A continuing focus on subcellular processes could result in neglect of the framework through which these small processes are integrated. This focus could be particularly problematic in the cardiovascular system in which a patient’s clinical condition depends on the function of the whole system, specifically the pumping of blood and its distribution. These are currently less fashionable areas of...

We explore the expressive power of the query language of rst order logic with linear constraints. Natural queries are shown to be expressible in this language in a non-trivial fashion. We further investigate the ability of the language to capture certain properties that seem desirable in spatial databases. We show that, although these properties are captured in a certain extent, there are still...

As language learners scale up in terms of speaking proficiency, they expand the volume of expressions in the target language that they can use in a robust fashion, combining vocabulary and syntactic structures into novel constructions and transferring them to new contexts. In the ISLET Project, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), we have developed a strategy for allowing a dialog-r...

We have identified three areas where language support for operating system extensibility is important: performance, safety, and expressive power. First, an extension language should support pointer-safe casting to avoid unnecessary copying of data. Second, an extension language must allow a caller to isolate untrusted code. Finally, an extension language should provide a vocabulary for describi...

Typically, visually-grounded language learning systems only accept feature data about objects in the environment that are explicitly mentioned, whether through annotation labels or direct reference through natural language. We show that when objects are described ambiguously using natural language, a system can use a combination of the pragmatic principles of Contrast and Conventionality, and m...