All issues

The main statements and inferences of the Dynamic Theory Information (DTI) are considered. It is shown that DTI provides the possibility two reveal two essentially important types of information: objective (unconventional) and subjective (conventional) informtion. There are two ways of obtaining information: reception (perception of an already existing one) and generation (production of new) information. It is shown that the processes of generation and perception of information should proceed in two different subsystems of the same cognitive system. The main points of the Natural-Constructivist Approach to modeling the cognitive process are discussed. It is shown that any neuromorphic approach faces the problem of Explanatory Gap between the “Brain” and the “Mind”, i. e. the gap between objectively measurable information about the ensemble of neurons (“Brain”) and subjective information about the human consciousness (“Mind”). The Natural-Constructive Cognitive Architecture developed within the framework of this approach is discussed. It is a complex block-hierarchical combination of several neuroprocessors. The main constructive feature of this architecture is splitting the whole system into two linked subsystems, by analogy with the hemispheres of the human brain. One of the subsystems is processing the new information, learning, and creativity, i.e. for the generation of information. Another subsystem is responsible for processing already existing information, i.e. reception of information. It is shown that the lowest (zero) level of the hierarchy is represented by processors that should record images of real objects (distributed memory) as a response to sensory signals, which is objective information (and refers to the “Brain”). The next hierarchy levels are represented by processors containing symbols of the recorded images. It is shown that symbols represent subjective (conventional) information created by the system itself and providing its individuality. The highest hierarchy levels containing the symbols of abstract concepts provide the possibility to interpret the concepts of “consciousness”, “sub-consciousness”, “intuition”, referring to the field of “Mind”, in terms of the ensemble of neurons. Thus, DTI provides an opportunity to build a model that allows us to trace how the “Mind” could emerge basing on the “Brain”.

The proteins of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) play a key role in the functioning of the adaptive immune system, and the identification of peptides that bind to them is an important step in the development of vaccines and understanding the mechanisms of autoimmune diseases. Today, there are a number of methods for predicting the binding of a particular MHC allele to a peptide. One of the best such methods is NetMHCpan-4.0, which is based on an ensemble of artificial neural networks. This paper presents a methodology for qualitatively improving the underlying neural network underlying NetMHCpan-4.0. The proposed method uses the ensemble construction technique and adds as input an estimate of the Potts model taken from static mechanics, which is a generalization of the Ising model. In the general case, the model reflects the interaction of spins in the crystal lattice. Within the framework of the proposed method, the model is used to better represent the physical nature of the interaction of proteins included in the complex. To assess the interaction of the MHC + peptide complex, we use a two-dimensional Potts model with 20 states (corresponding to basic amino acids). Solving the inverse problem using data on experimentally confirmed interacting pairs, we obtain the values of the parameters of the Potts model, which we then use to evaluate a new pair of MHC + peptide, and supplement this value with the input data of the neural network. This approach, combined with the ensemble construction technique, allows for improved prediction accuracy, in terms of the positive predictive value (PPV) metric, compared to the baseline model.

Working memory mechanisms in spiking neural networks consisting of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons with adaptive threshold and synaptic plasticity are studied in this work. Moderate size networks including thousands of neurons were explored. Working memory is a network ability to keep in its state the information about recent stimuli presented to the network such that this information is sufficient to determine which stimulus has been presented. In this study, network state is defined as the current characteristics of network activity only — without internal state of its neurons. In order to discover the neuronal structures serving as a possible substrate of the memory mechanism, optimization of the network parameters and structure using genetic algorithm was carried out. Two kinds of neuronal structures with the desired properties were found. These are neuron pairs mutually connected by strong synaptic links and long tree-like neuronal ensembles. It was shown that only the neuron pairs are suitable for efficient and reliable implementation of working memory. Properties of such memory units and structures formed by them are explored in the present study. It is shown that characteristics of the studied two-neuron memory units can be set easily by the respective choice of the parameters of its neurons and synaptic connections. Besides that, this work demonstrates that ensembles of these structures can provide the network with capability of unsupervised learning to recognize patterns in the input signal.

Gesture recognition is an urgent challenge in developing systems of human-machine interfaces. We analyzed machine learning methods for gesture classification based on electromyographic muscle signals to identify the most effective one. Methods such as the naive Bayesian classifier (NBC), logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, gradient boosting, support vector machine (SVM), $k$-nearest neighbor algorithm, and ensembles (NBC and decision tree, NBC and gradient boosting, gradient boosting and decision tree) were considered. Electromyography (EMG) was chosen as a method of obtaining information about gestures. This solution does not require the location of the hand in the field of view of the camera and can be used to recognize finger movements. To test the effectiveness of the selected methods of gesture recognition, a device was developed for recording the EMG signal, which includes three electrodes and an EMG sensor connected to the microcontroller and the power supply. The following gestures were chosen: clenched fist, “thumb up”, “Victory”, squeezing an index finger and waving a hand from right to left. Accuracy, precision, recall and execution time were used to evaluate the effectiveness of classifiers. These parameters were calculated for three options for the location of EMG electrodes on the forearm. According to the test results, the most effective methods are $k$-nearest neighbors’ algorithm, random forest and the ensemble of NBC and gradient boosting, the average accuracy of ensemble for three electrode positions was 81.55%. The position of the electrodes was also determined at which machine learning methods achieve the maximum accuracy. In this position, one of the differential electrodes is located at the intersection of the flexor digitorum profundus and flexor pollicis longus, the second — above the flexor digitorum superficialis.