Embed and Conquer: Scalable Embeddings for Kernel k-Means on MapReduce

The kernel $k$-means is an effective method for data clustering which extends the commonly-used $k$-means algorithm to work on a similarity matrix over complex data structures. The kernel $k$-means algorithm is however computationally very complex as it requires the complete data matrix to be calculated and stored. Further, the kernelized nature of the kernel $k$-means algorithm hinders the parallelization of its computations on modern infrastructures for distributed computing. In this paper, we are defining a family of kernel-based low-dimensional embeddings that allows for scaling kernel $k$-means on MapReduce via an efficient and unified parallelization strategy. Afterwards, we propose two methods for low-dimensional embedding that adhere to our definition of the embedding family. Exploiting the proposed parallelization strategy, we present two scalable MapReduce algorithms for kernel $k$-means. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms through an empirical evaluation on benchmark data sets.Comment: Appears in Proceedings of the SIAM International Conference on Data Mining (SDM), 201

Toward a computational theory for motion understanding: The expert animators model

Artificial intelligence researchers claim to understand some aspect of human intelligence when their model is able to emulate it. In the context of computer graphics, the ability to go from motion representation to convincing animation should accordingly be treated not simply as a trick for computer graphics programmers but as important epistemological and methodological goal. In this paper we investigate a unifying model for animating a group of articulated bodies such as humans and robots in a three-dimensional environment. The proposed model is considered in the framework of knowledge representation and processing, with special reference to motion knowledge. The model is meant to help setting the basis for a computational theory for motion understanding applied to articulated bodies

Experimental research into the effect of some operation factors and rock properties on the rate of penetration

Purpose. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of weight on bit (WOB), rotary speed (RPM), and some rock properties on the rate of penetration (ROP). Methods. Four types of rock were collected from different sites in the south of Egypt (Aswan sandstone, Isawya limestone, Assiut limestone, and Minya marble). These tested samples were drilled by diamond core bit using a fixed laboratory diamond drilling machine under conditions (400 and 1200 rpm), and loads from 12 to 220 kg. WOB, ROP, torque (T) and specific energy (SE) were continuously observed during the drilling trials. The effect of these factors on ROP were examined. Water is used as a flushing and cooling medium. Findings. The effect of some operation factors on the penetration rate regarding mineral composition and different rock type was evaluated and the general equation was carried out to predict the suitable operation factor which gives the best penetration Rate. Originality. The effect of some operation factors on the penetration rate regarding mineral composition and different rock type was evaluated and the general equation was carried out to predict the suitable operation factor which gives the best penetration Rate. Practical implications. The Results demonstrated that ROP was inversely proportional to compressive strength (CS), tensile strength (TS), and density. It was also found that Aswan sandstone, Isawya limestone, Assiut limestone, and Minya marble have CS 111.94 MPa, 131.22 MPa, 125.0 MPa, and 502.5 MPa respectively. Was established that ROP was directly proportional to porosity. Increasing ROP in case of Aswan sandstone is associated with increase in porosity – 23.158%, and in case of Assiut limestone and Isawya limestone ROP is also associated with an increase in porosity – 19.9% and 17.93% respectively. Decreasing ROP in case of Minya marble is associated with decrease in porosity – 2.314%. So, we concluded that marble has lower ROP due to its higher CS, TS, and density and lower porosity than other tested rocks.Мета. Вивчення впливу комплексу основних експлуатаційних параметрів і ряду фізико-механічних властивостей порід на швидкість буріння в умовах різних родовищ Південного Єгипту. Методика. Були відібрані 4 типи порід з різних районів на півдні Єгипту (Асуанської піщаник, вапняк Ісав, Ассіутскій вапняк і мармур Міньї). Експериментальні зразки отримано на стаціонарній лабораторній буровій установці з алмазним долотом при швидкостях обертання 400 і 1200 об/хв та при навантаженнях від 12 до 220 кг. Під час експериментів постійно вимірювалися навантаження на долото, частота обертання, крутний момент на долоті й питома енергія, а також досліджувався вплив цих факторів на швидкість буріння. Як розчин для промивання і охолоджуючий агент використовувалася вода. Результати. Встановлено залежності швидкості буріння від навантаження на долото, питомої енергії та частоти обертання і питомої енергії. Виявлено, що для всіх чотирьох типів породи швидкість буріння збільшується з ростом навантаження на долото, в той час як питома енергія зменшується з ростом швидкості буріння. Розроблено ефективний спосіб прогнозування продуктивності бурової установки. Встановлено, що швидкість буріння обернено пропорційна міцності на стиск, міцності на розтягнення й щільності, а також змінюється прямо пропорційно пористості. Визначено, що менша швидкість буріння мармуру пов’язана з великими значеннями міцності на стиск, розтяг і щільність, а також з меншою пористістю у порівнянні з іншими досліджуваними породами. Наукова новизна. Встановлено нові закономірності взаємозв’язку експлуатаційних параметрів буріння з урахуванням різного типу породи (пісковик, вапняк, мармур) та її мінерального складу, а також обґрунтовано головну умову експлуатаційного фактору, який забезпечує оптимальну швидкість буріння. Практична значимість. Отримані результати дозволяють вибирати оптимальні параметри і режими буріння в процесі розвідки умов залягання родовищ Південного Єгипту, їх мінерального вмісту та стратиграфічних особливостей. Результати будуть корисними для проектних організацій, наукових інститутів з геології й розвідки, а також гірничих підприємств.Цель. Изучение влияния комплекса основных эксплуатационных параметров и ряда физико-механических свойств пород на скорость бурения в условиях пород различных месторождений Южного Египта. Методика. Были отобраны 4 типа пород из различных районов на юге Египта (Асуанский песчаник, известняк Исавии, Ассиутский известняк и мрамор Миньи). Экспериментальные образцы получены на стационарной лабораторной буровой установке с алмазным долотом при скоростях вращения 400 и 1200 об/мин и при нагрузках от 12 до 220 кг. Во время экспериментов постоянно измерялись нагрузки на долото, частота вращения, крутящий момент на долоте и удельная энергия, а также и исследовалось влияние этих факторов на скорость бурения. В качестве промывочного раствора и охлаждающего агента использовалась вода. Результаты. Установлены зависимости скорости бурения от нагрузки на долото, удельной энергии и частоты вращения и удельной энергии. Выявлено, что для всех четырех типов породы скорость бурения увеличивается с ростом нагрузки на долото, в то время как удельная энергия уменьшается с ростом скорости бурения. Разработан эффективный способ прогнозирования производительности буровой установки. Установлено, что скорость бурения обратно пропорциональна прочности на сжатие, прочности на растяжение и плотности, а также изменяется прямо пропорционально пористости. Определено, что меньшая скорости бурения мрамора связана с большими значениями прочности на сжатие, растяжение и плотности, а также с меньшей пористостью по сравнению с другими исследуемыми породами. Научная новизна. Получены новые закономерности взаимосвязи эксплуатационных параметров бурения с учетом различного типа породы (песчаник, известняк, мрамор) и ее минерального состава, а также обосновано главное условие эксплуатационного фактора, который обеспечивает оптимальную скорость бурения. Практическая значимость. Полученные результаты позволяют выбирать оптимальные параметры и режимы бурения в процессе разведки условий залегания месторождений Южного Египта, их минерального содержание и стратиграфических особенностей. Результаты будут полезными для проектных организаций, научных институтов по геологии и разведке, а также горных предприятий.Our sincere gratitude for Mining and Metallurgical Engineering Dept. Faculty of Engineering, Assiut, Egypt for invaluable assistance to upgrade and guidance to completed this article

Discriminative Density-ratio Estimation

The covariate shift is a challenging problem in supervised learning that results from the discrepancy between the training and test distributions. An effective approach which recently drew a considerable attention in the research community is to reweight the training samples to minimize that discrepancy. In specific, many methods are based on developing Density-ratio (DR) estimation techniques that apply to both regression and classification problems. Although these methods work well for regression problems, their performance on classification problems is not satisfactory. This is due to a key observation that these methods focus on matching the sample marginal distributions without paying attention to preserving the separation between classes in the reweighted space. In this paper, we propose a novel method for Discriminative Density-ratio (DDR) estimation that addresses the aforementioned problem and aims at estimating the density-ratio of joint distributions in a class-wise manner. The proposed algorithm is an iterative procedure that alternates between estimating the class information for the test data and estimating new density ratio for each class. To incorporate the estimated class information of the test data, a soft matching technique is proposed. In addition, we employ an effective criterion which adopts mutual information as an indicator to stop the iterative procedure while resulting in a decision boundary that lies in a sparse region. Experiments on synthetic and benchmark datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in terms of both accuracy and robustness

Detection of in vitro and in vivo oxidative modifications of ferritin and transferrin by mass spectrometry : hereditary hemochromatosis as a model

Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HH) is an inherited recessive autosomal disorder characterized by accumulation of excess iron. When iron binding proteins become saturated, concentrations of free, or non-transferrin-bound iron (NTBI) rise, a condition thought to be responsible for the adverse effects associated with HH. To investigate that disturbing iron homeostasis plays a role in free radical injury in HH, protein carbonyls were found to be 1-7 times higher in patients with HH than in controls, with the greatest increases being observed in untreated HH patients with high ferritin and >90% transferrin saturation with iron. An Unpaired t test revealed a P value of 0.0278 (P< 0.05), which is considered to be statistically significant. Our data showed a significant positive correlation (linear relationship) between the level of carbonyl content and ferritin concentration in plasma samples from patients with HH. In vitro oxidation of transferrin and ferritin standards with hydrogen peroxide and excess iron, followed by immobilized trypsin digestion (Poroszyme), high-resolution LC-MS/MS analysis (Q-TOF Ultima, Waters) and MS/MS data processing (PEAKS, Bioinformatics Solution), identified several tryptic peptides containing oxidized Met,Trp and His residues. Mapping of the oxidized ferritin residues showed them to be located on the inner face of each sub-unit, the face directed toward the ferritin core where iron is normally stored. Using the same methodology, oxidized residues were subsequently detected in ferritin and transferrin isolated from plasma samples of patients severely affected with HH. Comparing of MS/MS spectra of in vitro oxidized samples that have most fragment ion peaks in common with oxidized peptide MS/MS spectra from samples of patients with HH revealed a significant correlation between the two. These data show that elevated NTBI may be involved in oxidative modification of the iron binding proteins, ferritin and transferrin, and that such modifications may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of HH

Bidirectional Electric Vehicles Service Integration in Smart Power Grid with Renewable Energy Resources

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, the utility companies are forced to increase power generations in the grid. However, these EVs are capable of providing power to the grid to deliver different grid ancillary services in a concept known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and grid-to-vehicle (G2V), in which the EV can serve as a load or source at the same time. These services can provide more benefits when they are integrated with Photovoltaic (PV) generation. The proper modeling, design and control for the power conversion systems that provide the optimum integration among the EVs, PV generations and grid are investigated in this thesis. The coupling between the PV generation and integration bus is accomplished through a unidirectional converter. Precise dynamic and small-signal models for the grid-connected PV power system are developed and utilized to predict the system’s performance during the different operating conditions. An advanced intelligent maximum power point tracker based on fuzzy logic control is developed and designed using a mix between the analytical model and genetic algorithm optimization. The EV is connected to the integration bus through a bidirectional inductive wireless power transfer system (BIWPTS), which allows the EV to be charged and discharged wirelessly during the long-term parking, transient stops and movement. Accurate analytical and physics-based models for the BIWPTS are developed and utilized to forecast its performance, and novel practical limitations for the active and reactive power-flow during G2V and V2G operations are stated. A comparative and assessment analysis for the different compensation topologies in the symmetrical BIWPTS was performed based on analytical, simulation and experimental data. Also, a magnetic design optimization for the double-D power pad based on finite-element analysis is achieved. The nonlinearities in the BIWPTS due to the magnetic material and the high-frequency components are investigated rely on a physics-based co-simulation platform. Also, a novel two-layer predictive power-flow controller that manages the bidirectional power-flow between the EV and grid is developed, implemented and tested. In addition, the feasibility of deploying the quasi-dynamic wireless power transfer technology on the road to charge the EV during the transient stops at the traffic signals is proven

The sensing characteristics of ZnO tetrapods synthesized by microwave evaporation

ZnO tetrapods have been grown by an environmental microwave evaporation approach in air atmosphere without any use of organic solvents or precursors. The synthesized powder was characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Field emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The grown ZnO tetrapods exhibited a noteworthy microstructure and phase formation of crystalline and pure structure. ZnO tetrapods were deposited on Pt electrode to be employed as ZnO tetrapods structure-based sensors, then, they were investigated at room temperature in the relative humidity ranging from 0.0 to 96.0%. The sensors have shown a significant response towards relative humidity starting from 30%. Cross-sensitivity was investigated with respect to N2O (150 ppm in helium) and methane (1000 ppm in helium). The ZnO tetrapods-based sensors were insensitive towards the interfering gases, indicating a potential applicability for humidity sensing purposes