3,491 research outputs found
Regression with Linear Factored Functions
Many applications that use empirically estimated functions face a curse of
dimensionality, because the integrals over most function classes must be
approximated by sampling. This paper introduces a novel regression-algorithm
that learns linear factored functions (LFF). This class of functions has
structural properties that allow to analytically solve certain integrals and to
calculate point-wise products. Applications like belief propagation and
reinforcement learning can exploit these properties to break the curse and
speed up computation. We derive a regularized greedy optimization scheme, that
learns factored basis functions during training. The novel regression algorithm
performs competitively to Gaussian processes on benchmark tasks, and the
learned LFF functions are with 4-9 factored basis functions on average very
compact.Comment: Under review as conference paper at ECML/PKDD 201
Predicting Fluid Intelligence of Children using T1-weighted MR Images and a StackNet
In this work, we utilize T1-weighted MR images and StackNet to predict fluid
intelligence in adolescents. Our framework includes feature extraction, feature
normalization, feature denoising, feature selection, training a StackNet, and
predicting fluid intelligence. The extracted feature is the distribution of
different brain tissues in different brain parcellation regions. The proposed
StackNet consists of three layers and 11 models. Each layer uses the
predictions from all previous layers including the input layer. The proposed
StackNet is tested on a public benchmark Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development
Neurocognitive Prediction Challenge 2019 and achieves a mean squared error of
82.42 on the combined training and validation set with 10-fold
cross-validation. In addition, the proposed StackNet also achieves a mean
squared error of 94.25 on the testing data. The source code is available on
GitHub.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, Accepted by MICCAI ABCD-NP Challenge
2019; Added ND
Avalanche precursors of failure in hierarchical fuse networks
We study precursors of failure in hierarchical random fuse network models
which can be considered as idealizations of hierarchical (bio)materials where
fibrous assemblies are held together by multi-level (hierarchical) cross-links.
When such structures are loaded towards failure, the patterns of precursory
avalanche activity exhibit generic scale invariance: Irrespective of load,
precursor activity is characterized by power-law avalanche size distributions
without apparent cut-off, with power-law exponents that decrease continuously
with increasing load. This failure behavior and the ensuing super-rough crack
morphology differ significantly from the findings in non-hierarchical
structures
How are falls and fear of falling associated with objectively measured physical activity in a cohort of community-dwelling older men?
BACKGROUND: Falls affect approximately one third of community-dwelling older adults each year and have serious health and social consequences. Fear of falling (FOF) (lack of confidence in maintaining balance during normal activities) affects many older adults, irrespective of whether they have actually experienced falls. Both falls and fear of falls may result in restrictions of physical activity, which in turn have health consequences. To date the relation between (i) falls and (ii) fear of falling with physical activity have not been investigated using objectively measured activity data which permits examination of different intensities of activity and sedentary behaviour.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 1680 men aged 71-92 years recruited from primary care practices who were part of an on-going population-based cohort. Men reported falls history in previous 12 months, FOF, health status and demographic characteristics. Men wore a GT3x accelerometer over the hip for 7 days.
RESULTS: Among the 12% of men who had recurrent falls, daily activity levels were lower than among non-fallers; 942 (95% CI 503, 1381) fewer steps/day, 12(95% CI 2, 22) minutes less in light activity, 10(95% CI 5, 15) minutes less in moderate to vigorous PA [MVPA] and 22(95% CI 9, 35) minutes more in sedentary behaviour. 16% (n = 254) of men reported FOF, of whom 52% (n = 133) had fallen in the past year. Physical activity deficits were even greater in the men who reported that they were fearful of falling than in men who had fallen. Men who were fearful of falling took 1766(95% CI 1391, 2142) fewer steps/day than men who were not fearful, and spent 27(95% CI 18, 36) minutes less in light PA, 18(95% CI 13, 22) minutes less in MVPA, and 45(95% CI 34, 56) minutes more in sedentary behaviour. The significant differences in activity levels between (i) fallers and non-fallers and (ii) men who were fearful of falling or not fearful, were mediated by similar variables; lower exercise self-efficacy, fewer excursions from home and more mobility difficulties.
CONCLUSIONS: Falls and in particular fear of falling are important barriers to older people gaining health benefits of walking and MVPA. Future studies should assess the longitudinal associations between falls and physical activity
Three-Dimensional Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Data Analysis for Glaucoma Detection
Purpose: To develop a new three-dimensional (3D) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) data analysis method using a machine learning technique based on variable-size super pixel segmentation that efficiently utilizes full 3D dataset to improve the discrimination between early glaucomatous and healthy eyes. Methods: 192 eyes of 96 subjects (44 healthy, 59 glaucoma suspect and 89 glaucomatous eyes) were scanned with SD-OCT. Each SD-OCT cube dataset was first converted into 2D feature map based on retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) segmentation and then divided into various number of super pixels. Unlike the conventional super pixel having a fixed number of points, this newly developed variable-size super pixel is defined as a cluster of homogeneous adjacent pixels with variable size, shape and number. Features of super pixel map were extracted and used as inputs to machine classifier (LogitBoost adaptive boosting) to automatically identify diseased eyes. For discriminating performance assessment, area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics of the machine classifier outputs were compared with the conventional circumpapillary RNFL (cpRNFL) thickness measurements. Results: The super pixel analysis showed statistically significantly higher AUC than the cpRNFL (0.855 vs. 0.707, respectively, p = 0.031, Jackknife test) when glaucoma suspects were discriminated from healthy, while no significant difference was found when confirmed glaucoma eyes were discriminated from healthy eyes. Conclusions: A novel 3D OCT analysis technique performed at least as well as the cpRNFL in glaucoma discrimination and even better at glaucoma suspect discrimination. This new method has the potential to improve early detection of glaucomatous damage. © 2013 Xu et al
A phase II trial of lomeguatrib and temozolomide in metastatic colorectal cancer
To evaluate the tumour response to lomeguatrib and temozolomide (TMZ) administered for 5 consecutive days every 4 weeks in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma. Patients with stage IV metastatic colorectal carcinoma received lomeguatrib (40 mg) and TMZ (50–200 mg m−2) orally for 5 consecutive days every 4 weeks. Response was determined every two cycles. Pharmacokinetics of lomeguatrib and TMZ as well as their pharmacodynamic effects in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were determined. Nineteen patients received 49 cycles of treatments. Despite consistent depletion of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in PBMC, none of the patients responded to treatment. Three patients had stable disease, one for the duration of the study, and no fall in carcinoembryonic antigen was observed in any patient. Median time to progression was 50 days. The commonest adverse effects were gastrointestinal and haematological and these were comparable to those of TMZ when given alone. This combination of lomeguatrib and TMZ is not efficacious in metastatic colorectal cancer. If further studies are to be performed, emerging data suggest that higher daily doses of lomeguatrib and a dosing period beyond that of TMZ should be evaluated
Regularity of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes driven by a L{\'e}vy white noise
The paper is concerned with spatial and time regularity of solutions to
linear stochastic evolution equation perturbed by L\'evy white noise "obtained
by subordination of a Gaussian white noise". Sufficient conditions for spatial
continuity are derived. It is also shown that solutions do not have in general
\cadlag modifications. General results are applied to equations with fractional
Laplacian. Applications to Burgers stochastic equations are considered as well.Comment: This is an updated version of the same paper. In fact, it has already
been publishe
Evaluating an intervention to reduce fear of falling and associated activity restriction in elderly persons: design of a randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN43792817]
BACKGROUND: Fear of falling and associated activity restriction is common in older persons living in the community. Adverse consequences of fear of falling and associated activity restriction, like functional decline and falls, may have a major impact on physical, mental and social functioning of these persons. This paper presents the design of a trial evaluating a cognitive behavioural group intervention to reduce fear of falling and associated activity restriction in older persons living in the community. METHODS/DESIGN: A two-group randomised controlled trial was developed to evaluate the intervention. Persons 70 years of age or over and still living in the community were eligible for study if they experienced at least some fear of falling and associated activity restriction. A random community sample of elderly people was screened for eligibility; those eligible for study were measured at baseline and were subsequently allocated to the intervention or control group. Follow-up measurements were carried out directly after the intervention period, and then at six months and 12 months after the intervention. People allocated to the intervention group were invited to participate in eight weekly sessions of two hours each and a booster session. This booster session was conducted before the follow-up measurement at six months after the intervention. People allocated to the control group received no intervention as a result of this trial. Both an effect evaluation and a process evaluation were performed. The primary outcome measures of the effect evaluation are fear of falling, avoidance of activity due to fear of falling, and daily activity. The secondary outcome measures are perceived general health, self-rated life satisfaction, activities of daily life, feelings of anxiety, symptoms of depression, social support interactions, feelings of loneliness, falls, perceived consequences of falling, and perceived risk of falling. The outcomes of the process evaluation comprise the performance of the intervention according to protocol, the attendance and adherence of participants, and the participants' and facilitators' opinion about the intervention. Data of the effect evaluation will be analysed according the intention-to-treat and on-treatment principle. Data of the process evaluation will be analysed using descriptive techniques
Binary credal classification under sparsity constraints.
Binary classification is a well known problem in statistics. Besides classical methods, several techniques such as the naive credal classifier (for categorical data) and imprecise logistic regression (for continuous data) have been proposed to handle sparse data. However, a convincing approach to the classification problem in high dimensional problems (i.e., when the number of attributes is larger than the number of observations) is yet to be explored in the context of imprecise probability. In this article, we propose a sensitivity analysis based on penalised logistic regression scheme that works as binary classifier for high dimensional cases. We use an approach based on a set of likelihood functions (i.e. an imprecise likelihood, if you like), that assigns a set of weights to the attributes, to ensure a robust selection of the important attributes, whilst training the model at the same time, all in one fell swoop. We do a sensitivity analysis on the weights of the penalty term resulting in a set of sparse constraints which helps to identify imprecision in the dataset
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