Study of the Reliability of Statistical Timing Analysis for Real-Time Systems

Presented at 23rd International Conference on Real-Time Networks and Systems (RTNS 2015). 4 to 6, Nov, 2015, Main Track. Lille, France.

Estrategias estadístico-computacionales avanzadas para análisis de expresión de proteínas/genes en cáncer. Advanced statistical and computational strategies for protein/gene expression analysis in cancer.

El objetivo de este proyecto, enmarcado en el área de metodología de análisis en bioingeniería-biotecnología aplicadas al estudio del cancer, es el análisis y caracterización a través modelos estadísticos con efectos mixtos y técnicas de aprendizaje automático, de perfiles de expresión de proteínas y genes de las vías metabolicas asociadas a progresión tumoral. Dicho estudio se llevará a cabo mediante la utilización de tecnologías de alto rendimiento. Las mismas permiten evaluar miles de genes/proteínas en forma simultánea, generando así una gran cantidad de datos de expresión. Se hipotetiza que para un análisis e interpretación de la información subyacente, caracterizada por su abundancia y complejidad, podría realizarse mediante técnicas estadístico-computacionales eficientes en el contexto de modelos mixtos y técnias de aprendizaje automático. Para que el análisis sea efectivo es necesario contemplar los efectos ocasionados por los diferentes factores experimentales ajenos al fenómeno biológico bajo estudio. Estos efectos pueden enmascarar la información subycente y así perder informacion relavante en el contexto de progresión tumoral. La identificación de estos efectos permitirá obtener, eficientemente, los perfiles de expresión molecular que podrían permitir el desarrollo de métodos de diagnóstico basados en ellos. Con este trabajo se espera poner a disposición de investigadores de nuestro medio, herramientas y procedimientos de análisis que maximicen la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos asignados a la masiva captura de datos genómicos/proteómicos que permitan extraer información biológica relevante pertinente al análisis, clasificación o predicción de cáncer, el diseño de tratamientos y terapias específicos y el mejoramiento de los métodos de detección como así tambien aportar al entendimieto de la progresión tumoral mediante análisis computacional intensivo.

Firms in Scottish High Technology Clusters: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics and digital media – preliminary evidence and analysis on firm size, growth and optimality

This paper reports on: (a) new primary source evidence on; and (b) statistical and econometric analysis of high technology clusters in Scotland. It focuses on the following sectors: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics, and digital media. Evidence on a postal and e-mailed questionnaire is presented and discussed under the headings of: performance, resources, collaboration & cooperation, embeddedness, and innovation. The sampled firms are characterised as being small (viz. micro-firms and SMEs), knowledge intensive (largely graduate staff), research intensive (mean spend on R&D GBP 842k), and internationalised (mainly selling to markets beyond Europe). Preliminary statistical evidence is presented on Gibrat’s Law (independence of growth and size) and the Schumpeterian Hypothesis (scale economies in R&D). Estimates suggest a short-run equilibrium size of just 100 employees, but a long-run equilibrium size of 1000 employees. Further, to achieve the Schumpeterian effect (of marked scale economies in R&D), estimates suggest that firms have to grow to very much larger sizes of beyond 3,000 employees. We argue that the principal way of achieving the latter scale may need to be by takeovers and mergers, rather than by internally driven growth.

CoDaPack. An Excel and Visual Basic based software of compositional data analysis. Current version and discussion form upcoming versions

In the eighties, John Aitchison (1986) developed a new methodological approach for the statistical analysis of compositional data. This new methodology was implemented in Basic routines grouped under the name CODA and later NEWCODA inMatlab (Aitchison, 1997). After that, several other authors have published extensions to this methodology: Marín-Fernández and others (2000), Barceló-Vidal and others (2001), Pawlowsky-Glahn and Egozcue (2001, 2002) and Egozcue and others (2003). (...)

Implementing statistical learning methods through Bayesian networks (Part 2): bayesian evaluations for results of black toner analyses in forensic document examination

This paper presents and discusses the use of Bayesian procedures - introduced through the use of Bayesian networks in Part I of this series of papers - for 'learning' probabilities from data. The discussion will relate to a set of real data on characteristics of black toners commonly used in printing and copying devices. Particular attention is drawn to the incorporation of the proposed procedures as an integral part in probabilistic inference schemes (notably in the form of Bayesian networks) that are intended to address uncertainties related to particular propositions of interest (e.g., whether or not a sample originates from a particular source). The conceptual tenets of the proposed methodologies are presented along with aspects of their practical implementation using currently available Bayesian network software.

Social reciprocity measures based on dyadic discrepancies: Methodological review and software development

This paper examines statistical analysis of social reciprocity at group, dyadic, and individual levels. Given that testing statistical hypotheses regarding social reciprocity can be also of interest, a statistical procedure based on Monte Carlo sampling has been developed and implemented in R in order to allow social researchers to describe groups and make statistical decisions.

Bootstrapping a statistical speech translator from a rule-based one

We describe a series of experiments in which we start with English to French and English to Japanese versions of an Open Source rule-based speech translation system for a medical domain, and bootstrap correspondign statistical systems. Comparative evaluation reveals that the rule-based systems are still significantly better than the statistical ones, despite the fact that considerable effort has been invested in tuning both the recognition and translation components; also, a hybrid system only marginally improved recall at the cost of a los in precision. The result suggests that rule-based architectures may still be preferable to statistical ones for safety-critical speech translation tasks.

Web Software Engineering - value added approach

Taking the maximum advantage of technological innovations and the investment in them is of key importance for businesses. The IT industry offers a wide range of innovative high-technology solutions to manage information processing and distribution. However for end-user businesses to make informed decisions in this area is challenging. The aim of this research is to identify the key differences in principal solutions, and what the selection criteria should be for those involved. Existing methodologies for software development are classified, and some key criteria are described to help IT system developers and users determine what are the most important factors in system selection, development and deployment. Statistical data is researched and analysed, a theoretical basis is developed and reviewed, key issues from case studies are identified and generalized to be presented along with the conclusions in the current study. The results give a good basis for corporate consideration and provide overall support to the key decisions in developing web-based software. The conclusion is that new web developments should be considered the stakeholders as an evolution of existing business systems, but they should then pay particular attention to the new advantages that web-based software offers in terms of standardised interfaces and procedures, universal deployment opportunities, and a range of other benefits the study highlights.

A statistical shape model of the human second cervical vertebra.

PURPOSE: Statistical shape and appearance models play an important role in reducing the segmentation processing time of a vertebra and in improving results for 3D model development. Here, we describe the different steps in generating a statistical shape model (SSM) of the second cervical vertebra (C2) and provide the shape model for general use by the scientific community. The main difficulties in its construction are the morphological complexity of the C2 and its variability in the population. METHODS: The input dataset is composed of manually segmented anonymized patient computerized tomography (CT) scans. The alignment of the different datasets is done with the procrustes alignment on surface models, and then, the registration is cast as a model-fitting problem using a Gaussian process. A principal component analysis (PCA)-based model is generated which includes the variability of the C2. RESULTS: The SSM was generated using 92 CT scans. The resulting SSM was evaluated for specificity, compactness and generalization ability. The SSM of the C2 is freely available to the scientific community in Slicer (an open source software for image analysis and scientific visualization) with a module created to visualize the SSM using Statismo, a framework for statistical shape modeling. CONCLUSION: The SSM of the vertebra allows the shape variability of the C2 to be represented. Moreover, the SSM will enable semi-automatic segmentation and 3D model generation of the vertebra, which would greatly benefit surgery planning.

Integrating user experience into early phases of software development

The value and benefits of user experience (UX) are widely recognized in the modern world and UX is seen as an integral part of many fields. This dissertation integrates UX and understanding end users with the early phases of software development. The concept of UX is still unclear, as witnessed by more than twenty-five definitions and ongoing argument about its different aspects and attributes. This missing consensus forms a problem in creating a link between UX and software development: How to take the UX of end users into account when it is unclear for software developers what UX stands for the end users. Furthermore, currently known methods to estimate, evaluate and analyse UX during software development are biased in favor of the phases where something concrete and tangible already exists. It would be beneficial to further elaborate on UX in the beginning phases of software development. Theoretical knowledge from the fields of UX and software development is presented and linked with surveyed and analysed UX attribute information from end users and UX professionals. Composing the surveys around the identified 21 UX attributes is described and the results are analysed in conjunction with end user demographics. Finally the utilization of the gained results is explained with a proof of concept utility, the Wizard of UX, which demonstrates how UX can be integrated into early phases of software development. The process of designing, prototyping and testing this utility is an integral part of this dissertation. The analyses show statistically significant dependencies between appreciation towards UX attributes and surveyed end user demographics. In addition, tests conducted by software developers and industrial UX designer both indicate the benefits and necessity of the prototyped Wizard of UX utility. According to the conducted tests, this utility meets the requirements set for it: It provides a way for software developers to raise their know-how of UX and a possibility to consider the UX of end users with statistical user profiles during the early phases of software development. This dissertation produces new and relevant information for the UX and software development communities by demonstrating that it is possible to integrate UX as a part of the early phases of software development.

Software for design of experiments and response modelling of cake ltration applications

Filtration is a widely used unit operation in chemical engineering. The huge variation in the properties of materials to be ltered makes the study of ltration a challenging task. One of the objectives of this thesis was to show that conventional ltration theories are di cult to use when the system to be modelled contains all of the stages and features that are present in a complete solid/liquid separation process. Furthermore, most of the ltration theories require experimental work to be performed in order to obtain critical parameters required by the theoretical models. Creating a good overall understanding of how the variables a ect the nal product in ltration is somewhat impossible on a purely theoretical basis. The complexity of solid/liquid separation processes require experimental work and when tests are needed, it is advisable to use experimental design techniques so that the goals can be achieved. The statistical design of experiments provides the necessary tools for recognising the e ects of variables. It also helps to perform experimental work more economically. Design of experiments is a prerequisite for creating empirical models that can describe how the measured response is related to the changes in the values of the variable. A software package was developed that provides a ltration practitioner with experimental designs and calculates the parameters for linear regression models, along with the graphical representation of the responses. The developed software consists of two software modules. These modules are LTDoE and LTRead. The LTDoE module is used to create experimental designs for di erent lter types. The lter types considered in the software are automatic vertical pressure lter, double-sided vertical pressure lter, horizontal membrane lter press, vacuum belt lter and ceramic capillary action disc lter. It is also possible to create experimental designs for those cases where the variables are totally user de ned, say for a customized ltration cycle or di erent piece of equipment. The LTRead-module is used to read the experimental data gathered from the experiments, to analyse the data and to create models for each of the measured responses. Introducing the structure of the software more in detail and showing some of the practical applications is the main part of this thesis. This approach to the study of cake ltration processes, as presented in this thesis, has been shown to have good practical value when making ltration tests.

Software for design of experiments and response modelling of cake filtration applications

Filtration is a widely used unit operation in chemical engineering. The huge variation in the properties of materials to be ltered makes the study of ltration a challenging task. One of the objectives of this thesis was to show that conventional ltration theories are di cult to use when the system to be modelled contains all of the stages and features that are present in a complete solid/liquid separation process. Furthermore, most of the ltration theories require experimental work to be performed in order to obtain critical parameters required by the theoretical models. Creating a good overall understanding of how the variables a ect the nal product in ltration is somewhat impossible on a purely theoretical basis. The complexity of solid/liquid separation processes require experimental work and when tests are needed, it is advisable to use experimental design techniques so that the goals can be achieved. The statistical design of experiments provides the necessary tools for recognising the e ects of variables. It also helps to perform experimental work more economically. Design of experiments is a prerequisite for creating empirical models that can describe how the measured response is related to the changes in the values of the variable. A software package was developed that provides a ltration practitioner with experimental designs and calculates the parameters for linear regression models, along with the graphical representation of the responses. The developed software consists of two software modules. These modules are LTDoE and LTRead. The LTDoE module is used to create experimental designs for di erent lter types. The lter types considered in the software are automatic vertical pressure lter, double-sided vertical pressure lter, horizontal membrane lter press, vacuum belt lter and ceramic capillary action disc lter. It is also possible to create experimental designs for those cases where the variables are totally user de ned, say for a customized ltration cycle or di erent piece of equipment. The LTRead-module is used to read the experimental data gathered from the experiments, to analyse the data and to create models for each of the measured responses. Introducing the structure of the software more in detail and showing some of the practical applications is the main part of this thesis. This approach to the study of cake ltration processes, as presented in this thesis, has been shown to have good practical value when making ltration tests.

CoDaPack. An Excel and Visual Basic based software of compositional data analysis. Current version and discussion form upcoming versions

In the eighties, John Aitchison (1986) developed a new methodological approach for the statistical analysis of compositional data. This new methodology was implemented in Basic routines grouped under the name CODA and later NEWCODA inMatlab (Aitchison, 1997). After that, several other authors have published extensions to this methodology: Marín-Fernández and others (2000), Barceló-Vidal and others (2001), Pawlowsky-Glahn and Egozcue (2001, 2002) and Egozcue and others (2003). (...)

Implantación de un SIG basado en software libre para el estudio de recursos hídricos y procesos hidrológicos

En este trabajo se describe la solución ideada para la implantación de un Sistema de Información Geográfica que debe dar servicio al Instituto Universitario del Agua y del Medio Ambiente de la Universidad de Murcia y al Instituto Euromediterráneo del Agua. Dada la naturaleza de ambas instituciones, se trata de una herramienta orientada fundamentalmente al estudio de recursos hídricos y procesos hidrológicos. El proceso se inició con una identificación de las necesidades de los usuarios (con perfiles y requerimiento diferentes) y el posterior desarrollo del diseño conceptual que pudiera asegurar la satisfacción de estas necesidades. Debido a que los requerimientos de los usuarios así lo demandaban, se ha tenido en cuenta tanto a usuarios que trabajan en entorno linux como a otros que lo hacen en entorno windows. Se ha optado por un sistema basado en software libre utilizando GRASS para el manejo de información raster y modelización; postgis (sobre postgreSQL) y GRASS para la gestión de información vectorial; y QGIS, gvSIG y Kosmo como interfaces gráficas de usuario. Otros programas utilizados para propósitos específicos han sido R, Mapserver o GMT

Classical and causal inference approaches to statistical mediation analysis

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n