Recovery and grade prediction of pilot plant flotation column concentrate by a hybrid neural genetic algorithm

Today flotation column has become an acceptable means of froth flotation for a fairly broad range of applications, in particular the cleaning of sulfides. Even after having been used for several years in mineral processing plants, the full potential of the flotation column process is still not fully exploited. There is no prediction of process performance for the complete use of available control capabilities. The on-line estimation of grade usually requires a significant amount of work in maintenance and calibration of on-stream analyzers, in order to maintain good accuracy and high availability. These difficulties and the high cost of investment and maintenance of these devices have encouraged the approach of prediction of metal grade and recovery. In this paper, a new approach has been proposed for metallurgical performance prediction in flotation columns using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Despite of the wide range of applications and flexibility of NNs, there is still no general framework or procedure through which the appropriate network for a specific task can be designed. Design and structural optimization of NNs is still strongly dependent upon the designer's experience. To mitigate this problem, a new method for the auto-design of NNs was used, based on Genetic Algorithm (GA). The new proposed method was evaluated by a case study in pilot plant flotation column at Sarcheshmeh copper plant. The chemical reagents dosage, froth height, air, wash water flow rates, gas holdup, Cu grade in the rougher feed, flotation column feed, column tail and final concentrate streams were used to the simulation by GANN. In this work, multi-layer NNs with Back Propagation (BP) algorithm with 8-17-10-2 and 8- 13-6-2 arrangements have been applied to predict the Cu and Mo grades and recoveries, respectively. The correlation coefficient (R) values for the testing sets for Cu and Mo grades were 0.93, 0.94 and for their recoveries were 0.93, 0.92, respectively. The results discussed in this paper indicate that the proposed model can be used to predict the Cu and Mo grades and recoveries with a reasonable error.

Analysis of Genetic Effects of Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Interaction on Quantitative Traits:Genetic Model for Diploid Plants

A genetic model was proposed for simultaneously analyzing genetic effects of nuclear, cytoplasm, and nuclear-cytoplasmic interaction （NCI） as well as their genotype by environment （GE） interaction for quantitative traits of diploid plants. In the model, the NCI effects were further partitioned into additive and dominance nuclear-cytoplasmic interaction components. Mixed linear model approaches were used for statistical analysis. On the basis of diallel cross designs, Monte Carlo simulations showed that the genetic model was robust for estimating variance components under several situations without specific effects. Random genetic effects were predicted by an adjusted unbiased prediction （AUP） method. Data on four quantitative traits （boll number, lint percentage, fiber length, and micronaire） in Upland cotton （Gossypium hirsutum L.） were analyzed as a worked example to show the effectiveness of the model.

Nonlinear model predictive control based on support vector machine and genetic algorithm

This paper presents a nonlinear model predictive control(NMPC) approach based on support vector machine(SVM) and genetic algorithm(GA) for multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) nonlinear systems.Individual SVM is used to approximate each output of the controlled plant Then the model is used in MPC control scheme to predict the outputs of the controlled plant.The optimal control sequence is calculated using GA with elite preserve strategy.Simulation results of a typical MIMO nonlinear system show that this method has a good ability of set points tracking and disturbance rejection.

Genetically predicted waist circumference and risk of atrial fibrillation

Introduction:Observational studies have revealed an association between waist circumference(WC)and atrial fibrillation(AF).However,it is difficult to infer a causal relationship from observational studies because the observed associations could be confounded by unknown risk factors.Therefore,the causal role of WC in AF is unclear.This study was designed to investigate the causal association between WC and AF using a two-sample Mendelian randomization(MR)analysis.Methods:In our two-sample MR analysis,the genetic variation used as an instrumental variable for MR was acquired from a genome-wide association study(GWAS)of WC(42 single nucleotide polymorphisms with a genetic significance of P<5×10^(-8)).The data of WC(from the Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits consortium,containing 232,101 participants)and the data of AF(from the European Bioinformatics Institute database,containing 55,114 AF cases and 482,295 controls)were used to assess the causal role of WC on AF.Three different approaches(inverse variance weighted[IVW],MR-Egger,and weighted median regression)were used to ensure that our results more reliable.Results:All three MR analyses provided evidence of a positive causal association between high WC and AF.High WC was suggested to increase the risk of AF based on the IVW method(odds ratio[OR]=1.43,95%confidence interval[CI],1.30-1.58,P=2.51×10^(-13)).The results of MR-Egger and weighted median regression exhibited similar trends(MR-Egger OR=1.40[95%CI,1.08-1.81],P=1.61×10^(-2);weighted median OR=1.39[95%CI,1.21-1.61],P=1.62×10^(-6)).MR-Egger intercepts and funnel plots showed no directional pleiotropic effects between high WC and AF.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that greater WC is associated with an increased risk of AF.Taking measures to reduce WC may help prevent the occurrence of AF.

A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR PREDICTING DISTRIBUTION OF TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES USING INFERENTIAL MODELING

A new technique for predicting species' geographic distribution is described.The approach involves 3 steps:①setting up geographic base data;②collecting and georeferencing distributional points;③modeling ecological niches using the biodiversity species workshop implementation of the genetic algorithm for rule set prediction (GARP).To illustrate these procedures,an example based on the Brown Eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon mantchuricum) is developed.This technique constitutes a useful tool for assessing geographic distribution for questions of ecology,biogeography,systematics,and conservation biology.

Ensemble Prediction of Monsoon Index with a Genetic Neural Network Model

After the consideration of the nonlinear nature changes of monsoon index,and the subjective determination of network structure in traditional artificial neural network prediction modeling,monthly and seasonal monsoon intensity index prediction is studied in this paper by using nonlinear genetic neural network ensemble prediction（GNNEP）modeling.It differs from traditional prediction modeling in the following aspects： （1）Input factors of the GNNEP model of monsoon index were selected from a large quantity of preceding period high correlation factors,such as monthly sea temperature fields,monthly 500-hPa air temperature fields,monthly 200-hPa geopotential height fields,etc.,and they were also highly information-condensed and system dimensionality-reduced by using the empirical orthogonal function（EOF）method,which effectively condensed the useful information of predictors and therefore controlled the size of network structure of the GNNEP model.（2）In the input design of the GNNEP model,a mean generating function（MGF）series of predictand（monsoon index）was added as an input factor;the contrast analysis of results of predic- tion experiments by a physical variable predictor-predictand MGF GNNEP model and a physical variable predictor GNNEP model shows that the incorporation of the periodical variation of predictand（monsoon index）is very effective in improving the prediction of monsoon index.（3）Different from the traditional neural network modeling,the GNNEP modeling is able to objectively determine the network structure of the GNNNEP model,and the model constructed has a better generalization capability.In the case of identical predictors,prediction modeling samples,and independent prediction samples,the prediction accuracy of our GNNEP model combined with the system dimensionality reduction technique of predictors is clearly higher than that of the traditional stepwise regression model using the traditional treatment technique of predictors,suggesting that the GNNEP model opens up a vast range of possibilities for operational weather prediction.

An ensemble-based likelihood ratio approach for family-based genomic risk prediction

Objective: As one of the most popular designs used in genetic research, family-based design has been well recognized for its advantages, such as robustness against population stratification and admixture. With vast amounts of genetic data collected from family-based studies, there is a great interest in studying the role of genetic markers from the aspect of risk prediction. This study aims to develop a new statistical approach for family-based risk prediction analysis with an improved prediction accuracy compared with existing methods based on family history. Methods: In this study, we propose an ensemble-based likelihood ratio(ELR) approach, Fam-ELR, for family-based genomic risk prediction. Fam-ELR incorporates a clustered receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve method to consider correlations among family samples, and uses a computationally efficient tree-assembling procedure for variable selection and model building. Results: Through simulations, Fam-ELR shows its robustness in various underlying disease models and pedigree structures, and attains better performance than two existing family-based risk prediction methods. In a real-data application to a family-based genome-wide dataset of conduct disorder, Fam-ELR demonstrates its ability to integrate potential risk predictors and interactions into the model for improved accuracy, especially on a genome-wide level. Conclusions: By comparing existing approaches, such as genetic risk-score approach, Fam-ELR has the capacity of incorporating genetic variants with small or moderate marginal effects and their interactions into an improved risk prediction model. Therefore, it is a robust and useful approach for high-dimensional family-based risk prediction, especially on complex disease with unknown or less known disease etiology.