Saccadic Predictive Vision Model with a Fovea

We propose a model that emulates saccades, the rapid movements of the eye, called the Error Saccade Model, based on the prediction error of the Predictive Vision Model (PVM). The Error Saccade Model carries out movements of the model's field of view to regions with the highest prediction error. Comparisons of the Error Saccade Model on Predictive Vision Models with and without a fovea show that a fovea-like structure in the input level of the PVM improves the Error Saccade Model's ability to pursue detailed objects in its view. We hypothesize that the improvement is due to poorer resolution in the periphery causing higher prediction error when an object passes, triggering a saccade to the next location.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure, Accepted in International Conference of Neuromorphic Computing (2018

Development of a Human IFN-β Expression System using Chinese Hamster Ovarian Cells

Two human IFN-β expression systems were derived based on the pIRES2-AcGFP1 plasmid backbone. One expression plasmid encoded human IFN-β fused to a C-terminal linker and an 8-histidine affinity chromatography tag. A second expression plasmid encoded human IFN-β without the C-terminal additions to determine if the addition of the 8-his tag alters IFN-β function. Both expression vectors encoded the native signal sequence to direct secretion of IFN-β as a glycosylated soluble protein. These plasmids were then transfected into Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Stable transfected CHO cells were selected based on plasmid-encoded resistance to the antibiotic Geneticin. IFN-β-producing cells were selected by Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting of the brightest 10% fraction of GFP+ cells. Expression supernatants from each cell line exhibited similar amounts of cytotoxic activity in the IFN-β reactive TF-1 erythroleukemia cell line. These results provided suggestive evidence that the C-terminal affinity tag did not adversely affect the activity of the N-terminal IFN-β cytokine domain. This IFN-β-8his recombinant protein was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and was shown to exhibit potent activity in the in vitro TF-1 cytotoxicity assay. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were activated with Con-A, IL-2, and either IFN-β, TGF-β, IFN-β + TGF-β, or no additional cytokine. Cell numbers were counted at each passage. The main finding was that IFN-β caused the induction of T cell anergy. Human T cells (90% CD8+) were activated with RS4 (11) cells (acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line), Con-A, and IL-2 in the presence or absence of IFN-β, TGF-β, IFN-β + TGF-β. T cells were cultured for eight days, and then reactivated. Supernatants were collected from reactivation cultures to measure IL-2 production as a measure of T cell responsiveness. Human T cells activated in the presence of IFN-β and TGF-β produced less IL-2 compared to T cells activated in the absence of TGF-β alone. This expression system will be used to reveal whether IFN-β elicits differentiation of human FOXP3+ Tregs

Thermodynamic Computing

The hardware and software foundations laid in the first half of the 20th Century enabled the computing technologies that have transformed the world, but these foundations are now under siege. The current computing paradigm, which is the foundation of much of the current standards of living that we now enjoy, faces fundamental limitations that are evident from several perspectives. In terms of hardware, devices have become so small that we are struggling to eliminate the effects of thermodynamic fluctuations, which are unavoidable at the nanometer scale. In terms of software, our ability to imagine and program effective computational abstractions and implementations are clearly challenged in complex domains. In terms of systems, currently five percent of the power generated in the US is used to run computing systems - this astonishing figure is neither ecologically sustainable nor economically scalable. Economically, the cost of building next-generation semiconductor fabrication plants has soared past $10 billion. All of these difficulties - device scaling, software complexity, adaptability, energy consumption, and fabrication economics - indicate that the current computing paradigm has matured and that continued improvements along this path will be limited. If technological progress is to continue and corresponding social and economic benefits are to continue to accrue, computing must become much more capable, energy efficient, and affordable. We propose that progress in computing can continue under a united, physically grounded, computational paradigm centered on thermodynamics. Herein we propose a research agenda to extend these thermodynamic foundations into complex, non-equilibrium, self-organizing systems and apply them holistically to future computing systems that will harness nature's innate computational capacity. We call this type of computing "Thermodynamic Computing" or TC.Comment: A Computing Community Consortium (CCC) workshop report, 36 page

Constitutivism

A brief explanation and overview of constitutivism

Philosophy of action

The philosophical study of human action begins with Plato and Aristotle. Their influence in late antiquity and the Middle Ages yielded sophisticated theories of action and motivation, notably in the works of Augustine and Aquinas.1 But the ideas that were dominant in 1945 have their roots in the early modern period, when advances in physics and mathematics reshaped philosophy

Thermodynamic Computing: An Intellectual and Technological Frontier

Concepts from thermodynamics are ubiquitous in computing systems today—e.g., in power supplies and cooling systems, in signal transport losses, in device fabrication, in state changes, and in the methods of machine learning. Here we propose that thermodynamics should be the central, unifying concept in future computing systems. In particular, we suppose that future computing technologies will thermodynamically evolve in response to electrical and information potential in their environment and, therefore, address the central challenges of energy efficiency and self-organization in technological systems. In this article, we summarize the motivation for a new computing paradigm grounded in thermodynamics and articulate a vision for such future systems

Thermodynamic State Machine Network

We describe a model system—a thermodynamic state machine network—comprising a network of probabilistic, stateful automata that equilibrate according to Boltzmann statistics, exchange codes over unweighted bi-directional edges, update a state transition memory to learn transitions between network ground states, and minimize an action associated with fluctuation trajectories. The model is grounded in four postulates concerning self-organizing, open thermodynamic systems—transport-driven self-organization, scale-integration, input-functionalization, and active equilibration. After sufficient exposure to periodically changing inputs, a diffusive-to-mechanistic phase transition emerges in the network dynamics. The evolved networks show spatial and temporal structures that look much like spiking neural networks, although no such structures were incorporated into the model. Our main contribution is the articulation of the postulates, the development of a thermodynamically motivated methodology addressing them, and the resulting phase transition. As with other machine learning methods, the model is limited by its scalability, generality, and temporality. We use limitations to motivate the development of thermodynamic computers—engineered, thermodynamically self-organizing systems—and comment on efforts to realize them in the context of this work. We offer a different philosophical perspective, thermodynamicalism, addressing the limitations of the model and machine learning in general

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DATA PROCESSING FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR NEBRASKA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Abstract not availabl

Development of a Human IFN-ß Expression System using Chinese Hamster Ovarian Cells

Two human IFN-ß expression systems were derived based on the pIRES2-AcGFP1 plasmid backbone. One expression plasmid encoded human IFN-ß fused to a C-terminal linker and an 8-histidine affinity chromatography tag. A second expression plasmid encoded human IFN-ß without the C-terminal additions to determine if the addition of the 8-his tag alters IFN-ß function. Both expression vectors encoded the native signal sequence to direct secretion of IFN-ß as a glycosylated soluble protein. These plasmids were then transfected into Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Stable transfected CHO cells were selected based on plasmid-encoded resistance to the antibiotic Geneticin. IFN-ß-producing cells were selected by Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting of the brightest 10% fraction of GFP+ cells. Expression supernatants from each cell line exhibited similar amounts of cytotoxic activity in the IFN-ß reactive TF-1 erythroleukemia cell line. These results provided suggestive evidence that the C-terminal affinity tag did not adversely affect the activity of the N-terminal IFN-ß cytokine domain. This IFN-ß-8his recombinant protein was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and was shown to exhibit potent activity in the in vitro TF-1 cytotoxicity assay. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were activated with Con-A , IL-2 , and either IFN-ß , TGF-ß , IFN-ß + TGF-ß , or no additional cytokine. Cell numbers were counted at each passage. The main finding was that IFN-ß caused the induction of T cell anergy. Human T cells (90% CD8+) were activated with RS4 (11) cells (acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line) , Con-A , and IL-2 in the presence or absence of IFN-ß , TGF-ß , IFN-ß + TGF-ß. T cells were cultured for eight days , and then reactivated. Supernatants were collected from reactivation cultures to measure IL-2 production as a measure of T cell responsiveness. Human T cells activated in the presence of IFN-ß and TGF-ß produced less IL-2 compared to T cells activated in the absence of TGF-ß alone. This expression system will be used to reveal whether IFN-ß elicits differentiation of human FOXP3+ Tregs