scholarly journals Temporal and Object Quantification Networks

Author(s):  
Jiayuan Mao ◽  
Zhezheng Luo ◽  
Chuang Gan ◽  
Joshua B. Tenenbaum ◽  
Jiajun Wu ◽  
...  

We present Temporal and Object Quantification Networks (TOQ-Nets), a new class of neuro-symbolic networks with a structural bias that enables them to learn to recognize complex relational-temporal events. This is done by including reasoning layers that implement finite-domain quantification over objects and time. The structure allows them to generalize directly to input instances with varying numbers of objects in temporal sequences of varying lengths. We evaluate TOQ-Nets on input domains that require recognizing event-types in terms of complex temporal relational patterns. We demonstrate that TOQ-Nets can generalize from small amounts of data to scenarios containing more objects than were present during training and to temporal warpings of input sequences.

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonseob Lim ◽  
Ryan Lagoy ◽  
Barbara G Shinn-Cunningham ◽  
Timothy J Gardner

This study examines how temporally patterned stimuli are transformed as they propagate from primary to secondary zones in the thalamorecipient auditory pallium in zebra finches. Using a new class of synthetic click stimuli, we find a robust mapping from temporal sequences in the primary zone to distinct population vectors in secondary auditory areas. We tested whether songbirds could discriminate synthetic click sequences in an operant setup and found that a robust behavioral discrimination is present for click sequences composed of intervals ranging from 11 ms to 40 ms, but breaks down for stimuli composed of longer inter-click intervals. This work suggests that the analog of the songbird auditory cortex transforms temporal patterns to sequence-selective population responses or ‘spatial codes', and that these distinct population responses contribute to behavioral discrimination of temporally complex sounds.


2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-66
Author(s):  
Libor Barto ◽  
Jakub Bulín ◽  
Andrei Krokhin ◽  
Jakub Opršal

The complexity and approximability of the constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) has been actively studied over the past 20 years. A new version of the CSP, the promise CSP (PCSP), has recently been proposed, motivated by open questions about the approximability of variants of satisfiability and graph colouring. The PCSP significantly extends the standard decision CSP. The complexity of CSPs with a fixed constraint language on a finite domain has recently been fully classified, greatly guided by the algebraic approach, which uses polymorphisms—high-dimensional symmetries of solution spaces—to analyse the complexity of problems. The corresponding classification for PCSPs is wide open and includes some long-standing open questions, such as the complexity of approximate graph colouring, as special cases. The basic algebraic approach to PCSP was initiated by Brakensiek and Guruswami, and in this article, we significantly extend it and lift it from concrete properties of polymorphisms to their abstract properties. We introduce a new class of problems that can be viewed as algebraic versions of the (Gap) Label Cover problem and show that every PCSP with a fixed constraint language is equivalent to a problem of this form. This allows us to identify a “measure of symmetry” that is well suited for comparing and relating the complexity of different PCSPs via the algebraic approach. We demonstrate how our theory can be applied by giving both general and specific hardness/tractability results. Among other things, we improve the state-of-the-art in approximate graph colouring by showing that, for any k ≥ 3, it is NP-hard to find a (2 k -1)-colouring of a given k -colourable graph.


Author(s):  
Frances M. Ross ◽  
Peter C. Searson

Porous semiconductors represent a relatively new class of materials formed by the selective etching of a single or polycrystalline substrate. Although porous silicon has received considerable attention due to its novel optical properties1, porous layers can be formed in other semiconductors such as GaAs and GaP. These materials are characterised by very high surface area and by electrical, optical and chemical properties that may differ considerably from bulk. The properties depend on the pore morphology, which can be controlled by adjusting the processing conditions and the dopant concentration. A number of novel structures can be fabricated using selective etching. For example, self-supporting membranes can be made by growing pores through a wafer, films with modulated pore structure can be fabricated by varying the applied potential during growth, composite structures can be prepared by depositing a second phase into the pores and silicon-on-insulator structures can be formed by oxidising a buried porous layer. In all these applications the ability to grow nanostructures controllably is critical.


Author(s):  
G. C. Ruben ◽  
K. Iqbal ◽  
I. Grundke-Iqbal ◽  
H. Wisniewski ◽  
T. L. Ciardelli ◽  
...  

In neurons, the microtubule associated protein, tau, is found in the axons. Tau stabilizes the microtubules required for neurotransmitter transport to the axonal terminal. Since tau has been found in both Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and in paired helical filaments (PHF), the study of tau's normal structure had to preceed TEM studies of NFT and PHF. The structure of tau was first studied by ultracentrifugation. This work suggested that it was a rod shaped molecule with an axial ratio of 20:1. More recently, paraciystals of phosphorylated and nonphosphoiylated tau have been reported. Phosphorylated tau was 90-95 nm in length and 3-6 nm in diameter where as nonphosphorylated tau was 69-75 nm in length. A shorter length of 30 nm was reported for undamaged tau indicating that it is an extremely flexible molecule. Tau was also studied in relation to microtubules, and its length was found to be 56.1±14.1 nm.


Author(s):  
T. F. Kelly ◽  
P. J. Lee ◽  
E. E. Hellstrom ◽  
D. C. Larbalestier

Recently there has been much excitement over a new class of high Tc (>30 K) ceramic superconductors of the form A1-xBxCuO4-x, where A is a rare earth and B is from Group II. Unfortunately these materials have only been able to support small transport current densities 1-10 A/cm2. It is very desirable to increase these values by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude for useful high field applications. The reason for these small transport currents is as yet unknown. Evidence has, however, been presented for superconducting clusters on a 50-100 nm scale and on a 1-3 μm scale. We therefore planned a detailed TEM and STEM microanalysis study in order to see whether any evidence for the clusters could be seen.A La1.8Sr0.2Cu04 pellet was cut into 1 mm thick slices from which 3 mm discs were cut. The discs were subsequently mechanically ground to 100 μm total thickness and dimpled to 20 μm thickness at the center.


Author(s):  
J. Fink

Conducting polymers comprises a new class of materials achieving electrical conductivities which rival those of the best metals. The parent compounds (conjugated polymers) are quasi-one-dimensional semiconductors. These polymers can be doped by electron acceptors or electron donors. The prototype of these materials is polyacetylene (PA). There are various other conjugated polymers such as polyparaphenylene, polyphenylenevinylene, polypoyrrole or polythiophene. The doped systems, i.e. the conducting polymers, have intersting potential technological applications such as replacement of conventional metals in electronic shielding and antistatic equipment, rechargable batteries, and flexible light emitting diodes.Although these systems have been investigated almost 20 years, the electronic structure of the doped metallic systems is not clear and even the reason for the gap in undoped semiconducting systems is under discussion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 786-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingqi Han ◽  
Kin-Man Tang ◽  
Shun-Cheung Cheng ◽  
Chi-On Ng ◽  
Yuen-Kiu Chun ◽  
...  

A new class of luminescent cyclometalated Ir(iii) complexes with readily tunable mechanochromic properties derived from the mechanically induced trans-to-cis isomerization have been developed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 3940-3950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Verkoyen ◽  
Holger Frey

Amino-functional polyethers have emerged as a new class of “smart”, i.e. pH- and thermoresponsive materials. This review article summarizes the synthesis and applications of these materials, obtained from ring-opening of suitable epoxide monomers.


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