733 research outputs found
The self-assembling brain: how neural networks grow smarter/ Peter Robin Hiesinger.
No full textIncludes bibliographical references and index."In this book, Peter Robin Hiesinger explores historical and contemporary attempts to understand the information needed to make biological and artificial neural networks. Developmental neurobiologists and computer scientists with an interest in artificial intelligence - driven by the promise and resources of biomedical research on the one hand, and by the promise and advances of computer technology on the other - are trying to understand the fundamental principles that guide the generation of an intelligent system. Yet, though researchers in these disciplines share a common interest, their perspectives and approaches are often quite different. The book makes the case that "the information problem" underlies both fields, driving the questions that are driving forward the frontiers, and aims to encourage cross-disciplinary communication and understanding, to help both fields make progress. The questions that challenge researchers in these fields include the following. How does genetic information unfold during the years-long process of human brain development, and can this be a short-cut to create human-level artificial intelligence? Is the biological brain just messy hardware that can be improved upon by running learning algorithms in computers? Can artificial intelligence bypass evolutionary programming of "grown" networks? These questions are tightly linked, and answering them requires an understanding of how information unfolds algorithmically to generate functional neural networks. Via a series of closely linked "discussions" (fictional dialogues between researchers in different disciplines) and pedagogical "seminars," the author explores the different challenges facing researchers working on neural networks, their different perspectives and approaches, as well as the common ground and understanding to be found amongst those sharing an interest in the development of biological brains and artificial intelligent systems"--1 online resource (xvi, 364 pages
« Ils aiment pas le français »
No full textJésabel Robin has been a lecturer in French for future primary-school teachers at the German-speaking Pädagogische Hochschule Bern (PH IVP) since 2007. She felt that most of her students were reluctant to their professional training in French, yet it is one of the subjects they are training to teach. Her research in language and culture pedagogy adopts social anthropological approaches with a view to study the attitude of the PH IVP students towards French. From mobility mapping to comprehensive interviews in self confrontation, she analyses diverse self-narratives and reveals a wide range of individual and collective representations of and about French. She also focuses on the pivotal effect of institutional experiences such as practical training in teaching French and mobility. These constraints trigger tensions between institutional thinking and individual experiences regarding French but also reveal gaps (so-called « interstices institutionnels ») within the institution itself. The author eventually suggests redesigning a few curricular aspects
First Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence round-robin test of water samples: Preliminary results
No full textTotal reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) is a mature technique to evaluate quantitatively the elemental composition of liquid samples deposited on clean and well polished reflectors. In this
paper the results of the first worldwide TXRF round-robin test of water samples, involving 18 laboratories in 10 countries are presented and discussed. The test was performed within the
framework of the VAMAS project, Interlaboratory comparison of TXRF spectroscopy for environmental analysis, whose aim is to develop guidelines and a standard methodology for biological and environmental analysis by means of the TXRF analytical technique
Death, disintegration of the body and subjectivity in the contemporary horror film
No full textThis thesis is an attempt to account for the contemporary American
horror film's increased reliance upon images of bodily dismemberment
and decay. At the core of this exploration is an inspection of the
body's capability as a metaphor by which our understanding of the
relation of self to society is articulated. The horror film is shown
to be a genre traditionally disposed towards the interrogation of
categories of human identity,and one which is now responding to the
kind of cultural developments often referred to by the expression
postmodernism. As such the genre is placed in a context of other
social discourses about the body, death, disease and decay.In proposing the body as the central metaphor of the modern horror film,
and pursuing its significance in a range of recent film texts, the
thesis triesto provide a positive basis for understanding an aspect
of popular culture often left 'explained' by accusations of exploitation
or dismissed by the traditionalists as aberrant.
The thesis does not attempt to be a theory of genre per se, nor does
it offer an exhaustive account of the field; the outlining of the emergence
of a new tendency is not meant to imply that more conventional material
has been discontinued. 'Body Horror' is argued to be the most important
development in the field however, and the work concludes after demonstrating
its vitality in recent examples where its deployment takes radically varied
positions with respect to the construction of the masculine subject in
particular.
The work is broken down into five Chapters. In Chapter One the existing
theoretical literature is critically examined. In Chapter Two, the nature of
the contemporary horror film is laid out. In Chapter Three the body as a symbo
is considered in relation to the genre. In Chapter Four this idea is developed
through textual analysis in relation to discourses of death and disease. In
Chapet Five the emergence of a postmodern horror film is considered. A conclusion acts as a summary and as a focus in which the implication of the
work for feminist and psychoanalytical theories of the subject can be drawn
1948-49 Second Year
No full textCopy of black and white print; unmounted. For clearer image see http://hdl.handle.net/2440/585971948-49 Second Year: back - John Reiger, Robin Goodchild, Wilf Bowen, Joe Ellis, Ralph Sedgeley, Norm Walker, Tom Guerin, Bill Shepherd, Dennis Shannon, Lindsay Claxton; centre - Ted Gibbison, Dick Sangster, David Spurling, Geoff Robinson, Peter Linklater, Ron Teakle, Don Hughes, Tom Sage, Keith Lawson, Dick Grant, Alan Lang; front - Ken McWhinney, Ian Bond, Greg Botting, Mr B Wesley-Smith, Dr A Callaghan, Dr R McCulloch, Laurie Guerin, Andrew Muecke, Gerald Shipway
How the West gains from apartheid : the case of the United Kingdom
No full textCranfield School of Managemen
RoMEO Studies 6: Rights metadata for open-archiving
No full textThis is the final study in a series of six emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open-archiving) which investigated the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues relating to academic author self-archiving of research papers. It reports the results of a survey of 542 academic authors showing the level of protection required for their open-access research papers. It then describes the selection of an appropriate means of expressing those rights through metadata and the resulting choice of Creative Commons licences. Finally it outlines proposals for communicating rights metadata via the Open Archives Initiative’s Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH)
Inscriptions from Early Christian Baptisteries in Rome
No full textThis is a study of Latin inscriptions from early Roman baptisteries with attention to their particular imagery, theological assertions, and liturgical context. The themes most prominent in these documents reflect on the practice of baptism as a cleansing from sin, incorporation into the community, death to the old self, and rebirth to new life, as realized through the acts of immersion, anointing, and sealing of the newly baptized. The figure of the church as fertile mother and the consecratory power of the Holy Spirit are concretely expressed in many of these texts. The significance of baptism at the martyrs’ shrine is equally prominent, particularly in light of Rome’s preeminent shrines to Saints Peter and Paul. Additionally, the role of the bishop as shepherd is especially emphasized in Rome, where the figure of Peter is venerated not only as martyr but also as Rome’s first bishop and the apostle especially authorized to bind and lose sinners
Inscriptions from Early Christian Baptisteries in Rome
No full textThis is a study of Latin inscriptions from early Roman baptisteries with attention to their particular imagery, theological assertions, and liturgical context. The themes most prominent in these documents reflect on the practice of baptism as a cleansing from sin, incorporation into the community, death to the old self, and rebirth to new life, as realized through the acts of immersion, anointing, and sealing of the newly baptized. The figure of the church as fertile mother and the consecratory power of the Holy Spirit are concretely expressed in many of these texts. The significance of baptism at the martyrs’ shrine is equally prominent, particularly in light of Rome’s preeminent shrines to Saints Peter and Paul. Additionally, the role of the bishop as shepherd is especially emphasized in Rome, where the figure of Peter is venerated not only as martyr but also as Rome’s first bishop and the apostle especially authorized to bind and lose sinners.</jats:p
Studies on the material responsible for activity attributed to the glucose tolerance factor : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry at Massey University, New Zealand
No full textAn extract that was known to have activity attributed to the glucose tolerance factor (GTF)
was isolated from brewers yeast and this was used as the starting point in attempts to
isolate GTF.
The initial extract from brewers yeast was shown to be far from pure as it was separated
into 15 fractions using high voltage paper electrophoresis. GTF activity was initially
monitored using a simple yeast fermentation assay and the more active of these fractions
were further purified using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. The
most active fraction was anionic and contained little chromium or amino acid m aterial
although mass spectroscopy revealed the presence of adenine. However the exact nature
of the material remained elusive.
Due to doubts about the specificity of the simple yeast assay a modified version of the
yeast assay was investigated which measured the abi lity of the sample to stimulate the
metabolism of yeast cells above the level that was accounted for by cell proli feration.
This assay were shown to be very reproducible although the most active fraction from the
simple yeast assay was not active in this assay.
The low chromium rat epididymal adipocyte assay was investigated as a possible means
of verify ing the results of the modified yeast assay. The importance of diet as a
determinant of whether adipocytes would respond to GTF was investigated using 4
different diets. The adipocytes from rats fed on a torula yeast diet produced the maximum
potentiations and it was found that a unique feature of these cells was a reduced ability to
convert glucose to fatty acids via the glycolytic pathway. The potentiations seen in these
cells were most obvious in the conversion of l-14C-glucose to C02 and fatty acids and it
was concluded that this was due to either a potentiation of glucose transport or of acetylCoA
carboxylase.
An extract of torula yeast was prepared in a similar method to that used to isolate the initial
extract from brewers yeast. This extract showed high levels of activity in the both assay
systems which indicated that these assay was not measuring GTF as originally defined.
This was further indicated by the finding that no one compound was responsible for the
activity in any of the assays investigated.
The chromium contained in the original yeast extract was also spread amongst many
fractions and the chromium content of these fractions bore no correlation to the activity in
the assay systems indicating that the active fractions were not chromium complexes.
Overall these results show that there is no unique factor responsible for the activity in the
simple yeast assay and the low chromium rat adipocyte assay. Further it was concluded
that none of the active material represented chromium complexes. As the activity in these
assays was thought to be due to the presence of a GTF this firstly strongly argues against
GTF being a chromium complex and secondly it questions the existence of GTF at all
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