Monge extensions of cooperation and communication structures

Cooperation structures without any {\it a priori} assumptions on the combinatorial structure of feasible coalitions are studied and a general theory for mar\-ginal values, cores and convexity is established. The theory is based on the notion of a Monge extension of a general characteristic function, which is equivalent to the Lovász extension in the special situation of a classical cooperative game. It is shown that convexity of a cooperation structure is tantamount to the equality of the associated core and Weber set. Extending Myerson's graph model for game theoretic communication, general communication structures are introduced and it is shown that a notion of supermodularity exists for this class that characterizes convexity and properly extends Shapley's convexity model for classical cooperative games.

Phase-dependent molecular requirements for memory reconsolidation: differential roles for protein synthesis and protein kinase A activity

After consolidation, a process that requires gene expression and protein synthesis, memories are stable and highly resistant to disruption by amnestic influences. Recently, consolidated memory has been shown to become labile again after retrieval and to require a phase of reconsolidation to be preserved. New findings, showing that the dependence of reconsolidation on protein synthesis decreases with the age of memory, point to changing molecular requirements for reconsolidation during memory maturation. We examined this possibility by comparing the roles of protein synthesis (a general molecular requirement for memory consolidation) and the activation of protein kinase A (PKA) (a specific molecular requirement for memory consolidation), in memory reconsolidation at two time points after training. Using associative learning in Lymnaea, we show that reconsolidation after the retrieval of consolidated memory at both 6 and 24 h requires protein synthesis. In contrast, only reconsolidation at 6 h after training, but not at 24 h, requires PKA activity, which is in agreement with the measured retrieval-induced PKA activation at 6 h. This phase-dependent differential molecular requirement for reconsolidation supports the notion that even seemingly consolidated memories undergo further selective molecular maturation processes, which may only be detected by analyzing the role of specific pathways in memory reconsolidation after retrieval

Identification of Decision Rules from Legislative Documents Using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing

Decision logic extraction from natural language texts can be a tedious, labor-intensive task. This is especially true for legislative texts, since they do not always follow usual speech and writing patterns. This paper explores the possibility of using machine learning and natural language processing approaches to identify decision rules within legislative documents, and ultimately provides the possibility of building an extraction algorithm on top of the solution to extract and visualize decision logic automatically. Such a novel method for decision rules identification bears the potential to reduce human labor, minimize mistakes, and lessen context dependency. To accomplish this, we use pre-trained word vectorization in conjunction with a complex multi-layer convolutional neural network (CNN). The relevant data used in this project was generated from the Austrian income tax code and labeled by hand. A quantitative evaluation shows that our approach can be trained on as little as a single code of law and still obtain significant accuracy

Drohnen als Partner im Luftraum

In unserem Beitrag fassen wir drei Themen einer jüngst veröffentlichten Studie zur Technikfolgenabschätzung ziviler Drohnen zusammen. Erstens legen wir dar, dass der Rechtsbegriff der Drohne unklar geregelt ist und dass eine technische Definition des Begriffs „Drohne“ der falsche Weg ist. Wir präsentieren eine alternative Einbindung des Drohnenbegriffs in das europäische Luftfahrtrecht. Zweitens beschreiben wir die Komplexität der technisch zu regelnden Aspekte, um eine Einbindung von Drohnen in das Luftraumsystem ohne direkten Sichtkontakt zu ermöglichen. Wir beschreiben das Problem der technischen Sicherheit und die Komponenten eines Verkehrsmanagementsystems für Drohnen. Drittens verdeutlichen wir, dass bei der Bewältigung der ethischen, rechtlichen und sozialen Herausforderungen von Drohnen eine Vollzugslücke besteht, insbesondere im Datenschutz

Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Hochgeschwindigkeitskameras im Physikunterricht

Anfang 2008 wurde von Casio mit der EX F1 die erste auch für Schulen bezahlbare Hochgeschwindigkeitskamera vorgestellt. Weitere Modelle folgten kurz darauf, sodass inzwischen digitale Kameras mit Hochgeschwindigkeitsfunktion bereits ab etwa 150 € UVP erhältlich sind. Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, welche neuen Möglichkeiten sich daraus für den Physikunterricht an der Schule ergeben.Die durchgeführten und gefilmten Versuche schließen bei den Grenzen herkömmlicher Video-Kameras an und loten die Grenzen der neuen Möglichkeiten dieser kompakten Hochgeschwindigkeits-Technologie aus. Die Ergebnisse sind eine Mischung aus erstaunlichen Effekten und logischen, wenn auch unerwarteten Phänomenen. Die Hochgeschwindigkeitsvideos eignen sich in unterschiedlicher Weise als motivierender Einstieg, für qualitative Betrachtung von Phänomenen oder für eine quantitative Videoanalyse

Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Hochgeschwindigkeitskameras im Physikunterricht

Anfang 2008 wurde von Casio mit der EX F1 die erste auch für Schulen bezahlbare Hochgeschwindigkeitskamera vorgestellt. Weitere Modelle folgten kurz darauf, sodass inzwischen digitale Kameras mit Hochgeschwindigkeitsfunktion bereits ab etwa 150 € UVP erhältlich sind. Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, welche neuen Möglichkeiten sich daraus für den Physikunterricht an der Schule ergeben.Die durchgeführten und gefilmten Versuche schließen bei den Grenzen herkömmlicher Video-Kameras an und loten die Grenzen der neuen Möglichkeiten dieser kompakten Hochgeschwindigkeits-Technologie aus. Die Ergebnisse sind eine Mischung aus erstaunlichen Effekten und logischen, wenn auch unerwarteten Phänomenen. Die Hochgeschwindigkeitsvideos eignen sich in unterschiedlicher Weise als motivierender Einstieg, für qualitative Betrachtung von Phänomenen oder für eine quantitative Videoanalyse

Learning how to robustly estimate camera pose in endoscopic videos.

PURPOSE Surgical scene understanding plays a critical role in the technology stack of tomorrow's intervention-assisting systems in endoscopic surgeries. For this, tracking the endoscope pose is a key component, but remains challenging due to illumination conditions, deforming tissues and the breathing motion of organs. METHOD We propose a solution for stereo endoscopes that estimates depth and optical flow to minimize two geometric losses for camera pose estimation. Most importantly, we introduce two learned adaptive per-pixel weight mappings that balance contributions according to the input image content. To do so, we train a Deep Declarative Network to take advantage of the expressiveness of deep learning and the robustness of a novel geometric-based optimization approach. We validate our approach on the publicly available SCARED dataset and introduce a new in vivo dataset, StereoMIS, which includes a wider spectrum of typically observed surgical settings. RESULTS Our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods on average and more importantly, in difficult scenarios where tissue deformations and breathing motion are visible. We observed that our proposed weight mappings attenuate the contribution of pixels on ambiguous regions of the images, such as deforming tissues. CONCLUSION We demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution to robustly estimate the camera pose in challenging endoscopic surgical scenes. Our contributions can be used to improve related tasks like simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) or 3D reconstruction, therefore advancing surgical scene understanding in minimally invasive surgery

The Five Diamond Method for Explorative Business Process Management

Explorative business process management (BPM) is attracting increasing interest in the literature and professional practice. Organizations have recognized that a focus on operational efficiency is no longer sufficient when disruptive forces can make the value proposition of entire processes obsolete. So far, however, research on how to create entirely new processes has remained largely conceptual, leaving it open how explorative BPM can be put into practice. Following the design science research paradigm and situational method engineering, we address this research gap by proposing a method called the Five Diamond Method. This method guides explorative BPM activities by supporting organizations in identifying opportunities from business and technology trends and integrating them into business processes with novel value propositions. The method is evaluated against literature-backed design objectives and competing artifacts, qualitative data gathered from BPM practitioners, as well as a pilot study and two real-world applications. This research provides two contributions. First, the Five Diamond Method broadens the scope of BPM by integrating prescriptive knowledge from innovation management. Second, the method supports capturing emerging opportunities arising from changing customer needs and digital technologies.Explorative business process management (BPM) is attracting increasing interest in the literature and professional practice. Organizations have recognized that a focus on operational efficiency is no longer sufficient when disruptive forces can make the value proposition of entire processes obsolete. So far, however, research on how to create entirely new processes has remained largely conceptual, leaving it open how explorative BPM can be put into practice. Following the design science research paradigm and situational method engineering, we address this research gap by proposing a method called the Five Diamond Method. This method guides explorative BPM activities by supporting organizations in identifying opportunities from business and technology trends and integrating them into business processes with novel value propositions. The method is evaluated against literature-backed design objectives and competing artifacts, qualitative data gathered from BPM practitioners, as well as a pilot study and two real-world applications. This research provides two contributions. First, the Five Diamond Method broadens the scope of BPM by integrating prescriptive knowledge from innovation management. Second, the method supports capturing emerging opportunities arising from changing customer needs and digital technologies