Brain MR Image Classification for Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis Based on Multifeature Fusion

We propose a novel classification framework to precisely identify individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from normal controls (NC). The proposed method combines three different features from structural MR images: gray-matter volume, gray-level cooccurrence matrix, and Gabor feature. These features can obtain both the 2D and 3D information of brains, and the experimental results show that a better performance can be achieved through the multifeature fusion. We also analyze the multifeatures combination correlation technologies and improve the SVM-RFE algorithm through the covariance method. The results of comparison experiments on public Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Besides, it also indicates that multifeatures combination is better than the single-feature method. The proposed features selection algorithm could effectively extract the optimal features subset in order to improve the classification performance

Automated Method for Tracking Human Muscle Architecture on Ultrasound Scans during Dynamic Tasks

Existing approaches for automated tracking of fascicle length (FL) and pennation angle (PA) rely on the presence of a single, user-defined fascicle (feature tracking) or on the presence of a specific intensity pattern (feature detection) across all the recorded ultrasound images. These prerequisites are seldom met during large dynamic muscle movements or for deeper muscles that are difficult to image. Deep-learning approaches are not affected by these issues, but their applicability is restricted by their need for large, manually analyzed training data sets. To address these limitations, the present study proposes a novel approach that tracks changes in FL and PA based on the distortion pattern within the fascicle band. The results indicated a satisfactory level of agreement between manual and automated measurements made with the proposed method. When compared against feature tracking and feature detection methods, the proposed method achieved the lowest average root mean squared error for FL and the second lowest for PA. The strength of the proposed approach is that the quantification process does not require a training data set and it can take place even when it is not possible to track a single fascicle or observe a specific intensity pattern on the ultrasound recording.UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI)Department of Science and Technology (DST), New DelhiPeer Reviewe

Spatio-temporal prediction of wind fields

Short-term wind and wind power forecasts are required for the reliable and economic operation of power systems with significant wind power penetration. This thesis presents new statistical techniques for producing forecasts at multiple locations using spatiotemporal information. Forecast horizons of up to 6 hours are considered for which statistical methods outperform physical models in general. Several methods for producing hourly wind speed and direction forecasts from 1 to 6 hours ahead are presented in addition to a method for producing five-minute-ahead probabilistic wind power forecasts. The former have applications in areas such as energy trading and defining reserve requirements, and the latter in power system balancing and wind farm control. Spatio-temporal information is captured by vector autoregressive (VAR) models that incorporate wind direction by modelling the wind time series using complex numbers. In a further development, the VAR coefficients are replaced with coefficient functions in order to capture the dependence of the predictor on external variables, such as the time of year or wind direction. The complex-valued approach is found to produce accurate speed predictions, and the conditional predictors offer improved performance with little additional computational cost. Two non-linear algorithms have been developed for wind forecasting. In the first, the predictor is derived from an ensemble of particle swarm optimised candidate solutions. This approach is low cost and requires very little training data but fails to capitalise on spatial information. The second approach uses kernelised forms of popular linear algorithms which are shown to produce more accurate forecasts than their linear equivalents for multi-step-ahead prediction. Finally, very-short-term wind power forecasting is considered. Five-minute-ahead parametric probabilistic forecasts are produced by modelling the predictive distribution as logit-normal and forecasting its parameters using a sparse-VAR (sVAR) approach. Development of the sVAR is motivated by the desire to produce forecasts on a large spatial scale, i.e. hundreds of locations, which is critical during periods of high instantaneous wind penetration.Short-term wind and wind power forecasts are required for the reliable and economic operation of power systems with significant wind power penetration. This thesis presents new statistical techniques for producing forecasts at multiple locations using spatiotemporal information. Forecast horizons of up to 6 hours are considered for which statistical methods outperform physical models in general. Several methods for producing hourly wind speed and direction forecasts from 1 to 6 hours ahead are presented in addition to a method for producing five-minute-ahead probabilistic wind power forecasts. The former have applications in areas such as energy trading and defining reserve requirements, and the latter in power system balancing and wind farm control. Spatio-temporal information is captured by vector autoregressive (VAR) models that incorporate wind direction by modelling the wind time series using complex numbers. In a further development, the VAR coefficients are replaced with coefficient functions in order to capture the dependence of the predictor on external variables, such as the time of year or wind direction. The complex-valued approach is found to produce accurate speed predictions, and the conditional predictors offer improved performance with little additional computational cost. Two non-linear algorithms have been developed for wind forecasting. In the first, the predictor is derived from an ensemble of particle swarm optimised candidate solutions. This approach is low cost and requires very little training data but fails to capitalise on spatial information. The second approach uses kernelised forms of popular linear algorithms which are shown to produce more accurate forecasts than their linear equivalents for multi-step-ahead prediction. Finally, very-short-term wind power forecasting is considered. Five-minute-ahead parametric probabilistic forecasts are produced by modelling the predictive distribution as logit-normal and forecasting its parameters using a sparse-VAR (sVAR) approach. Development of the sVAR is motivated by the desire to produce forecasts on a large spatial scale, i.e. hundreds of locations, which is critical during periods of high instantaneous wind penetration

Probabilistic prediction of Alzheimer’s disease from multimodal image data with Gaussian processes

Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is an extremely serious health problem, and one that will become even more so in the coming decades as the global population ages. This has led to a massive effort to develop both new treatments for the condition and new methods of diagnosis; in fact the two are intimately linked as future treatments will depend on earlier diagnosis, which in turn requires the development of biomarkers that can be used to identify and track the disease. This is made possible by studies such as the Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging initiative which provides previously unimaginable quantities of imaging and other data freely to researchers. It is the task of early diagnosis that this thesis focuses on. We do so by borrowing modern machine learning techniques, and applying them to image data. In particular, we use Gaussian processes (GPs), a previously neglected tool, and show they can be used in place of the more widely used support vector machine (SVM). As combinations of complementary biomarkers have been shown to be more useful than the biomarkers are individually, we go on to show GPs can also be applied to integrate different types of image and non-image data, and thanks to their properties this improves results further than it does with SVMs. In the final two chapters, we also look at different ways to formulate both the prediction of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease as a machine learning problem and the way image data can be used to generate features for input as a machine learning algorithm. Both of these show how unconventional approaches may improve results. The result is an advance in the state-of-the-art for a very clinically important problem, which may prove useful in practice and show a direction of future research to further increase the usefulness of such method

Event-based object detection and tracking for space situational awareness

In this work, we present an optical space imaging dataset using a range of event-based neuromorphic vision sensors. The unique method of operation of event-based sensors makes them ideal for space situational awareness (SSA) applications due to the sparseness inherent in space imaging data. These sensors offer significantly lower bandwidth and power requirements making them particularly well suited for use in remote locations and space-based platforms. We present the first publicly-accessible event-based space imaging dataset including recordings using sensors from multiple providers, greatly lowering the barrier to entry for other researchers given the scarcity of such sensors and the expertise required to operate them for SSA applications. The dataset contains both day time and night time recordings, including simultaneous co-collections from different event-based sensors. Recorded at a remote site, and containing 572 labeled targets with a wide range of sizes, trajectories, and signal-to-noise ratios, this real-world event-based dataset represents a challenging detection and tracking task that is not readily solved using previously proposed methods. We propose a highly optimized and robust feature-based detection and tracking method, designed specifically for SSA applications, and implemented via a cascade of increasingly selective event filters. These filters rapidly isolate events associated with space objects, maintaining the high temporal resolution of the sensors. The results from this simple yet highly optimized algorithm on the space imaging dataset demonstrate robust high-speed event-based detection and tracking which can readily be implemented on sensor platforms in space as well as terrestrial environments

Tensor Networks for Dimensionality Reduction and Large-Scale Optimizations. Part 2 Applications and Future Perspectives

Part 2 of this monograph builds on the introduction to tensor networks and their operations presented in Part 1. It focuses on tensor network models for super-compressed higher-order representation of data/parameters and related cost functions, while providing an outline of their applications in machine learning and data analytics. A particular emphasis is on the tensor train (TT) and Hierarchical Tucker (HT) decompositions, and their physically meaningful interpretations which reflect the scalability of the tensor network approach. Through a graphical approach, we also elucidate how, by virtue of the underlying low-rank tensor approximations and sophisticated contractions of core tensors, tensor networks have the ability to perform distributed computations on otherwise prohibitively large volumes of data/parameters, thereby alleviating or even eliminating the curse of dimensionality. The usefulness of this concept is illustrated over a number of applied areas, including generalized regression and classification (support tensor machines, canonical correlation analysis, higher order partial least squares), generalized eigenvalue decomposition, Riemannian optimization, and in the optimization of deep neural networks. Part 1 and Part 2 of this work can be used either as stand-alone separate texts, or indeed as a conjoint comprehensive review of the exciting field of low-rank tensor networks and tensor decompositions.Comment: 232 page

Tensor Networks for Dimensionality Reduction and Large-Scale Optimizations. Part 2 Applications and Future Perspectives

Part 2 of this monograph builds on the introduction to tensor networks and their operations presented in Part 1. It focuses on tensor network models for super-compressed higher-order representation of data/parameters and related cost functions, while providing an outline of their applications in machine learning and data analytics. A particular emphasis is on the tensor train (TT) and Hierarchical Tucker (HT) decompositions, and their physically meaningful interpretations which reflect the scalability of the tensor network approach. Through a graphical approach, we also elucidate how, by virtue of the underlying low-rank tensor approximations and sophisticated contractions of core tensors, tensor networks have the ability to perform distributed computations on otherwise prohibitively large volumes of data/parameters, thereby alleviating or even eliminating the curse of dimensionality. The usefulness of this concept is illustrated over a number of applied areas, including generalized regression and classification (support tensor machines, canonical correlation analysis, higher order partial least squares), generalized eigenvalue decomposition, Riemannian optimization, and in the optimization of deep neural networks. Part 1 and Part 2 of this work can be used either as stand-alone separate texts, or indeed as a conjoint comprehensive review of the exciting field of low-rank tensor networks and tensor decompositions.Comment: 232 page