Statistical Machine Learning for Human Behaviour Analysis

Human behaviour analysis has introduced several challenges in various fields, such as applied information theory, affective computing, robotics, biometrics and pattern recognition. This Special Issue focused on novel vision-based approaches, mainly related to computer vision and machine learning, for the automatic analysis of human behaviour. We solicited submissions on the following topics: information theory-based pattern classification, biometric recognition, multimodal human analysis, low resolution human activity analysis, face analysis, abnormal behaviour analysis, unsupervised human analysis scenarios, 3D/4D human pose and shape estimation, human analysis in virtual/augmented reality, affective computing, social signal processing, personality computing, activity recognition, human tracking in the wild, and application of information-theoretic concepts for human behaviour analysis. In the end, 15 papers were accepted for this special issue [1-15]. These papers, that are reviewed in this editorial, analyse human behaviour from the aforementioned perspectives, defining in most of the cases the state of the art in their corresponding field. Most of the included papers are application-based systems, while [15] focuses on the understanding and interpretation of a classification model, which is an important factor for the classifier's credibility. Given a set of categorical data, [15] utilizes multi-objective optimization algorithms, like ENORA and NSGA-II, to produce rule-based classification models that are easy to interpret. Performance of the classifier and its number of rules are optimized during the learning, where the first one is obviously expected to bemaximizedwhile the second one is expected to beminimized. Testing on public databases, using 10-fold cross-validation, shows the superiority of the proposed method against classifiers that are generated using other previously published methods like PART, JRip, OneR and ZeroR. Two published papers ([1,9]) have privacy as their main concern, while they develop their respective systems for biometrics recognition and action recognition. Reference [1] has considered a privacy-aware biometrics system. The idea is that the identity of the users should not be readily revealed from their biometrics, like facial images. Therefore, they have collected a database of foot and hand traits of users while opening a door to grant or deny access, while [9] develops a privacy-aware method for action recognition using recurrent neural networks. The system accumulates reflections of light pulses omitted by a laser, using a single-pixel hybrid photodetector. This includes information about the distance of the objects to the capturing device and their shapes

Dynamic Mutual Capacitive Sensor for Human Interactions.

This dissertation introduces the novel concept of removing the ground conductive plate by utilizing body capacitance as the ground in the capacitive sensor, whereby circuit pressure sensing can occur with only one plate and one dielectric. Additionally, body capacitance sensing was limited to a binary touch-no-touch output, whereas the method presented here can sense various applied pressures. The resulting circuit acts as an antenna that receives local capacitance signals from a human interaction. The advantage of this design is that it allows for both proximity sensing and pressure sensing (once the body part is touching the dielectric material). This setup is ideal for a z-axis dimensional interface for touchscreen devices, as well as pressure sensing palpation or planter region interaction

Enhancing the measurement of clinical outcomes using Microsoft Kinect

There is a growing body of applications leveraging Microsoft Kinect and the associated Windows Software Development Kit in health and wellness. In particular, this platform has been valuable in developing interactive solutions for rehabilitation including creating more engaging exercise regimens and ensuring that exercises are performed correctly for optimal outcomes. Clinical trials rely upon robust and validated methodologies to measure health status and to detect treatment-related changes over time to enable the efficacy and safety of new drug treatments to be assessed and measured. In many therapeutic areas, traditional outcome measures rely on subjective investigator and patient ratings. Subjective ratings are not always sensitive to detecting small improvements, are subject to inter- and intra-rater variability and limited in their ability to record detailed or subtle aspects of movement and mobility. For these reasons, objective measurements may provide greater sensitivity to detect treatment-related changes where they exist. In this review paper, we explore the use of the Kinect platform to develop low-cost approaches to objectively measure aspects of movement. We consider published applications that measure aspects of gait and balance, upper extremity movement, chest wall motion and facial analysis. In each case, we explore the utility of the approach for clinical trials, and the precision and accuracy of estimates derived from the Kinect output. We conclude that the use of games platforms such as Microsoft Kinect to measure clinical outcomes offer a versatile, easy to use and low-cost approach that may add significant value and utility to clinical drug development, in particular in replacing conventional subjective measures and providing richer information about movement than previously possible in large scale clinical trials, especially in the measurement of gross spatial movements. Regulatory acceptance of clinical outcomes collected in this way will be subject to comprehensive assessment of validity and clinical relevance, and this will require good quality peer-reviewed publications of scientific evidence

Doppler Radar for the Extraction of Biomechanical Parameters in Gait Analysis

The applicability of Doppler radar for gait analysis is investigated by quantitatively comparing the measured biomechanical parameters to those obtained using motion capturing and ground reaction forces. Nineteen individuals walked on a treadmill at two different speeds, where a radar system was positioned in front of or behind the subject. The right knee angle was confined by an adjustable orthosis in five different degrees. Eleven gait parameters are extracted from radar micro-Doppler signatures. Here, new methods for obtaining the velocities of individual lower limb joints are proposed. Further, a new method to extract individual leg flight times from radar data is introduced. Based on radar data, five spatiotemporal parameters related to rhythm and pace could reliably be extracted. Further, for most of the considered conditions, three kinematic parameters could accurately be measured. The radar-based stance and flight time measurements rely on the correct detection of the time instant of maximal knee velocity during the gait cycle. This time instant is reliably detected when the radar has a back view, but is underestimated when the radar is positioned in front of the subject. The results validate the applicability of Doppler radar to accurately measure a variety of medically relevant gait parameters. Radar has the potential to unobtrusively diagnose changes in gait, e.g., to design training in prevention and rehabilitation. As contact-less and privacy-preserving sensor, radar presents a viable technology to supplement existing gait analysis tools for long-term in-home examinations.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (J-BHI

Advances in Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip Technologies

Advances in molecular biology are enabling rapid and efficient analyses for effective intervention in domains such as biology research, infectious disease management, food safety, and biodefense. The emergence of microfluidics and nanotechnologies has enabled both new capabilities and instrument sizes practical for point-of-care. It has also introduced new functionality, enhanced sensitivity, and reduced the time and cost involved in conventional molecular diagnostic techniques. This chapter reviews the application of microfluidics for molecular diagnostics methods such as nucleic acid amplification, next-generation sequencing, high resolution melting analysis, cytogenetics, protein detection and analysis, and cell sorting. We also review microfluidic sample preparation platforms applied to molecular diagnostics and targeted to sample-in, answer-out capabilities

Machine Learning-Based Peripheral Artery Disease Identification Using Laboratory-Based Gait Data

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) manifests from atherosclerosis, which limits blood flow to the legs and causes changes in muscle structure and function, and in gait performance. PAD is underdiagnosed, which delays treatment and worsens clinical outcomes. To overcome this challenge, the purpose of this study is to develop machine learning (ML) models that distinguish individuals with and without PAD. This is the first step to using ML to identify those with PAD risk early. We built ML models based on previously acquired overground walking biomechanics data from patients with PAD and healthy controls. Gait signatures were characterized using ankle, knee, and hip joint angles, torques, and powers, as well as ground reaction forces (GRF). ML was able to classify those with and without PAD using Neural Networks or Random Forest algorithms with 89% accuracy (0.64 Matthew’s Correlation Coefficient) using all laboratory-based gait variables. Moreover, models using only GRF variables provided up to 87% accuracy (0.64 Matthew’s Correlation Coefficient). These results indicate that ML models can classify those with and without PAD using gait signatures with acceptable performance. Results also show that an ML gait signature model that uses GRF features delivers the most informative data for PAD classification

Machine Learning-Based Peripheral Artery Disease Identification Using Laboratory-Based Gait Data

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) manifests from atherosclerosis, which limits blood flow to the legs and causes changes in muscle structure and function, and in gait performance. PAD is underdiagnosed, which delays treatment and worsens clinical outcomes. To overcome this challenge, the purpose of this study is to develop machine learning (ML) models that distinguish individuals with and without PAD. This is the first step to using ML to identify those with PAD risk early. We built ML models based on previously acquired overground walking biomechanics data from patients with PAD and healthy controls. Gait signatures were characterized using ankle, knee, and hip joint angles, torques, and powers, as well as ground reaction forces (GRF). ML was able to classify those with and without PAD using Neural Networks or Random Forest algorithms with 89% accuracy (0.64 Matthew’s Correlation Coefficient) using all laboratory-based gait variables. Moreover, models using only GRF variables provided up to 87% accuracy (0.64 Matthew’s Correlation Coefficient). These results indicate that ML models can classify those with and without PAD using gait signatures with acceptable performance. Results also show that an ML gait signature model that uses GRF features delivers the most informative data for PAD classification

Gaıt-Based Gender Classıfıcatıon Usıng Neutral And Non-Neutral Gaıt Sequences

Nötr veya Nötr Olmayan Ardaşık Yürüyüş Tarzlarından Davranış-bağımlı Cinsiyet Klasifikasyonu Biometrik sistem bireyle özleĢik en çok göze çarpan bir özellik veya niteliğe dayalı bir vasıf kullanılarak bireyin tanımlanmasını sağlar. Biometric tanımlayıcılar genellikle davranıĢsal özelliklere karĢı fizyolojik özellikler olarak kategorize edilir. Fizyolojik özellikler Ģahsın parmak izi, avuç içi damarlar, yüz tanıma gibi vücudun yapısal özellikleriyle ilgili olmasına karĢın, Ģahsın davranıĢsal özellikleri yürüme tarzı, imzası ve sesiyle ilgili vasıflarıdır. YürüyüĢ tarzı biometrik tanımlama yöntemi ile kiĢilerin erkek veya kadın olduğunun tanımlamasında kullanılacağı gibi kiĢilerin yürüyüĢ tarzları, yetkisiz kiĢilerin ve cinsiyetlerin belirlenmesi, ve yürüme veya yürümeye bağlı anormalliklerin tespiti gibi farklı uygulama alanlarında kullanılabilir. Bu tezde, kiĢilerin yürüyüĢ özelliklerine göre cinsiyet sınıflandırması yapan bir yöntem önerilmiĢtir. Nötr yürüyüĢ dizilerinin yanı sıra palto/manto giyme (CW) ve çanta taĢıma (CB) gibi nötr olmayan yürüyüĢ tarzlarından kaynaklanan tanımlama sorunları araĢtırılmıĢtır. Cinsiyet sınıflandırma amacıyla farklı yürüyüĢ tarzı dizinlerinin araĢtırılması ve denemelerinin yapılması üzerinde durulmuĢtur. Sayısal denemeler Casia B veritabanında mevcut değiĢik yürüyüĢ tarzları üzerinde çok sayıda denek üzerinde yapılmıĢtır. Bu veritabaında 11 farklı görünüm açılarından kaydedilen 124 kiĢi (31 kadın ve 93 erkek) bulunmaktadır. Her bir denek için, 6 nötr (Nu), 2 adet manto/palto giyme (CW) ve 2 adet çanta taĢıma (CB) olmak üzere 10 yürüme dizini bulunmaktadır. Önerilen yöntemin ilk bölümünde bir çerçeveli görüntüden arka planı çıkarma yöntemi kullanarak sırasal çerçeveli görüntüler ile arka planı arasındaki farkın hesaplaması üzerinde durulmuĢtur. Ġkinci bölümde YürüyüĢ Enerjisi (Gait Energy) görüntü özelliklikleri yardımıyla sınıflandırma yöntemi incelenmiĢtir. Son olarak bu çalıĢmada bir sınıflandırma aracı olarak Yürüme Enerjisi Görüntü (Gait Energy Image) ve Rastgele Yürüme Enerji Görüntü (Gait Entropy Enerji Image, GEnEI) yöntemlri uygulanmıĢtır. Wavelet Transformasyon tekniği ve GEnEI yöntemi kullanılarakveritabanından üç farklı yürüyüĢ tarzı özellikli görüntü grubu kurgulanmıĢtır. Bu yürüyüĢ tarzı özellikli görüntü grupları: (i) YaklaĢık Katsayı Rastgele Yürüme Enerji Görüntü (Approximate coefficient Energy Image, AGEnEI), (ii) Diksel Katsayı Rastgele Yürüme Enerji Görüntü (Vertical coefficient Energy Image, VGEnEI), ve (iii) her ikisinin birleĢkesi olan YaklaĢık ve Diksel Katsayı Yürüme Enerji Görüntü (Approximate coefficient Energy Image and Vertical coefficient Energy Image, AVGEnEI). Yukarıda belirtilen görüntüleme iĢlemlerinin iĢlevliliğinin denemesi için k-derece yakın komĢu (k-Neraest Neighboor, k-NN) ve destek vector makinası (Support vector Machine, SVM) olarak bilinen yöntemler önerilmiĢtir. Ayrıca yukarıda belirtilen üç tür enerji görüntü yöntemi birleĢtirme tabanlı karar verme (fuse-based decirion level fusion) yöntemi kullanılarak da denenmiĢtir. Sınıflandırmada k-NN yöntemi ile Nu gait dizinleri için AGEnEI % 97 lik ergitme seviyesini (fusion level), VGEnEI CB dizinleri için 91.4% lik ergitme seviyesini, ve AGEnEI CW dizinleri için %83.4 ergitme seviyesi sonuçları bulunmuĢtur. k=1, 3 ve 5 sayıları ile belirlenen üç ayrı özellik grubu arasında k=1 dikkate değer ergitme seviyesi sonuçları vermiĢtir. Her üç enerji görüntüleme yöntemi (Energy Entropy Image) „Decision-fusion‟ yöntemi ile birleĢtirildiğinde (fused) ergitme dereceleri Nu için %99.8, CB için %92.2 ve for CW için 86.3% dir. Bu sonuçlar her bir özelliğin ayrı ayrı ele alındığı durumunda elede edilen sonuçlardan daha iyi olduğu dikkate değerdir.