Discriminating Taxonomic Categories and Domains in Mental Simulations of Concepts of Varying Concreteness

Most studies of conceptual knowledge in the brain focus on a narrow range of concrete conceptual categories, rely on the researchers' intuitions about which object belongs to these categories, and assume a broadly taxonomic organization of knowledge. In this fMRI study, we focus on concepts with a variety of concreteness levels; we use a state of the art lexical resource (WordNet 3.1) as the source for a relatively large number of category distinctions and compare a taxonomic style of organization with a domain-based model (associating concepts with scenarios). Participants mentally simulated situations associated with concepts when cued by text stimuli. Using multivariate pattern analysis, we find evidence that all Taxonomic categories and Domains can be distinguished from fMRI data and also observe a clear concreteness effect: Tools and Locations can be reliably predicted for unseen participants, but less concrete categories (e.g., Attributes, Communications, Events, Social Roles) can only be reliably discriminated within participants. A second concreteness effect relates to the interaction of Domain and Taxonomic category membership: Domain (e.g., relation to Law vs. Music) can be better predicted for less concrete categories. We repeated the analysis within anatomical regions, observing discrimination between all/most categories in the left middle occipital and temporal gyri, and more specialized discrimination for concrete categories Tool and Location in the left precentral and fusiform gyri, respectively. Highly concrete/abstract Taxonomic categories and Domain were segregated in frontal regions. We conclude that both Taxonomic and Domain class distinctions are relevant for interpreting neural structuring of concrete and abstract concepts.

Homological Localisation of Model Categories

One of the most useful methods for studying the stable homotopy category is localising at some spectrum E. For an arbitrary stable model category we introduce a candidate for the E���localisation of this model category. We study the properties of this new construction and relate it to some well���known categories.

Inferring and Exploiting Categories for Next Location Prediction

Predicting the next location of a user based on their previous visiting pattern is one of the primary tasks over data from location based social networks (LBSNs) such as Foursquare. Many different aspects of these so-called ���check-in��� profiles of a user have been made use of in this task, including spatial and temporal information of check-ins as well as the social network information of the user. Building more sophisticated prediction models by enriching these check-in data by combining them with information from other sources is challenging due to the limited data that these LBSNs expose due to privacy concerns. In this paper, we propose a framework to use the location data from LBSNs, combine it with the data from maps for associating a set of venue categories with these locations. For example, if the user is found to be checking in at a mall that has cafes, cinemas and restaurants according to the map, all these information is associated. This category information is then leveraged to predict the next checkin location by the user. Our experiments with publicly available check-in dataset show that this approach improves on the state-of-the-art methods for location prediction.

Topology via enriched categories

Having as a starting point the characterization of probabilistic metric spaces as enriched categories over the quantale ���, conditions that allow the generalization of results relating Cauchy sequences, convergence of sequences, adjunctions of V-distributors and its representability are established. Equivalence between L-completeness and L-injectivity is also established. L-completeness is characterized via the Yoneda embedding, and injectivity is related with exponentiability. Another kind of completeness is considered and the formal ball model is analyzed.

On some systems of aesthetic categories

UANL

Image classification for a large number of object categories

L'increment de bases de dades que cada vegada contenen imatges m��s dif��cils i amb un nombre m��s elevat de categories, est�� for��ant el desenvolupament de t��cniques de representaci�� d'imatges que siguin discriminatives quan es vol treballar amb m��ltiples classes i d'algorismes que siguin eficients en l'aprenentatge i classificaci��. Aquesta tesi explora el problema de classificar les imatges segons l'objecte que contenen quan es disposa d'un gran nombre de categories. Primerament s'investiga com un sistema h��brid format per un model generatiu i un model discriminatiu pot beneficiar la tasca de classificaci�� d'imatges on el nivell d'anotaci�� hum�� sigui m��nim. Per aquesta tasca introdu��m un nou vocabulari utilitzant una representaci�� densa de descriptors color-SIFT, i despr��s s'investiga com els diferents par��metres afecten la classificaci�� final. Tot seguit es proposa un m��tode par tal d'incorporar informaci�� espacial amb el sistema h��brid, mostrant que la informaci�� de context es de gran ajuda per la classificaci�� d'imatges. Despr��s introdu��m un nou descriptor de forma que representa la imatge segons la seva forma local i la seva forma espacial, tot junt amb un kernel que incorpora aquesta informaci�� espacial en forma piramidal. La forma es representada per un vector compacte obtenint un descriptor molt adequat per ��sser utilitzat amb algorismes d'aprenentatge amb kernels. Els experiments realitzats postren que aquesta informaci�� de forma te uns resultats semblants (i a vegades millors) als descriptors basats en aparen��a. Tamb�� s'investiga com diferents caracter��stiques es poden combinar per ��sser utilitzades en la classificaci�� d'imatges i es mostra com el descriptor de forma proposat juntament amb un descriptor d'aparen��a millora substancialment la classificaci��. Finalment es descriu un algoritme que detecta les regions d'inter��s autom��ticament durant l'entrenament i la classificaci��. Aix�� proporciona un m��tode per inhibir el fons de la imatge i afegeix invarian��a a la posici�� dels objectes dins les imatges. S'ensenya que la forma i l'aparen��a sobre aquesta regi�� d'inter��s i utilitzant els classificadors random forests millora la classificaci�� i el temps computacional. Es comparen els postres resultats amb resultats de la literatura utilitzant les mateixes bases de dades que els autors Aixa com els mateixos protocols d'aprenentatge i classificaci��. Es veu com totes les innovacions introdu��des incrementen la classificaci�� final de les imatges.

Categories of GM risk-benefit perceptions and their antecedents

The stated benefits and perceived risks of genetic modification (GM) cover very diverse issues, such as food safety, world food security, and the environment, that may differentially affect consumer acceptance. In this research, we hypothesize that consumers perceive up to eight dimensions: risks to business (farmers, agribusiness, etc.), benefits to business, risks and benefits to the environment, risks and benefits to the developing world, and risks and benefits to self and family. Moral concerns are also recognized. Using data collected in 2002 in the United States, France, and the UK, we investigate these different dimensions. Second, we analyze the extent to which the dimensions of risk-benefit perceptions can be explained by general attitudes widely used to explain food purchase behavior (such as general attitude to the environment, to technology, etc.), as well as by perceived knowledge of GM, level of education, and trust in various sources of information. In all locations, the majority of consumers only perceive a medium level of risk from GM products. Attitude to technology is the most important attitude variable���those with a positive attitude to technology in general also have a positive attitude to GM technology. More Americans than Europeans fall into this category. Those who trust government and the food industry tend to think GM technology is less risky, whereas those who trust activists believe the opposite. Americans are more trusting of the former, Europeans of the latter. Level of education is positively associated with benefit perceptions and negatively associated with moral concerns. Location continues to play a limited independent role in explaining perceptions even after these factors have been taken into account.

Proposing a way forward: a review of standardisation in the use of age categories and ageing techniques in osteological analysis (2004 to 2009)

This study assesses the current state of adult skeletal age-at-death estimation in biological anthropology through analysis of data published in recent research articles from three major anthropological and archaeological journals (2004���2009). The most commonly used adult ageing methods, age of ���adulthood���, age ranges and the maximum age reported for ���mature��� adults were compared. The results showed a wide range of variability in the age at which individuals were determined to be adult (from 14 to 25 years), uneven age ranges, a lack of standardisation in the use of descriptive age categories and the inappropriate application of some ageing methods for the sample being examined. Such discrepancies make comparisons between skeletal samples difficult, while the inappropriate use of some techniques make the resultant age estimations unreliable. At a time when national and even global comparisons of past health are becoming prominent, standardisation in the terminology and age categories used to define adults within each sample is fundamental. It is hoped that this research will prompt discussions in the osteological community (both nationally and internationally) about what defines an ���adult���, how to standardise the age ranges that we use and how individuals should be assigned to each age category. Skeletal markers have been proposed to help physically identify ���adult��� individuals.

A method to weight three categories of adaptive thermal comfort

The adaptive thermal comfort theory considers people as active rather than passive recipients in response to ambient physical thermal stimuli, in contrast with conventional, heat-balance-based, thermal comfort theory. Occupants actively interact with the environments they occupy by means of utilizing adaptations in terms of physiological, behavioural and psychological dimensions to achieve ���real world��� thermal comfort. This paper introduces a method of quantifying the physiological, behavioural and psychological portions of the adaptation process by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on the case studies conducted in the UK and China. Apart from three categories of adaptations which are viewed as criteria, six possible alternatives are considered: physiological indices/health status, the indoor environment, the outdoor environment, personal physical factors, environmental control and thermal expectation. With the AHP technique, all the above-mentioned criteria, factors and corresponding elements are arranged in a hierarchy tree and quantified by using a series of pair-wise judgements. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to improve the quality of these results. The proposed quantitative weighting method provides researchers with opportunities to better understand the adaptive mechanisms and reveal the significance of each category for the achievement of adaptive thermal comfort.

Processing empty categories in a second language: When naturalistic exposure fills the (intermediate) gap

An ongoing debate on second language (L2) processing revolves around whether or not L2 learners process syntactic information similarly to monolinguals (L1), and what factors lead to a native-like processing. According to the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (Clahsen & Felser, 2006a), L2 learners��� processing does not include abstract syntactic features, such as intermediate gaps of wh-movement, but relies more on lexical/semantic information. Other researchers have suggested that naturalistic L2 exposure can lead to native-like processing (Dussias, 2003). This study investigates the effect of naturalistic exposure in processing wh-dependencies. Twenty-six advanced Greek learners of L2 English with an average nine years of naturalistic exposure, 30 with classroom exposure, and 30 native speakers of English completed a self-paced reading task with sentences involving intermediate gaps. L2 learners with naturalistic exposure showed evidence of native-like processing of the intermediate gaps, suggesting that linguistic immersion can lead to native-like abstract syntactic processing in the L2.