Abstract: Error Correcting Output Codes (ECOC) represent a successful framework to deal with multi-class categorization problems based on combining binary classifiers. In this paper, we present a new formulation of the ternary ECOC distance and the error-correcting capabilities in the ternary ECOC framework. Based on the new measure, we stress on how to design coding matrices preventing codification ambiguity and propose a new Sparse Random coding matrix with ternary distance maximization. The results on the UCI Repository and in a real speed traffic categorization problem show that when the coding design satisfies the new ternary measures, significant performance improvement is obtained independently of the decoding strategy applied.

Abstract: A programme for evaluation of intestinal motility has been recently developed based on endoluminal image analysis using computer vision methodology and machine learning techniques. Our aim was to determine the effect of intestinal muscle inhibition on wall motion, dynamics of luminal content and transit in the small bowel. Fourteen healthy subjects ingested the endoscopic capsule (Pillcam, Given Imaging) in fasting conditions. Seven of them received glucagon (4.8 microg kg(-1) bolus followed by a 9.6 microg kg(-1) h(-1) infusion during 1 h) and in the other seven, fasting activity was recorded, as controls. This dose of glucagon has previously shown to inhibit both tonic and phasic intestinal motor activity. Endoluminal image and displacement was analyzed by means of a computer vision programme specifically developed for the evaluation of muscular activity (contractile and non-contractile patterns), intestinal contents, endoluminal motion and transit. Thirty-minute periods before, during and after glucagon infusion were analyzed and compared with equivalent periods in controls. No differences were found in the parameters measured during the baseline (pretest) periods when comparing glucagon and control experiments. During glucagon infusion, there was a significant reduction in contractile activity (0.2 +/- 0.1 vs 4.2 +/- 0.9 luminal closures per min, P < 0.05; 0.4 +/- 0.1 vs 3.4 +/- 1.2% of images with radial wrinkles, P < 0.05) and a significant reduction of endoluminal motion (82 +/- 9 vs 21 +/- 10% of static images, P < 0.05). Endoluminal image analysis, by means of computer vision and machine learning techniques, can reliably detect reduced intestinal muscle activity and motion.

Abstract: Human arteries affected by atherosclerosis are characterized by altered wall viscoelastic properties. The possibility of noninvasively assessing arterial viscoelasticity in vivo would significantly contribute to the early diagnosis and prevention of this disease. This paper presents a noniterative technique to estimate the viscoelastic parameters of a vascular wall Zener model. The approach requires the simultaneous measurement of flow variations and wall displacements, which can be provided by suitable ultrasound Doppler instruments. Viscoelastic parameters are estimated by fitting the theoretical constitutive equations to the experimental measurements using an ARMA parameter approach. The accuracy and sensitivity of the proposed method are tested using reference data generated by numerical simulations of arterial pulsation in which the physiological conditions and the viscoelastic parameters of the model can be suitably varied. The estimated values quantitatively agree with the reference values, showing that the only parameter affected by changing the physiological conditions is viscosity, whose relative error was about 27% even when a poor signal-to-noise ratio is simulated. Finally, the feasibility of the method is illustrated through three measurements made at different flow regimes on a cylindrical vessel phantom, yielding a parameter mean estimation error of 25%.