Transformer is an algorithm that adopts self‐attention architecture in the neural networks and has been widely used in natural language processing. In the current study, we apply Transformer architecture to detect DNA methylation on ionic signals from Oxford Nanopore sequencing data. We evaluated this idea using real data sets (Escherichia colidata and the human genome NA12878 sequenced by Simpsonet al.) and demonstrated the ability of Transformers to detect methylation on ionic signal data. BackgroundOxford Nanopore long‐read sequencing technology addresses current limitations for DNA methylation detection that are inherent in short‐read bisulfite sequencing or methylation microarrays. A number of analytical tools, such as Nanopolish, Guppy/Tombo and DeepMod, have been developed to detect DNA methylation on Nanopore data. However, additional improvements can be made in computational efficiency, prediction accuracy, and contextual interpretation on complex genomics regions (such as repetitive regions, low GC density regions). MethodIn the current study, we apply Transformer architecture to detect DNA methylation on ionic signals from Oxford Nanopore sequencing data. Transformer is an algorithm that adopts self‐attention architecture in the neural networks and has been widely used in natural language processing. ResultsCompared to traditional deep‐learning method such as convolutional neural network (CNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN), Transformer may have specific advantages in DNA methylation detection, because the self‐attention mechanism can assist the relationship detection between bases that are far from each other and pay more attention to important bases that carry characteristic methylation‐specific signals within a specific sequence context. ConclusionWe demonstrated the ability of Transformers to detect methylation on ionic signal data.
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Coupled Systems for Modeling Rapport Between Interlocutors
This research work explores different machine learning techniques for recognizing the existence of rapport between two people engaged in a conversation, based on their facial expressions. First using artificially generated pairs of correlated data signals, a coupled gated recurrent unit (cGRU) neural network is developed to measure the extent of similarity between the temporal evolution of pairs of time-series signals. By pre-selecting their covariance values (between 0.1 and 1.0), pairs of coupled sequences are generated. Using the developed cGRU architecture, this covariance between the signals is successfully recovered. Using this and various other coupled architectures, tests for rapport (measured by the extent of mirroring and mimicking of behaviors) are conducted on real-life datasets. On fifty-nine (N = 59) pairs of interactants in an interview setting, a transformer based coupled architecture performs the best in determining the existence of rapport. To test for generalization, the models were applied on never-been-seen data collected 14 years prior, also to predict the existence of rapport. The coupled transformer model again performed the best for this transfer learning task, determining which pairs of interactants had rapport and which did not. The experiments and results demonstrate the advantages of coupled architectures for predicting an interactional process such as rapport, even in the presence of limited data.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1846076
- PAR ID:
- 10321198
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2021 16th IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (FG 2021)
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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