Selecting locally specialised classifiers for one-class classification ensembles

One-class classification belongs to the one of the novel and very promising topics in contemporary machine learning. In recent years ensemble approaches have gained significant attention due to increasing robustness to unknown outliers and reducing the complexity of the learning process. In our previous works, we proposed a highly efficient one-class classifier ensemble, based on input data clustering and training weighted one-class classifiers on clustered subsets. However, the main drawback of this approach lied in difficult and time consuming selection of a number of competence areas which indirectly affects a number of members in the ensemble. In this paper, we investigate ten different methodologies for an automatic determination of the optimal number of competence areas for the proposed ensemble. They have roots in model selection for clustering, but can be also effectively applied to the classification task. In order to select the most useful technique, we investigate their performance in a number of one-class and multi-class problems. Numerous experimental results, backed-up with statistical testing, allows us to propose an efficient and fully automatic method for tuning the one-class clustering-based ensembles.     

Influence of ligno-cellulosic particles on tribological properties of boards

There are two main possibilities to substitute conventional wood material in the panel production: the use of wood of fast-growing trees plantations and/or the use of alternative ligno-cellulosic raw materials. Especially particleboards produced from the ‘‘energetic’’ willow present the same or better mechanical parameters compared to particleboards conventionally produced mainly from soft woods. Increasing bio-fuel production, mostly from rape, will cause an escalation of the rape cultivation area and, as a result, will augment the amount of waste (rape straw) to be utilized. The aim of this study was to verify the friction coefficient of the new board types in tribological contact with tools surfaces. The investigations were performed in situ. The results of the friction coefficient related to the tools surfaces as well as lingo-cellulose materials are presented.     

Can the United States provide a higher standard of personal data protection than the EU?

The view established in EU Member States assumes that the level of personal data protection in EU Member States (and the EU as such) is much higher than that provided by the US legal system. This assumption will (presumably) find its validation in relation to the US federal law. However, many of the solutions found at the state level in the US are only now being introduced into the EU system (and that of the EU Member States). The article highlights that such established views (or stereotypes) can be unfounded (and may lead to even more unsubstantiated conclusions).     

Micro‐ and Nanoprinting into Solids Using Reaction‐Diffusion Etching and Hydrogel Stamps

Micropatterned hydrogel stamps soaked in appropriate chemical etchants can imprint various types of micro‐ and nanoarchitectures into metals, conductive oxides, semiconductors, glasses, and crystals. Localized etching is mediated by a reaction‐diffusion process initiated from the stamp microfeatures and gives lateral resolution down to approximately 300 nm. The method is well suited for the rapid prototyping of small‐scale devices including multilevel microfluidic systems and curvilinear optical elements.     

LIS–lnterlink—connecting laboratory information systems to remote primary health–care centres via the Internet

A pilot study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of using the Internet to securely deliver patient laboratory results, and the system has subsequently gone into routine use in Poland. The system went from design to pilot and then to live implementation within a four-month period, resulting in the LIS-Interlink software product. Test results are retrieved at regular intervals from the BioLink^TM LIS (Laboratory Information System), encrypted and transferred to a secure area on the Web server. The primary health-care centres dial into the Internet using a local-cell service provided by Polish Telecom (TP), obtain a TCP/IP address using the TP DHCP server, and perform HTTP ‘get’ and ‘post’ operations to obtain the files by secure handshaking. The data are then automatically inserted into a local SQL database (with optional printing of incoming reports)for cumulative reporting and searching functions. The local database is fully multi-user and can be accessed from different clinics within the centres by a variety of networking protocols.     

Silica nanoparticles as a tool for fluorescence collection efficiency enhancement

In this work we demonstrate enhancement of the fluorescence collection efficiency for chlorophyll-containing photosynthetic complexes deposited on SiO₂ spherical nanoparticles. Microscopic images of fluorescence emission reveal ring-like emission patterns associated with chlorophyll-containing complexes coupled to electromagnetic modes within the silica nanoparticles. The interaction leaves no effect upon the emission spectra of the complexes, and the transient behavior of the fluorescence also remains unchanged, which indicates no influence of the silica nanoparticles on the radiative properties of the fluorophores. We interpret this enhancement as a result of efficient scattering of electromagnetic field by the dielectric nanoparticles that increases collection efficiency of fluorescence emission.