express singular propositions about the past, since the obvious propositional constituents don’t exist, nor can we account for temporal passage, or the openness of the future. According to such opponents, and in spite of the apparent ‘common sense’ status of the view, presentism should be rejected on the basis of these unacceptable implications. In this paper, I present and defend a version of presentism (‘Thisness Presentism’) that avoids the unacceptable implications. The basic strategy I employ is familiar—I postulate presently existing entities to serve as surrogates (or ‘proxies’) for non-present entities—but some of the details of my proposal are more novel, and their application to these problems is certainly novel. One overarching thesis of this paper is that Thisness Presentism is preferable to other versions of presentism since it solves important problems facing standard iterations of the view. And I assume that this is a good positive reason in favour of the underlying thisness ontology

The parent analogy: a reassessment

According to the parent analogy, as a caretaker’s goodness, ability and intelligence increase, the likelihood that the caretaker will make arrangements for the attainment of future goods that are unnoticed or underappreciated by their dependents also increases. Consequently, if this analogy accurately represents our relationship to God, then we should expect to find many instances of inscrutable evil in the world. This argument in support of skeptical theism has recently been criticized by Dougherty. I argue that Dougherty’s argument is incomplete, for there are two plausible ways of construing the parent analogy’s conclusion. I supplement Dougherty’s case by offering a new argument against the parent analogy based on failed expectations concerning the amount of inscrutable evils encountered in the world. Consequently, there remains a significant empirical hurdle for skeptical theism to overcome if it is to maintain its status as a defeater for our reliability when tracking gratuitous evils.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Vascular health in patients in remission of Cushing's syndrome is comparable to that in BMI-matched controls.

CONTEXT: In active Cushing's syndrome (CS), patients suffer from endothelial dysfunction and premature atherosclerosis. However, it is uncertain to what extent vascular health recovers after long-term remission. This is highly relevant as this topic relates to future development of cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether micro- and macrovascular health is impaired after long-term remission of CS, in patients with no or adequately treated co-morbidities. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional case-control study in two tertiary referral centers. PATIENTS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: 63 patients (remission of CS for ≥ 4 years) and 63 healthy, well-matched controls were compared. In group A (58 patients and 58 controls) serum biomarkers associated with endothelial dysfunction, intima media thickness, pulse wave velocity and pulse wave analysis were studied. In group B (14 patients and 14 controls) endothelium-dependent and-independent vasodilatation was studied in conduit arteries (flow mediated dilation of the brachial artery) and forearm skeletal muscle resistance arteries (vasodilator response to intra-arterial acetylcholine, sodium-nitroprusside and N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine using venous occlusion plethysmography). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the outcome measures of vascular health of patients and controls in group A and B. CONCLUSION: Vascular health of patients in long-term remission of Cushing's syndrome seems to be comparable to that of healthy gender-, age and BMI matched controls, provided that the patients have no, or adequately controlled co-morbidities. Therefore, the effects of hypercortisolism per se on the vasculature may be reversible. This accentuates the need for stringent treatment of metabolic co-morbidities in these patients

Metacognition as Evidence for Evidentialism

Metacognition is the monitoring and controlling of cognitive processes. I examine the role of metacognition in ‘ordinary retrieval cases’, cases in which it is intuitive that via recollection the subject has a justified belief. Drawing on psychological research on metacognition, I argue that evidentialism has a unique, accurate prediction in each ordinary retrieval case: the subject has evidence for the proposition she justifiedly believes. But, I argue, process reliabilism has no unique, accurate predictions in these cases. I conclude that ordinary retrieval cases better support evidentialism than process reliabilism. This conclusion challenges several common assumptions. One is that non-evidentialism alone allows for a naturalized epistemology, i.e., an epistemology that is fully in accordance with scientific research and methodology. Another is that process reliabilism fares much better than evidentialism in the epistemology of memory

Russell-names: an introduction to Millian descriptivism

This essay studies the semantic properties of what I call Russell-names. Russell-names bear intimate semantic relations with descriptive conditions, in consonance with the main tenets of descriptivism. Yet, they are endowed with the semantic properties attributed to ordinary proper names by Millianism: they are rigid and non-indexical devices of direct reference. This is not an essay in natural language semantics, and remains deliberately neutral with respect to the question whether any among the expressions we ordinarily classify as proper names behave as Russell-names. Its aim is rather that of casting a new light on the traditional debate about descriptivism on the one hand, and, on the other, what is commonly understood as a radically anti-descriptivist approach. From the viewpoint of descriptivism, the conceivability of Russell-names provides welcome relief from the pressure exerted by considerations at odds with a flaccid and/or indexical treatment of proper names. Conversely, from a Millian standpoint, the conceivability of Russell-names indicates that the Millian stance, far from providing a meagre picture of names as ‘mere tags’, is at least in principle consistent with the recognition of their semantic bonds with richer descriptive material. The Appendix provides a formal treatment of Russell-names within a model theoretic semantics for indexical intensional languages, developed within an original ‘double-context’ framework

Theories of Reference: What Was the Question?

The new theory of reference has won popularity. However, a number of noted philosophers have also attempted to reply to the critical arguments of Kripke and others, and aimed to vindicate the description theory of reference. Such responses are often based on ingenious novel kinds of descriptions, such as rigidified descriptions, causal descriptions, and metalinguistic descriptions. This prolonged debate raises the doubt whether different parties really have any shared understanding of what the central question of the philosophical theory of reference is: what is the main question to which descriptivism and the causal-historical theory have presented competing answers. One aim of the paper is to clarify this issue. The most influential objections to the new theory of reference are critically reviewed. Special attention is also paid to certain important later advances in the new theory of reference, due to Devitt and others

Comparison of quality-of-care measures in U.S. patients with end-stage renal disease secondary to lupus nephritis vs. other causes

BACKGROUND: Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to lupus nephritis (LN-ESRD) may be followed by multiple providers (nephrologists and rheumatologists) and have greater opportunities to receive recommended ESRD-related care. We aimed to examine whether LN-ESRD patients have better quality of ESRD care compared to other ESRD patients. METHODS: Among incident patients (7/05–9/11) with ESRD due to LN (n = 6,594) vs. other causes (n = 617,758), identified using a national surveillance cohort (United States Renal Data System), we determined the association between attributed cause of ESRD and quality-of-care measures (pre-ESRD nephrology care, placement on the deceased donor kidney transplant waitlist, and placement of permanent vascular access). Multivariable logistic and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs). RESULTS: LN-ESRD patients were more likely than other ESRD patients to receive pre-ESRD care (71% vs. 66%; OR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.57-1.78) and be placed on the transplant waitlist in the first year (206 vs. 86 per 1000 patient-years; HR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.34–1.52). However, only 24% had a permanent vascular access (fistula or graft) in place at dialysis start (vs. 36%; OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.59–0.67). CONCLUSIONS: LN-ESRD patients are more likely to receive pre-ESRD care and have better access to transplant, but are less likely to have a permanent vascular access for dialysis, than other ESRD patients. Further studies are warranted to examine barriers to permanent vascular access placement, as well as morbidity and mortality associated with temporary access, in patients with LN-ESRD

Dectin-1 isoforms contribute to distinct Th1/Th17 cell activation in mucosal candidiasis

We thank Dr. Cristina Massi Benedetti for digital art and editingRecognition of β-glucans by dectin-1 has been shown to mediate cell activation, cytokine production and a variety of antifungal responses. Here, we report that the functional activity of dectin-1 in mucosal immunity to Candida albicans is influenced by the genetic background of the host. Dectin-1 was required for the proper control of gastrointestinal and vaginal candidiasis in C57BL/6 but not BALB/c mice, the latter actually showing increased resistance in the absence of dectin-1. Susceptibility of dectin-1-deficient C57BL/6 mice to infection was associated with defective IL-17A, aryl hydrocarbon receptor-dependent IL-22 production as well as adaptive Th1 responses. In contrast, resistance of dectin-1-deficient BALB/c mice was associated with increased IL-17A and IL-22 production, and the skewing towards Th1/Treg immune responses that provide immunological memory. Disparate canonical/noncanonical NF-κB signaling pathways downstream dectin-1were activated in the two different mouse strains. Thus, the net activity of dectin-1 in antifungal mucosal immunity is dependent on the host’s genetic background that affects both the innate cytokine production as well as the adaptive Th1/Th17 cell activation upon dectin-1 signaling.The studies were supported by the Specific Targeted Research Project “ALLFUN” (FP7−HEALTH−2009 contract number 260338 to LR) and the Italian Project AIDS 2010 by ISS (Istituto Superiore di Sanità - contract number 40H40 to LR) and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia Project n. 2011.0124.021. AC and CC were financially supported by fellowships from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (contracts SFRH/BPD/46292/2008 and SFRH/BD/65962/2009, respectively)