Non-linear Classification Methods Research Articles

Physical fitness and motor competence performance characteristics of Chinese elite youth athletes from four track and field throwing disciplines-a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: For systematic athletic training and targeted talent development, it is essential to know the physical fitness and motor competencies of top athletes in detail. However, it can be difficult to identify differences in performance requirements and thus to provide adequate support, especially for sports that at first glance appear to have similar demands-such as track and field throwing disciplines. Therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the physical fitness and motor competence of top athletes from different throwing disciplines and to check whether the athletes' performance parameters match the specific requirements of the respective sport. Methods: The study involved 289 male youth athletes (aged 14-18years) across four distinct throwing disciplines: shot put (n = 101), hammer throw (n = 16), discus throw (n = 63), and javelin throw (n = 109). The performance evaluation comprised three anthropometric measurements and twelve motor performance prerequisites applicable to the throwing disciplines. Discriminant analysis and neural networks (Multilayer Perceptron) were implemented to determine the possibility of distinguishing among athletes from the four sports. Results: The study's findings indicate that in male throwing athletes, disparities in general physical fitness and motor proficiency assessments discern the majority of talented young athletes based on their specific sport (discriminant analysis: 68.2%; multilayer perceptron analysis: 72.2%). This remains applicable irrespective of the classification method employed. Discus throwers possessed a height advantage, while shot putters and hammer throwers exhibited superior arm strength. Javelin throwers displayed better explosive strength and sprinting speed. Except for the hammer throwers, all events demonstrated a high level of explosive power in the medicine ball forward or backward throw test, which was especially crucial for shot put and discus athletes. Conclusion: The significance of physical fitness and motor competence tests in identifying and transferring talented athletes in track and field throwing disciplines has been affirmed. Using linear and non-linear classification methods, most athletes could be assigned to their correct sport. However, this also shows that slightly different training and talent identification is required for each of these sports. Furthermore, non-linear analysis methods can provide useful support for the development processes in junior competitive sports.

Research of methods based on neural networks for the analysis of the tonality of the corps of the texts

The object of the study is methods based on neural networks for analyzing the tonality of a corpus of texts. To achieve the goal set in the work, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: study the theoretical material for learning deep neural networks and their features in relation to natural language processing; study the documentation of the Tensorflow library; develop models of convolutional and recurrent neural networks; to develop the implementation of linear and non-linear classification methods on bag of words and Word2Vec models; to compare the accuracy and other quality indicators of implemented neural network models with classical methods. Tensorboard is used for learning visualization. The work shows the superiority of classifiers based on deep neural networks over classical classification methods, even if the Word2Vec model is used for vector representations of words. The model of recurrent neural network with LSTM blocks has the highest accuracy for this corpus of texts.

Development and validation of predictive models for COVID-19 outcomes in a safety-net hospital population.

ObjectiveTo develop predictive models of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes, elucidate the influence of socioeconomic factors, and assess algorithmic racial fairness using a racially diverse patient population with high social needs.Materials and MethodsData included 7,102 patients with positive (RT-PCR) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test at a safety-net system in Massachusetts. Linear and nonlinear classification methods were applied. A score based on a recurrent neural network and a transformer architecture was developed to capture the dynamic evolution of vital signs. Combined with patient characteristics, clinical variables, and hospital occupancy measures, this dynamic vital score was used to train predictive models.ResultsHospitalizations can be predicted with an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 92% using symptoms, hospital occupancy, and patient characteristics, including social determinants of health. Parsimonious models to predict intensive care, mechanical ventilation, and mortality that used the most recent labs and vitals exhibited AUCs of 92.7%, 91.2%, and 94%, respectively. Early predictive models, using labs and vital signs closer to admission had AUCs of 81.1%, 84.9%, and 92%, respectively.DiscussionThe most accurate models exhibit racial bias, being more likely to falsely predict that Black patients will be hospitalized. Models that are only based on the dynamic vital score exhibited accuracies close to the best parsimonious models, although the latter also used laboratories.ConclusionsThis large study demonstrates that COVID-19 severity may accurately be predicted using a score that accounts for the dynamic evolution of vital signs. Further, race, social determinants of health, and hospital occupancy play an important role.

A Symmetry Evaluation Model for Lower Limb Segments During Upper Limb Loading

Weight-bearing is a common behavior, whereas a load impact on human gait symmetry is seldom considered. This study aims to propose and verify a gait symmetry detection model, by using the gait symmetry under different weight-bearing states to establish a weight-bearing symmetry classification rule, and to measure the consistency of movement through multiple gait symmetry experiments. In details, a classifier combined with statistical learning is presented to quantify the signal difference between left and right legs. The quantization result is incorporated as an index to judge the magnitude of symmetry. Meanwhile, a dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm is introduced to calculate the signal similarity of two legs in time domain as well as another index. The symmetry trend on leg signals is also considered and described as a third index. By casting these indexes in the proposed detection model, we employ several existing nonlinear classification methods to effectively disclose the difference between legs. Moreover, the information between legs can also be extracted through time warping, yielding the detection model competitive. The validity of the model is verified by hypothetical test. Compared with some state-of-the-art methods, our model achieves an improvement over 5% in the consistency measure of the calf. The symmetry measure of calf and thigh is also test. The proposed method outperforms other methods with the improvement of 12.5%.

Multivariate Classification of Brain Blood-Oxygen Signal Complexity for the Diagnosis of Children with Tourette Syndrome.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of multiple motor and vocal tics. Because of its varied clinical expressions and lack of reliable diagnostic biomarker, present TS diagnosis still depends on qualitative descriptions of symptoms. Our study aimed to investigate whether the complexity of resting state brain activity can serve as a potential biomarker for TS diagnosis, since it has been used successfully in various neuropsychiatric disorders, including two common TS comorbidities: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In the current study, we used both univariate analysis and multivariate searchlight analysis with both linear and non-linear classification methods to explore the group differences in the complexity of resting state brainblood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals between 25 TS boys without comorbidity and 25 sex, age and educational years matched healthy controls (HCs). We also investigated the relation between symptom severity in TS patients (YGTSS scores) and complexity indices derived from different analysis methods. We found: i) univariate analysis revealed reduced complexity in TS patients in the left cerebellum, left superior frontal gyrus, and left medial frontal gyrus; ii) multivariate analysis with non-linear classification method achieved thehighest performance (accuracy: 0.94, sensitivity: 0.96, specificity: 0.92, AUC: 0.95) in bilateral supplementary motor areas; iii) significant correlationswere found between complexity index derived from multivariate analysis with non-linear classification method and Tic severity (YGTSS scores) in the left cerebellum (r = 0.523, with YGTSS phonic) and in theright supplementary motor area (r = 0.767, with YGTSS motor). Taken together, theseresults suggested that complexity of resting stateBOLD activity is a highly effective index for differentiating TS patients from normal controls. Ithas agood potential to be a quantitative biomarker for TS diagnosis.

Missing Value Imputation in Stature Estimation by Learning Algorithms Using Anthropometric Data: A Comparative Study

Estimating stature is essential in the process of personal identification. Because it is difficult to find human remains intact at crime scenes and disaster sites, for instance, methods are needed for estimating stature based on different body parts. For instance, the upper and lower limbs may vary depending on ancestry and sex, and it is of great importance to design adequate methodology for incorporating these in estimating stature. In addition, it is necessary to use machine learning rather than simple linear regression to improve the accuracy of stature estimation. In this study, the accuracy of statures estimated based on anthropometric data was compared using three imputation methods. In addition, by comparing the accuracy among linear and nonlinear classification methods, the best method was derived for estimating stature based on anthropometric data. For both sexes, multiple imputation was superior when the missing data ratio was low, and mean imputation performed well when the ratio was high. The support vector machine recorded the highest accuracy in all ratios of missing data. The findings of this study showed appropriate imputation methods for estimating stature with missing anthropometric data. In particular, the machine learning algorithms can be effectively used for estimating stature in humans.

Biomarker Panel for the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

A single tumor marker has a low diagnostic value in pancreatic cancer. Combinations of multiple biomarkers and unique analysis algorithms can be applied to overcome these limitations. This study sought to develop diagnostic algorithms using multiple biomarker panels and to validate their performance in the diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We used blood samples from 180 PDAC patients and 573 healthy controls. Candidate markers consisted of 11 markers that are commonly expressed in various cancers and which have previously demonstrated increased expression in pancreatic cancer. Samples were divided into training and validation sets. Five linear or non-linear classification methods were used to determine the optimal model. Differences were identified in 10 out of the 11 markers tested. We identified 2047 combinations, all of which were applied to 5 separate algorithms. The new biomarker combination consisted of 6 markers (ApoA1, CA125, CA19-9, CEA, ApoA2, and TTR). The area under the curve, specificity, and sensitivity were 0.992, 95%, and 96%, respectively, in the training set. Meanwhile, the measures were 0.993, 96%, and 93% in the validation set. This study demonstrated the utility of multiple biomarker combinations in the early detection of PDAC. A diagnostic panel of 6 biomarkers was developed and validated. These algorithms will assist in the early diagnosis of PDAC.

Homogeneous region determination using linear and nonlinear techniques

Similarity between catchments in a region can be determined depending on catchment properties. This helps to understand the response behavior of the similar catchments more appropriately. Catchment classification plays a major role in the process of hydrological prediction in the case of ungauged catchments. The following categorization was carried out for 32 catchments of India. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) along with K-means clustering, was applied as linear classification; and Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA) were implemented as nonlinear classification methods on catchment attributes and daily streamflow time series. The classification established on streamflow signatures was taken as the reference classification. Results obtained from PCA, SOM, and KPCA were compared with results of the reference classification. The absence of discordant catchments from the clusters of SOM, based on catchment attributes, suggests homogeneity among SOM-derived clusters. Similarity index scores are 0.48 and 0.47, 0.46 and 0.42 ​for first, second, third and fourth clusters of SOM respectively with that of the reference classification technique. Nonlinear techniques with high similarity index values outperformed standard techniques. This study demonstrated the ability of classification based on catchment attributes to classify ungauged catchments.

Application of Multivariate Linear and Nonlinear Calibration and Classification Methods in Drug Design.

Data manipulation and maximum efficient extraction of useful information need a range of searching, modeling, mathematical, and statistical approaches. Hence, an adequate multivariate characterization is the first necessary step in investigation and the results are interpreted after multivariate analysis. Multivariate data analysis is capable of not only large dataset management but also interpret them surely and rapidly. Application of chemometrics and cheminformatics methods may be useful for design and discovery of new drug compounds. In this review, we present a variety of information sources on chemometrics, which we consider useful in different fields of drug design. This review describes exploratory analysis (PCA), classification and multivariate calibration (PCR, PLS) methods to data analysis. It summarizes the main facts of linear and nonlinear multivariate data analysis in drug discovery and provides an introduction to manipulation of data in this field. It handles the fundamental aspects of basic concepts of multivariate methods, principles of projections (PCA and PLS) and introduces the popular modeling and classification techniques. Enough theory behind these methods, more particularly concerning the chemometrics tools is included for those with little experience in multivariate data analysis techniques such as PCA, PLS, SIMCA, etc. We describe each method by avoiding unnecessary equations, and details of calculation algorithms. It provides a synopsis of the method followed by cases of applications in drug design (i.e., QSAR) and some of the features for each method.

Classification of natural estrogen-like isoflavonoids and diphenolics by QSAR tools.

This work reports a detailed study of the ability of linear and non-linear classification methods to estimate the estrogenic activities of a series of 55 natural estrogen-like isoflavonoid and diphenolic compounds. In doing so, we examined the use of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and nonlinear support vector machines (SVMs) techniques along with feature selection algorithms. The structural characteristics of each of the studied compounds were calculated from the optimized molecular geometries. Both the LDA and SVMs models contain four descriptors, however, the SVMs model (total accuracy 89.1%) was found to be superior to the LDA model (total accuracy 80.0%). The analysis of molecular descriptors within our models provided essential insights towards a better understanding of the estrogenic mechanisms of natural estrogen-like phytoestrogens. Furthermore, the derived models can be applied in the future screening of other natural estrogen-like compounds.

Classification and Clustering on Microarray Data for Gene Functional Prediction Using R.

Gene expression data (microarrays and RNA-sequencing data) as well as other kinds of genomic data can be extracted from publicly available genomic data. Here, we explain how to apply multivariate cluster and classification methods on gene expression data. These methods have become very popular and are implemented in freely available software in order to predict the participation of gene products in a specific functional category of interest. Taking into account the availability of data and of these methods, every biological study should apply them in order to obtain knowledge on the organism studied and functional category of interest. A special emphasis is made on the nonlinear kernel classification methods.

Discrimination of Brazilian artisanal and inspected pork sausages: Application of unsupervised, linear and non-linear supervised chemometric methods

The performance of different chemometric approaches to discriminate artisanal and industrial pork sausages using traditional physicochemical parameters was investigated. A total of 90 samples of sausages marketed in various supermarkets and open-markets in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were analyzed for their content of moisture, protein, fat, nitrite, sodium and calcium. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used as exploratory methods, while linear and non-linear classification methods, such as k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA), partial least square discriminant analysis (PLSDA) and artificial neural networks (ANN) were used for assessing the data. Different behaviors for all parameters were analyzed between the classes. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis did not show a complete discrimination of the samples. KNN and ANN results showed excellent performance for both categories with 100% correct prediction while SIMCA and PLSDA presented performance of 100% and 85.7% for inspected and artisanal sausages, respectively. According to the SIMCA, PLSDA and ANN, the contents of moisture and fat showed the highest discriminative power. Overall, the findings emphasize the use of multivariate techniques to evaluate the quality of processed foods, as pork sausages.

Lychee Variety Discrimination by Hyperspectral Imaging Coupled with Multivariate Classification

This current study was carried out to investigate the ability of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technique and multivariate classification for the differentiation of lychee varieties. A total of 122 lychee samples from three varieties (“Baila,” “Jizhui,” and “Guiwei”) were used. The relationship between reflectance spectra and lychee varieties were established. Principal component analysis (PCA) was implemented on the region of interest (ROI) image to reduce data dimensionality and visualize the cluster trend. The first two principal components (PCs) explained over 97 % of variances of all spectral bands. Linear (soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)) and nonlinear (back propagation neural network (BPNN) and support vector machine (SVM)) multivariate classification methods were used to develop discrimination models. The results revealed that SVM model achieved the best result, with the identification rate of 100 % in the calibration set and 87.81 % in the prediction set. BPNN had a discrimination rate of 100 % for the training set and 85.37 % for prediction set, while PSL-DA and SIMCA model had a discrimination rate of 78.05 % and 60.98 % for prediction sets, respectively. The nonlinear classification methods used were superior to the linear ones. The overall results showed that HSI system with SVM classification tool could be used in identification of lychee varieties.

Visualizing multi-dimensional decision boundaries in 2D

In many applications experts need to make decisions based on the analysis of multi-dimensional data. Various classification models can support the decision making process. To obtain an intuitive understanding of the classification model, interactive visualizations are essential. We argue that this is best done by a series of interactive 2D scatterplots. In this paper, we define a set of characteristics of the multi-dimensional classification model that have to be visually represented in those scatterplots. Our proposed method presents those characteristics in a uniform manner for both linear and non-linear classification methods. We combine a visualization of a Voronoi based representation of multi-dimensional decision boundaries with visualization of the distances of the data elements to these boundaries. To allow the developer of the model to refine the threshold of the classification model and instantly observe the results, we use interactive decision point selection on a performance curve. Finally, we show how the combination of those techniques allows exploration of multi-dimensional decision boundaries in 2D.

Rapid differentiation of Ghana cocoa beans by FT-NIR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate classification

Quick, accurate and reliable technique for discrimination of cocoa beans according to geographical origin is essential for quality control and traceability management. This current study presents the application of Near Infrared Spectroscopy technique and multivariate classification for the differentiation of Ghana cocoa beans. A total of 194 cocoa bean samples from seven cocoa growing regions were used. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to extract relevant information from the spectral data and this gave visible cluster trends. The performance of four multivariate classification methods: Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), Back propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) and Support vector machine (SVM) were compared. The performances of the models were optimized by cross validation. The results revealed that; SVM model was superior to all the mathematical methods with a discrimination rate of 100% in both the training and prediction set after preprocessing with Mean centering (MC). BPANN had a discrimination rate of 99.23% for the training set and 96.88% for prediction set. While LDA model had 96.15% and 90.63% for the training and prediction sets respectively. KNN model had 75.01% for the training set and 72.31% for prediction set. The non-linear classification methods used were superior to the linear ones. Generally, the results revealed that NIR Spectroscopy coupled with SVM model could be used successfully to discriminate cocoa beans according to their geographical origins for effective quality assurance.

Classification of Ontario watersheds based on physical attributes and streamflow series

• We investigate NLPCA and SOM for gauged/ungauged catchment classification. • We identify hydrologically homogenous clusters of basins using runoff indices. • We use classification based on PCA and runoff indices as benchmark classification. • NLPCA indicates reliable performance in gauged/ungauged catchment classification. • NLPCA can be used for ungauged basins classification prior to regionalization. Nonlinear cluster analysis techniques including Self Organizing Maps (SOMs), standard Non-Linear Principal Component Analysis (NLPCA) and Compact Non-Linear Principal Component Analysis (Compact-NLPCA) are investigated for the identification of hydrologically homogeneous clusters of watersheds across Ontario, Canada. The results of classification based on catchment attributes and streamflow series of Ontario watersheds are compared to those of two benchmarks: the standard Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K -means classification based on recently proposed runoff signatures. The latter classified the 90 watersheds into four homogeneous groups used as a reference classification to evaluate the performance of the nonlinear clustering techniques. The similarity index between the first largest group of the reference classification and the one from the NLPCA based on streamflow, is about 0.58. For the Compact-NLPCA the similarity is about 0.56 and for the SOM it is about 0.52. Furthermore, those results remain slightly the same when the watersheds are classified based on watershed attributes – suggesting that the nonlinear classification methods can be robust tools for the classification of ungauged watersheds prior to regionalization. Distinct patterns of flow regime characteristics and specific dominant hydrological attributes are identified in the clusters obtained from the nonlinear classification techniques – indicating that the classifications are sound from the hydrological point of view.

Classification of schizophrenia patients based on resting-state functional network connectivity

There is a growing interest in automatic classification of mental disorders based on neuroimaging data. Small training data sets (subjects) and very large amount of high dimensional data make it a challenging task to design robust and accurate classifiers for heterogeneous disorders such as schizophrenia. Most previous studies considered structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging and task-based fMRI for this purpose. However, resting-state data has been rarely used in discrimination of schizophrenia patients from healthy controls. Resting data are of great interest, since they are relatively easy to collect, and not confounded by behavioral performance on a task. Several linear and non-linear classification methods were trained using a training dataset and evaluate with a separate testing dataset. Results show that classification with high accuracy is achievable using simple non-linear discriminative methods such as k-nearest neighbors (KNNs) which is very promising. We compare and report detailed results of each classifier as well as statistical analysis and evaluation of each single feature. To our knowledge our effects represent the first use of resting-state functional network connectivity (FNC) features to classify schizophrenia.

Virulence factor prediction in Streptococcus pyogenes using classification and clustering based on microarray data

Interesting biological information as, for example, gene expression data (microarrays), can be extracted from publicly available genomic data. As a starting point in order to narrow down the great possibilities of wet lab experiments, global high throughput data and available knowledge should be used to infer biological knowledge and emit biological hypothesis. Here, based on microarray data, we propose the use of cluster and classification methods that have become very popular and are implemented in freely available software in order to predict the participation in virulence mechanisms of different proteins coded by genes of the pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes. Confidence of predictions is based on classification errors of known genes and repetitive prediction by more than three methods. A special emphasis is done on the nonlinear kernel classification methods used. We propose a list of interesting candidates that could be virulence factors or that participate in the virulence process of S. pyogenes. Biological validations should start using this list of candidates as they show similar behavior to known virulence factors.

Patient-specific bivariate-synchrony-based seizure prediction for short prediction horizons

This paper evaluates the patient-specific seizure prediction performance of pre-ictal changes in bivariate-synchrony between pairs of intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) signals within 15min of a seizure in patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy. Prediction horizons under 15min reduce the durations of warning times and should provide adequate time for a seizure control device to intervene. Long-term continuous iEEG was obtained from 6 patients. The seizure prediction performance was evaluated for all possible channel pairs and for different prediction methods to find the best performing channel pairs and methods for both pre-ictal decreases and increases in synchrony. The different prediction methods involved changes in window duration, signal filtering, thresholding approach, and prediction horizon durations. Performance for each patient, for all seizures, was first compared with an analytical-Poisson-based random predictor. The performance of the top 5% of channel pairs for each patient closely matched the top 5% of analytical-Poisson-based random predictor performance indicating that patient-specific, bivariate-synchrony-based seizure prediction could be random in general (under the assumption that channel-pair prediction times are statistically independent). Analysis of the spatial patterns of performance showed no clear relationship to the seizure onset zone. For each patient the best channel pair showed better performance than Poisson-based random prediction for a selected subset of prediction thresholds. Given the caveats of comparing with this form of random prediction, alarm time surrogates were employed to assess statistical significance of a four-fold out-of-sample cross-validation analysis applied to the best channel-pairs. The cross-validation analysis obtained reasonable testing performance for most patients when performance was compared to random prediction based on alarm time surrogates. The most significant case was a patient whose testing set sensitivity and false positive rate were 0.67±0.09 and 3.04±0.29h(-1), respectively, for decreases in synchrony, an intervention time of 15min and a seizure onset period of 5min. For each testing set for this patient, performance was better than that obtained by random prediction at the significance level of 0.05 (average sensitivity of 0.47±0.05). Moreover, there were 9 seizures in each testing set which gives greater power to this cross-validation result, although the cross-validation was performed on the best channel pair selected by within-sample optimization for all seizures of the patient. Further validation with larger datasets from individual patients is needed. Improvements in prediction performance should be achievable through investigations of multivariate synchrony combined with non-linear classification methods.

A Comparative Study of Intracranial EEG Files Using Nonlinear Classification Methods

This study is a comparative evaluation of nonlinear classification methods with a focus on nonlinear decision functions and the standard method of support vector machines for seizure detection. These nonlinear classification methods are used on key features that were extracted on subdural EEG data after a thorough evaluation of all the frequency bands from 1 to 44 Hz. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of seizure detection reveal that the gamma frequencies (36-44 Hz) are most suitable for detecting seizure files using a unique 2D decisional plane. We evaluated 157 intracranial EEG files from 14 patients by calculating the spectral power using nonoverlapping 1-s windows on different frequency bands. A key finding is in establishing a 2D decision plane, where duration of the seizure is used as the first dimension (x coordinate) and the maximum of the gamma frequency components is used as the second dimension (y coordinate). Within this 2D plane, the best results were observed when the nonlinearity degree is three for the proposed nonlinear decision functions, with a sensitivity of 96.3%, a specificity of 96.8%, and accuracy of 96.7%.