Sleep staging automaton based on the theory of evidence

The authors address sleep staging as a medical decision problem. They develop a model for automated sleep staging by combining signal information, human heuristic knowledge in the form of rules, and a mathematical framework. The EEG/EOG/EMG (electroencephalogram/electroculogram/electromyogram) events relevant for sleep staging are detected in real time by an existing front-end system and are summarized per minute. These token data are translated, normalized and constitute the input alphabet to a finite-state machine (automaton). The processed token events are used as partial belief in a set of anthropomimetic rules, which encode human knowledge about the occurrence of a particular sleep stage. The Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence weighs the partial beliefs and attributes the minute sleep stage to the machine state transition that displays the highest final belief. Results are briefly presented     

Making sense of a complex world [chaotic events modeling]

Addresses the identification of nonlinear systems from output time series, which we have called dynamic modeling. We start by providing the mathematical basis for dynamic modeling and show that it is equivalent to a multivariate nonlinear prediction problem in the reconstructed space. We address the importance of dynamic reconstruction for dynamic modeling. Recognizing that dynamic reconstruction is an ill-defined inverse problem, we describe a regularized radial basis function network for solving the dynamic reconstruction problem. Prior knowledge in the form of smoothness of the mapping is imposed on the solution via regularization. We also show that, in time-series analysis, some form of regularization can be accomplished by using the structure of the time series instead of imposing a smoothness constraint on the cost function. We develop a methodology based on iterated prediction to train the network weights with an error derived through trajectory learning. This method provides a robust performance because during learning the weights are constrained to follow a trajectory. The dynamic invariants estimated from the generated time series are similar to the ones estimated from the original time series, which means that the properties of the attractor have been captured by the neural network. We finally raise the question that generalized delay operators may have advantages in dynamic reconstruction, primarily in cases where the time series is corrupted by noise. We show how to set the recursive parameter of the gamma operator to attenuate noise and preserve the dynamics     

Competitive principal component analysis for locally stationarytime series

A new unsupervised algorithm is proposed that performs competitive principal component analysis (PCA) of a time series. A set of expert PCA networks compete, through the mixture of experts (MOE) formalism, on the basis of their ability to reconstruct the original signal. The resulting network finds an optimal projection of the input onto a reduced dimensional space as a function of the input and, hence, of time. As a byproduct, the time series is both segmented and identified according to stationary regions. Examples showing the performance of the algorithm are included     

A new spatiotemporal filtering method for single-trial estimation of correlated ERP subcomponents

A novel spatiotemporal filtering method for single trial estimation of event-related potential (ERP) subcomponents is proposed here. Unlike some previous works in ERP estimation [1], , the proposed method is able to estimate temporally correlated ERP subcomponents such as P3a and P3b. A new cost function is, therefore, defined which can deflate one of the correlated subcomponents. The method is applied to both simulated and real data and has shown to perform very well even in low signal-to-noise ratio situations. In addition, the method is compared to spatial principal component analysis and its superiority has been confirmed by using simulated signals. The approach can be especially useful in mental fatigue analysis where the relative variability of P300 subcomponents is the key factor in detecting the level of fatigue.     

Target discrimination in synthetic aperture radar using artificial neural networks

This paper addresses target discrimination in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery using linear and nonlinear adaptive networks. Neural networks are extensively used for pattern classification but here the goal is discrimination. We show that the two applications require different cost functions. We start by analyzing with a pattern recognition perspective the two-parameter constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detector which is widely utilized as a target detector in SAR. Then we generalize its principle to construct the quadratic gamma discriminator (QGD), a nonparametrically trained classifier based on local image intensity. The linear processing element of the QCD is further extended with nonlinearities yielding a multilayer perceptron (MLP) which we call the NL-QGD (nonlinear QGD). MLPs are normally trained based on the L(2) norm. We experimentally show that the L(2) norm is not recommended to train MLPs for discriminating targets in SAR. Inspired by the Neyman-Pearson criterion, we create a cost function based on a mixed norm to weight the false alarms and the missed detections differently. Mixed norms can easily be incorporated into the backpropagation algorithm, and lead to better performance. Several other norms (L(8), cross-entropy) are applied to train the NL-QGD and all outperformed the L(2) norm when validated by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. The data sets are constructed from TABILS 24 ISAR targets embedded in 7 km(2) of SAR imagery (MIT/LL mission 90).     

Vector quantization using information theoretic concepts

The process of representing a large data set with a smaller number of vectors in the best possible way, also known as vector quantization, has been intensively studied in the recent years. Very efficient algorithms like the Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM) and the Linde Buzo Gray (LBG) algorithm have been devised. In this paper a physical approach to the problem is taken, and it is shown that by considering the processing elements as points moving in a potential field an algorithm equally efficient as the before mentioned can be derived. Unlike SOM and LBG this algorithm has a clear physical interpretation and relies on minimization of a well defined cost function. It is also shown how the potential field approach can be linked to information theory by use of the Parzen density estimator. In the light of information theory it becomes clear that minimizing the free energy of the system is in fact equivalent to minimizing a divergence measure between the distribution of the data and the distribution of the processing elements, hence, the algorithm can be seen as a density matching method.     

Returns on investment in public health: effect of public health expenditures on infant health, 1983-1990

In this paper a number of methodological issues relating to research on the relationship between the menopause, mood and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are discussed. These issues relate to problems of design and statistical analyses, problems which have prevented the reaching of definite conclusions regarding the relationship between menopause, mood and hormones. These problems are discussed under three main headings, namely, the assessment of menopausal status, statistical modelling and the design and analyses of clinical trials. Problems relating to concepts and measurement of dependent variables are the subject matter of the papers that follow. Within the three main headings more specific issues are detailed. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations on how research in this important area might be further advanced.     

Design and implementation of a biologically realistic olfactorycortex in analog VLSI

This paper reviews the problem of translating signals into symbols preserving maximally the information contained in the signal time structure. In this context, we motivate the use of nonconvergent dynamics for the signal to symbol translator. We then describe a biologically realistic model of the olfactory system proposed by W. Freeman (1975) that has locally stable dynamics but is globally chaotic. We show how we can discretize Freeman's model using digital signal processing techniques, providing an alternative to the more conventional Runge-Kutta integration. This analysis leads to a direct mixed-signal (analog amplitude/discrete time) implementation of the dynamical building block that simplifies the implementation of the interconnect. We present results of simulations and measurements obtained from a fabricated analog VLSI chip