Symmetric Non-rigid Registration: A Geometric Theory and Some Numerical Techniques

This paper proposes ℒ₂- and information-theory-based (IT) non-rigid registration algorithms that are exactly symmetric. Such algorithms pair the same points of two images after the images are swapped. Many commonly-used ℒ₂ and IT non-rigid registration algorithms are only approximately symmetric. The asymmetry is due to the objective function as well as due to the numerical techniques used in discretizing and minimizing the objective function. This paper analyzes and provides techniques to eliminate both sources of asymmetry. This paper has five parts. The first part shows that objective function asymmetry is due to the use of standard differential volume forms on the domain of the images. The second part proposes alternate volume forms that completely eliminate objective function asymmetry. These forms, called graph-based volume forms, are naturally defined on the graph of the registration diffeomorphism f, rather than on the domain of f. When pulled back to the domain of f they involve the Jacobian J _f and therefore appear “non-standard”. In the third part of the paper, graph-based volume forms are analyzed in terms of four key objective-function properties: symmetry, positive-definiteness, invariance, and lack of bias. Graph-based volume forms whose associated ℒ₂ objective functions have the first three properties are completely classified. There is an infinite-dimensional space of such graph-based forms. But within this space, up to scalar multiple, there is a unique volume form whose associated ℒ₂ objective function is unbiased. This volume form, which when pulled back to the domain of f is (1+det(J _f )) times the standard volume form on Euclidean space, is exactly the differential-geometrically natural volume form on the graph of f. The fourth part of the paper shows how the same volume form also makes the IT objective functions symmetric, positive semi-definite, invariant, and unbiased. The fifth part of the paper introduces a method for removing asymmetry in numerical computations and presents results of numerical experiments. The new objective functions and numerical method are tested on a coronal slice of a 3-D MRI brain image. Numerical experiments show that, even in the presence of noise, the new volume form and numerical techniques reduces asymmetry practically down to machine precision without compromising registration accuracy.

Finite dimensional approximation and Newton-based algorithm for stochastic approximation in Hilbert space

This paper presents a finite dimensional approach to stochastic approximation in infinite dimensional Hilbert space. The problem was motivated by applications in the field of stochastic programming wherein we minimize a convex function defined on a Hilbert space. We define a finite dimensional approximation to the Hilbert space minimizer. A justification is provided for this finite dimensional approximation. Estimates of the dimensionality needed are also provided. The algorithm presented is a two time-scale Newton-based stochastic approximation scheme that lives in this finite dimensional space. Since the finite dimensional problem can be prohibitively large dimensional, we operate our Newton scheme in a projected, randomly chosen smaller dimensional subspace.     

Why different carriers adopt different spectrum acquisition strategies

This paper provides a theory to account for why different mobile wireless carriers adopt different spectrum acquisition strategies and empirically validates it. In the mobile wireless industry, the key industry and business drivers are the investments made by network operators. Of these cost drivers, the most influential on the industry’s dynamics are the capital investments, which include spectrum acquisition investments. This article presents concepts and viewpoints to understand the strategies adopted by carriers when acquiring mobile wireless spectrum. The concepts and viewpoints have been developed based on extensive studies of acquisition behaviors amongst carriers during the wireless spectrum distributions held in various parts of the world, and the spectrum acquisition strategies pursued by carriers over the past 10 years. The resulting framework is presented as a theoretical contribution to the literature building on contemporary notions of theory-building and presentation.

Effectiveness of Teager energy operator for epoch detection from speech signals

In this paper, we try to present the problem of epoch detection from a different perspective that not only deals with estimation of epoch instances (i.e., glottal activity) but also with quantification of the absence of epochs (i.e., no glottal activity) in the unvoiced regions of speech signal. Most of the epoch detection methods perform significantly well in the voiced regions of speech but are not robust enough in the unvoiced regions of speech, i.e., they detect a number of pseudo epochs in the unvoiced regions of speech. We propose a simple method based on Teager Energy Operator (TEO) which not only determines the epochs in voiced region (due to its superior temporal resolution and its ability to capture airflow properties through the glottis) but also is very effective in unvoiced region. Recently proposed methods such as 0-Hz resonator-based method and DYPSA method gave a combined rate (CR) (for detecting epochs in voiced and unvoiced regions of speech) of 74.7% and 60%, respectively and a pseudo epoch rate (PER) (i.e., spurious epochs in the unvoiced regions of speech) of 62.9% and 54.04%, respectively. On the other hand, our proposed method gave a CR and PER of 87% and 0.27%, respectively. This result suggests that the proposed method captures glottal activity more efficiently both in voiced and unvoiced regions of speech signal. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated using publicly available CMU-Arctic database using the epoch information from the electro-glottograph (EGG) as reference signal to serve as ground truth for estimation of glottal closure instants (GCI). Due to the noise suppression capability of TEO, the proposed method has almost no or little effect (i.e., robust) against signal degradations like white, babble, high frequency and vehicle noises as compared to 0-Hz resonator and DYPSA methods.     

Enhancing electronic medical record retrieval through semantic query expansion

There are currently many active movements towards computerizing patient healthcare information. As Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems are being increasingly adopted in healthcare facilities, however, there is a big challenge in effectively utilizing this massive information source. It is very time-consuming for healthcare providers to dig into the voluminous medical records of a patient to find the few that are indeed relevant to the patient’s current problem. Due to the complex semantic relationships among medical concepts and use of many synonyms, antonyms, and hypernym/hyponym, simple word-based information retrieval does not produce satisfactory results. In this paper, we propose an EMR retrieval system that leverages semantic query expansion to retrieve medical records that are relevant to the patient’s current symptom/problem. The proposed framework integrates various technologies, including information retrieval, domain ontologies, automatic semantic relationship learning, as well as a body of domain knowledge elicited from healthcare experts. Knowledge of semantic relationships among medical concepts, such as symptoms, exams and tests, diagnoses, and treatments, as well as knowledge of synonyms and hypernym/hyponyms, is used to expand and enhance initial queries posed by a user. We have implemented a preliminary prototype and conducted a pilot testing using sample nursing notes drawn from the EMR system of a community health center.     

Purification and Characterization of a Pullulan-Hydrolyzing Glucoamylase from Sclerotium rolfsii

The pullulan-hydrolyzing enzyme from the culture filtrates of Sclerotium rolfsii grown on soluble starch as a carbon source has been purified by ultrafiltration (Amicon, PM-10), ion-exchange chromatography (DEAE-Cellulose DE-52) and gel filtration chromatography (Bio-Gel P-150). The enzyme moved as a single band in non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis carried out at pH 2.9 and 7.5. The relative molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated to be 64.000 D by SDS-PAGE and 66.070 D by gel filtration on Bio-Gel P150. The enzyme hydrolyzed pullulan optimally at 50°C between pH 4.0–4.5, whereas, soluble starch was optimally hydrolyzed at a pH of between 4.0–4.5 and at 65°C. The Michaelis constant (Km) for pullulan was 5.13mg·ml⁻¹ (V_max 1.0U · mg⁻¹) and for soluble starch, it was 0.6mg · ml⁻¹ (V_max 8.33 U · mg⁻¹). The enzyme was observed to be a glycoprotein (12–13% carbohydrate by weight) and had a strong affinity for Concanavalin A. The enzyme hydrolyzed α-D-glucans in an exo-manner, which resulted in the release of glucose as the sole product of hydrolysis. Acarbose, a maltotetraose analog, was found to be a potent inhibitor of both pullulan and starch hydrolysis (100% inhibition at 0.06 μM). The enzyme has been characterized as a glucoamylase (1,4-α-D-glucan glucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.3) showing a significant action on pullulan.     

A continuous process for the recovery of lactic acid by reactive distillation

Separation and purification of lactic acid from the fermentation broth are difficult because of its non‐volatile nature and the presence of other organic acids. Esterification of lactic acid with methanol followed by hydrolysis of the separated methyl lactate is an effective technique for this purpose. A continuous process for recovery is proposed and various aspects are evaluated through simulation and experiments. In the proposed route, a vapor stream containing methyl lactate is removed from a two‐phase CSTR, used for esterification, operated under boiling conditions. The ester thus separated from the aqueous solution is further hydrolyzed in a reactive distillation column. Continuous removal of the volatile component (i.e. methanol) from the reaction zone increases conversion, thus pure lactic acid is obtained from the bottom of reactive distillation column. The results obtained in the experiments are compared with the simulation results. Further simulation studies were performed to obtain the suitable operating conditions for higher conversion and concentration of lactic acid. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Electrical transport properties of bulk amorphous Gex Se1−x

d. c. -Conductivity measurements have been made as a function of temperature (80–330 K) on bulk amorphous samples of Ge_xSe_1?x (0.1 ? x ?0.7), in order to identify the conduction mechanism and to observe the effect of selenium -doping on the d. c.-conductivity of germanium. It is found that for samples with a low concentration of selenium (0. 5? x ? 0. 7 ), conduction in the high temperature region (330-180 K) is due to thermally assisted tunneling of electrons in the localized states at the conduction band edge, and in the low temperature region (80–190 K), conduction takes place through variable range hopping in the localized states near the Fermi level. The addition of selenium is found to increase the amorphicity of the samples. In the samples with a relatively high content of selenium (0.1 ? x ? 0.4), conduction in the entire temperature range of investigation is due to the thermally assisted tunneling of holes in the localized states at the valence band edge.     

The actor-critic algorithm as multi-time-scale stochastic approximation

The actor-critic algorithm of Barto and others for simulation-based optimization of Markov decision processes is cast as a two time scale stochastic approximation. Convergence analysis, approximation issues and an example are studied.