Jem J. Rowland

Bio: Jem J. Rowland is an academic researcher from Aberystwyth University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Partial least squares regression & Genetic programming. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 47 publications receiving 3151 citations. Previous affiliations of Jem J. Rowland include University of Wales.

A functional genomics strategy that uses metabolome data to reveal the phenotype of silent mutations

Abstract: A large proportion of the 6,000 genes present in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and of those sequenced in other organisms, encode proteins of unknown function. Many of these genes are "silent," that is, they show no overt phenotype, in terms of growth rate or other fluxes, when they are deleted from the genome. We demonstrate how the intracellular concentrations of metabolites can reveal phenotypes for proteins active in metabolic regulation. Quantification of the change of several metabolite concentrations relative to the concentration change of one selected metabolite can reveal the site of action, in the metabolic network, of a silent gene. In the same way, comprehensive analyses of metabolite concentrations in mutants, providing "metabolic snapshots," can reveal functions when snapshots from strains deleted for unstudied genes are compared to those deleted for known genes. This approach to functional analysis, using comparative metabolomics, we call FANCY—an abbreviation for functional analysis by co-responses in yeast.

Genetic algorithms as a method for variable selection in multiple linear regression and partial leas

Abstract: Abstract Four optimising methods for variable selection in multivariate calibration have been described: one for determining the optimal subset of variables to give the best possible root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) in a multiple linear regression (MLR) model, the second for determining the optimal subset of variables which produce a model with RMSEP less than or equal to a given value. Algorithms three and four were identical to algorithms one and two, respectively, except that this time they use a cost function derived from a partial least squares (PLS) model rather than an MLR model. Applied to a typical set of pyrolysis mass spectrometry data the first variable selection method is shown to reduce the RMSEP of the optimal MLR or PLS model significantly when the number of variables is decreased by approximately half. Alternatively, the number of variables may be reduced substantially (> 10-fold) with no loss in RMSEP.

Rapid identification of Streptococcus and Enterococcus species using diffuse reflectance-absorbance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and artificial neural networks.

Abstract: Diffuse reflectance-absorbance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to analyse 19 hospital isolates which had been identified by conventional means to one Enterococcus faecalis, E faecium, Streptococcus bovis, S mitis, S pneumoniae, or S pyogenes Principal components analysis of the FT-IR spectra showed that this 'unsupervised' learning method failed to form six separable clusters (one of each species) and thus could not be used to identify these bacteria base on their FT-IR spectra By contrast, artificial neural networks (ANNs) could be trained by 'supervised' learning (using the back-propagation algorithm) with the principal components scores of derivatised spectra to recognise the strains from their FT-IR spectra These results demonstrate that the combination of FT-IR and ANNs provides a rapid, novel and accurate bacterial identification technique

Active learning for regression based on query by committee

Abstract: We investigate a committee-based approach for active learning of real-valued functions. This is a variance-only strategy for selection of informative training data. As such it is shown to suffer when the model class is misspecified since the learner's bias is high. Conversely, the strategy outperforms passive selection when the model class is very expressive since active minimization of the variance avoids overfitting.

Active Learning Literature Survey

Abstract: The key idea behind active learning is that a machine learning algorithm can achieve greater accuracy with fewer training labels if it is allowed to choose the data from which it learns. An active learner may pose queries, usually in the form of unlabeled data instances to be labeled by an oracle (e.g., a human annotator). Active learning is well-motivated in many modern machine learning problems, where unlabeled data may be abundant or easily obtained, but labels are difficult, time-consuming, or expensive to obtain. This report provides a general introduction to active learning and a survey of the literature. This includes a discussion of the scenarios in which queries can be formulated, and an overview of the query strategy frameworks proposed in the literature to date. An analysis of the empirical and theoretical evidence for successful active learning, a summary of problem setting variants and practical issues, and a discussion of related topics in machine learning research are also presented.

Metabolomics - the link between genotypes and phenotypes

Abstract: Metabolites are the end products of cellular regulatory processes, and their levels can be regarded as the ultimate response of biological systems to genetic or environmental changes. In parallel to the terms ‘transcriptome’ and ‘proteome’, the set of metabolites synthesized by a biological system constitute its ‘metabolome’. Yet, unlike other functional genomics approaches, the unbiased simultaneous identification and quantification of plant metabolomes has been largely neglected. Until recently, most analyses were restricted to profiling selected classes of compounds, or to fingerprinting metabolic changes without sufficient analytical resolution to determine metabolite levels and identities individually. As a prerequisite for metabolomic analysis, careful consideration of the methods employed for tissue extraction, sample preparation, data acquisition, and data mining must be taken. In this review, the differences among metabolite target analysis, metabolite profiling, and metabolic fingerprinting are clarified, and terms are defined. Current approaches are examined, and potential applications are summarized with a special emphasis on data mining and mathematical modelling of metabolism.

The druggable genome

Abstract: An assessment of the number of molecular targets that represent an opportunity for therapeutic intervention is crucial to the development of post-genomic research strategies within the pharmaceutical industry. Now that we know the size of the human genome, it is interesting to consider just how many molecular targets this opportunity represents. We start from the position that we understand the properties that are required for a good drug, and therefore must be able to understand what makes a good drug target.