Daniel Howard

Target detection in SAR imagery by genetic programming

Abstract The automatic detection of ships in low-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is investigated in this article. The detector design objectives are to maximise detection accuracy across multiple images, to minimise the computational effort during image processing, and to minimise the effort during the design stage. The results of an extensive numerical study show that a novel approach, using genetic programming (GP), successfully evolves detectors which satisfy the earlier objectives. Each detector represents an algebraic formula and thus the principles of detection can be discovered and reused. This is a major advantage over artificial intelligence techniques which use more complicated representations, e.g. neural networks.

Evolving Modules in Genetic Programming by Subtree Encapsulation

In tree-based genetic programming (GP), the most frequent subtrees on later generations are likely to constitute useful partial solutions. This paper investigates the effect of encapsulating such subtrees by representing them as atoms in the terminal set, so that the subtree evaluations can be exploited as terminal data. The encapsulation scheme is compared against a second scheme which depends on random subtree selection. Empirical results show that both schemes improve upon standard GP.

Pragmatic Genetic Programming strategy for the problem of vehicle detection in airborne reconnaissance

A Genetic Programming (GP) method uses multiple runs, data decomposition stages, to evolve a hierarchical set of vehicle detectors for the automated inspection of infrared line scan imagery that has been obtained by a low flying aircraft. The performance on the scheme using two different sets of GP terminals (all are rotationally invariant statistics of pixel data) is compared on 10 images. The discrete Fourier transform set is found to be marginally superior to the simpler statistics set that includes an edge detector. An analysis of detector formulae provides insight on vehicle detection principles. In addition, a promising family of algorithms that take advantage of the GP methods ability to prescribe an advantageous solution architecture is developed as a post-processor. These algorithms selectively reduce false alarms by exploring context, and determine the amount of contextual information that is required for this task.

Evolution of Ship Detectors for Satellite SAR Imagery

A two-stage evolution scheme is proposed to obtain an object-detector for an image analysis task, and is applied to the problem of ship detection by inspection of the SAR images taken by satellites. The scheme: (1) affords practical evolution times, (2) is structured to discover fast automatic detectors, (3) can produce small detectors that shed light into the nature of the detection. Detectors compare favorably in accuracy to those obtained using a SOM neural network.

Evolution of Vehicle Detectors for Infrared Line Scan Imagery

The paper addresses an important and difficult problem of object recognition in poorly constrained environments and with objects having large variability. This research uses genetic programming (GP) to develop automatic object detectors. The task is to detect vehicles in infrared line scan (IRLS) images gathered by low flying aircraft. This is a difficult task due to the diversity of vehicles and the environments in which they can occur, and because images vary with numerous factors including fly-over, temporal and weather characteristics. A novel multi-stage approach is presented which addresses automatic feature detection, automatic object segregation, rotation invariance and generalisation across diverse objects whilst discriminating from a myriad of potential non-objects. The approach does not require imagery to be pre-processed.

Overview of Object Detection and Image Analysis by Means of Genetic Programming Techniques

This paper reviews the existing work in genetic programming for object detection and image analysis. It shortly introduces the reader into the fundamentals of evolutionary computation and presents the basics of the genetic programming paradigm (GP), providing a rationale for the use of GP within computer vision and pattern recognition, particularly when applied to object detection and image analysis. It reviews the past research on GP for vision, referring to real-world applications where possible. It outlines possible further research directions.

MODULARIZATION BY MULTI-RUN FREQUENCY DRIVEN SUBTREE ENCAPSULATION

In tree-based Genetic Programming, subtrees which represent potentially useful sub-solutions can be encapsulated in order to protect them and aid their prolifer-ation throughout the population. This paper investigates implementing this as a multi-run method. A two-stage encapsulation scheme based on subtree survival and frequency is compared against Automatically Defined Functions in fixed and evolved architectures and standard Genetic Programming for solving a Parity problem.

MALDI-TOF baseline drift removal using stochastic bernstein approximation

Stochastic Bernstein (SB) approximation can tackle the problem of baseline drift correction of instrumentation data. This is demonstrated for spectral data: matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) data. Two SB schemes for removing the baseline drift are presented: iterative and direct. Following an explanation of the origin of the MALDI-TOF baseline drift that sheds light on the inherent difficulty of its removal by chemical means, SB baseline drift removal is illustrated for both proteomics and genomics MALDI-TOF data sets. SB is an elegant signal processing method to obtain a numerically straightforward baseline shift removal method as it includes a free parameter that can be optimized for different baseline drift removal applications. Therefore, research that determines putative biomarkers from the spectral data might benefit from a sensitivity analysis to the underlying spectral measurement that is made possible by varying the SB free parameter. This can be manually tuned (for constant) or tuned with evolutionary computation (for).

Evolutionary computation method for pattern recognition of cis-acting sites.

This paper develops an evolutionary method that learns inductively to recognize the makeup and the position of very short consensus sequences, cis-acting sites, which are a typical feature of promoters in genomes. The method combines a Finite State Automata (FSA) and Genetic Programming (GP) to discover candidate promoter sequences in primary sequence data. An experiment measures the success of the method for promoter prediction in the human genome. This class of method can take large base pair jumps and this may enable it to process very long genomic sequences to discover gene specific cis-acting sites, and genes which are regulated together.

Advances in Hybrid Information Technology

Data Analysis, Modelling, and Learning.- Taking Class Importance into Account.- Tolerance Based Templates for Information Systems: Foundations and Perspectives.- Reduction Based Symbolic Value Partition.- Investigative Data Mining for Counterterrorism.- Data Integration Using Lazy Types.- Data Generalization Algorithm for the Extraction of Road Horizontal Alignment Design Elements Using the GPS/INS Data.- Personalized E-Learning Process Using Effective Assessment and Feedback.- Optimally Pricing European Options with Real Distributions.- Applying Stated Preference Methods to Investigate Effects of Traffic Information on Route Choice.- A Study on Determining the Priorities of ITS Services Using Analytic Hierarchy and Network Processes.- An Introduction of Indicator Variables and Their Application to the Characteristics of Congested Traffic Flow at the Merge Area.- Imaging, Speech, and Complex Data.- Image Resize Application of Novel Stochastic Methods of Function Recovery.- Automatic Face Analysis System Based on Face Recognition and Facial Physiognomy.- Moving Cast Shadow Elimination Algorithm Using Principal Component Analysis in Vehicle Surveillance Video.- Automatic Marker-Driven Three Dimensional Watershed Transform for Tumor Volume Measurement.- A Study on the Medical Image Transmission Service Based on IEEE 802.15.4a.- Detecting Image Based Spam Email.- Efficient Fixed Codebook Search Method for ACELP Speech Codecs.- Conventional Beamformer Using Post-filter for Speech Enhancement.- Bandwidth Extension of a Narrowband Speech Coder for Music Delivery over IP.- A User-Oriented GIS Search Service Using Ontology in Location-Based Services.- A Filtered Retrieval Technique for Structural Information.- Applications of Artificial Intelligence.- An Analysis of a Lymphoma/Leukaemia Dataset Using Rough Sets and Neural Networks.- A Frequency Adaptive Packet Wavelet Coder for Still Images Using CNN.- Reduced RBF Centers Based Multi-user Detection in DS-CDMA Systems.- Approximate Life Cycle Assessment of Product Concepts Using a Hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Neural Network Approach.- A Solution for Bi-level Network Design Problem Through Nash Genetic Algorithm.- An Alternative Measure of Public Transport Accessibility Based on Space Syntax.- Adaptive Routing Algorithm Using Evolution Program for Multiple Shortest Paths in DRGS.- Particle Swarm Optimization for a Multi-UCAV Cooperative Task Scheduling.- Expert System Using Fuzzy Petri Nets in Computer Forensics.- MMORPG Map Evaluation Using Pedestrian Agents.- The Analysis of Game Playing Experiences: Focusing on Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.- Hybrid, Smart, and Ubiquitous Systems.- How to Overcome Main Obstacles to Building a Virtual Telematics Center.- Real-Time Travel Time Estimation Using Automatic Vehicle Identification Data in Hong Kong.- A Context-Aware Elevator Scheduling System for Smart Apartment Buildings.- A MOM-Based Home Automation Platform.- An Error Sharing Agent for Multimedia Collaboration Environment Running on Pervasive Networks.- A Hybrid Intelligent Multimedia Service Framework in Next Generation Home Network Environment.- Integration of Artificial Market Simulation and Text Mining for Market Analysis.- Agent-Based Intelligent Decision Support for the Home Healthcare Environment.- An Aware-Environment Enhanced Group Home: AwareRium.- The Situation Dependent Application Areas of EPC Sensor Network in u-Healthcare.- Ubiquitous Healthcare System Using Context Information Based on the DOGF.- Hardware and Software Engineering.- Load Balancing Using Dynamic Replication Scheme for the Distributed Object Group.- Design and Implementation of a Performance Analysis and Visualization Toolkit for Cluster Environments.- Enterprise Application Framework for Constructing Secure RFID Application.- A GDB-Based Real-Time Tracing Tool for Remote Debugging of SoC Programs.- A Novel Buffer Cache Scheme Using Java Card Object with High Locality for Efficient Java Card Applications.- Design and Implementation of the Decompiler for Virtual Machine Code of the C++ Compiler in the Ubiquitous Game Platform.- Mobile Pharmacology.- Wireless Control System for Pet Dogs in a Residential Environment.- Intelligent Embedded Real-Time Software Architecture for Dynamic Skill Selection and Identification in Multi-shaped Robots.- Networking and Telecommunications.- The Accurate Performance Evaluation of Time Hopping UWB Systems with Pulse Based Polarity.- Improvement of Adaptive Modulation System with Optimal Turbo Coded V-BLAST Technique.- Header Compression of RTP/UDP/IP Packets for Real Time High-Speed IP Networks.- Repetition Coding Aided Time-Domain Cancellation for Inter-Carrier Interference Reduction in OFDM Systems.- On Scheduling Transmissions for Hidden Terminal Problems in Dynamic RFID Systems.- Efficient RFID Authentication Protocol for Minimizing RFID Tag Computation.- Design of WLAN Secure System Against Weaknesses of the IEEE 802.1x.- A Sophisticated Base Station Centralized Simple Clustering Protocol for Sensor Networks.- Plus-Tree: A Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks.- Optimization and Routing Discovery for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks: A Cross Layer Approach.- Analysis of the Characteristics of Rain Attenuation in the 12.25GHz Band for Wireless Networking.