A computer vision approach for weeds identification through Support Vector Machines

This paper outlines an automatic computervision system for the identification of avena sterilis which is a special weed seed growing in cereal crops. The final goal is to reduce the quantity of herbicide to be sprayed as an important and necessary step for precision agriculture. So, only areas where the presence of weeds is important should be sprayed. The main problems for the identification of this kind of weed are its similar spectral signature with respect the crops and also its irregular distribution in the field. It has been designed a new strategy involving two processes: image segmentation and decision making. The image segmentation combines basic suitable image processing techniques in order to extract cells from the image as the low level units. Each cell is described by two area-based attributes measuring the relations among the crops and weeds. The decision making is based on the SupportVectorMachines and determines if a cell must be sprayed. The main findings of this paper are reflected in the combination of the segmentation and the SupportVectorMachines decision processes. Another important contribution of this approach is the minimum requirements of the system in terms of memory and computation power if compared with other previous works. The performance of the method is illustrated by comparative analysis against some existing strategies.

Rational invariants on the space of all structures of algebras on a two-dimensional vector space

Rational invariants on the space of all structures of algebras on a two-dimensional vector space

Vector spaces of entire functions of unbounded type

Let E be an infinite dimensional complex Banach space. We prove the existence of an infinitely generated algebra, an infinite dimensional closed subspace and a dense subspace of entire functions on E whose non-zero elements are functions of unbounded type. We also show that the τδ topology on the space of all holomorphic functions cannot be obtained as a countable inductive limit of Fr´echet spaces. RESUMEN. Sea E un espacio de Banach complejo de dimensión infinita y sea H(E) el espacio de funciones holomorfas definidas en E. En el artículo se demuestra la existencia de un álgebra infinitamente generada en H(E), un subespacio vectorial en H(E) cerrado de dimensión infinita y un subespacio denso en H(E) cuyos elementos no nulos son funciones de tipo no acotado. También se demuestra que el espacio de funciones holomorfas con la topología ? no es un límite inductivo numberable de espacios de Fréchet.

Comparisson of hydrogen applications for storage and energy vector

For the decades to come can be foreseen that electricity and water will keep be playing a key role in the countries development, both can be considered the most important energy vectors and its control can be crucial for governments, companies and leaders in general. Energy is essential for all human activities and its availability is critical to economic and social development. In particular, electricity, a form of energy, is required to produce goods, to provide medical assistance and basic civic services in education, to assure availability of clean water, to create conducive environment for prosperity and improvement, and to keep an acceptable quality of life. The way in which electricity is generated from different resources varies through the different countries. Nuclear energy controlled within reactors to steam production, gas, fuel-oil and coal fired in power stations, water, solar and wind energy among others are employed, sometimes not very efficiently, to produce electricity. The so call energy mix of an individual country is formed up by the contribution of each resource or form of energy to the electricity generation market of the so country. During the last decade the establishment of proper energy mixes for countries has gained much importance, and energy drivers should enforce long term plans and policies. Hints, reports and guides giving tracks on energy resources contribution are been developed by noticeable organisations like the IEA (International Energy Agency) or the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the WEC (World Energy Council). This paper evaluates energy issues the market and countries are facing today regarding energy mix scheduling and panorama. This paper revises and seeks to improve methodology available that are applicable on energy mix plan definition. Key Factors are identified, established and assessed through this paper for the common implementation, the themes driving the future energy mix methodology proposal. Those have a clear influence and are closely related to future environmental policies. Key Factors take into consideration sustainability, energy security, social and economic growth, climate change, air quality and social stability. The strength of the Key Factors application on energy system planning to different countries is contingent on country resources, location, electricity demand and electricity generation industry, technology available, economic situation and prospects, energy policy and regulation

A non-persistently transmitted-virus induces a pull?push strategy inits aphid vector to optimize transmission and spread

Plant viruses are known to modify the behaviour of their insect vectors, both directly and indirectly,generally adapting to each type of virus?vector relationship in a way that enhances transmissionefficiency. Here, we report results of three different studies showing how a virus transmitted in a non-persistent (NP) manner (Cucumber mosaic virus; CMV, Cucumovirus) can induce changes in its host plant,cucumber (Cucumis sativus cv. Marumba) that modifies the behaviour of its aphid vector (Aphis gossypiiGlover; Hemiptera: Aphididae) in a way that enhances virus transmission and spread non-viruliferousaphids changed their alighting, settling and probing behaviour activities over time when exposed toCMV-infected and mock-inoculated cucumber plants. Aphids exhibited no preference to migrate fromCMV-infected to mock-inoculated plants at short time intervals (1, 10 and 30 min after release), butshowed a clear shift in preference to migrate from CMV-infected to mock-inoculated plants 60 min afterrelease. Our free-choice preference assays showed that A. gossypii alates preferred CMV-infected overmock-inoculated plants at an early stage (30 min), but this behaviour was reverted at a later stage andaphids preferred to settle and reproduce on mock-inoculated plants. The electrical penetration graph(EPG) technique revealed a sharp change in aphid probing behaviour over time when exposed to CMV-infected plants. At the beginning (first 15 min) aphid vectors dramatically increased the number of shortsuperficial probes and intracellular punctures when exposed to CMV-infected plants. At a later stage (sec-ond hour of recording) aphids diminished their feeding on CMV-infected plants as indicated by much lesstime spent in phloem salivation and ingestion (E1 and E2). This particular probing behaviour includingan early increase in the number of short superficial probes and intracellular punctures followed by aphloem feeding deterrence is known to enhance the transmission efficiency of viruses transmitted in aNP manner. We conclude that CMV induces specific changes in a plant host that modify the alighting,settling and probing behaviour of its main vector A. gossypii, leading to optimum transmission and spreadof the virus. Our findings should be considered when modelling the spread of viruses transmitted in a NPmanner.

EPA-0882 - Prediction of diagnosis of early-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders using support vector machines

To develop a Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm as a predictive tool for diagnostic outcome in patients with FE-EOP, based on clinical and biomedical data at the emergence of the illness.

Implementación de una Support Vector Machine en RVC – CAL para imágenes hiperespectrales

El análisis de imágenes hiperespectrales permite obtener información con una gran resolución espectral: cientos de bandas repartidas desde el espectro infrarrojo hasta el ultravioleta. El uso de dichas imágenes está teniendo un gran impacto en el campo de la medicina y, en concreto, destaca su utilización en la detección de distintos tipos de cáncer. Dentro de este campo, uno de los principales problemas que existen actualmente es el análisis de dichas imágenes en tiempo real ya que, debido al gran volumen de datos que componen estas imágenes, la capacidad de cómputo requerida es muy elevada. Una de las principales líneas de investigación acerca de la reducción de dicho tiempo de procesado se basa en la idea de repartir su análisis en diversos núcleos trabajando en paralelo. En relación a esta línea de investigación, en el presente trabajo se desarrolla una librería para el lenguaje RVC – CAL – lenguaje que está especialmente pensado para aplicaciones multimedia y que permite realizar la paralelización de una manera intuitiva – donde se recogen las funciones necesarias para implementar el clasificador conocido como Support Vector Machine – SVM. Cabe mencionar que este trabajo complementa el realizado en [1] y [2] donde se desarrollaron las funciones necesarias para implementar una cadena de procesado que utiliza el método unmixing para procesar la imagen hiperespectral. En concreto, este trabajo se encuentra dividido en varias partes. La primera de ellas expone razonadamente los motivos que han llevado a comenzar este Trabajo de Investigación y los objetivos que se pretenden conseguir con él. Tras esto, se hace un amplio estudio del estado del arte actual y, en él, se explican tanto las imágenes hiperespectrales como sus métodos de procesado y, en concreto, se detallará el método que utiliza el clasificador SVM. Una vez expuesta la base teórica, nos centraremos en la explicación del método seguido para convertir una versión en Matlab del clasificador SVM optimizado para analizar imágenes hiperespectrales; un punto importante en este apartado es que se desarrolla la versión secuencial del algoritmo y se asientan las bases para una futura paralelización del clasificador. Tras explicar el método utilizado, se exponen los resultados obtenidos primero comparando ambas versiones y, posteriormente, analizando por etapas la versión adaptada al lenguaje RVC – CAL. Por último, se aportan una serie de conclusiones obtenidas tras analizar las dos versiones del clasificador SVM en cuanto a bondad de resultados y tiempos de procesado y se proponen una serie de posibles líneas de actuación futuras relacionadas con dichos resultados. ABSTRACT. Hyperspectral imaging allows us to collect high resolution spectral information: hundred of bands covering from infrared to ultraviolet spectrum. These images have had strong repercussions in the medical field; in particular, we must highlight its use in cancer detection. In this field, the main problem we have to deal with is the real time analysis, because these images have a great data volume and they require a high computational power. One of the main research lines that deals with this problem is related with the analysis of these images using several cores working at the same time. According to this investigation line, this document describes the development of a RVC – CAL library – this language has been widely used for working with multimedia applications and allows an optimized system parallelization –, which joins all the functions needed to implement the Support Vector Machine – SVM - classifier. This research complements the research conducted in [1] and [2] where the necessary functions to implement the unmixing method to analyze hyperspectral images were developed. The document is divided in several chapters. The first of them introduces the motivation of the Master Thesis and the main objectives to achieve. After that, we study the state of the art of some technologies related with this work, like hyperspectral images, their processing methods and, concretely, the SVM classifier. Once we have exposed the theoretical bases, we will explain the followed methodology to translate a Matlab version of the SVM classifier optimized to process an hyperspectral image to RVC – CAL language; one of the most important issues in this chapter is that a sequential implementation is developed and the bases of a future parallelization of the SVM classifier are set. At this point, we will expose the results obtained in the comparative between versions and then, the results of the different steps that compose the SVM in its RVC – CAL version. Finally, we will extract some conclusions related with algorithm behavior and time processing. In the same way, we propose some future research lines according to the results obtained in this document.

Vector Boolean Functions: Applications in Symmetric Cryptography

Esta tesis establece los fundamentos teóricos y diseña una colección abierta de clases C++ denominada VBF (Vector Boolean Functions) para analizar funciones booleanas vectoriales (funciones que asocian un vector booleano a otro vector booleano) desde una perspectiva criptográfica. Esta nueva implementación emplea la librería NTL de Victor Shoup, incorporando nuevos módulos que complementan a las funciones de NTL, adecuándolas para el análisis criptográfico. La clase fundamental que representa una función booleana vectorial se puede inicializar de manera muy flexible mediante diferentes estructuras de datas tales como la Tabla de verdad, la Representación de traza y la Forma algebraica normal entre otras. De esta manera VBF permite evaluar los criterios criptográficos más relevantes de los algoritmos de cifra en bloque y de stream, así como funciones hash: por ejemplo, proporciona la no-linealidad, la distancia lineal, el grado algebraico, las estructuras lineales, la distribución de frecuencias de los valores absolutos del espectro Walsh o del espectro de autocorrelación, entre otros criterios. Adicionalmente, VBF puede llevar a cabo operaciones entre funciones booleanas vectoriales tales como la comprobación de igualdad, la composición, la inversión, la suma, la suma directa, el bricklayering (aplicación paralela de funciones booleanas vectoriales como la empleada en el algoritmo de cifra Rijndael), y la adición de funciones coordenada. La tesis también muestra el empleo de la librería VBF en dos aplicaciones prácticas. Por un lado, se han analizado las características más relevantes de los sistemas de cifra en bloque. Por otro lado, combinando VBF con algoritmos de optimización, se han diseñado funciones booleanas cuyas propiedades criptográficas son las mejores conocidas hasta la fecha. ABSTRACT This thesis develops the theoretical foundations and designs an open collection of C++ classes, called VBF, designed for analyzing vector Boolean functions (functions that map a Boolean vector to another Boolean vector) from a cryptographic perspective. This new implementation uses the NTL library from Victor Shoup, adding new modules which complement the existing ones making VBF better suited for cryptography. The fundamental class representing a vector Boolean function can be initialized in a flexible way via several alternative types of data structures such as Truth Table, Trace Representation, Algebraic Normal Form (ANF) among others. This way, VBF allows the evaluation of the most relevant cryptographic criteria for block and stream ciphers as well as for hash functions: for instance, it provides the nonlinearity, the linearity distance, the algebraic degree, the linear structures, the frequency distribution of the absolute values of the Walsh Spectrum or the Autocorrelation Spectrum, among others. In addition, VBF can perform operations such as equality testing, composition, inversion, sum, direct sum, bricklayering (parallel application of vector Boolean functions as employed in Rijndael cipher), and adding coordinate functions of two vector Boolean functions. This thesis also illustrates the use of VBF in two practical applications. On the one hand, the most relevant properties of the existing block ciphers have been analysed. On the other hand, by combining VBF with optimization algorithms, new Boolean functions have been designed which have the best known cryptographic properties up-to-date.

Herpes simplex virus vector-mediated expression of Bcl-2 prevents 6-hydroxydopamine-induced degeneration of neurons in the substantia nigra in vivo

6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is widely used to selectively lesion dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra (SN) in the creation of animal models of Parkinson’s disease. In vitro, the death of PC-12 cells caused by exposure to 6-OHDA occurs with characteristics consistent with an apoptotic mechanism of cell death. To test the hypothesis that apoptotic pathways are involved in the death of dopaminergic neurons of the SN caused by 6-OHDA, we created a replication-defective genomic herpes simplex virus-based vector containing the coding sequence for the antiapoptotic peptide Bcl-2 under the transcriptional control of the simian cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter. Transfection of primary cortical neurons in culture with the Bcl-2-producing vector protected those cells from naturally occurring cell death over 3 weeks. Injection of the Bcl-2-expressing vector into SN of rats 1 week before injection of 6-OHDA into the ipsilateral striatum increased the survival of neurons in the SN, detected either by retrograde labeling of those cells with fluorogold or by tyrosine hydroxylase immunocytochemistry, by 50%. These results, demonstrating that death of nigral neurons induced by 6-OHDA lesioning may be blocked by the expression of Bcl-2, are consistent with the notion that cell death in this model system is at least in part apoptotic in nature and suggest that a Bcl-2-expressing vector may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

The lepidopteran transposon vector, piggyBac, mediates germ-line transformation in the Mediterranean fruit fly

The piggyBac (IFP2) short inverted terminal repeat transposable element from the cabbage looper Trichoplusia ni was tested for gene transfer vector function as part of a bipartite vector–helper system in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata. A piggyBac vector marked with the medfly white gene was tested with a normally regulated piggyBac transposase helper at two different concentrations in a white eye host strain. Both experiments yielded transformants at an approximate frequency of 3–5%, with a total of six lines isolated having pigmented eyes with various levels of coloration. G1 transformant siblings from each line shared at least one common integration, with several sublines having an additional second integration. For the first transformant line isolated, two integrations were determined to be stable for 15 generations. For five of the lines, a piggyBac-mediated transposition was verified by sequencing the insertion site junctions isolated by inverse PCR that identified a characteristic piggyBac TTAA target site duplication. The efficient and stable transformation of the medfly with a lepidopteran vector represents transposon function over a relatively large evolutionary distance and suggests that the piggyBac system will be functional in a broad range of insects.

Pseudotyping of murine leukemia virus with the envelope glycoproteins of HIV generates a retroviral vector with specificity of infection for CD4-expressing cells

CD4-expressing T cells in lymphoid organs are infected by the primary strains of HIV and represent one of the main sources of virus replication. Gene therapy strategies are being developed that allow the transfer of exogenous genes into CD4+ T lymphocytes whose expression might prevent viral infection or replication. Insights into the mechanisms that govern virus entry into the target cells can be exploited for this purpose. Major determinants of the tropism of infection are the CD4 molecules on the surface of the target cells and the viral envelope glycoproteins at the viral surface. The best characterized and most widely used gene transfer vectors are derived from Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV). To generate MuLV-based retroviral gene transfer vector particles with specificity of infection for CD4-expressing cells, we attempted to produce viral pseudotypes, consisting of MuLV capsid particles and the surface (SU) and transmembrane (TM) envelope glycoproteins gp120-SU and gp41-TM of HIV type 1 (HIV-1). Full-length HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins were expressed in the MuLV env-negative packaging cell line TELCeB6. Formation of infectious pseudotype particles was not observed. However, using a truncated variant of the transmembrane protein, lacking sequences of the carboxyl-terminal cytoplasmic domain, pseudotyped retroviruses were generated. Removal of the carboxyl-terminal domain of the transmembrane envelope protein of HIV-1 was therefore absolutely required for the generation of the viral pseudotypes. The virus was shown to infect CD4-expressing cell lines, and infection was prevented by antisera specific for gp120-SU. This retroviral vector should prove useful for the study of HIV infection events mediated by HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins, and for the targeting of CD4+ cells during gene therapy of AIDS.

Administration of helper-dependent adenoviral vectors and sequential delivery of different vector serotype for long-term liver-directed gene transfer in baboons

The efficiency of first-generation adenoviral vectors as gene delivery tools is often limited by the short duration of transgene expression, which can be related to immune responses and to toxic effects of viral proteins. In addition, readministration is usually ineffective unless the animals are immunocompromised or a different adenovirus serotype is used. Recently, adenoviral vectors devoid of all viral coding sequences (helper-dependent or gutless vectors) have been developed to avoid expression of viral proteins. In mice, liver-directed gene transfer with AdSTK109, a helper-dependent adenoviral (Ad) vector containing the human α1-antitrypsin (hAAT) gene, resulted in sustained expression for longer than 10 months with negligible toxicity to the liver. In the present report, we have examined the duration of expression of AdSTK109 in the liver of baboons and compared it to first-generation vectors expressing hAAT. Transgene expression was limited to approximately 3–5 months with the first-generation vectors. In contrast, administration of AdSTK109 resulted in transgene expression for longer than a year in two of three baboons. We have also investigated the feasibility of circumventing the humoral response to the virus by sequential administration of vectors of different serotypes. We found that the ineffectiveness of readministration due to the humoral response to an Ad5 first-generation vector was overcome by use of an Ad2-based vector expressing hAAT. These data suggest that long-term expression of transgenes should be possible by combining the reduced immunogenicity and toxicity of helper-dependent vectors with sequential delivery of vectors of different serotypes.

Intrastriatal injection of an adenoviral vector expressing glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor prevents dopaminergic neuron degeneration and behavioral impairment in a rat model of Parkinson disease

Glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent neurotrophic factor for adult nigral dopamine neurons in vivo. GDNF has both protective and restorative effects on the nigro-striatal dopaminergic (DA) system in animal models of Parkinson disease. Appropriate administration of this factor is essential for the success of its clinical application. Since it cannot cross the blood–brain barrier, a gene transfer method may be appropriate for delivery of the trophic factor to DA cells. We have constructed a recombinant adenovirus (Ad) encoding GDNF and injected it into rat striatum to make use of its ability to infect neurons and to be retrogradely transported by DA neurons. Ad-GDNF was found to drive production of large amounts of GDNF, as quantified by ELISA. The GDNF produced after gene transfer was biologically active: it increased the survival and differentiation of DA neurons in vitro. To test the efficacy of the Ad-mediated GDNF gene transfer in vivo, we used a progressive lesion model of Parkinson disease. Rats received injections unilaterally into their striatum first of Ad and then 6 days later of 6-hydroxydopamine. We found that mesencephalic nigral dopamine neurons of animals treated with the Ad-GDNF were protected, whereas those of animals treated with the Ad-β-galactosidase were not. This protection was associated with a difference in motor function: amphetamine-induced turning was much lower in animals that received the Ad-GDNF than in the animals that received Ad-β-galactosidase. This finding may have implications for the development of a treatment for Parkinson disease based on the use of neurotrophic factors.

Stable and efficient gene transfer into the retina using an HIV-based lentiviral vector

The development of methods for efficient gene transfer to terminally differentiated retinal cells is important to study the function of the retina as well as for gene therapy of retinal diseases. We have developed a lentiviral vector system based on the HIV that can transduce terminally differentiated neurons of the brain in vivo. In this study, we have evaluated the ability of HIV vectors to transfer genes into retinal cells. An HIV vector containing a gene encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was injected into the subretinal space of rat eyes. The GFP gene under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter was efficiently expressed in both photoreceptor cells and retinal pigment epithelium. However, the use of the rhodopsin promoter resulted in expression predominantly in photoreceptor cells. Most successfully transduced eyes showed that photoreceptor cells in >80% of the area of whole retina expressed the GFP. The GFP expression persisted for at least 12 weeks with no apparent decrease. The efficient gene transfer into photoreceptor cells by HIV vectors will be useful for gene therapy of retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Interleukin 12 and B7-1 costimulatory molecule expressed by an adenovirus vector act synergistically to facilitate tumor regression

Stimulation of antitumor immune mechanisms is the primary goal of cancer immunotherapy, and accumulating evidence suggests that effective alteration of the host–tumor relationship involves immunomodulating cytokines and also the presence of costimulatory molecules. To examine the antitumor effect of direct in vivo gene transfer of murine interleukin 12 (IL-12) and B7-1 into tumors, we developed an adenovirus (Ad) vector, AdIL12–B7-1, that encodes the two IL-12 subunits in early region 1 (E1) and the B7-1 gene in E3 under control of the murine cytomegalovirus promoter. This vector expressed high levels of IL-12 and B7-1 in infected murine and human cell lines and in primary murine tumor cells. In mice bearing tumors derived from a transgenic mouse mammary adenocarcinoma, a single intratumoral injection with a low dose (2.5 × 107 pfu/mouse) of AdIL12–B7-1 mediated complete regression in 70% of treated animals. By contrast, administration of a similar dose of recombinant virus encoding IL-12 or B7-1 alone resulted in only a delay in tumor growth. Interestingly, coinjection of two different viruses expressing either IL-12 or B7-1 induced complete tumor regression in only 30% of animals treated at this dose. Significantly, cured animals remained tumor free after rechallenge with fresh tumor cells, suggesting that protective immunity had been induced by treatment with AdIL12–B7-1. These results support the use of Ad vectors as a highly efficient delivery system for synergistically acting molecules and show that the combination of IL-12 and B7-1 within a single Ad vector might be a promising approach for in vivo cancer therapy.