Este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem para recuperação multimodal de imagens com realimentação de relevância baseada em programação genética. Supõe-se que cada imagem da coleção possui informação textual associada (metadado, descrição textual, etc.), além de ter suas propriedades visuais (por exemplo, cor e textura) codificadas em vetores de características. A partir da informação obtida ao longo das iterações de realimentação de relevância, programação genética é utilizada para a criação de funções de combinação de medidas de similaridades eficazes. Com essas novas funções, valores de similaridades diversos são combinados em uma única medida, que mais adequadamente reflete as necessidades do usuário. As principais contribuições deste trabalho consistem na proposta e implementação de dois arcabouços. O primeiro, RFCore, é um arcabouço genérico para atividades de realimentação de relevância para manipulação de objetos digitais. O segundo, MMRFGP, é um arcabouço para recuperação de objetos digitais com realimentação de relevância baseada em programação genética, construído sobre o RFCore. O método proposto de recuperação multimodal de imagens foi validado sobre duas coleções de imagens...

Técnicas de aprendizagem vêm sendo empregadas em diversas áreas de aplicação (medicina, biologia, segurança, entre outras). Neste trabalho, buscou-se avaliar o uso da técnica de Programação Genética (PG) em tarefas de recuperação e classificação de imagens. PG busca soluções ótimas inspirada pela teoria de seleção natural das espécies. Indivíduos mais aptos (melhores soluções) tendem a evoluir e se reproduzir nas gerações futuras. As principais contribuições deste trabalho são: implementação de um classificador de imagens utilizando PG para combinar evidencias visuais (descritores de imagens) e assim, obter melhores resultados com relação à eficácia de classificação; Comparação de PG com outras técnicas de aprendizagem em tarefas de recuperação de imagens por conteúdo; Uso de regras de associação para recuperação de imagens; Learning techniques have been used in several applications (medicine, biology, surveillance systems, e.g.) This work aims to evaluate the use of the Genetic Programming (GP) learning technique for image retrieval and classification tasks. This technique is a problem-solving system that follows principles of inheritance and evolution, inspired by the idea of Natural Selection. The space of all possible solutions is investigated using a set of optimization techniques that imitate the theory of evolution. The main contributions of this work are: proposal of classifier implementation using GP to combine visual evidences (image descriptors) to be used in image classification tasks; comparison of GP with other learning techniques in content-based image retrieval tasks

Bibliography: p. 8-10.; "September 1984."; " DARPA Order No. 3045/2-2-84." " ONR/N00014-84-K-0357"

by Richard S. Marcus, J. Francis Reintjes.; Bibliography: p. 123-127.; This report constitutes the final report for Grant NSF-SIS-74-18165 entitled "Research in the coupling of interactive information systems".

Moses Ma.; "December, 1982"; Bibliography: leaf [6]; "ONR/N00014-77-C-0532 (NR 041-519)

Victoria Yu-yu Jin, Alexander H. Levis.; "August 1985."; Bibliography: p. 20.; "Office of Naval Research ... Contract N00014-83-K-0185 (NR 247-349)" "Office of Naval Research ... Contract N00014-84-K-0519 (NR 649-003)"

by Richard S. Marcus.; "September 1, 1982."; Bbliography: p. 64-68.; National Science Foundation Division of Information Science and Technology Grant Number NSF IST-80-06516

by Susan Aileen Hall.; Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1982.; MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING; Includes bibliographical references.

by Richard Alan Ross.; Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1982.; MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING.; Bibliography: leaves 64-66.

Information storage and retrieval systems are communication systems from the present to the future and fall naturally into the framework of information theory. The goal of information storage is to preserve as much signal fidelity under resource constraints as possible. The information storage theorem delineates average fidelity and average resource values that are achievable and those that are not. Moreover, observable properties of optimal information storage systems and the robustness of optimal systems to parameter mismatch may be determined. In this thesis, we study the physical properties of a neural information storage channel and also the fundamental bounds on the storage of sources that have nonsequential semantics. Experimental investigations have revealed that synapses in the mammalian brain possess unexpected properties. Adopting the optimization approach to biology, we cast the brain as an optimal information storage system and propose a theoretical framework that accounts for many of these physical properties. Based on previous experimental and theoretical work, we use volume as a limited resource and utilize the empirical relationship between volume anrid synaptic weight.; (cont.) Our scientific hypotheses are based on maximizing information storage capacity per unit cost. We use properties of the capacity-cost function...

The outcome of this research is an Intelligent Retrieval System for Conditions of Contract Documents. The objective of the research is to improve the method of retrieving data from a computer version of a construction Conditions of Contract document. SmartDoc, a prototype computer system has been developed for this purpose. The system provides recommendations to aid the user in the process of retrieving clauses from the construction Conditions of Contract document. The prototype system integrates two computer technologies: hypermedia and expert systems. Hypermedia is utilized to provide a dynamic way for retrieving data from the document. Expert systems technology is utilized to build a set of rules that activate the recommendations to aid the user during the process of retrieval of clauses. The rules are based on experts knowledge. The prototype system helps the user retrieve related clauses that are not explicitly cross-referenced but, according to expert experience, are relevant to the topic that the user is interested in.

Thesis (Ph.D.1972) from the Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Adelaide; 151 [47] leaves : ill. ; 26 cm.; Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.

Background:??? Question-answering systems (or QA Systems) stand as a new alternative for Information Retrieval Systems. Most users frequently need to retrieve specific information about a factual question to obtain a whole document. Objectives:??? The study evaluates the efficiency of QA systems as terminological sources for physicians, specialised translators and users in general. It assesses the performance of one open-domain QA system, START, and one restricted-domain QA system, MedQA. Method:??? The study collected two hundred definitional questions (What is????), either general or specialised, from the health website WebMD. Sources used by the open-domain QA system, START, and the restricted-domain QA system, MedQA, were studied to retrieve answers, and later a range of evaluation measures (precision, Mean Reciprocal Rank, Total Reciprocal Rank, First Hit Success) were applied to mark the quality of answers. Results:??? It was established that both systems are useful in the retrieval of valid definitional healthcare information, with an acceptable degree of coherent and precise responses from both. The answers supplied by MedQA were more reliable that those of START in the sense that they came from specialised clinical or academic sources...

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited; In the field of human research, particularly in operational environments, data collection techniques are difficult. Researchers often focus their efforts on the data analysis and overlook the shortcomings of their data collection and storage methodologies. In order to demonstrate effective data collection and storage methodology in a representative human research process, the process used by human fatigue and performance researchers at the Human Systems Integration Lab at Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) served as a Proof of Concept. Most recent studies conducted at NPS provided a model of the current process. The Knowledge Value Added (KVA) methodology was used as a tool of comparison of the current process to the reengineered process. Information technologies including wireless physiological monitoring devices, web-based and mobile device data collection methods, and integrated data storage techniques were incorporated in the reengineering effort. The data storage process included the design of a standard relational database format allowing research teams to easily access their data. This repository also enables data to be archived for future use (e.g., meta-analyses). To demonstrate the reengineered process in an operational environment...

In the fall of 2002, it was not clear how homeland security efforts would be organized and what budget process would be created. Subsequently the Department of Homeland Security was created and it moved to create and establish a PPB system similar to the system employed in DOD. This technical report examines DOD's experience with the PPB system over the last 40 years and provides lessons learned from that experience for consideration by DHS budget planners. The primary lesson is that the PPB system has always been in an evolutionary mode, with constant improvements along a generalized conceptual path. It was not created once and for all and operated as a fixed template. While it is an expensive system to operate in terms of people and time, no other system appears to solve the requirement for planning for and resourcing systems and personnel to meet the threat posed to U. S. homeland security.

This case study examines the impact of a computer information system as it was being implemented in one Ontario hospital. The attitudes of a cross section of the hospital staff acted as a barometer to measure their perceptions of the implementation process. With The Mississauga Hospital in the early stages of an extensive computer implementation project, the opportunity existed to identify staff attitudes about the computer system, overall knowledge and compare the findings with the literature. The goal of the study was to develop a greater base about the affective domain in the relationship between people and the computer system. Eight exploratory questions shaped the focus of the investigation. Data were collected from three sources: a survey questionnaire, focused interviews, and internal hospital documents. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed. Instrumentation in the study consisted of a survey distributed at two points in time to randomly selected hospital employees who represented all staff levels.Other sources of data included hospital documents, and twenty-five focused interviews with staff who replied to both surveys. Leavitt's socio-technical system, with its four subsystems: task...

Information retrieval systems for documents normally rely on the use of keywords that describe the text in some fashion or another, or are contained in the text itself, for indexing and searching. These keywords may be associated with standard boolean operators, where presence or absence in the text or text description is used as the truth value, or other oper ators indicating their proximity to one another in the text. Another emerging approach is the use of content or knowledge based indexing and retrieval. In this approach the text is not represented or treated as a collection keywords, rather its meaning or semantic content is abstracted and the meaning is used to search for the text desired. This approach may have several advantages over the standard keyword approach. Both precision and recall of the search may be improved, increasing the likelihood that relevant texts will be found while decreasing the probability of finding irrelevant ones. The knowl edge based approach may also allow more sophisticated query techniques, for instance queries based on the purpose for which the text will be used. This thesis will explore the possibility and usefulness of applying case based reasoning to the problem of text search and retrieval. An easy-to-use expert system for information retrieval that utilizes case-based reasoning to improve...

The problem of child mortality in India is one of the biggest that today's developing nation is dealing with. A complex matrix of different societal and behavioral forces is present at the root of this problem. Not only are absolute numbers of child deaths high in India, but the Child Mortality Rate (CMR) is also substantially higher among developing nations. Different sources of information at national as well as at state levels give feedback to the Indian Government on this nationwide issue. Looking closely at the west coast of India, the State of Maharashtra is having systematic problems in recording each child death. The way of operation of information sources and their accountability raises some serious issues about their efficiency, and the state governments are completely reliant on these sources to make decisions that save a child's life. This thesis study works in the domain of the health management information system in the context of the rural region of the State of Maharashtra, India. This study documents practical experience gained in relation with user centered product design while working with Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) workers. Research was carried out to see different problems that health workers face during field work and their ways of operations to collect data on child and maternal health. Existing infrastructure for communication in the rural region of Maharashtra and the efficiency of health workers to adapt a new system are primary concerns about design decisions made in response to this issue. The intention behind this study is to create a strong network of health information and communication transfer among sufferers and helpers. A sound information system can create a foundation for correct decision making and formulation of public policies to save one complete life not lived.

With advances in computer technology, images and image databases are becoming increasingly important. Retrievals of images in current image database systems have been designed using keyword searches. These carefully designed and handcrafted systems are very efficient given the application domain they are built for. Unfortunately, they are not adaptable to other domains, not expandable for other uses of the existing information and are not very forgiving to their users. The appearance of full-text search provides for a more general search given textual documents. However, pictorial images contain a vast amount of information that is difficult to catalog in a general way. Further this classification needs to be dynamic providing for flexible searching capability. The searching should allow for more than a pre-programmed set of search parameters, as exact searches make the image database quite useless for a search that was not designed into the original database. Further the incorporation of knowledge along with the images is difficult. Development of an image knowledge base along with content-based retrieval techniques is the focus of this thesis. Using an artificial intelligence technique called case-based reasoning, images can be retrieved with a degree of flexibility. Each image would be classified by user entered attributes about the image called descriptors. These descriptors would also have a "degree-of-importance" parameter. This parameter would indicate the relative importance or certainty of that descriptor. These descriptors are collected as the "case" for the image and stored in "frames" Each image can vary as to the amount of attribute information they contain. Retrieval of an image from the knowledge base begins with the entry of new descriptors for the desired image. Along with the descriptors are the degree-of-importance parameter. The degree-of-importance would indicate the requirement for the desired image to match that descriptor. Again...

The Image Storage System (ISS) is a general purpose graphics facility for the storage and retrieval of pictures. ISS utilizes the capabilities of the Mistress Relational Database Management System, the Relation Interpreter Package and the CORE Graphics Package. The system was developed to illustrate that by utilizing a database system for the storage of the actual picture description, users can incorporate graphics into their applications very simply without becoming a graphics or programming expert. Through the database, image data can be shared between applications and changes or additions to the image will not require program modification. As a consequence of using a data base management system, graphical as well as nongraphical information may be stored together. An important out come of this is that the graphical data may be accessible for non-graphical purposes as well. The database schema is illustrated and its flexibility and user adaptability is demonstrated. The graphics image interpreter is described as well as the underlying Relation Interpreter Package on which it is built.