Convex-Cone Classification of Pyrolysis Mass Spectra of Biological Agents

Abstract : This work addressed the classification of biological samples using high-dimensional, time-dependent pyrolysis mass spectra. The data were projected onto a low-dimensional subspace using singular value decomposition. Then, a convex cone was formed on this subspace showing, as its corners, physically meaningful components of the sample. This technique enabled separation of a biological-material signal, largely independent of the absolute amount of sample. The detection of the presence of any biological material could be accomplished based on the convex cone alone, without other reference to the mass spectra. Automated clustering of samples was successfully carried out using a minimal spanning tree. Pyrolysis, Subspaces, Biological material identification, Convexity, Mass spectroscopy, Cones, Multivariate analysis.