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77 results (View BibTeX file of all listed publications)

2019

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Semi-supervised learning, causality, and the conditional cluster assumption

von Kügelgen, J., Mey, A., Loog, M., Schölkopf, B.

NeurIPS 2019 Workshop “Do the right thing”: machine learning and causal inference for improved decision making, December 2019 (poster) Accepted

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

2019

ei von Kügelgen, J., Mey, A., Loog, M., Schölkopf, B. Semi-supervised learning, causality, and the conditional cluster assumption NeurIPS 2019 Workshop “Do the right thing”: machine learning and causal inference for improved decision making, December 2019 (poster) Accepted

link (url) [BibTex]

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Optimal experimental design via Bayesian optimization: active causal structure learning for Gaussian process networks

von Kügelgen, J., Rubenstein, P., Schölkopf, B., Weller, A.

NeurIPS 2019 Workshop “Do the right thing”: machine learning and causal inference for improved decision making, December 2019 (poster) Accepted

ei

link (url) [BibTex]

ei von Kügelgen, J., Rubenstein, P., Schölkopf, B., Weller, A. Optimal experimental design via Bayesian optimization: active causal structure learning for Gaussian process networks NeurIPS 2019 Workshop “Do the right thing”: machine learning and causal inference for improved decision making, December 2019 (poster) Accepted

link (url) [BibTex]

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AirCap – Aerial Outdoor Motion Capture

Ahmad, A., Price, E., Tallamraju, R., Saini, N., Lawless, G., Ludwig, R., Martinovic, I., Bülthoff, H. H., Black, M. J.

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2019), Workshop on Aerial Swarms, November 2019 (misc)

Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the Grassroots project Aerial Outdoor Motion Capture (AirCap) running at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. AirCap's goal is to achieve markerless, unconstrained, human motion capture (mocap) in unknown and unstructured outdoor environments. To that end, we have developed an autonomous flying motion capture system using a team of aerial vehicles (MAVs) with only on-board, monocular RGB cameras. We have conducted several real robot experiments involving up to 3 aerial vehicles autonomously tracking and following a person in several challenging scenarios using our approach of active cooperative perception developed in AirCap. Using the images captured by these robots during the experiments, we have demonstrated a successful offline body pose and shape estimation with sufficiently high accuracy. Overall, we have demonstrated the first fully autonomous flying motion capture system involving multiple robots for outdoor scenarios.

ps

Talk slides Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

ps Ahmad, A., Price, E., Tallamraju, R., Saini, N., Lawless, G., Ludwig, R., Martinovic, I., Bülthoff, H. H., Black, M. J. AirCap – Aerial Outdoor Motion Capture IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2019), Workshop on Aerial Swarms, November 2019 (misc)

Talk slides Project Page Project Page [BibTex]

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Interactive Augmented Reality for Robot-Assisted Surgery

Forte, M. P., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Workshop extended abstract presented as a podium presentation at the IROS Workshop on Legacy Disruptors in Applied Telerobotics, Macau, November 2019 (misc) Accepted

hi

Project Page [BibTex]

hi Forte, M. P., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Interactive Augmented Reality for Robot-Assisted Surgery Workshop extended abstract presented as a podium presentation at the IROS Workshop on Legacy Disruptors in Applied Telerobotics, Macau, November 2019 (misc) Accepted

Project Page [BibTex]

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Method for providing a three dimensional body model

Loper, M., Mahmood, N., Black, M.

September 2019, U.S.~Patent 10,417,818 (misc)

Abstract
A method for providing a three-dimensional body model which may be applied for an animation, based on a moving body, wherein the method comprises providing a parametric three-dimensional body model, which allows shape and pose variations; applying a standard set of body markers; optimizing the set of body markers by generating an additional set of body markers and applying the same for providing 3D coordinate marker signals for capturing shape and pose of the body and dynamics of soft tissue; and automatically providing an animation by processing the 3D coordinate marker signals in order to provide a personalized three-dimensional body model, based on estimated shape and an estimated pose of the body by means of predicted marker locations.

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MoSh Project pdf [BibTex]

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High-Fidelity Multiphysics Finite Element Modeling of Finger-Surface Interactions with Tactile Feedback

Serhat, G., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

Abstract
In this study, we develop a high-fidelity finite element (FE) analysis framework that enables multiphysics simulation of the human finger in contact with a surface that is providing tactile feedback. We aim to elucidate a variety of physical interactions that can occur at finger-surface interfaces, including contact, friction, vibration, and electrovibration. We also develop novel FE-based methods that will allow prediction of nonconventional features such as real finger-surface contact area and finger stickiness. We envision using the developed computational tools for efficient design and optimization of haptic devices by replacing expensive and lengthy experimental procedures with high-fidelity simulation.

hi

[BibTex]

hi Serhat, G., Kuchenbecker, K. J. High-Fidelity Multiphysics Finite Element Modeling of Finger-Surface Interactions with Tactile Feedback Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

[BibTex]

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Fingertip Friction Enhances Perception of Normal Force Changes

Gueorguiev, D., Lambert, J., Thonnard, J., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

Abstract
Using a force-controlled robotic platform, we tested the human perception of positive and negative modulations in normal force during passive dynamic touch, which also induced a strong related change in the finger-surface lateral force. In a two-alternative forced-choice task, eleven participants had to detect brief variations in the normal force compared to a constant controlled pre-stimulation force of 1 N and report whether it had increased or decreased. The average 75% just noticeable difference (JND) was found to be around 0.25 N for detecting the peak change and 0.30 N for correctly reporting the increase or the decrease. Interestingly, the friction coefficient of a subject’s fingertip positively correlated with his or her performance at detecting the change and reporting its direction, which suggests that humans may use the lateral force as a sensory cue to perceive variations in the normal force.

hi

[BibTex]

hi Gueorguiev, D., Lambert, J., Thonnard, J., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Fingertip Friction Enhances Perception of Normal Force Changes Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

[BibTex]

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Inflatable Haptic Sensor for the Torso of a Hugging Robot

Block, A. E., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

Abstract
During hugs, humans naturally provide and intuit subtle non-verbal cues that signify the strength and duration of an exchanged hug. Personal preferences for this close interaction may vary greatly between people; robots do not currently have the abilities to perceive or understand these preferences. This work-in-progress paper discusses designing, building, and testing a novel inflatable torso that can simultaneously soften a robot and act as a tactile sensor to enable more natural and responsive hugging. Using PVC vinyl, a microphone, and a barometric pressure sensor, we created a small test chamber to demonstrate a proof of concept for the full torso. While contacting the chamber in several ways common in hugs (pat, squeeze, scratch, and rub), we recorded data from the two sensors. The preliminary results suggest that the complementary haptic sensing channels allow us to detect coarse and fine contacts typically experienced during hugs, regardless of user hand placement.

hi

Project Page [BibTex]

hi Block, A. E., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Inflatable Haptic Sensor for the Torso of a Hugging Robot Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

Project Page [BibTex]

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Understanding the Pull-off Force of the Human Fingerpad

Nam, S., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

Abstract
To understand the adhesive force that occurs when a finger pulls off of a smooth surface, we built an apparatus to measure the fingerpad’s moisture, normal force, and real contact area over time during interactions with a glass plate. We recorded a total of 450 trials (45 interactions by each of ten human subjects), capturing a wide range of values across the aforementioned variables. The experimental results showed that the pull-off force increases with larger finger contact area and faster detachment rate. Additionally, moisture generally increases the contact area of the finger, but too much moisture can restrict the increase in the pull-off force.

hi

[BibTex]

hi Nam, S., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Understanding the Pull-off Force of the Human Fingerpad Work-in-progress paper (2 pages) presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC), Tokyo, Japan, July 2019 (misc)

[BibTex]

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The Haptician and the Alphamonsters

Forte, M. P., L’Orsa, R., Mohan, M., Nam, S., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Student Innovation Challenge on Implementing Haptics in Virtual Reality Environment presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference, Tokyo, Japan, July 2019, Maria Paola Forte, Rachael L'Orsa, Mayumi Mohan, and Saekwang Nam contributed equally to this publication (misc)

Abstract
Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities that affects between 7% and 15% of children. It presents itself in the form of unfinished letters, letter distortion, inconsistent letter size, letter collision, etc. Traditional therapeutic exercises require continuous assistance from teachers or occupational therapists. Autonomous partial or full haptic guidance can produce positive results, but children often become bored with the repetitive nature of such activities. Conversely, virtual rehabilitation with video games represents a new frontier for occupational therapy due to its highly motivational nature. Virtual reality (VR) adds an element of novelty and entertainment to therapy, thus motivating players to perform exercises more regularly. We propose leveraging the HTC VIVE Pro and the EXOS Wrist DK2 to create an immersive spellcasting “exergame” (exercise game) that helps motivate children with dysgraphia to improve writing fluency.

hi

Student Innovation Challenge – Virtual Reality [BibTex]

hi Forte, M. P., L’Orsa, R., Mohan, M., Nam, S., Kuchenbecker, K. J. The Haptician and the Alphamonsters Student Innovation Challenge on Implementing Haptics in Virtual Reality Environment presented at the IEEE World Haptics Conference, Tokyo, Japan, July 2019, Maria Paola Forte, Rachael L'Orsa, Mayumi Mohan, and Saekwang Nam contributed equally to this publication (misc)

Student Innovation Challenge – Virtual Reality [BibTex]

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Explorations of Shape-Changing Haptic Interfaces for Blind and Sighted Pedestrian Navigation

Spiers, A., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

pages: 6, Workshop paper (6 pages) presented at the CHI 2019 Workshop on Hacking Blind Navigation, May 2019 (misc) Accepted

Abstract
Since the 1960s, technologists have worked to develop systems that facilitate independent navigation by vision-impaired (VI) pedestrians. These devices vary in terms of conveyed information and feedback modality. Unfortunately, many such prototypes never progress beyond laboratory testing. Conversely, smartphone-based navigation systems for sighted pedestrians have grown in robustness and capabilities, to the point of now being ubiquitous. How can we leverage the success of sighted navigation technology, which is driven by a larger global market, as a way to progress VI navigation systems? We believe one possibility is to make common devices that benefit both VI and sighted individuals, by providing information in a way that does not distract either user from their tasks or environment. To this end we have developed physical interfaces that eschew visual, audio or vibratory feedback, instead relying on the natural human ability to perceive the shape of a handheld object.

hi

[BibTex]

hi Spiers, A., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Explorations of Shape-Changing Haptic Interfaces for Blind and Sighted Pedestrian Navigation pages: 6, Workshop paper (6 pages) presented at the CHI 2019 Workshop on Hacking Blind Navigation, May 2019 (misc) Accepted

[BibTex]

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Bimanual Wrist-Squeezing Haptic Feedback Changes Speed-Force Tradeoff in Robotic Surgery Training

Cao, E., Machaca, S., Bernard, T., Wolfinger, B., Patterson, Z., Chi, A., Adrales, G. L., Kuchenbecker, K. J., Brown, J. D.

Extended abstract presented as an ePoster at the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Baltimore, USA, April 2019 (misc) Accepted

hi

[BibTex]

hi Cao, E., Machaca, S., Bernard, T., Wolfinger, B., Patterson, Z., Chi, A., Adrales, G. L., Kuchenbecker, K. J., Brown, J. D. Bimanual Wrist-Squeezing Haptic Feedback Changes Speed-Force Tradeoff in Robotic Surgery Training Extended abstract presented as an ePoster at the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Baltimore, USA, April 2019 (misc) Accepted

[BibTex]

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Interactive Augmented Reality for Robot-Assisted Surgery

Forte, M. P., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Extended abstract presented as an Emerging Technology ePoster at the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Baltimore, Maryland, USA, April 2019 (misc) Accepted

hi

Project Page [BibTex]

hi Forte, M. P., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Interactive Augmented Reality for Robot-Assisted Surgery Extended abstract presented as an Emerging Technology ePoster at the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Baltimore, Maryland, USA, April 2019 (misc) Accepted

Project Page [BibTex]

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Demo Abstract: Fast Feedback Control and Coordination with Mode Changes for Wireless Cyber-Physical Systems

(Best Demo Award)

Mager, F., Baumann, D., Jacob, R., Thiele, L., Trimpe, S., Zimmerling, M.

Proceedings of the 18th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), pages: 340-341, 18th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), April 2019 (poster)

ics

arXiv PDF DOI [BibTex]

ics Mager, F., Baumann, D., Jacob, R., Thiele, L., Trimpe, S., Zimmerling, M. Demo Abstract: Fast Feedback Control and Coordination with Mode Changes for Wireless Cyber-Physical Systems Proceedings of the 18th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), pages: 340-341, 18th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), April 2019 (poster)

arXiv PDF DOI [BibTex]

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A Design Tool for Therapeutic Social-Physical Human-Robot Interactions

Mohan, M., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Workshop paper (3 pages) presented at the HRI Pioneers Workshop, Daegu, South Korea, March 2019 (misc) Accepted

Abstract
We live in an aging society; social-physical human-robot interaction has the potential to keep our elderly adults healthy by motivating them to exercise. After summarizing prior work, this paper proposes a tool that can be used to design exercise and therapy interactions to be performed by an upper-body humanoid robot. The interaction design tool comprises a teleoperation system that transmits the operator’s arm motions, head motions and facial expression along with an interface to monitor and assess the motion of the user interacting with the robot. We plan to use this platform to create dynamic and intuitive exercise interactions.

hi

Project Page [BibTex]

hi Mohan, M., Kuchenbecker, K. J. A Design Tool for Therapeutic Social-Physical Human-Robot Interactions Workshop paper (3 pages) presented at the HRI Pioneers Workshop, Daegu, South Korea, March 2019 (misc) Accepted

Project Page [BibTex]

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Perceiving Systems (2016-2018)
Scientific Advisory Board Report, 2019 (misc)

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pdf [BibTex]

ps Perceiving Systems (2016-2018) Scientific Advisory Board Report, 2019 (misc)

pdf [BibTex]

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More Powerful Selective Kernel Tests for Feature Selection

Lim, J. N., Yamada, M., Jitkrittum, W., Terada, Y., Matsui, S., Shimodaira, H.

2019 (misc) Submitted

ei

arXiv [BibTex]

ei Lim, J. N., Yamada, M., Jitkrittum, W., Terada, Y., Matsui, S., Shimodaira, H. More Powerful Selective Kernel Tests for Feature Selection 2019 (misc) Submitted

arXiv [BibTex]

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Toward Expert-Sourcing of a Haptic Device Repository

Seifi, H., Ip, J., Agrawal, A., Kuchenbecker, K. J., MacLean, K. E.

Glasgow, UK, 2019 (misc)

Abstract
Haptipedia is an online taxonomy, database, and visualization that aims to accelerate ideation of new haptic devices and interactions in human-computer interaction, virtual reality, haptics, and robotics. The current version of Haptipedia (105 devices) was created through iterative design, data entry, and evaluation by our team of experts. Next, we aim to greatly increase the number of devices and keep Haptipedia updated by soliciting data entry and verification from haptics experts worldwide.

hi

link (url) [BibTex]

hi Seifi, H., Ip, J., Agrawal, A., Kuchenbecker, K. J., MacLean, K. E. Toward Expert-Sourcing of a Haptic Device Repository Glasgow, UK, 2019 (misc)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Perception of temporal dependencies in autoregressive motion

Meding, K., Schölkopf, B., Wichmann, F. A.

European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP), 2019 (poster)

ei

[BibTex]

ei Meding, K., Schölkopf, B., Wichmann, F. A. Perception of temporal dependencies in autoregressive motion European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP), 2019 (poster)

[BibTex]

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A special issue on hydrogen-based Energy storage

Hirscher, M.

{International Journal of Hydrogen Energy}, 44, pages: 7737, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2019 (misc)

mms

DOI [BibTex]

mms Hirscher, M. A special issue on hydrogen-based Energy storage {International Journal of Hydrogen Energy}, 44, pages: 7737, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2019 (misc)

DOI [BibTex]

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Analytical classical density functionals from an equation learning network

Lin, S., Martius, G., Oettel, M.

2019, arXiv preprint \url{https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.12752} (misc)

al

[BibTex]

al Lin, S., Martius, G., Oettel, M. Analytical classical density functionals from an equation learning network 2019, arXiv preprint \url{https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.12752} (misc)

[BibTex]

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Nanoscale X-ray imaging of spin dynamics in Yttrium iron garnet

Förster, J., Wintz, S., Bailey, J., Finizio, S., Josten, E., Meertens, D., Dubs, C., Bozhko, D. A., Stoll, H., Dieterle, G., Traeger, N., Raabe, J., Slavin, A. N., Weigand, M., Gräfe, J., Schütz, G.

2019 (misc)

mms

link (url) [BibTex]

mms Förster, J., Wintz, S., Bailey, J., Finizio, S., Josten, E., Meertens, D., Dubs, C., Bozhko, D. A., Stoll, H., Dieterle, G., Traeger, N., Raabe, J., Slavin, A. N., Weigand, M., Gräfe, J., Schütz, G. Nanoscale X-ray imaging of spin dynamics in Yttrium iron garnet 2019 (misc)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Reconfigurable nanoscale spin wave majority gate with frequency-division multiplexing

Talmelli, G., Devolder, T., Träger, N., Förster, J., Wintz, S., Weigand, M., Stoll, H., Heyns, M., Schütz, G., Radu, I., Gräfe, J., Ciubotaru, F., Adelmann, C.

2019 (misc)

Abstract
Spin waves are excitations in ferromagnetic media that have been proposed as information carriers in spintronic devices with potentially much lower operation power than conventional charge-based electronics. The wave nature of spin waves can be exploited to design majority gates by coding information in their phase and using interference for computation. However, a scalable spin wave majority gate design that can be co-integrated alongside conventional Si-based electronics is still lacking. Here, we demonstrate a reconfigurable nanoscale inline spin wave majority gate with ultrasmall footprint, frequency-division multiplexing, and fan-out. Time-resolved imaging of the magnetisation dynamics by scanning transmission x-ray microscopy reveals the operation mode of the device and validates the full logic majority truth table. All-electrical spin wave spectroscopy further demonstrates spin wave majority gates with sub-micron dimensions, sub-micron spin wave wavelengths, and reconfigurable input and output ports. We also show that interference-based computation allows for frequency-division multiplexing as well as the computation of different logic functions in the same device. Such devices can thus form the foundation of a future spin-wave-based superscalar vector computing platform.

mms

link (url) [BibTex]

mms Talmelli, G., Devolder, T., Träger, N., Förster, J., Wintz, S., Weigand, M., Stoll, H., Heyns, M., Schütz, G., Radu, I., Gräfe, J., Ciubotaru, F., Adelmann, C. Reconfigurable nanoscale spin wave majority gate with frequency-division multiplexing 2019 (misc)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Visual-Inertial Mapping with Non-Linear Factor Recovery

Usenko, V., Demmel, N., Schubert, D., Stückler, J., Cremers, D.

2019, arXiv:1904.06504 (misc)

ev

[BibTex]

ev Usenko, V., Demmel, N., Schubert, D., Stückler, J., Cremers, D. Visual-Inertial Mapping with Non-Linear Factor Recovery 2019, arXiv:1904.06504 (misc)

[BibTex]

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Phenomenal Causality and Sensory Realism

Bruijns, S. A., Meding, K., Schölkopf, B., Wichmann, F. A.

European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP), 2019 (poster)

ei

[BibTex]

ei Bruijns, S. A., Meding, K., Schölkopf, B., Wichmann, F. A. Phenomenal Causality and Sensory Realism European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP), 2019 (poster)

[BibTex]

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Hydrogen Energy

Hirscher, M., Autrey, T., Orimo, S.

{ChemPhysChem}, 20, pages: 1153-1411, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2019 (misc)

mms

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

mms Hirscher, M., Autrey, T., Orimo, S. Hydrogen Energy {ChemPhysChem}, 20, pages: 1153-1411, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2019 (misc)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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Real-space imaging of confined magnetic skyrmion tubes

Birch, M. T., Cortés-Ortuño, D., Turnbull, L. A., Wilson, M. N., Groß, F., Träger, N., Laurenson, A., Bukin, N., Moody, S. H., Weigand, M., Schütz, G., Popescu, H., Fan, R., Steadman, P., Verezhak, J. A. T., Balakrishnan, G., Loudon, J. C., Twitchett-Harrison, A. C., Hovorka, O., Fangohr, H., Ogrin, F., Gräfe, J., Hatton, P. D.

2019 (misc)

mms

link (url) [BibTex]

mms Birch, M. T., Cortés-Ortuño, D., Turnbull, L. A., Wilson, M. N., Groß, F., Träger, N., Laurenson, A., Bukin, N., Moody, S. H., Weigand, M., Schütz, G., Popescu, H., Fan, R., Steadman, P., Verezhak, J. A. T., Balakrishnan, G., Loudon, J. C., Twitchett-Harrison, A. C., Hovorka, O., Fangohr, H., Ogrin, F., Gräfe, J., Hatton, P. D. Real-space imaging of confined magnetic skyrmion tubes 2019 (misc)

link (url) [BibTex]

2011

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Spatiotemporal mapping of rhythmic activity in the inferior convexity of the macaque prefrontal cortex

Panagiotaropoulos, T., Besserve, M., Crocker, B., Kapoor, V., Tolias, A., Panzeri, S., Logothetis, N.

41(239.15), 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2011 (poster)

Abstract
The inferior convexity of the macaque prefrontal cortex (icPFC) is known to be involved in higher order processing of sensory information mediating stimulus selection, attention and working memory. Until now, the vast majority of electrophysiological investigations of the icPFC employed single electrode recordings. As a result, relatively little is known about the spatiotemporal structure of neuronal activity in this cortical area. Here we study in detail the spatiotemporal properties of local field potentials (LFP's) in the icPFC using multi electrode recordings during anesthesia. We computed the LFP-LFP coherence as a function of frequency for thousands of pairs of simultaneously recorded sites anterior to the arcuate and inferior to the principal sulcus. We observed two distinct peaks of coherent oscillatory activity between approximately 4-10 and 15-25 Hz. We then quantified the instantaneous phase of these frequency bands using the Hilbert transform and found robust phase gradients across recording sites. The dependency of the phase on the spatial location reflects the existence of traveling waves of electrical activity in the icPFC. The dominant axis of these traveling waves roughly followed the ventral-dorsal plane. Preliminary results show that repeated visual stimulation with a 10s movie had no dramatic effect on the spatial structure of the traveling waves. Traveling waves of electrical activity in the icPFC could reflect highly organized cortical processing in this area of prefrontal cortex.

ei

Web [BibTex]

2011

ei Panagiotaropoulos, T., Besserve, M., Crocker, B., Kapoor, V., Tolias, A., Panzeri, S., Logothetis, N. Spatiotemporal mapping of rhythmic activity in the inferior convexity of the macaque prefrontal cortex 41(239.15), 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2011 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

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Evaluation and Optimization of MR-Based Attenuation Correction Methods in Combined Brain PET/MR

Mantlik, F., Hofmann, M., Bezrukov, I., Schmidt, H., Kolb, A., Beyer, T., Reimold, M., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B.

2011(MIC18.M-96), 2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), October 2011 (poster)

Abstract
Combined PET/MR provides simultaneous molecular and functional information in an anatomical context with unique soft tissue contrast. However, PET/MR does not support direct derivation of attenuation maps of objects and tissues within the measured PET field-of-view. Valid attenuation maps are required for quantitative PET imaging, specifically for scientific brain studies. Therefore, several methods have been proposed for MR-based attenuation correction (MR-AC). Last year, we performed an evaluation of different MR-AC methods, including simple MR thresholding, atlas- and machine learning-based MR-AC. CT-based AC served as gold standard reference. RoIs from 2 anatomic brain atlases with different levels of detail were used for evaluation of correction accuracy. We now extend our evaluation of different MR-AC methods by using an enlarged dataset of 23 patients from the integrated BrainPET/MR (Siemens Healthcare). Further, we analyze options for improving the MR-AC performance in terms of speed and accuracy. Finally, we assess the impact of ignoring BrainPET positioning aids during the course of MR-AC. This extended study confirms the overall prediction accuracy evaluation results of the first evaluation in a larger patient population. Removing datasets affected by metal artifacts from the Atlas-Patch database helped to improve prediction accuracy, although the size of the database was reduced by one half. Significant improvement in prediction speed can be gained at a cost of only slightly reduced accuracy, while further optimizations are still possible.

ei

Web [BibTex]

ei Mantlik, F., Hofmann, M., Bezrukov, I., Schmidt, H., Kolb, A., Beyer, T., Reimold, M., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B. Evaluation and Optimization of MR-Based Attenuation Correction Methods in Combined Brain PET/MR 2011(MIC18.M-96), 2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), October 2011 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

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Atlas- and Pattern Recognition Based Attenuation Correction on Simultaneous Whole-Body PET/MR

Bezrukov, I., Schmidt, H., Mantlik, F., Schwenzer, N., Hofmann, M., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B.

2011(MIC18.M-116), 2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), October 2011 (poster)

Abstract
With the recent availability of clinical whole-body PET/MRI it is possible to evaluate and further develop MR-based attenuation correction methods using simultaneously acquired PET/MR data. We present first results for MRAC on patient data acquired on a fully integrated whole-body PET/MRI (Biograph mMR, Siemens) using our method that applies atlas registration and pattern recognition (ATPR) and compare them to the segmentation-based (SEG) method provided by the manufacturer. The ATPR method makes use of a database of previously aligned pairs of MR-CT volumes to predict attenuation values on a continuous scale. The robustness of the method in presence of MR artifacts was improved by location and size based detection. Lesion to liver and lesion to blood ratios (LLR and LBR) were compared for both methods on 29 iso-contour ROIs in 4 patients. ATPR showed >20% higher LBR and LLR for ROIs in and >7% near osseous tissue. For ROIs in soft tissue, both methods yielded similar ratios with max. differences <6% . For ROIs located within metal artifacts in the MR image, ATPR showed >190% higher LLR and LBR than SEG, where ratios <0.1 occured. For lesions in the neighborhood of artifacts, both ratios were >15% higher for ATPR. If artifacts in MR volumes caused by metal implants are not accounted for in the computation of attenuation maps, they can lead to a strong decrease of lesion to background ratios, even to disappearance of hot spots. Metal implants are likely to occur in the patient collective receiving combined PET/MR scans, of our first 10 patients, 3 had metal implants. Our method is currently able to account for artifacts in the pelvis caused by prostheses. The ability of the ATPR method to account for bone leads to a significant increase of LLR and LBR in osseous tissue, which supports our previous evaluations with combined PET/CT and PET/MR data. For lesions within soft tissue, lesion to background ratios of ATPR and SEG were comparable.

ei

Web [BibTex]

ei Bezrukov, I., Schmidt, H., Mantlik, F., Schwenzer, N., Hofmann, M., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B. Atlas- and Pattern Recognition Based Attenuation Correction on Simultaneous Whole-Body PET/MR 2011(MIC18.M-116), 2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), October 2011 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

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Retrospective blind motion correction of MR images

Loktyushin, A., Nickisch, H., Pohmann, R.

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 24(Supplement 1):498, 28th Annual Scientific Meeting ESMRMB, October 2011 (poster)

Abstract
We present a retrospective method, which significantly reduces ghosting and blurring artifacts due to subject motion. No modifications to the sequence (as in [2, 3]), or the use of additional equipment (as in [1]) are required. Our method iteratively searches for the transformation, that applied to the lines in k-space -- yields the sparsest Laplacian filter output in the spatial domain.

ei

PDF Web DOI [BibTex]

ei Loktyushin, A., Nickisch, H., Pohmann, R. Retrospective blind motion correction of MR images Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 24(Supplement 1):498, 28th Annual Scientific Meeting ESMRMB, October 2011 (poster)

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Model based reconstruction for GRE EPI

Blecher, W., Pohmann, R., Schölkopf, B., Seeger, M.

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 24(Supplement 1):493-494, 28th Annual Scientific Meeting ESMRMB, October 2011 (poster)

Abstract
Model based nonlinear image reconstruction methods for MRI [3] are at the heart of modern reconstruction techniques (e.g.compressed sensing [6]). In general, models are expressed as a matrix equation where y and u are column vectors of k-space and image data, X model matrix and e independent noise. However, solving the corresponding linear system is not tractable. Therefore fast nonlinear algorithms that minimize a function wrt.the unknown image are the method of choice: In this work a model for gradient echo EPI, is proposed that incorporates N/2 Ghost correction and correction for field inhomogeneities. In addition to reconstruction from full data, the model allows for sparse reconstruction, joint estimation of image, field-, and relaxation-map (like [5,8] for spiral imaging), and improved N/2 ghost correction.

ei

PDF Web DOI [BibTex]

ei Blecher, W., Pohmann, R., Schölkopf, B., Seeger, M. Model based reconstruction for GRE EPI Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 24(Supplement 1):493-494, 28th Annual Scientific Meeting ESMRMB, October 2011 (poster)

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Simultaneous multimodal imaging of patients with bronchial carcinoma in a whole body MR/PET system

Brendle, C., Sauter, A., Schmidt, H., Schraml, C., Bezrukov, I., Martirosian, P., Hetzel, J., Müller, M., Claussen, C., Schwenzer, N., Pfannenberg, C.

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 24(Supplement 1):141, 28th annual scientific meeting of the European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRB), October 2011 (poster)

Abstract
Purpose/Introduction: Lung cancer is among the most frequent cancers (1). Exact determination of tumour extent and viability is crucial for adequate therapy guidance. [18F]-FDG-PET allows accurate staging and the evaluation of therapy response based on glucose metabolism. Diffusion weighted MRI (DWI) is another promising tool for the evaluation of tumour viability (2,3). The aim of the study was the simultaneous PET-MR acquisition in lung cancer patients and correlation of PET and MR data. Subjects and Methods: Seven patients (age 38-73 years, mean 61 years) with highly suspected or known bronchial carcinoma were examined. First, a [18F]-FDG-PET/CT was performed (injected dose: 332-380 MBq). Subsequently, patients were examined at the whole-body MR/PET (Siemens Biograph mMR). The MRI is a modified 3T Verio whole body system with a magnet bore of 60 cm (max. amplitude gradients 45 mT/m, max. slew rate 200 T/m/s). Concerning the PET, the whole-body MR/PET system comprises 56 detector cassettes with a 59.4 cm transaxial and 25.8 cm axial FoV. The following parameters for PET acquisition were applied: 2 bed positions, 6 min/bed with an average uptake time of 124 min after injection (range: 110-143 min). The attenuation correction of PET data was conducted with a segmentation-based method provided by the manufacturer. Acquired PET data were reconstructed with an iterative 3D OSEM algorithm using 3 iterations and 21 subsets, Gaussian filter of 3 mm. DWI MR images were recorded simultaneously for each bed using two b-values (0/800 s/mm2). SUVmax and ADCmin were assessed in a ROI analysis. The following ratios were calculated: SUVmax(tumor)/SUVmean(liver) and ADCmin(tumor)/ADCmean(muscle). Correlation between SUV and ADC was analyzed (Pearson’s correlation). Results: Diagnostic scans could be obtained in all patients with good tumour delineation. The spatial matching of PET and DWI data was very exact. Most tumours showed a pronounced FDG-uptake in combination with decreased ADC values. Significant correlation was found between SUV and ADC ratios (r = -0.87, p = 0.0118). Discussion/Conclusion: Simultaneous MR/PET imaging of lung cancer is feasible. The whole-body MR/PET system can provide complementary information regarding tumour viability and cellularity which could facilitate a more profound tumour characterization. Further studies have to be done to evaluate the importance of these parameters for therapy decisions and monitoring

ei

Web DOI [BibTex]

ei Brendle, C., Sauter, A., Schmidt, H., Schraml, C., Bezrukov, I., Martirosian, P., Hetzel, J., Müller, M., Claussen, C., Schwenzer, N., Pfannenberg, C. Simultaneous multimodal imaging of patients with bronchial carcinoma in a whole body MR/PET system Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 24(Supplement 1):141, 28th annual scientific meeting of the European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRB), October 2011 (poster)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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Please \soutdo not touch the robot

Romano, J. M., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Hands-on demonstration presented at IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), San Francisco, California, sep 2011 (misc)

hi

[BibTex]

hi Romano, J. M., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Please \soutdo not touch the robot Hands-on demonstration presented at IEEE/RSJ Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), San Francisco, California, sep 2011 (misc)

[BibTex]

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Body-Grounded Tactile Actuators for Playback of Human Physical Contact

Stanley, A. A., Kuchenbecker, K. J.

Hands-on demonstration presented at IEEE World Haptics Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, June 2011 (misc)

hi

[BibTex]

hi Stanley, A. A., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Body-Grounded Tactile Actuators for Playback of Human Physical Contact Hands-on demonstration presented at IEEE World Haptics Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, June 2011 (misc)

[BibTex]

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Support Vector Machines for finding deletions and short insertions using paired-end short reads

Grimm, D., Hagmann, J., König, D., Weigel, D., Borgwardt, KM.

International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), 2011 (poster)

ei

Web [BibTex]

ei Grimm, D., Hagmann, J., König, D., Weigel, D., Borgwardt, KM. Support Vector Machines for finding deletions and short insertions using paired-end short reads International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), 2011 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

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Statistical estimation for optimization problems on graphs

Langovoy, M., Sra, S.

Empirical Inference Symposium, 2011 (poster)

ei

[BibTex]

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Transfer Learning with Copulas

Lopez-Paz, D., Hernandez-Lobato, J.

Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), 2011 (poster)

ei

PDF [BibTex]

ei Lopez-Paz, D., Hernandez-Lobato, J. Transfer Learning with Copulas Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), 2011 (poster)

PDF [BibTex]

2010

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Similarities in resting state and feature-driven activity: Non-parametric evaluation of human fMRI

Shelton, J., Blaschko, M., Gretton, A., Müller, J., Fischer, E., Bartels, A.

NIPS Workshop on Learning and Planning from Batch Time Series Data, December 2010 (poster)

ei

PDF Web [BibTex]

2010

ei Shelton, J., Blaschko, M., Gretton, A., Müller, J., Fischer, E., Bartels, A. Similarities in resting state and feature-driven activity: Non-parametric evaluation of human fMRI NIPS Workshop on Learning and Planning from Batch Time Series Data, December 2010 (poster)

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Augmentation of fMRI Data Analysis using Resting State Activity and Semi-supervised Canonical Correlation Analysis

Shelton, JA., Blaschko, MB., Bartels, A.

NIPS Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML), December 2010 (poster)

Abstract
Resting state activity is brain activation that arises in the absence of any task, and is usually measured in awake subjects during prolonged fMRI scanning sessions where the only instruction given is to close the eyes and do nothing. It has been recognized in recent years that resting state activity is implicated in a wide variety of brain function. While certain networks of brain areas have different levels of activation at rest and during a task, there is nevertheless significant similarity between activations in the two cases. This suggests that recordings of resting state activity can be used as a source of unlabeled data to augment kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA) in a semisupervised setting. We evaluate this setting empirically yielding three main results: (i) KCCA tends to be improved by the use of Laplacian regularization even when no additional unlabeled data are available, (ii) resting state data seem to have a similar marginal distribution to that recorded during the execution of a visual processing task implying largely similar types of activation, and (iii) this source of information can be broadly exploited to improve the robustness of empirical inference in fMRI studies, an inherently data poor domain.

ei

PDF Web [BibTex]

ei Shelton, JA., Blaschko, MB., Bartels, A. Augmentation of fMRI Data Analysis using Resting State Activity and Semi-supervised Canonical Correlation Analysis NIPS Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML), December 2010 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]

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High frequency phase-spike synchronization of extracellular signals modulates causal interactions in monkey primary visual cortex

Besserve, M., Murayama, Y., Schölkopf, B., Logothetis, N., Panzeri, S.

40(616.2), 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2010 (poster)

Abstract
Functional correlates of Rhythms in the gamma band (30-100Hz) are observed in the mammalian brain with a large variety of functional correlates. Nevertheless, their functional role is still debated. One way to disentangle this issue is to go beyond usual correlation analysis and apply causality measures that quantify the directed interactions between the gamma rhythms and other aspects of neural activity. These measures can be further compared with other aspects of neurophysicological signals to find markers of neural interactions. In a recent study, we analyzed extracellular recordings in the primary visual cortex of 4 anesthetized macaques during the presentation of movie stimuli using a causality measure named Transfer Entropy. We found causal interactions between high frequency gamma rhythms (60-100Hz) recorded in different electrodes, involving in particular their phase, and between the gamma phase and spiking activity quantified by the instantaneous envelope of the MUA band (1-3kHz). Here, we further investigate in the same dataset the meaning of these phase-MUA and phase-phase causal interactions by studying the distribution of phases at multiple recording sites at lags around the occurrence of spiking events. First, we found a sharpening of the gamma phase distribution in one electrode when spikes are occurring in other recording site. This phenomena appeared as a form of phase-spike synchronization and was quantified by an information theoretic measure. We found this measure correlates significantly with phase-MUA causal interactions. Additionally, we quantified in a similar way the interplay between spiking and the phase difference between two recording sites (reflecting the well-know concept of phase synchronization). We found that, depending on the couple of recording site, spiking can correlate either with a phase synchronization or with a desynchronization with respect to the baseline. This effect correlates very well with the phase-phase causality measure. These results provide evidence for high frequency phase-spike synchronization to reflect communication between distant neural populations in V1. Conversely, both phase synchronization or desynchronization may favor neural communication between recording sites. This new result, which contrasts with current hypothesis on the role of phase synchronization, could be interpreted as the presence of inhibitory interactions that are suppressed by desynchronization. Finally, our findings give new insights into the role of gamma rhythms in regulating local computation in the visual cortex.

ei

Web [BibTex]

ei Besserve, M., Murayama, Y., Schölkopf, B., Logothetis, N., Panzeri, S. High frequency phase-spike synchronization of extracellular signals modulates causal interactions in monkey primary visual cortex 40(616.2), 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2010 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

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Attenuation Correction for Whole Body PET/MR: Quantitative Evaluation and Lung Attenuation Estimation with Consistency Information

Bezrukov, I., Hofmann, M., Aschoff, P., Beyer, T., Mantlik, F., Pichler, B., Schölkopf, B.

2010(M13-122), 2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), November 2010 (poster)

ei

[BibTex]

ei Bezrukov, I., Hofmann, M., Aschoff, P., Beyer, T., Mantlik, F., Pichler, B., Schölkopf, B. Attenuation Correction for Whole Body PET/MR: Quantitative Evaluation and Lung Attenuation Estimation with Consistency Information 2010(M13-122), 2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), November 2010 (poster)

[BibTex]

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PET/MRI: Observation of Non-Isotropic Positron Distribution in High Magnetic Fields and Its Diagnostic Impact

Kolb, A., Hofmann, M., Sauter, A., Liu, C., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B.

2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, 2010(M18-119):1, November 2010 (poster)

ei

Web [BibTex]

ei Kolb, A., Hofmann, M., Sauter, A., Liu, C., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B. PET/MRI: Observation of Non-Isotropic Positron Distribution in High Magnetic Fields and Its Diagnostic Impact 2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, 2010(M18-119):1, November 2010 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

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Probabilistic Assignment of Chemical Shift Data for Semi-Automatic Amino Acid Recognition

Hooge, J.

11(10):30, 11th Conference of Junior Neuroscientists of T{\"u}bingen (NeNa), October 2010 (poster)

Abstract
manner. First the backbone resonances are assigned. This is usually achieved from sequential information provided by three chemical shifts: CA, CB and C’. Once the sequence is solved, the second assignment step takes place. For this purpose, the CA-CB and HA chemical shifts are used as a start point for assignment of the side chain resonances, thus connecting the backbone resonances to their respective side chains. This strategy is unfortunately limited by the size of the protein due to increasing signal overlap and missing signals. Therefore, amino acid recognition is in many cases not possible as the CA-CB chemical shift pattern is not sufficient to discriminate between the 20 amino acids. As a result, the first step of the strategy described above remains tedious and time consuming. The combination of modern NMR techniques with new spectrometers now provide information that was not always accessible in the past, due to sensitivity problems. These experiments can be applied efficiently to measure a protein size up to 45 kDa and furthermore provide a unique combination of sequential carbon spin system information. The assignment process can thus benefit from a maximum knowledge input, containing âallâ backbone and side chain chemical shifts as well as an immediate amino acid recognition from the side chain spin system. We propose to extend the software PASTA (Protein ASsignment by Threshold Accepting) to achieve a general sequential assignment of backbone and side-chain resonances in a semi- to fullautomatic per-residue approach. PASTA will offer the possibility to achieve the sequential assignment using any kind of chemical shifts (carbons and/or protons) that can provide sequential information combined with an amino acid recognition feature based on carbon spin system analysis.

ei

PDF [BibTex]

ei Hooge, J. Probabilistic Assignment of Chemical Shift Data for Semi-Automatic Amino Acid Recognition 11(10):30, 11th Conference of Junior Neuroscientists of T{\"u}bingen (NeNa), October 2010 (poster)

PDF [BibTex]

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Generalizing Demonstrated Actions in Manipulation Tasks

Kroemer, O., Detry, R., Piater, J., Peters, J.

IROS 2010 Workshop on Grasp Planning and Task Learning by Imitation, 2010, pages: 1, October 2010 (poster)

Abstract
Programming-by-demonstration promises to significantly reduce the burden of coding robots to perform new tasks. However, service robots will be presented with a variety of different situations that were not specifically demonstrated to it. In such cases, the robot must autonomously generalize its learned motions to these new situations. We propose a system that can generalize movements to new target locations and even new objects. The former is achieved by using a task-specific coordinate system together with dynamical systems motor primitives. Generalizing actions to new objects is a more complex problem, which we solve by treating it as a continuum-armed bandits problem. Using the bandits framework, we can efficiently optimize the learned action for a specific object. The proposed method was implemented on a real robot and succesfully adapted the grasping action to three different objects. Although we focus on grasping as an example of a task, the proposed methods are much more widely applicable to robot manipulation tasks.

ei

PDF Web [BibTex]

ei Kroemer, O., Detry, R., Piater, J., Peters, J. Generalizing Demonstrated Actions in Manipulation Tasks IROS 2010 Workshop on Grasp Planning and Task Learning by Imitation, 2010, pages: 1, October 2010 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]