On the variational equations for Householder transformations in feature selection

Results that suggest the possibility of using a sequential monotone process for solving the feature selection problem using Householder transformations are applied to the divergence separability criterion and an expression for the gradient of the divergence with respect to the generator of a single Householder transformation will be developed. This expression for the gradient is used in any number of differential correction schemes (iterators) that attempt to extremize the divergence. Data sets provided by the Earth Observations Division-JSC are used to demonstrate selecting the Householder transformations that generate the kxn matrix defining the best (in the sense of extremizing the divergence) k linear combinations of features. The tests allow initial comparisons to be made with results. In particular, this technique does not appear to require initial guesses for the iterator to be generated without replacement, exhaustive search, or other similar schemes

Feature combinations and the divergence criterion

Classifying large quantities of multidimensional remotely sensed agricultural data requires efficient and effective classification techniques and the construction of certain transformations of a dimension reducing, information preserving nature. The construction of transformations that minimally degrade information (i.e., class separability) is described. Linear dimension reducing transformations for multivariate normal populations are presented. Information content is measured by divergence

Investigation of a Bubble Detector based on Active Electrolocation of Weakly Electric Fish

Weakly electric fish employ active electrolocation for navigation and object detection. They emit an electric signal with their electric organ in the tail and sense the electric field with electroreceptors that are distributed over their skin. We adopted this principle to design a bubble detector that can detect gas bubbles in a fluid or, in principle, objects with different electric conductivity than the surrounding fluid. The evaluation of the influence of electrode diameter on detecting a given bubble size showed that the signal increases with electrode diameter. Therefore it appears that this detector will be more appropriate for large sized applications such as bubble columns than small sized applications such as bubble detectors in dialysis

Evaluating changes in radiation treatment volumes from post-operative to same-day planning MRI in High-grade gliomas.

BACKGROUND: Adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) with temozolomide (TMZ) is standard of care for high grade gliomas (HGG) patients. RT is commonly started 3 to 5 weeks after surgery. The deformation of the tumor bed and brain from surgery to RT is poorly studied. This study examined the magnitude of volume change in the postoperative tumor bed and the potential impact of RT planning. METHOD AND MATERIALS: This study includes 24 patients with HGG who underwent craniotomy and adjuvant RT with TMZ at our institution. All patients had immediate postoperative MRI and repeat MRI during the day of RT simulation. Gross tumor volumes (GTV), clinical target volumes (CTV) of initial 46 Gy (CTV1) and boost to 60 Gy (CTV2) were contoured on both sets of MRIs according to RTOG (Radiation Therapy Oncology Group) guidelines. For patients who recurred after RT, the recurrence pattern was evaluated. RESULTS: An average of 17 days elapsed between immediate and delayed MRIs. GTV1 (FLAIR abnormality and tumor bed) decreased significantly on the delayed MRI as compared to immediate post-operative MRI (mean = 30.96cc, p = 0.0005), while GTV2 (contrast-enhanced T1 abnormality and tumor bed) underwent a non-significant increase (mean = 6.82cc, p = 0.07). Such changes lead to significant decrease of CTV1 (mean decrease is 113.9cc, p CONCLUSION: The postoperative tumor bed of HGGs undergoes substantial volumetric changes after surgery. Treatment planning based on delayed MRI significantly reduces the volume of treated brain tissue without local control detriment. The marked reduction of volume treated to 46 Gy based on delayed MRI scan, could result in increased sparing of organs at risk. There may be a small risk of inadequate radiation field design if radiation planning is based on immediate post-operative MRI

Design and Verification of a DFI-AXI DDR4 Memory PHY Bridge Suitable for FPGA Based RTL Emulation and Prototyping

System on chip (SoC) designers today are emphasizing on a process which can ensure robust silicon at the first tape-out. Given the complexity of modern SoC chips, there is compelling need to have suitable run time software, such at the Linux kernel and necessary drivers available once prototype silicon is available. Emulation and FPGA prototyping systems are exemplary platforms to run the tests for designs, are naturally efficient and perform well, and enable early software development. While useful, one needs to keep in mind that emulation and FPGA prototyping systems do not run at full silicon speed. In fact, the SoC target ported to the FPGA might achieve a clock speed less than 10 MHz. While still very useful for testing and software development, this low operating speed creates challenges for connecting to external devices such as DDR SDRAM. In this paper, the DDR-PHY INTERFACE (DFI) to Advanced eXtensible Interface (AXI) Bridge is designed to support a DDR4 memory sub-system design. This bridge module is developed based on the DDR PHY Interface version 5.0 specification, and once implemented in an FPGA, it transfers command information and data between the SoC DDR Memory controller being prototypes, across the AXI bus to an FPGA specific memory controller connected to a DDR SDRAM or other physical memory external to the FPGA. This bridge module enables multi-communication with the design under test (DUT) with a synthesizable SCE-MI based infrastructure between the bridge and logic simulator. SCE-MI provides a direct mechanism to inject the specific traffic, and monitor performance of the DFI-AXI DDR4 Memory PHY Bridge. Both Emulation and FPGA prototyping platforms can use this design and its testbench

UNCOVERING THE MECHANISM OF CHROMATIN ASSOCIATION OF THE PAF1 TRANSCRIPTION ELONGATION COMPLEX

Paf1C co-localizes with Pol II and influences gene expression by regulating transcription initiation, elongation and termination. Some crucial functions of Paf1C include promoting co-transcriptional histone modifications and recruiting termination factors. The mechanism of chromatin recruitment of Paf1C was obscure. We identified the importance of a conserved region within the Rtf1 subunit of Paf1C, termed the ORF association region (OAR), in chromatin-tethering of Paf1C. I found that the interaction of Paf1C with the transcription elongation factor Spt5 was mediated by the Rtf1 OAR and the Spt5 C-terminal region (CTR). Binding assays established the direct nature of the Rtf1-Spt5 interaction and the sufficiency of the Rtf1 OAR and the Spt5 CTR for this interaction. ChIP assays demonstrated the ability of the OAR to mimic the chromatin association pattern of Paf1C, independent of Paf1C but dependent on the Spt5 CTR and the Bur1 kinase. This suggests that the targeting of the OAR tethers Paf1C to chromatin. Collectively, these results provide a molecular mechanism for coupling Paf1C with the transcription machinery. Additionally, I found that substitution of OAR residues predicted to be important for the human Rtf1 OAR-Spt5 CTR interaction in the OAR-CTR co-crystal impaired the chromatin association of Paf1C supporting the relevance of the co-crystal interactions. Furthermore, I showed that strains that are doubly mutated in the OAR and the Cdc73 C-domain exhibited cumulative reduction in Paf1C chromatin occupancy. Consistently, I showed that cells lacking both the OAR and the C-domain lose Paf1C-mediated histone modifications. This indicates that the Rtf1 OAR and the Cdc73 C-domain facilitate dual-attachment of Paf1C to chromatin. My work has also provided better understanding of the function of the histone modification domain (HMD) of Rtf1. I found that overexpression of the HMD was essential for it to promote histone modifications. Additionally, I showed that the HMD is sufficient for the H2B K123 Ub, the mark upstream of the H3 K4 and H3 K79 methylation events, but the rest of Paf1C is required for the HMD to stimulate H3 K4 Me3 modification. Cumulatively, my findings provide additional insight into the regulation of histone modifications by the Rtf1 HMD

Fabric pilling– Objective measurement system

An objective method of measuring pilling profile of fabric has been proposed using an inexpensive newly developed instrumentation. This measurement has been validated by direct measurement of pills using stereo microscope, as suggested by correlation analysis carried out between two sets of data. Results indicate that the objective assessment of pilled fabric could reliably be done by this machine, which can support subjective assessment done by the experts in grading of fabric