Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
AIList Digest Volume 2 Issue 022
AIList Digest Wednesday, 29 Feb 1984 Volume 2 : Issue 22
Today's Topics:
Robotics - Personal Robotics Request,
Books - Request for Laws of Form Review,
Expert Systems - EURISKO Information Request,
Automated Documentation Tools - Request,
Mathematics - Fermat's Last Theorem & Map Coloring,
Waveform Analysis - EEG/EKG Interpretation,
Brain Theory - Parallelism,
CS Culture - Computing Worlds
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu 16 Feb 84 17:59:03-PST
From: PIERRE@SRI-AI.ARPA
Subject: Information about personal robots?
Do you know anything about domestic robots? personal robots?
I'm interested by the names and adresses of companies, societies,
clubs, universities involved in that field. Does there exist any review
about this? any articles? Do you work or have you heard of any projects
in this field?
Thank you to answer at Pierre@SRI-AI.ARPA
Pierre
------------------------------
Date: 23 Feb 84 13:58:28 PST (Thu)
From: Carl Kaun <ckaun@aids-unix>
Subject: Laws of Form
I hope that Charlie Crummer will share some of the substance he finds in
"Laws of Form" with us (ref AIList Digest V2 #20). I myself am more in the
group that does not understand what LoF has to say that is new, and indeed
doubt that it does say anything unique.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 84 15:32 MST
From: RNeal@HIS-PHOENIX-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: EURISKO
I have just begun reading the AI digests (our copy starts Nov 3 1983)
and I am very interested in the one or two transactions dealing with
EURISKO. Could someone explain what EURISKO does, and maybe give some
background of its development?
On a totally different note, has anyone done any AI work on lower order
intelligence (ie. that using instinct) such as insects, reptiles, etc.?
Seems they would be easier to model, and I just wondered if anyone had
attempted to make a program which learns they way they do and the things
they do . I don't know if this belongs in AI or some simulation meeting
(is there one?).
>RUSTY<
------------------------------
Date: 27 Feb 1984 07:26-PST
From: SAC.LONG@USC-ISIE
Subject: Automated Documentation Tools
Is anyone aware of software packages available that assist in the
creation of documentation of software, such as user manuals and
maintenance manuals? I am not looking for simple editors which
are used to create text files, but something a little more
sophisticated which would reduce the amount of time one must
invest in creating manuals manually (with the aid of a simple editor).
If anyone has information about such, please send me a message at:
SAC.LONG@USC-ISIE
or Steve Long
1018-1 Ave H
Plattsmouth NE 68048
or (402)294-4460 or reply through AIList.
Thank you.
-- Steve
------------------------------
Date: 16 Feb 84 5:36:12-PST (Thu)
From: decvax!genrad!wjh12!foxvax1!minas @ Ucb-Vax
Subject: Re: Fermat's Last Theorem & Undecidable Propositions
Article-I.D.: foxvax1.317
Could someone please help out an ignorant soul by posting a brief (if that
is, indeed, possible!) explanation of what Fermat's last theorem states as
well as what the four-color theorem is all about. I'm not looking for an
explanation of the proofs, but, simply, a statement of the propositions.
Thanks!
-phil minasian decvax!genrad!wjh12!foxvax1!minas
------------------------------
Date: 15 Feb 84 20:15:33-PST (Wed)
From: ihnp4!mit-eddie!rh @ Ucb-Vax
Subject: Re: Four color...
Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.1290
I had thought that 4 color planar had been proved, but that
the "conjectures" of 5 colors for a sphere and 7 for a torus
were still waiting. (Those numbers are right, aren't they?)
Randwulf (Randy Haskins); Path= genrad!mit-eddie!rh
------------------------------
Date: 17 Feb 84 21:33:46-PST (Fri)
From: decvax!dartvax!dalcs!holmes @ Ucb-Vax
Subject: Re: Four color...
Article-I.D.: dalcs.610
The four colour problem is the same for a sphere as it is
for the infinite plane. The problem for a torus was solved many
years ago. The torus needs exactly 7 colours to paint it.
Ray
------------------------------
Date: 26 Feb 1984 21:38:16-PST
From: utcsrgv!utai!tsotsos@uw-beaver
Subject: AI approach to ECG analysis
One of my PhD students, Taro Shibahara, has been working on an expert
system for arrhythmia analysis. The thesis should be finished by early summer.
A preliminary paper discussing some design issues appeared in IJCAI-83.
System name is CAA - Causal Arrhythmia Analyzer. Important contributions:
Two distinct KB's, one of signal domain the other of the electrophysiological
domain, communication via a "projection" mechanism, causal relations to assist
in prediction, use of meta-knowledge within a frame-based representation
for statistical knowledge. The overall structure is based on the
ALVEN expert system for left ventricular performance assessment, developed
here as well.
John Tsotsos
Dept. of Computer Science
University of Toronto
[Ray Perrault <RPERRAULT@SRI-AI> also suggested this lead. -- KIL]
------------------------------
Date: 24 Feb 84 10:07:36-PST (Fri)
From: decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!jwb @ Ucb-Vax
Subject: computer ECG
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.2043
At least three companies are currently marketing computer ECG analysis
systems. They are Marquette Electronics, IBM, Hewlett-Packard. We use the
Marquette system which works quite well. Marquette and IBM use variants of
the same program (the "Bonner" program below, original development funded by
IBM.) Apparently because of fierce competition, much current information,
particularly with regard to algorithms, is proprietary. Worst in this regard
(a purely personal opinion) is HP who seems to think nobody but HP needs to
know how they do things and physicians are too dumb to understand anyway.
Another way hospitals get computer analysis of ECG's is through "Telenet" who
offers telephone connection to a time sharing system (I think located in the
Chicago area). Signals are digitized and sent via a modem through standard
phone lines. ECG's are analyzed and printed information is sent back.
Turn-around time is a few minutes. They offer an advantage to small hospitals
by offering verification of the analysis by a Cardiologist (for an extra fee).
I understand this service has had some financial problems (rumors).
Following is a bibliography gathered for a lecture to medical students about
computer analysis of ECG's. Because of this it is mainly from more or less
clinical literature and is oriented toward methods of validation (This is
tough, because reading of ECG's by cardiologists, like many clinical
decisions, is partly a subjective process. The major impact of these systems
so far has been to force the medical community to develop objective criteria
for their analysis.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Computer Analysis of the Electrocardiogram
August 29, 1983
BOOK
Pordy L (1977) Computer electrocardiography: present status and criteria.
Mt. Kisco, New York, Futura
PAPERS
Bonner RE, Crevasse L, Ferrer MI, Greenfield JC Jr (1972) A new computer
program for analysis of scalar electrocardiograms. Computers and Biomedical
Research 5:629-653
Garcia R, Breneman GM, Goldstein S (1981) Electrogram computer analysis.
Practical value of the IBM Bonner-2 (V2MO) program. J. Electrocardiology
14:283-288
Rautaharju PM, Ariet M, Pryor TA, et al. (1978) Task Force III: Computers in
diagnostic electrocardiography. Proceedings of the Tenth Bethesda Conference,
Optimal Electrocardiography. Am. J. Cardiol. 41:158-170
Bailey JJ et al (1974) A method for evaluating computer programs for
electrocardiographic interpretation
I. Application to the experimental IBM program of 1971. Circulation 50:73-79
II. Application to version D of the PHS program and the Mayo Clinic program
of 1968. Circulation 50:80-87
III. Reproducibility testing and the sources of program errors. Circulation
50:88-93
Endou K, Miyahara H, Sato (1980) Clinical usefulness of computer diagnosis in
automated electrocardiography. Cardiology 66:174-189
Bertrand CA et al (1980) Computer interpretation of electrocardiogram using
portable bedside unit. New York State Journal of Medicine. August
1980(?volume):1385-1389
Jack Buchanan
Cardiology and Biomedical Engineering
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(919) 966-5201
decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!jwb
------------------------------
Date: Friday, 24-Feb-84 18:35:44-GMT
From: JOLY G C QMA (on ERCC DEC-10) <GCJ%edxa@ucl-cs.arpa>
Subject: re: Parallel processing in the brain.
To compare the product of millions of years of evolution
(ie the human brain) with the recent invention of parallel
processors seems to me to be like trying to effect an analysis
of the relative properties of chalk and cheese.
Gordon Joly.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Feb 84 13:17:04 PST
From: Dr. Jacques Vidal <vidal@UCLA-CS>
Subject: Brains: Serial or Parallel?
Is the brain parallel? Or is the issue a red herring?
Computing and thinking are physical processes and as all physical
processes unfold in time are ultimately SEQUENTIAL even "continu-
ous" ones although the latter are self-timed (free-running, asyn-
chronous) rather than clocked.
PARALLEL means that there are multiple tracks with similar func-
tions like availability of multiple processors or multiple lanes
on a superhighway. It is a structural characteristic.
CONCURRENT means simultaneous. It is a temporal characteristic.
REDUNDANT means that there is structure beyond that which is
minimally needed for function, perhaps to insure integrity of
function under perturbations.
In this context, PARALLELISM, i.e. the deployment of multiple
processors is the currency with which a system designer may pur-
chase these two commodities: CONCURRENCY and REDUNDANCY (a neces-
sary but not sufficient condition).
Turing machines have zero concurrency. Almost everything else
that computes exhibit some. Conventional processor architectures
and memories are typically concurrent at the word level.
Microprogram are sequences of concurrent gate events.
There exist systems that are completely concurrent and free-
running. Analog computers and combinational logic circuits have
these properties. There, computation progresses by chunk between
initial and final states. A new chunk starts when the system is
set to a new initial state.
Non-von architectures have moved away from single track computing
and from the linear organization of memory cells. With cellular
machines another property appears: ADJACENCY. Neighboring proces-
sors use adjacency as a form of addressing.
These concepts are applicable to natural automata: Brains cer-
tainly employ myriads of processors and thus exhibit massive
parallelism. From the numerous processes that are simultaneously
active (autonomous as well as deliberate ones) it is clear that
brains utilize unprecedented concurrency. These proces-
sors are free-running. Control and data flows are achieved
through three-dimensional networks. Adjacency is a key feature in
most of the brain processes that have been identified. Long dis-
tance communication is provided for by millions of parallel path-
ways, carrying highly redundant messages.
Now introspection indicates that conscious thinking is limited to
one stream of thought at any given time. That is a limitation of
the mechanisms supporting consciousness amd some will claim that
it can be overcome. Yet even a single stream of thinking is cer-
tainly supported by many concurrent processes, obvious when
thoughts are spoken, accompanied by gestures etc...
Comments?
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 1984 2051-PST
From: Rob-Kling <Kling%UCI-20B%UCI-750a@csnet2>
Subject: Computing Worlds
[Forwarded from Human-Nets Digest by Laws@SRI-AI.]
Sherry Turkle is coming out with a book that may deal in part with the
cultures of computing worlds. It also examines questions about how
children come to see computer applications as alive, animate, etc.
It was to be called, "The Intimate Machine." The title was
appropriated by Neil Frude who published a rather superficial book
with an outline very similar to that Turkle proposed to
some publishers. Frude's book is published by New American Library.
Sherry Turkle's book promises to be much deeper and careful.
It is to be published by Simon and Schuster under a different
title.
Turkle published an interesting article
called, "Computer as Rorschach" in Society 17(2)(Jan/Feb 1980).
This article examines the variety of meanings that people
attribute to computers and their applications.
I agree with Greg that computing activities are embedded within rich
social worlds. These vary. There are hacker worlds which differ
considerably from the worlds of business systems analysts who develop
financial applications in COBOL on IBM 4341's. AI worlds differ from
the personal computing worlds, and etc. To date, no one appears to
have developed a good anthropological account of the organizing
themes, ceremonies, beliefs, meeting grounds, etc. of these various
computing worlds. I am beginning such a project at UC-Irvine.
Sherry Turkle's book will be the best contribution (that I know of) in
the near future.
One of my colleagues at UC-Irvine, Kathleen Gregory, has just
completed a PhD thesis in which she has studied the work cultures
within a major computer firm. She plans to transform her thesis into
a book. Her research is sensitive to the kinds of langauage
categories Greg mentioned. (She will joining the Department of
Information and Computer Science at UC-Irvine in the Spring.)
Also, Les Gasser and Walt Scacchi wrote a paper on personal computing
worlds when they were PhD students at UCI. It is available for $4
from:
Public Policy Research Organization
University of California, Irvine
Irvine,Ca. 92717
(They are now in Computer Science at USC and may provide copies upon
request.)
Several years ago I published two articles which examine some of the
larger structural arrangments in computing worlds:
"The Social Dynamics of Technical Innovation in the
Computing World" ^&Symbolic Interaction\&,
1(1)(Fall 1977):132-146.
"Patterns of Segmentation and Intersection in the
Computing World"
^&Symbolic Interaction\& 1(2)(Spring 1978): 24-43.
One section of a more recent article,
"Value Conflicts in the Deployment of Computing Applications"
^&Telecommunications Policy\& (March 1983):12-34.
examines the way in which certain computer-based technologies
such as automated offices, artificial intelligence,
CAI, etc. are the foci of social movements.
None of my papers examine the kinds of special languages
which Greg mentions. Sherry Turkle's book may.
Kathleen Gregory's thesis does, in the special setting of
one major computing vendor's software culture.
I'll send copies of my articles on request if I recieve mailing
addresses.
Rob Kling
University of California, Irvine
------------------------------
End of AIList Digest
********************
