A Note on the Kullback-Leibler Divergence for the von Mises-Fisher distribution

We present a derivation of the Kullback Leibler (KL)-Divergence (also known as Relative Entropy) for the von Mises Fisher (VMF) Distribution in $d$-dimensions.Comment: 8 pages 1 figur

Sparse machine learning methods with applications in multivariate signal processing

This thesis details theoretical and empirical work that draws from two main subject areas: Machine Learning (ML) and Digital Signal Processing (DSP). A unified general framework is given for the application of sparse machine learning methods to multivariate signal processing. In particular, methods that enforce sparsity will be employed for reasons of computational efficiency, regularisation, and compressibility. The methods presented can be seen as modular building blocks that can be applied to a variety of applications. Application specific prior knowledge can be used in various ways, resulting in a flexible and powerful set of tools. The motivation for the methods is to be able to learn and generalise from a set of multivariate signals. In addition to testing on benchmark datasets, a series of empirical evaluations on real world datasets were carried out. These included: the classification of musical genre from polyphonic audio files; a study of how the sampling rate in a digital radar can be reduced through the use of Compressed Sensing (CS); analysis of human perception of different modulations of musical key from Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings; classification of genre of musical pieces to which a listener is attending from Magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain recordings. These applications demonstrate the efficacy of the framework and highlight interesting directions of future research

Aspects of distorted sexual attitudes in German expressionist drama: with particular reference to Wedekind, Kokoschka and Kaiser

This thesis attempts to demonstrate that Wedekind, Kokoschka and Kaiser display a variety of distorted sexual attitudes in their plays, sometimes consciously (for example, when Kaiser portrays incest) but more often unconsciously, by a tenacious adherence to conventional Wilhelmine attitudes towards sexuality. Conventionality as such does not, of course, constitute in itself a distorted sexual attitude. However, certain Wilhelmine assumptions can, from a presentday point of view, legitimately be seen as reflecting a distorted sexual attitude, most notably the notion that in sexual matters the male was essentially aggressive and the female essentially passive, which led in its turn to further distortions: the gearing of girls' upbringing to male expectations, the denial of female sexuality and the condonation of sexual violence. The mainstream of medical opinion encouraged the view that a respectable lady was sexless and a sexually eager woman was sick. Although this view did not go completely unchallenged, it certainly encouraged the belief that women of a certain type enjoyed rough treatment. It will be shown that Wedekind shared this tendency to condone sexual violence towards women. At first sight, Wedekind, Kokoschka and Kaiser seem to challenge conventional views by choosing sexually dynamic women as their protagonists. This, in itself, was an achievement, as it brought sexuality to the foreground in German Expressionist drama and opened up the subject for further discussion. However, the actual fate of these female protagonists is usually such that their sexuality is completely negated, thus reinforcing rather than challenging the Wilhelmine tendency to deny women's sexuality. Evidence is also presented that women often accepted male assumptions concerning their sexuality, which stressed their biological destiny as mothers and insisted on a suppression of sexual desire. This acceptance makes many of the distortions found in the plays easier to understand. If women themselves misconstrued their own sexual impulses, male authors can more easily be forgiven for not fully understanding female sexuality. The satirical tone adopted by Wedekind and Kaiser cannot be criticised as such: however, it will be criticised when the satire descends to the level of a sexist joke, thus reinforcing the strong undercurrent of misogyny, derived from Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, which prevailed during the period under discussion