Recently, a support vector machine (SVM) has been receiving increasing attention in the field of regression estimation due to its remarkable characteristics such as good generalization performance, the absence of local minima and sparse representation of the solution. However, within the SVMs framework, there are very few established approaches for identifying important features. Selecting significant features from all candidate features is the first step in regression estimation, and this procedure can improve the network performance, reduce the network complexity, and speed up the training of the network.
This paper investigates the use of saliency analysis (SA) and genetic algorithm (GA) in SVMs for selecting important features in the context of regression estimation. The SA measures the importance of features by evaluating the sensitivity of the network output with respect to the feature input. The derivation of the sensitivity of the network output to the feature input in terms of the partial derivative in SVMs is presented, and a systematic approach to remove irrelevant features based on the sensitivity is developed. GA is an efficient search method based on the mechanics of natural selection and population genetics. A simple GA is used where all features are mapped into binary chromosomes with a bit "1" representing the inclusion of the feature and a bit of "0" representing the absence of the feature. The performances of SA and GA are tested using two simulated non-linear time series and five real financial time series. The experiments show that with the simulated data, GA and SA detect the same true feature set from the redundant feature set, and the method of SA is also insensitive to the kernel function selection. With the real financial data, GA and SA select different subsets of the features. Both selected feature sets achieve higher generation performance in SVMs than that of the full feature set. In addition, the generation performance between the selected feature sets of GA and SA is similar. All the results demonstrate that that both SA and GA are effective in the SVMs for identifying important features.
This paper proposes an endogenous human resources selection process by using linguistic information from a competency management perspective. We consider different sets of appraisers taking part in the evaluation process, having a different knowledge about the candidates that are being evaluated. Then, appraisers can express their assessments in different linguistic domains according to their knowledge. The proposed method converts each linguistic label into a fuzzy set on a common domain. Candidates are ranked by using different aggregation operators in order to allow the management team to make a final decision.
5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is involved in the stress-induced alteration of colonic functions, specifically motility and secretion, but its precise mechanisms of regulation remain unclear. In the present study, we have investigated the effects of 5-HT on rat colonic mucosal secretion after acute water immersion restraint stress, as well as the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon, using short circuit current recording (ISC), real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis, and enzyme-linked immunosorbance assays. After 2 h of water immersion restraint stress, the baseline ISC and 5-HT-induced ISC responses of the colonic mucosa were significantly increased. Pretreatment with selective 5-HT4 receptor antagonist, SB204070, inhibited the 5-HT-induced colonic ISC response by 96 % in normal rats and 91.2 % in acute-stress rats. However, pretreatment with the selective antagonist of 5-HT3 receptor, MDL72222 or Y-25130, had no obvious effect on 5-HT-induced ISC responses under either set of conditions. Total protein expression of both the mucosal 5-HT3 receptors and the 5-HT4 receptors underwent no significant changes following acute stress. Both colonic basal cAMP levels and foskolin-induced ISC responses were significantly enhanced in acute stress rats. 5-HT significantly enhanced the intracellular cAMP level via 5-HT4 receptors in the colonic mucosa from both control and stressed animals, and 5-HT-induced cAMP increase in stressed rats was not more than that in control rats. Taken together, the present results indicate that acute water immersion restraint stress enhances colonic secretory responses to 5-HT in rats, a process in which increased cellular cAMP accumulation is involved., Y. Li, L. S. Li, X. L. Zhang, Y. Zhang, J. D. Xu, J. X. Zhu., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A major cause of a surface damage of the contact loading machine components (bearings, gears, cams etc.) is the rolling contact fatigue, Various methods of condition monitoring are used to detect damage of these components or specimens in the industry or during testing in laboratories. In the past decades, the acoustic emission technique has been developed into useful condition monitoring method. This paper is focused on the testing of rolling contact fatigue of the metallic materials using acoustic emission method. The methodology of testing, experimenal test-rig and preliminary results, are presented in this paper. It can be concluded, that acoustic emission technique can be applied for more accurate rolling contact fatique evaluation of material. and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Vitamin D is synthesised in the skin during exposure to sunlight and its fundamental roles are the regulation of calcium and phosphate metabolism and bone mineralisation. The aim of our study was to evaluate serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 , PTH and bone turnover markers (P1NP, OC, β -CTx, OC/ β -CTx) and the intake of calcium and vitamin D in Polish Professional Football League (Ekstraklasa) players and in young men with a low level of physical activity. Fifty healthy men aged 19 to 34 years were included in the study. We showed that 25(OH)D3 and P1NP levels and OC/ β -CTx were higher in the group of professional football players than in the group of phys ically inactive men. The daily vitamin D and calcium intake in th e group of professional football players was also higher. We showed a significant relationship between 25(OH)D3 levels and body mass, body cell mass, total body water, fat-free mass, muscle mass, vitamin D and calcium intake. Optimum 25(OH)D3 levels were observed in a mere 16.7 % of the football players and vitamin D deficiency was observed in the physically inactive men. The level of physical activity, body composition, calcium and vitamin D intake and the duration of exposure to sunlight may significantly affect serum levels of 25(OH)D3 ., K. Solarz ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The velocities of the Global Positioning System (GPS) stations are widely employed for numerous geodynamical studies. The aim of this paper is to investigate the reliability of station velocities and to draw reader’s attention that for proper estimates of velocity, we need to consider the optimal character of noise. We focus on a set of 115 European GPS stations which contributed to the newest release of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), i.e. ITRF2014. Based on stacked Power Spectral Densities (PSDs), we show that amplitudes o f seasonal signals are significant for nine harmonics of tropical year (365.25 days) and two harmonics of draconitic year (351.60 days). The amplitudes of tropical annual signal fall between 0.1-8.4 mm and are much higher for vertical component than for horizontal. Draconitic annual signal reaches the maximum amplitudes of 1.2 and 0.9 mm for North and East, respectively, whereas is slightly higher for the Up component with a maximum of 3.1 mm. We performed a noise analysis with Maximum Like lihood Estimation (MLE) and found that stations in Central and Northern Europe are characterized by spectral index between flicker and random-walk noise, while stations in Southern and Western Europe: between white and flicker noise. Both amplitudes and spectral indices of power-law noise show a spatial correlation for Up component. We compared the uncertainties of velocities derived in this study with a combination of power-law and white noises to the ones offici ally released in the ITRF2014 with a pure white noise. A ratio of the two estimates is larger than 10 for 13 % and 30 % of stations in horizontal and vertical direction, respectively with medians of 6 and 7. The large differences support the fact that at the velocity determination the proper noise characteristic should be taken into account to avoid any mislead interpretation., Anna Klos and Janusz Bogusz., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) play crucial role in the regulation of drug metabolizing enzymes and in many essential physiological processes. Cellular signaling by these receptors shares several functional and regulatory features. Here we investigated regulatory cross-talk between these two receptors. Human hepatoma cells (HepG2) were the model of choice. We analyzed the effects of dexamethasone (DEX) and dioxin (TCDD) on i) expression of AhR and GRα mRNAs; ii) levels of AhR and GR proteins; iii) transcriptional activities of AhR and GR in reporter assays; iv) 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity (EROD). We found that both DEX and TCDD affected AhR and GR mRNAs expression, proteins levels and transcriptional activities in HepG2 cells. These effects on cellular signaling by AhR and GR comprised up-/down-regulation of gene expression and ligand-dependent protein degradation. We conclude that interactive regulatory cross-talk between GR and AhR receptors in HepG2 cells defines possible implications in physiology and drug metabolism. Future research should be focused on the investigation of AhR-GR cross-talk in various normal human cells and tissues both in vitro and in vivo., Z. Dvořák, R. Vrzal, P. Pávek, J. Ulrichová., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliigrafické odkazy
In this paper, a mechanism of adaptive width adjustment based on immunological vaccination is proposed for the evolutionary training of RBF neural networks. Inspired by the vaccination process of the natural immune system, the algorithm implements an individual-orientated adaptation of the width in training stages to optimize the potential solutions, therefore reinforces the evolutionary capability and efficiency. A two-layer genotype-coding scheme, which enables a simultaneous evolution of network structure and parameters, is presented to achieve a compact and consistent-in-form solution. The proposed learning strategy is tested on several benchmark problems and results demonstrate promise.