A Neurobiologically Motivated Analysis of Distributional Semantic Models

The pervasive use of distributional semantic models or word embeddings in a variety of research fields is due to their remarkable ability to represent the meanings of words for both practical application and cognitive modeling. However, little has been known about what kind of information is encoded in text-based word vectors. This lack of understanding is particularly problematic when word vectors are regarded as a model of semantic representation for abstract concepts. This paper attempts to reveal the internal information of distributional word vectors by the analysis using Binder et al.'s (2016) brain-based vectors, explicitly structured conceptual representations based on neurobiologically motivated attributes. In the analysis, the mapping from text-based vectors to brain-based vectors is trained and prediction performance is evaluated by comparing the estimated and original brain-based vectors. The analysis demonstrates that social and cognitive information is better encoded in text-based word vectors, but emotional information is not. This result is discussed in terms of embodied theories for abstract concepts.Comment: submitted to CogSci 201

Grounded Distributional Semantics for Abstract Words

Since Harnad (1990) pointed out the symbol grounding prob-lem, cognitive science research has demonstrated that ground-ing in perceptual or sensorimotor experience is crucial to lan-guage. Recent embodied cognition theories have argued thatlanguage is more important for grounding abstract than con-crete words; abstract words are grounded via language. Dis-tributional semantics has recently addressed the embodied na-ture of language and proposed multimodal semantic models.However, these models are not cognitively plausible becausethey do not address the recent embodiment view of abstractconcepts. Therefore, we propose a novel multimodal distribu-tional semantics in which abstract words are represented indi-rectly through grounded representations of their semanticallyrelated concrete words. A simulation experiment demonstratedthat the proposed model achieved better performance in com-puting the word similarity than other multimodal or text-baseddistributional models. This finding suggests that the indirectembodiment view is plausible and contributes to the improve-ment of multimodal distributional semantics

Computational explanation of “fiction text effectivity” for vocabularyimprovement: Corpus analyses using latent semantic analysis

Previous studies have suggested that fiction book reading has a stronger positive effect on vocabulary developmentthan nonfiction. In this study, we examined this phenomenon in terms of word appearance information in fiction (story texts),nonfiction (explanation texts), and web text using latent semantic analysis (LSA). In a human experiment with Japanese under-graduates, we replicated fiction (story) text effectivity. Participants who often read story texts achieved the highest vocabularytest scores. Then, in a corpus experiment, we constructed a story text corpus, explanation text corpus, and web text corpus ofidentical size. Based on these corpora, we calculated the LSA similarities between words, and simulated answering the samevocabulary test as used in the human experiment. The corpus experiment demonstrated the nonfiction (explanation) text effec-tively, that is, the explanation corpus was the highest. The cause of discrepancy in the results and the educational implicationsof this study were also discussed

Methods for Real-time Emotional Gait Data Collection Induced by Smart Glasses in a Non-straight Walking Path

Emotion recognition is an attractive research field because of its usefulness. Most methods for detecting and analyzing emotions depend on facial features so the close-up facial information is required. Unfortunately, high-resolution facial information is difficult to be captured from a standard security camera. Unlike facial features, gaits and postures can be obtained noninvasively from a distance. We proposed a method to collect emotional gait data with real-time emotion induction. Two gait datasets consisting of total 72 participants were collected. Each participant walked in circular pattern while watching emotion induction videos shown on Microsoft HoloLens 2 smart glasses. OptiTrack motion capturing system was used to capture the participants\u27 gaits and postures. Effectiveness of emotion induction was evaluated using self-reported emotion questionnaire. In our second dataset, additional information of each subject such as dominant hand, dominant foot, and dominant brain side was also collected. These data can be used for further analyses. To the best of our knowledge, emotion induction method shows the videos to subjects while walking has never been used in other studies. Our proposed method and dataset have the potential to advance the research field about emotional recognition and analysis, which can be used in real-world applications

A Time- and Cost-Saving Method of Producing Rat Polyclonal Antibodies

Producing antibodies usually takes more than three months. In the present study, we introduce a faster way of producing polyclonal antibodies based on preparation of the recombinant oligopeptide as antigen followed by immunization of rats. Using this method, we produced antisera against two mouse proteins: ERGIC-53 and c-Kit. An expression vector ligated with a pair of complementary synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides encoding the protein was introduced into bacteria, and the recombinant oligopeptide fused with the carrier protein glutathione-S-transferase was purified. Wistar rats were immunized by injecting the emulsified antigen subcutaneously into the hind footpads, followed by a booster injection ­after 2 weeks. One week after the booster, the sera were collected and examined for the antibody titer by immunohistochemistry. Antisera with 1600-fold titer at the maximum were obtained for both antigens and confirmed for their specificity by Western blotting. Anti-­ERGIC-53 antisera recognized acinar cells in the sublingual gland, and anti-c-Kit antisera recognized spermatogenic and Leydig cells in the testis. These antisera were applicable to fluorescent double immunostaining with mouse monoclonal or rabbit polyclonal antibodies. Consequently, this method enabled us to produce specific rat polyclonal antisera available for immunohistochemistry in less than one month at a relatively low cost

Morphologic change and the DNA contents of the testicular cell of rabbits treated with the fatty acid ex­tracted from the irradiated animals

1. The unsaturated fatty acid fraction (OX) from the liver of irradiated rabbits contains substance which has the same effects as X-ray irradiation on the testicular cells. 2. This substance introduced intravenously causes the degeneration of the germinal cells with the formation of giant cells or multi-nucleated cells and the mitotic abnormalities. 3. The DNA content of the cell also shows the changes exactly identical with that seen after X-ray irradiation. 4. From these results we conclude that the X-ray injury will be mainly due to the production of some toxic substance which is found in the unsaturated fatty acid fraction and severely affects the cells in mitosis and DNA metabolism.</p

When to help juveniles, adults, or both: analyzing the evolutionary models of stage-structured mutualism

Mutualism is common in nature and is crucial for population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem functioning. Studies have recently pointed out that life-history stage structure (e.g., juveniles and adults) is a key factor to better understand the ecological consequences of mutualism (termed stage-structured mutualism). Despite the potential importance, little is known about what kinds of stage-structured mutualism can evolve and when it is likely to occur. Here, we theoretically investigated how a mutualistic partner species should allocate efforts of mutualistic associations for different life-history stages of its host species to maximize its fitness. We assessed the partner’s optimal strategy by using a one host–one partner model with the host’s juvenile-adult stage structure. The results showed that different forms of stage-structured mutualism can evolve, such as juvenile-specialized association, adult-specialized association, and inter-stage partner sharing (i.e., the partner associates with both the juvenile and adult stages of the host) depending on the shape of association trade-off, i.e., how much association with one stage is weakened when the partner strengthens its association with the other stage. In general, stage-specialized association (either juvenile-specialized or adult-specialized association) tends to evolve when being associated with that stage is relatively beneficial. Meanwhile, when the association trade-off is weak, inter-stage partner sharing can occur if the mutualistic benefits of juvenile-specific and adult-specific associations are sufficiently large. We also found that when the association trade-off is strong, alternative stable states occur in which either juvenile-specialized or adult-specialized associations evolve depending on the initial trait value. These results suggest that pairwise interspecific mutualism is more complicated than previously thought, implying that we may under-or overestimate the strength of mutualistic interactions when looking at only certain life-history stages. This study provides a conceptual basis for better understanding the mechanisms underlying ontogenetic shifts of mutualistic partners and more complex mutualistic networks mediated by the life-history stages of organisms and their stage-structured interactions

Attractive, Informative, and Communicative Robot System on Guide Plate as an Attendant with Awareness of User’s Gaze

In this paper, we introduce an interactive guide plate system by adopting a gaze-communicative stuffed-toy robot and a gaze-interactive display board. An attached stuffed-toy robot on the system naturally show anthropomorphic guidance corresponding to the user’s gaze orientation. The guidance is presented through gaze-communicative behaviors of the stuffed-toy robot using joint attention and eye-contact reactions to virtually express its own mind in conjunction with b) vocal guidance and c) projection on the guide plate. We adopted our image-based remote gaze-tracking method to detect the user’s gazing orientation. The results from both empirical studies by subjective / objective evaluations and observations of our demonstration experiments in a semipublic space show i) the total operation of the system, ii) the elicitation of user’s interest by gaze behaviors of the robot, and iii) the effectiveness of the gaze-communicative guide adopting the anthropomorphic robot

Characterization of pullulanase (PUL)-deficient mutants of rice (Oryza sativa L.) and the function of PUL on starch biosynthesis in the developing rice endosperm

Rice (Oryza sativa) allelic sugary1 (sug1) mutants defective in isoamylase 1 (ISA1) accumulate varying levels of starch and phytoglycogen in their endosperm, and the activity of a pullulanase-type of a debranching enzyme (PUL) was found to correlate closely with the severity of the sug1 phenotype. Thus, three PUL-deficient mutants were generated to investigate the function of PUL in starch biosynthesis. The reduction of PUL activity had no pleiotropic effects on the other enzymes involved in starch biosynthesis. The short chains (DP ≤13) of amylopectin in PUL mutants were increased compared with that of the wild type, but the extent of the changes was much smaller than that of sug1 mutants. The α-glucan composition [amylose, amylopectin, water-soluble polysaccharide (WSP)] and the structure of the starch components (amylose and amylopectin) of the PUL mutants were essentially the same, although the average chain length of the B2-3 chains of amylopectin in the PUL mutant was ∼3 residues longer than that of the wild type. The double mutants between the PUL-null and mild sug1 mutants still retained starch in the outer layer of endosperm tissue, while the amounts of WSP and short chains (DP ≤7) of amylopectin were higher than those of the sug1 mutant; this indicates that the PUL function partially overlaps with that of ISA1 and its deficiency has a much smaller effect on the synthesis of amylopectin than ISA1 deficiency and the variation of the sug1 phenotype is not significantly dependent on the PUL activities