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1307.2200
Inconsistency and Accuracy of Heuristics with A* Search
cs.AI
Many studies in heuristic search suggest that the accuracy of the heuristic used has a positive impact on improving the performance of the search. In another direction, historical research perceives that the performance of heuristic search algorithms, such as A* and IDA*, can be improved by requiring the heuristics to be consistent -- a property satisfied by any perfect heuristic. However, a few recent studies show that inconsistent heuristics can also be used to achieve a large improvement in these heuristic search algorithms. These results leave us a natural question: which property of heuristics, accuracy or consistency/inconsistency, should we focus on when building heuristics? While there are studies on the heuristic accuracy with the assumption of consistency, no studies on both the inconsistency and the accuracy of heuristics are known to our knowledge. In this study, we investigate the relationship between the inconsistency and the accuracy of heuristics with A* search. Our analytical result reveals a correlation between these two properties. We then run experiments on the domain for the Knapsack problem with a family of practical heuristics. Our empirical results show that in many cases, the more accurate heuristics also have higher level of inconsistency and result in fewer node expansions by A*.
1307.2202
TDOA assisted RSSD based localization using UWB and directional antennas
cs.IT math.IT
This paper studies the use of directional antennas for received signal strength difference (RSSD) based localization using ultra-wideband and demonstrates the achievable accuracy with this localization method applied to UWB. As introduced in our previous work the RSSD localization is assisted with one Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) estimation. The use of directional receiving antennas and an omni-directional transmitting antenna is assumed. Localization is performed in 2D. Two localization approaches are considered: RSSD using statistical channel model and fingerprinting approach. In the case of statistical channel model simulations are performed using Matlab. In the case of fingerprinting approach localization is done based on real indoor-measurements.
1307.2203
Self-organization versus top-down planning in the evolution of a city
physics.soc-ph cond-mat.dis-nn cs.SI nlin.AO
Interventions of central, top-down planning are serious limitations to the possibility of modelling the dynamics of cities. An example is the city of Paris (France), which during the 19th century experienced large modifications supervised by a central authority, the `Haussmann period'. In this article, we report an empirical analysis of more than 200 years (1789-2010) of the evolution of the street network of Paris. We show that the usual network measures display a smooth behavior and that the most important quantitative signatures of central planning is the spatial reorganization of centrality and the modification of the block shape distribution. Such effects can only be obtained by structural modifications at a large-scale level, with the creation of new roads not constrained by the existing geometry. The evolution of a city thus seems to result from the superimposition of continuous, local growth processes and punctual changes operating at large spatial scales.
1307.2228
The MacWilliams identity for $m$-spotty weight enumerator over $\mathbb{F}_2+u\mathbb{F}_2+\cdots+u^{m-1}\mathbb{F}_2$
cs.IT math.IT
Past few years have seen an extensive use of RAM chips with wide I/O data (e.g. 16, 32, 64 bits) in computer memory systems. These chips are highly vulnerable to a special type of byte error, called an $m$-spotty byte error, which can be effectively detected or corrected using byte error-control codes. The MacWilliams identity provides the relationship between the weight distribution of a code and that of its dual. The main purpose of this paper is to present a version of the MacWilliams identity for $m$-spotty weight enumerators over $\mathbbm{F}_{2}+u\mathbbm{F}_{2}+\cdots+u^{m-1}\mathbbm{F}_{2}$ (shortly $R_{u, m, 2}$).
1307.2295
Duality Codes and the Integrality Gap Bound for Index Coding
cs.IT math.IT
This paper considers a base station that delivers packets to multiple receivers through a sequence of coded transmissions. All receivers overhear the same transmissions. Each receiver may already have some of the packets as side information, and requests another subset of the packets. This problem is known as the index coding problem and can be represented by a bipartite digraph. An integer linear program is developed that provides a lower bound on the minimum number of transmissions required for any coding algorithm. Conversely, its linear programming relaxation is shown to provide an upper bound that is achievable by a simple form of vector linear coding. Thus, the information theoretic optimum is bounded by the integrality gap between the integer program and its linear relaxation. In the special case when the digraph has a planar structure, the integrality gap is shown to be zero, so that exact optimality is achieved. Finally, for non-planar problems, an enhanced integer program is constructed that provides a smaller integrality gap. The dual of this problem corresponds to a more sophisticated partial clique coding strategy that time-shares between Reed-Solomon erasure codes. This work illuminates the relationship between index coding, duality, and integrality gaps between integer programs and their linear relaxations.
1307.2307
Bridging Information Criteria and Parameter Shrinkage for Model Selection
stat.ML cs.LG
Model selection based on classical information criteria, such as BIC, is generally computationally demanding, but its properties are well studied. On the other hand, model selection based on parameter shrinkage by $\ell_1$-type penalties is computationally efficient. In this paper we make an attempt to combine their strengths, and propose a simple approach that penalizes the likelihood with data-dependent $\ell_1$ penalties as in adaptive Lasso and exploits a fixed penalization parameter. Even for finite samples, its model selection results approximately coincide with those based on information criteria; in particular, we show that in some special cases, this approach and the corresponding information criterion produce exactly the same model. One can also consider this approach as a way to directly determine the penalization parameter in adaptive Lasso to achieve information criteria-like model selection. As extensions, we apply this idea to complex models including Gaussian mixture model and mixture of factor analyzers, whose model selection is traditionally difficult to do; by adopting suitable penalties, we provide continuous approximators to the corresponding information criteria, which are easy to optimize and enable efficient model selection.
1307.2312
Bayesian Discovery of Multiple Bayesian Networks via Transfer Learning
stat.ML cs.LG
Bayesian network structure learning algorithms with limited data are being used in domains such as systems biology and neuroscience to gain insight into the underlying processes that produce observed data. Learning reliable networks from limited data is difficult, therefore transfer learning can improve the robustness of learned networks by leveraging data from related tasks. Existing transfer learning algorithms for Bayesian network structure learning give a single maximum a posteriori estimate of network models. Yet, many other models may be equally likely, and so a more informative result is provided by Bayesian structure discovery. Bayesian structure discovery algorithms estimate posterior probabilities of structural features, such as edges. We present transfer learning for Bayesian structure discovery which allows us to explore the shared and unique structural features among related tasks. Efficient computation requires that our transfer learning objective factors into local calculations, which we prove is given by a broad class of transfer biases. Theoretically, we show the efficiency of our approach. Empirically, we show that compared to single task learning, transfer learning is better able to positively identify true edges. We apply the method to whole-brain neuroimaging data.
1307.2320
Dynamic Partial Cooperative MIMO System for Delay-Sensitive Applications with Limited Backhaul Capacity
cs.IT cs.NI cs.PF math.IT
Considering backhaul consumption in practical systems, it may not be the best choice to engage all the time in full cooperative MIMO for interference mitigation. In this paper, we propose a novel downlink partial cooperative MIMO (Pco-MIMO) physical layer (PHY) scheme, which allows flexible tradeoff between the partial data cooperation level and the backhaul consumption. Based on this Pco-MIMO scheme, we consider dynamic transmit power and rate allocation according to the imperfect channel state information at transmitters (CSIT) and the queue state information (QSI) to minimize the average delay cost subject to average backhaul consumption constraints and average power constraints. The delay-optimal control problem is formulated as an infinite horizon average cost constrained partially observed Markov decision process (CPOMDP). By exploiting the special structure in our problem, we derive an equivalent Bellman Equation to solve the CPOMDP. To reduce computational complexity and facilitate distributed implementation, we propose a distributed online learning algorithm to estimate the per-flow potential functions and Lagrange multipliers (LMs) and a distributed online stochastic partial gradient algorithm to obtain the power and rate control policy. The proposed low-complexity distributed solution is based on local observations of the system states at the BSs and is very robust against model variations. We also prove the convergence and the asymptotic optimality of the proposed solution.
1307.2342
Model Selection with Low Complexity Priors
math.OC cs.IT math.IT math.ST stat.TH
Regularization plays a pivotal role when facing the challenge of solving ill-posed inverse problems, where the number of observations is smaller than the ambient dimension of the object to be estimated. A line of recent work has studied regularization models with various types of low-dimensional structures. In such settings, the general approach is to solve a regularized optimization problem, which combines a data fidelity term and some regularization penalty that promotes the assumed low-dimensional/simple structure. This paper provides a general framework to capture this low-dimensional structure through what we coin partly smooth functions relative to a linear manifold. These are convex, non-negative, closed and finite-valued functions that will promote objects living on low-dimensional subspaces. This class of regularizers encompasses many popular examples such as the L1 norm, L1-L2 norm (group sparsity), as well as several others including the Linfty norm. We also show that the set of partly smooth functions relative to a linear manifold is closed under addition and pre-composition by a linear operator, which allows to cover mixed regularization, and the so-called analysis-type priors (e.g. total variation, fused Lasso, finite-valued polyhedral gauges). Our main result presents a unified sharp analysis of exact and robust recovery of the low-dimensional subspace model associated to the object to recover from partial measurements. This analysis is illustrated on a number of special and previously studied cases, and on an analysis of the performance of Linfty regularization in a compressed sensing scenario.
1307.2350
Stability Analysis of Continuous-Time Switched Systems with a Random Switching Signal
cs.SY
This paper is concerned with the stability analysis of continuous-time switched systems with a random switching signal. The switching signal manifests its characteristics with that the dwell time in each subsystem consists of a fixed part and a random part. The stochastic stability of such switched systems is studied using a Lyapunov approach. A necessary and sufficient condition is established in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The effect of the random switching signal on system stability is illustrated by a numerical example and the results coincide with our intuition.
1307.2352
Polar Codes with Dynamic Frozen Symbols and Their Decoding by Directed Search
cs.IT math.IT
A novel construction of polar codes with dynamic frozen symbols is proposed. The proposed codes are subcodes of extended BCH codes, which ensure sufficiently high minimum distance. Furthermore, a decoding algorithm is proposed, which employs estimates of the not-yet-processed bit channel error probabilities to perform directed search in code tree, reducing thus the total number of iterations.
1307.2381
Local Mode Dependent Decentralized $H_{\infty}$ Control of Uncertain Markovian Jump Large-scale Systems
cs.SY
This paper considers the problem of robust $H_{\infty}$ control using decentralized state feedback controllers for a class of large-scale systems with Markov jump parameters. A sufficient condition is developed to design controllers using local system states and local system operation modes. The sufficient condition is given in terms of rank constrained linear matrix inequalities. An illustrative numerical example is given to demonstrate the developed theory.
1307.2421
Energy Efficient Coordinated Beamforming for Multi-cell MISO Systems
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we investigate the optimal energy efficient coordinated beamforming in multi-cell multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems with $K$ multiple-antenna base stations (BS) and $K$ single-antenna mobile stations (MS), where each BS sends information to its own intended MS with cooperatively designed transmit beamforming. We assume single user detection at the MS by treating the interference as noise. By taking into account a realistic power model at the BS, we characterize the Pareto boundary of the achievable energy efficiency (EE) region of the $K$ links, where the EE of each link is defined as the achievable data rate at the MS divided by the total power consumption at the BS. Since the EE of each link is non-cancave (which is a non-concave function over an affine function), characterizing this boundary is difficult. To meet this challenge, we relate this multi-cell MISO system to cognitive radio (CR) MISO channels by applying the concept of interference temperature (IT), and accordingly transform the EE boundary characterization problem into a set of fractional concave programming problems. Then, we apply the fractional concave programming technique to solve these fractional concave problems, and correspondingly give a parametrization for the EE boundary in terms of IT levels. Based on this characterization, we further present a decentralized algorithm to implement the multi-cell coordinated beamforming, which is shown by simulations to achieve the EE Pareto boundary.
1307.2427
Testing experiments on synchronized Petri nets
cs.SY cs.FL
Synchronizing sequences have been proposed in the late 60's to solve testing problems on systems modeled by finite state machines. Such sequences lead a system, seen as a black box, from an unknown current state to a known final one. This paper presents a first investigation of the computation of synchronizing sequences for systems modeled by bounded synchronized Petri nets. In the first part of the paper, existing techniques for automata are adapted to this new setting. Later on, new approaches, that exploit the net structure to efficiently compute synchronizing sequences without an exhaustive enumeration of the state space, are presented.
1307.2430
On The Fast Fading Multiple-Antenna Gaussian Broadcast Channel with Confidential Messages and Partial CSIT
cs.IT math.IT
In wiretap channels the eavesdropper's channel state information (CSI) is commonly assumed to be known at transmitter, fully or partially. However, under perfect secrecy constraint the eavesdropper may not be motivated to feedback any correct CSI. In this paper we consider a more feasible problem for the transmitter to have eavesdropper's CSI. That is, the fast fading multiple-antenna Gaussian broadcast channels (FMGBC-CM) with confidential messages, where both receivers are legitimate users such that they both are willing to feedback accurate CSI to maintain their secure transmission, and not to be eavesdropped by the other. We assume that only the statistics of the channel state information are known by the transmitter. We first show the necessary condition for the FMGBC-CM not to be degraded to the common wiretap channels. Then we derive the achievable rate region for the FMGBC-CM where the channel input covariance matrices and the inflation factor are left unknown and to be solved. After that we provide an analytical solution to the channel input covariance matrices. We also propose an iterative algorithm to solve the channel input covariance matrices and the inflation factor. Due to the complicated rate region formulae in normal SNR, we resort to low SNR analysis to investigate the characteristics of the channel. Finally, numerical examples show that under perfect secrecy constraint both users can achieve positive rates simultaneously, which verifies our derived necessary condition. Numerical results also elucidate the effectiveness of the analytic solution and proposed algorithm of solving the channel input covariance matrices and the inflation factor under different conditions.
1307.2432
Average sampling restoration of harmonizable processes
math.PR cs.IT math.IT
The harmonizable Piranashvili-type stochastic processes are approximated by finite time shifted average sampling sums. Explicit truncation error upper bounds are established. Various corollaries and special cases are discussed.
1307.2434
Major Limitations of Satellite images
cs.CV
Remote sensing has proven to be a powerful tool for the monitoring of the Earth surface to improve our perception of our surroundings has led to unprecedented developments in sensor and information technologies. However, technologies for effective use of the data and for extracting useful information from the data of Remote sensing are still very limited since no single sensor combines the optimal spectral, spatial and temporal resolution. This paper briefly reviews the limitations of satellite remote sensing. Also, reviews on the problems of image fusion techniques. The conclusion of this, According to literature, the remote sensing is still the lack of software tools for effective information extraction from remote sensing data. The trade-off in spectral and spatial resolution will remain and new advanced data fusion approaches are needed to make optimal use of remote sensors for extract the most useful information.
1307.2438
Efficient Probabilistic Group Testing Based on Traitor Tracing
cs.IT cs.CR math.IT
Inspired by recent results from collusion-resistant traitor tracing, we provide a framework for constructing efficient probabilistic group testing schemes. In the traditional group testing model, our scheme asymptotically requires T ~ 2 K ln N tests to find (with high probability) the correct set of K defectives out of N items. The framework is also applied to several noisy group testing and threshold group testing models, often leading to improvements over previously known results, but we emphasize that this framework can be applied to other variants of the classical model as well, both in adaptive and in non-adaptive settings.
1307.2440
Image Fusion Technologies In Commercial Remote Sensing Packages
cs.CV
Several remote sensing software packages are used to the explicit purpose of analyzing and visualizing remotely sensed data, with the developing of remote sensing sensor technologies from last ten years. Accord-ing to literature, the remote sensing is still the lack of software tools for effective information extraction from remote sensing data. So, this paper provides a state-of-art of multi-sensor image fusion technologies as well as review on the quality evaluation of the single image or fused images in the commercial remote sensing pack-ages. It also introduces program (ALwassaiProcess) developed for image fusion and classification.
1307.2457
Detection of Outer Rotations on 3D-Vector Fields with Iterative Geometric Correlation and its Efficiency
cs.CV cs.GR
Correlation is a common technique for the detection of shifts. Its generalization to the multidimensional geometric correlation in Clifford algebras has been proven a useful tool for color image processing, because it additionally contains information about a rotational misalignment. But so far the exact correction of a three-dimensional outer rotation could only be achieved in certain special cases. In this paper we prove that applying the geometric correlation iteratively has the potential to detect the outer rotational misalignment for arbitrary three-dimensional vector fields. We further present the explicit iterative algorithm, analyze its efficiency detecting the rotational misalignment in the color space of a color image. The experiments suggest a method for the acceleration of the algorithm, which is practically tested with great success.
1307.2482
Linear Convergence Rate of a Class of Distributed Augmented Lagrangian Algorithms
cs.IT math.IT
We study distributed optimization where nodes cooperatively minimize the sum of their individual, locally known, convex costs $f_i(x)$'s, $x \in {\mathbb R}^d$ is global. Distributed augmented Lagrangian (AL) methods have good empirical performance on several signal processing and learning applications, but there is limited understanding of their convergence rates and how it depends on the underlying network. This paper establishes globally linear (geometric) convergence rates of a class of deterministic and randomized distributed AL methods, when the $f_i$'s are twice continuously differentiable and have a bounded Hessian. We give explicit dependence of the convergence rates on the underlying network parameters. Simulations illustrate our analytical findings.
1307.2541
Geospatial Narratives and their Spatio-Temporal Dynamics: Commonsense Reasoning for High-level Analyses in Geographic Information Systems
cs.AI cs.ET cs.HC
The modelling, analysis, and visualisation of dynamic geospatial phenomena has been identified as a key developmental challenge for next-generation Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this context, the envisaged paradigmatic extensions to contemporary foundational GIS technology raises fundamental questions concerning the ontological, formal representational, and (analytical) computational methods that would underlie their spatial information theoretic underpinnings. We present the conceptual overview and architecture for the development of high-level semantic and qualitative analytical capabilities for dynamic geospatial domains. Building on formal methods in the areas of commonsense reasoning, qualitative reasoning, spatial and temporal representation and reasoning, reasoning about actions and change, and computational models of narrative, we identify concrete theoretical and practical challenges that accrue in the context of formal reasoning about `space, events, actions, and change'. With this as a basis, and within the backdrop of an illustrated scenario involving the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban narratives, we address specific problems and solutions techniques chiefly involving `qualitative abstraction', `data integration and spatial consistency', and `practical geospatial abduction'. From a broad topical viewpoint, we propose that next-generation dynamic GIS technology demands a transdisciplinary scientific perspective that brings together Geography, Artificial Intelligence, and Cognitive Science. Keywords: artificial intelligence; cognitive systems; human-computer interaction; geographic information systems; spatio-temporal dynamics; computational models of narrative; geospatial analysis; geospatial modelling; ontology; qualitative spatial modelling and reasoning; spatial assistance systems
1307.2554
Les index pour les entrep\^ots de donn\'ees : comparaison entre index arbre-B et Bitmap
cs.DB
With the development of decision systems and specially data warehouses, the visibility of the data warehouse design before its creation has become essential, and that because of data warehouse importance as considered as the unique data source giving meaning to the decision. In a decision system the proper functioning of a data warehouse resides in the smooth running of the middleware tools ETC step one hand, and the restitution step through the data mining, reporting solutions, dashboards... etc other. The large volume of data that passes through these stages require an optimal design for a highly efficient decision system, without disregarding the choice of technologies that are introduced for the data warehouse implementation such as: database management system, the type of server operating systems, physical server architecture (64-bit, for example) that can be a benefit performance of this system. The designer of the data warehouse should consider the effectiveness of data query, this depends on the selection of relevant indexes and their combination with the materialized views, note that the index selection is a NPcomplete problem, because the number of indexes is exponential in the total number of attributes in the database, So, it is necessary to provide, while the data warehouse design, the suitable type of index for this data warehouse. This paper presents a comparative study between the index B-tree type and type Bitmap, their advantages and disadvantages, with a real experiment showing that its index of type Bitmap more advantageous than the index B-tree type.
1307.2555
MacWilliams Type identities for $m$-spotty Rosenbloom-Tsfasman weight enumerators over finite commutative Frobenius rings
cs.IT math.IT
The $m$-spotty byte error control codes provide a good source for detecting and correcting errors in semiconductor memory systems using high density RAM chips with wide I/O data (e.g. 8, 16, or 32 bits). $m$-spotty byte error control codes are very suitable for burst correction. M. \"{O}zen and V. Siap [7] proved a MacWilliams identity for the $m$-spotty Rosenbloom-Tsfasman (shortly RT) weight enumerators of binary codes. The main purpose of this paper is to present the MacWilliams type identities for $m$-spotty RT weight enumerators of linear codes over finite commutative Frobenius rings.
1307.2559
General Drift Analysis with Tail Bounds
cs.NE
Drift analysis is one of the state-of-the-art techniques for the runtime analysis of randomized search heuristics (RSHs) such as evolutionary algorithms (EAs), simulated annealing etc. The vast majority of existing drift theorems yield bounds on the expected value of the hitting time for a target state, e.g., the set of optimal solutions, without making additional statements on the distribution of this time. We address this lack by providing a general drift theorem that includes bounds on the upper and lower tail of the hitting time distribution. The new tail bounds are applied to prove very precise sharp-concentration results on the running time of a simple EA on standard benchmark problems, including the class of general linear functions. Surprisingly, the probability of deviating by an $r$-factor in lower order terms of the expected time decreases exponentially with $r$ on all these problems. The usefulness of the theorem outside the theory of RSHs is demonstrated by deriving tail bounds on the number of cycles in random permutations. All these results handle a position-dependent (variable) drift that was not covered by previous drift theorems with tail bounds. Moreover, our theorem can be specialized into virtually all existing drift theorems with drift towards the target from the literature. Finally, user-friendly specializations of the general drift theorem are given.
1307.2560
Exploiting Data Parallelism in the yConvex Hypergraph Algorithm for Image Representation using GPGPUs
cs.DC cs.CV
To define and identify a region-of-interest (ROI) in a digital image, the shape descriptor of the ROI has to be described in terms of its boundary characteristics. To address the generic issues of contour tracking, the yConvex Hypergraph (yCHG) model was proposed by Kanna et al [1]. In this work, we propose a parallel approach to implement the yCHG model by exploiting massively parallel cores of NVIDIA's Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA). We perform our experiments on the MODIS satellite image database by NASA, and based on our analysis we observe that the performance of the serial implementation is better on smaller images, but once the threshold is achieved in terms of image resolution, the parallel implementation outperforms its sequential counterpart by 2 to 10 times (2x-10x). We also conclude that an increase in the number of hyperedges in the ROI of a given size does not impact the performance of the overall algorithm.
1307.2579
Tuned Models of Peer Assessment in MOOCs
cs.LG cs.AI cs.HC stat.AP stat.ML
In massive open online courses (MOOCs), peer grading serves as a critical tool for scaling the grading of complex, open-ended assignments to courses with tens or hundreds of thousands of students. But despite promising initial trials, it does not always deliver accurate results compared to human experts. In this paper, we develop algorithms for estimating and correcting for grader biases and reliabilities, showing significant improvement in peer grading accuracy on real data with 63,199 peer grades from Coursera's HCI course offerings --- the largest peer grading networks analysed to date. We relate grader biases and reliabilities to other student factors such as student engagement, performance as well as commenting style. We also show that our model can lead to more intelligent assignment of graders to gradees.
1307.2584
Massive MIMO Systems with Non-Ideal Hardware: Energy Efficiency, Estimation, and Capacity Limits
cs.IT math.IT
The use of large-scale antenna arrays can bring substantial improvements in energy and/or spectral efficiency to wireless systems due to the greatly improved spatial resolution and array gain. Recent works in the field of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) show that the user channels decorrelate when the number of antennas at the base stations (BSs) increases, thus strong signal gains are achievable with little inter-user interference. Since these results rely on asymptotics, it is important to investigate whether the conventional system models are reasonable in this asymptotic regime. This paper considers a new system model that incorporates general transceiver hardware impairments at both the BSs (equipped with large antenna arrays) and the single-antenna user equipments (UEs). As opposed to the conventional case of ideal hardware, we show that hardware impairments create finite ceilings on the channel estimation accuracy and on the downlink/uplink capacity of each UE. Surprisingly, the capacity is mainly limited by the hardware at the UE, while the impact of impairments in the large-scale arrays vanishes asymptotically and inter-user interference (in particular, pilot contamination) becomes negligible. Furthermore, we prove that the huge degrees of freedom offered by massive MIMO can be used to reduce the transmit power and/or to tolerate larger hardware impairments, which allows for the use of inexpensive and energy-efficient antenna elements.
1307.2599
Compactly Supported Tensor Product Complex Tight Framelets with Directionality
cs.IT math.IT
Although tensor product real-valued wavelets have been successfully applied to many high-dimensional problems, they can only capture well edge singularities along the coordinate axis directions. As an alternative and improvement of tensor product real-valued wavelets and dual tree complex wavelet transform, recently tensor product complex tight framelets with increasing directionality have been introduced in [8] and applied to image denoising in [13]. Despite several desirable properties, the directional tensor product complex tight framelets constructed in [8,13] are bandlimited and do not have compact support in the space/time domain. Since compactly supported wavelets and framelets are of great interest and importance in both theory and application, it remains as an unsolved problem whether there exist compactly supported tensor product complex tight framelets with directionality. In this paper, we shall satisfactorily answer this question by proving a theoretical result on directionality of tight framelets and by introducing an algorithm to construct compactly supported complex tight framelets with directionality. Our examples show that compactly supported complex tight framelets with directionality can be easily derived from any given eligible low-pass filters and refinable functions. Several examples of compactly supported tensor product complex tight framelets with directionality have been presented.
1307.2603
Ontology Based Data Integration Over Document and Column Family Oriented NOSQL
cs.DB
The World Wide Web infrastructure together with its more than 2 billion users enables to store information at a rate that has never been achieved before. This is mainly due to the will of storing almost all end-user interactions performed on some web applications. In order to reply to scalability and availability constraints, many web companies involved in this process recently started to design their own data management systems. Many of them are referred to as NOSQL databases, standing for 'Not only SQL'. With their wide adoption emerges new needs and data integration is one of them. In this paper, we consider that an ontology-based representation of the information stored in a set of NOSQL sources is highly needed. The main motivation of this approach is the ability to reason on elements of the ontology and to retrieve information in an efficient and distributed manner. Our contributions are the following: (1) we analyze a set of schemaless NOSQL databases to generate local ontologies, (2) we generate a global ontology based on the discovery of correspondences between the local ontologies and finally (3) we propose a query translation solution from SPARQL to query languages of the sources. We are currently implementing our data integration solution on two popular NOSQL databases: MongoDB as a document database and Cassandra as a column family store.
1307.2611
Controlling the Precision-Recall Tradeoff in Differential Dependency Network Analysis
stat.ML cs.LG
Graphical models have gained a lot of attention recently as a tool for learning and representing dependencies among variables in multivariate data. Often, domain scientists are looking specifically for differences among the dependency networks of different conditions or populations (e.g. differences between regulatory networks of different species, or differences between dependency networks of diseased versus healthy populations). The standard method for finding these differences is to learn the dependency networks for each condition independently and compare them. We show that this approach is prone to high false discovery rates (low precision) that can render the analysis useless. We then show that by imposing a bias towards learning similar dependency networks for each condition the false discovery rates can be reduced to acceptable levels, at the cost of finding a reduced number of differences. Algorithms developed in the transfer learning literature can be used to vary the strength of the imposed similarity bias and provide a natural mechanism to smoothly adjust this differential precision-recall tradeoff to cater to the requirements of the analysis conducted. We present real case studies (oncological and neurological) where domain experts use the proposed technique to extract useful differential networks that shed light on the biological processes involved in cancer and brain function.
1307.2641
From Design to Implementation: an Automated, Credible Autocoding Chain for Control Systems
cs.SY cs.SE
This article describes a fully automated, credible autocoding chain for control systems. The framework generates code, along with guarantees of high level functional properties which can be independently verified. It relies on domain specific knowledge and fomal methods of analysis to address a context of heightened safety requirements for critical embedded systems and ever-increasing costs of verification and validation. The platform strives to bridge the semantic gap between domain expert and code verification expert. First, a graphical dataflow language is extended with annotation symbols enabling the control engineer to express high level properties of its control law within the framework of a familiar language. An existing autocoder is enhanced to both generate the code implementing the initial design, but also to carry high level properties down to annotations at the level of the code. Finally, using customized code analysis tools, certificates are generated which guarantee the correctness of the annotations with respect to the code, and can be verified using existing static analysis tools. Only a subset of properties and controllers are handled at this point.
1307.2642
Structure controllability of complex network based on preferential matching
math-ph cs.SI math.MP physics.soc-ph
Minimum driver node sets (MDSs) play an important role in studying the structural controllability of complex networks. Recent research has shown that MDSs tend to avoid high-degree nodes. However, this observation is based on the analysis of a small number of MDSs, because enumerating all of the MDSs of a network is a #P problem. Therefore, past research has not been sufficient to arrive at a convincing conclusion. In this paper, first, we propose a preferential matching algorithm to find MDSs that have a specific degree property. Then, we show that the MDSs obtained by preferential matching can be composed of high- and medium-degree nodes. Moreover, the experimental results also show that the average degree of the MDSs of some networks tends to be greater than that of the overall network, even when the MDSs are obtained using previous research method. Further analysis shows that whether the driver nodes tend to be high-degree nodes or not is closely related to the edge direction of the network.
1307.2669
Text Categorization via Similarity Search: An Efficient and Effective Novel Algorithm
cs.IR
We present a supervised learning algorithm for text categorization which has brought the team of authors the 2nd place in the text categorization division of the 2012 Cybersecurity Data Mining Competition (CDMC'2012) and a 3rd prize overall. The algorithm is quite different from existing approaches in that it is based on similarity search in the metric space of measure distributions on the dictionary. At the preprocessing stage, given a labeled learning sample of texts, we associate to every class label (document category) a point in the space of question. Unlike it is usual in clustering, this point is not a centroid of the category but rather an outlier, a uniform measure distribution on a selection of domain-specific words. At the execution stage, an unlabeled text is assigned a text category as defined by the closest labeled neighbour to the point representing the frequency distribution of the words in the text. The algorithm is both effective and efficient, as further confirmed by experiments on the Reuters 21578 dataset.
1307.2672
Index Coding Problem with Side Information Repositories
cs.IT math.IT
To tackle the expected enormous increase in mobile video traffic in cellular networks, an architecture involving a base station along with caching femto stations (referred to as helpers), storing popular files near users, has been proposed [1]. The primary benefit of caching is the enormous increase in downloading rate when a popular file is available at helpers near a user requesting that file. In this work, we explore a secondary benefit of caching in this architecture through the lens of index coding. We assume a system with n users and constant number of caching helpers. Only helpers store files, i.e. have side information. We investigate the following scenario: Each user requests a distinct file that is not found in the set of helpers nearby. Users are served coded packets (through an index code) by an omniscient base station. Every user decodes its desired packet from the coded packets and the side information packets from helpers nearby. We assume that users can obtain any file stored in their neighboring helpers without incurring transmission costs. With respect to the index code employed, we investigate two achievable schemes: 1) XOR coloring based on coloring of the side information graph associated with the problem and 2)Vector XOR coloring based on fractional coloring of the side information graph. We show that the general problem reduces to a canonical problem where every user is connected to exactly one helper under some topological constraints. For the canonical problem, with constant number of helpers (k), we show that the complexity of computing the best XOR/vector XOR coloring schemes are polynomial in the number of users n. The result exploits a special complete bi-partite structure that the side information graphs exhibit for any finite k.
1307.2674
Error Rate Bounds in Crowdsourcing Models
stat.ML cs.LG stat.AP
Crowdsourcing is an effective tool for human-powered computation on many tasks challenging for computers. In this paper, we provide finite-sample exponential bounds on the error rate (in probability and in expectation) of hyperplane binary labeling rules under the Dawid-Skene crowdsourcing model. The bounds can be applied to analyze many common prediction methods, including the majority voting and weighted majority voting. These bound results could be useful for controlling the error rate and designing better algorithms. We show that the oracle Maximum A Posterior (MAP) rule approximately optimizes our upper bound on the mean error rate for any hyperplane binary labeling rule, and propose a simple data-driven weighted majority voting (WMV) rule (called one-step WMV) that attempts to approximate the oracle MAP and has a provable theoretical guarantee on the error rate. Moreover, we use simulated and real data to demonstrate that the data-driven EM-MAP rule is a good approximation to the oracle MAP rule, and to demonstrate that the mean error rate of the data-driven EM-MAP rule is also bounded by the mean error rate bound of the oracle MAP rule with estimated parameters plugging into the bound.
1307.2676
Efficiency of Entanglement Concentration by Photon Subtraction
quant-ph cs.IT math.IT
We introduce a measure of efficiency for the photon subtraction protocol aimed at entanglement concentration on a single copy of bipartite continuous variable state. We then show that iterating the protocol does not lead to higher efficiency than a single application. In order to overcome this limit we present an adaptive version of the protocol able to greatly enhance its efficiency.
1307.2704
Applications of repeat degree on coverings of neighborhoods
cs.AI
In covering based rough sets, the neighborhood of an element is the intersection of all the covering blocks containing the element. All the neighborhoods form a new covering called a covering of neighborhoods. In the course of studying under what condition a covering of neighborhoods is a partition, the concept of repeat degree is proposed, with the help of which the issue is addressed. This paper studies further the application of repeat degree on coverings of neighborhoods. First, we investigate under what condition a covering of neighborhoods is the reduct of the covering inducing it. As a preparation for addressing this issue, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a subset of a set family to be the reduct of the set family. Then we study under what condition two coverings induce a same relation and a same covering of neighborhoods. Finally, we give the method of calculating the covering according to repeat degree.
1307.2747
Impossibility of Local State Transformation via Hypercontractivity
quant-ph cs.IT math-ph math.IT math.MP
Local state transformation is the problem of transforming an arbitrary number of copies of a bipartite resource state to a bipartite target state under local operations. That is, given two bipartite states, is it possible to transform an arbitrary number of copies of one of them to one copy of the other state under local operations only? This problem is a hard one in general since we assume that the number of copies of the resource state is arbitrarily large. In this paper we prove some bounds on this problem using the hypercontractivity properties of some super-operators corresponding to bipartite states. We measure hypercontractivity in terms of both the usual super-operator norms as well as completely bounded norms.
1307.2748
Self-Organized Synchronization and Voltage Stability in Networks of Synchronous Machines
nlin.AO cs.SY
The integration of renewable energy sources in the course of the energy transition is accompanied by grid decentralization and fluctuating power feed-in characteristics. This raises new challenges for power system stability and design. We intend to investigate power system stability from the viewpoint of self-organized synchronization aspects. In this approach, the power grid is represented by a network of synchronous machines. We supplement the classical Kuramoto-like network model, which assumes constant voltages, with dynamical voltage equations, and thus obtain an extended version, that incorporates the coupled categories voltage stability and rotor angle synchronization. We compare disturbance scenarios in small systems simulated on the basis of both classical and extended model and we discuss resultant implications and possible applications to complex modern power grids.
1307.2756
Secure and Policy-Private Resource Sharing in an Online Social Network
cs.CR cs.SI
Providing functionalities that allow online social network users to manage in a secure and private way the publication of their information and/or resources is a relevant and far from trivial topic that has been under scrutiny from various research communities. In this work, we provide a framework that allows users to define highly expressive access policies to their resources in a way that the enforcement does not require the intervention of a (trusted or not) third party. This is made possible by the deployment of a newly defined cryptographic primitives that provides - among other things - efficient access revocation and access policy privacy. Finally, we provide an implementation of our framework as a Facebook application, proving the feasibility of our approach.
1307.2785
Rising tides or rising stars?: Dynamics of shared attention on Twitter during media events
cs.SI physics.soc-ph
"Media events" such as political debates generate conditions of shared attention as many users simultaneously tune in with the dual screens of broadcast and social media to view and participate. Are collective patterns of user behavior under conditions of shared attention distinct from other "bursts" of activity like breaking news events? Using data from a population of approximately 200,000 politically-active Twitter users, we compare features of their behavior during eight major events during the 2012 U.S. presidential election to examine (1) the impact of "media events" have on patterns of social media use compared to "typical" time and (2) whether changes during media events are attributable to changes in behavior across the entire population or an artifact of changes in elite users' behavior. Our findings suggest that while this population became more active during media events, this additional activity reflects concentrated attention to a handful of users, hashtags, and tweets. Our work is the first study on distinguishing patterns of large-scale social behavior under condition of uncertainty and shared attention, suggesting new ways of mining information from social media to support collective sensemaking following major events.
1307.2789
Computer Simulation of 3-D Finite-Volume Liquid Transport in Fibrous Materials: a Physical Model for Ink Seepage into Paper
cs.CE cond-mat.mes-hall
A physical model for the simulation ink/paper interaction at the mesoscopic scale is developed. It is based on the modified Ising model, and is generalized to consider the restriction of the finite-volume of ink and also its dynamic seepage. This allows the model to obtain the ink distribution within the paper volume. At the mesoscopic scale, the paper is modeled using a discretized fiber structure. The ink distribution is obtained by solving its equivalent optimization problem, which is solved using a modified genetic algorithm, along with a new boundary condition and the quasi-linear technique. The model is able to simulate the finite-volume distribution of ink.
1307.2799
Polar Coded Modulation with Optimal Constellation Labeling
cs.IT math.IT
A practical $2^m$-ary polar coded modulation (PCM) scheme with optimal constellation labeling is proposed. To efficiently find the optimal labeling rule, the search space is reduced by exploiting the symmetry properties of the channels. Simulation results show that the proposed PCM scheme can outperform the bit-interleaved turbo coded modulation scheme used in the WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) mobile communication systems by up to 1.5dB.
1307.2800
A Hybrid ARQ Scheme Based on Polar Codes
cs.IT math.IT
A hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) scheme based on a novel class of rate-compatible polar (\mbox{RCP}) codes are proposed. The RCP codes are constructed by performing punctures and repetitions on the conventional polar codes. Simulation results over binary-input additive white Gaussian noise channels (BAWGNCs) show that, using a low-complexity successive cancellation (SC) decoder, the proposed HARQ scheme performs as well as the existing schemes based on turbo codes and low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. The proposed transmission scheme is only about 1.0-1.5dB away from the channel capacity with the information block length of 1024 bits.
1307.2811
GROTESQUE: Noisy Group Testing (Quick and Efficient)
cs.IT math.IT
Group-testing refers to the problem of identifying (with high probability) a (small) subset of $D$ defectives from a (large) set of $N$ items via a "small" number of "pooled" tests. For ease of presentation in this work we focus on the regime when $D = \cO{N^{1-\gap}}$ for some $\gap > 0$. The tests may be noiseless or noisy, and the testing procedure may be adaptive (the pool defining a test may depend on the outcome of a previous test), or non-adaptive (each test is performed independent of the outcome of other tests). A rich body of literature demonstrates that $\Theta(D\log(N))$ tests are information-theoretically necessary and sufficient for the group-testing problem, and provides algorithms that achieve this performance. However, it is only recently that reconstruction algorithms with computational complexity that is sub-linear in $N$ have started being investigated (recent work by \cite{GurI:04,IndN:10, NgoP:11} gave some of the first such algorithms). In the scenario with adaptive tests with noisy outcomes, we present the first scheme that is simultaneously order-optimal (up to small constant factors) in both the number of tests and the decoding complexity ($\cO{D\log(N)}$ in both the performance metrics). The total number of stages of our adaptive algorithm is "small" ($\cO{\log(D)}$). Similarly, in the scenario with non-adaptive tests with noisy outcomes, we present the first scheme that is simultaneously near-optimal in both the number of tests and the decoding complexity (via an algorithm that requires $\cO{D\log(D)\log(N)}$ tests and has a decoding complexity of {${\cal O}(D(\log N+\log^{2}D))$}. Finally, we present an adaptive algorithm that only requires 2 stages, and for which both the number of tests and the decoding complexity scale as {${\cal O}(D(\log N+\log^{2}D))$}. For all three settings the probability of error of our algorithms scales as $\cO{1/(poly(D)}$.
1307.2818
Anisotropic Diffusion for Details Enhancement in Multi-Exposure Image Fusion
cs.MM cs.CV
We develop a multiexposure image fusion method based on texture features, which exploits the edge preserving and intraregion smoothing property of nonlinear diffusion filters based on partial differential equations (PDE). With the captured multiexposure image series, we first decompose images into base layers and detail layers to extract sharp details and fine details, respectively. The magnitude of the gradient of the image intensity is utilized to encourage smoothness at homogeneous regions in preference to inhomogeneous regions. Then, we have considered texture features of the base layer to generate a mask (i.e., decision mask) that guides the fusion of base layers in multiresolution fashion. Finally, well-exposed fused image is obtained that combines fused base layer and the detail layers at each scale across all the input exposures. Proposed algorithm skipping complex High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) generation and tone mapping steps to produce detail preserving image for display on standard dynamic range display devices. Moreover, our technique is effective for blending flash/no-flash image pair and multifocus images, that is, images focused on different targets.
1307.2826
Image Denoising Using Tensor Product Complex Tight Framelets with Increasing Directionality
cs.IT math.IT
Tensor product real-valued wavelets have been employed in many applications such as image processing with impressive performance. Though edge singularities are ubiquitous and play a fundamental role in two-dimensional problems, tensor product real-valued wavelets are known to be only sub-optimal since they can only capture edges well along the coordinate axis directions. The dual tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT), proposed by Kingsbury [16] and further developed by Selesnick et al. [24], is one of the most popular and successful enhancements of the classical tensor product real-valued wavelets. The two-dimensional DTCWT is obtained via tensor product and offers improved directionality with 6 directions. In this paper we shall further enhance the performance of DTCWT for the problem of image denoising. Using framelet-based approach and the notion of discrete affine systems, we shall propose a family of tensor product complex tight framelets TPCTF_n for all integers n>2 with increasing directionality, where n refers to the number of filters in the underlying one-dimensional complex tight framelet filter bank. For dimension two, such tensor product complex tight framelet TPCTF_n offers (n-1)(n-3)/2+4 directions when n is odd, and (n-4)(n+2)/2+6 directions when n is even. In particular, TPCTF_4, which is different to DTCWT in both nature and design, provides an alternative to DTCWT. Indeed, TPCTF_4 behaves quite similar to DTCWT by offering 6 directions in dimension two, employing the tensor product structure, and enjoying slightly less redundancy than DTCWT. When TPCTF_4 is applied to image denoising, its performance is comparable to DTCWT. Moreover, better results on image denoising can be obtained by using TPCTF_6. Moreover, TPCTF_n allows us to further improve DTCWT by using TPCTF_n as the first stage filter bank in DTCWT.
1307.2855
Flow-Based Algorithms for Local Graph Clustering
cs.DS cs.LG stat.ML
Given a subset S of vertices of an undirected graph G, the cut-improvement problem asks us to find a subset S that is similar to A but has smaller conductance. A very elegant algorithm for this problem has been given by Andersen and Lang [AL08] and requires solving a small number of single-commodity maximum flow computations over the whole graph G. In this paper, we introduce LocalImprove, the first cut-improvement algorithm that is local, i.e. that runs in time dependent on the size of the input set A rather than on the size of the entire graph. Moreover, LocalImprove achieves this local behaviour while essentially matching the same theoretical guarantee as the global algorithm of Andersen and Lang. The main application of LocalImprove is to the design of better local-graph-partitioning algorithms. All previously known local algorithms for graph partitioning are random-walk based and can only guarantee an output conductance of O(\sqrt{OPT}) when the target set has conductance OPT \in [0,1]. Very recently, Zhu, Lattanzi and Mirrokni [ZLM13] improved this to O(OPT / \sqrt{CONN}) where the internal connectivity parameter CONN \in [0,1] is defined as the reciprocal of the mixing time of the random walk over the graph induced by the target set. In this work, we show how to use LocalImprove to obtain a constant approximation O(OPT) as long as CONN/OPT = Omega(1). This yields the first flow-based algorithm. Moreover, its performance strictly outperforms the ones based on random walks and surprisingly matches that of the best known global algorithm, which is SDP-based, in this parameter regime [MMV12]. Finally, our results show that spectral methods are not the only viable approach to the construction of local graph partitioning algorithm and open door to the study of algorithms with even better approximation and locality guarantees.
1307.2867
Tractable Combinations of Global Constraints
cs.AI cs.LO
We study the complexity of constraint satisfaction problems involving global constraints, i.e., special-purpose constraints provided by a solver and represented implicitly by a parametrised algorithm. Such constraints are widely used; indeed, they are one of the key reasons for the success of constraint programming in solving real-world problems. Previous work has focused on the development of efficient propagators for individual constraints. In this paper, we identify a new tractable class of constraint problems involving global constraints of unbounded arity. To do so, we combine structural restrictions with the observation that some important types of global constraint do not distinguish between large classes of equivalent solutions.
1307.2889
Achieving the Uniform Rate Region of General Multiple Access Channels by Polar Coding
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the problem of polar coding for transmission over $m$-user multiple access channels. In the proposed scheme, all users encode their messages using a polar encoder, while a multi-user successive cancellation decoder is deployed at the receiver. The encoding is done separately across the users and is independent of the target achievable rate. For the code construction, the positions of information bits and frozen bits for each of the users are decided jointly. This is done by treating the polar transformations across all the $m$ users as a single polar transformation with a certain \emph{polarization base}. We characterize the resolution of achievable rates on the dominant face of the uniform rate region in terms of the number of users $m$ and the length of the polarization base $L$. In particular, we prove that for any target rate on the dominant face, there exists an achievable rate, also on the dominant face, within the distance at most $\frac{(m-1)\sqrt{m}}{L}$ from the target rate. We then prove that the proposed MAC polar coding scheme achieves the whole uniform rate region with fine enough resolution by changing the decoding order in the multi-user successive cancellation decoder, as $L$ and the code block length $N$ grow large. The encoding and decoding complexities are $O(N \log N)$ and the asymptotic block error probability of $O(2^{-N^{0.5 - \epsilon}})$ is guaranteed. Examples of achievable rates for the $3$-user multiple access channel are provided.
1307.2893
Coexistence in preferential attachment networks
physics.soc-ph cs.SI math.PR
We introduce a new model of competition on growing networks. This extends the preferential attachment model, with the key property that node choices evolve simultaneously with the network. When a new node joins the network, it chooses neighbours by preferential attachment, and selects its type based on the number of initial neighbours of each type. The model is analysed in detail, and in particular, we determine the possible proportions of the various types in the limit of large networks. An important qualitative feature we find is that, in contrast to many current theoretical models, often several competitors will coexist. This matches empirical observations in many real-world networks.
1307.2923
Two-Way Relaying under the Presence of Relay Transceiver Hardware Impairments
cs.IT math.IT
Hardware impairments in physical transceivers are known to have a deleterious effect on communication systems; however, very few contributions have investigated their impact on relaying. This paper quantifies the impact of transceiver impairments in a two-way amplify-and-forward configuration. More specifically, the effective signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratios at both transmitter nodes are obtained. These are used to deduce exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions for the outage probabilities (OPs), as well as tractable formulations for the symbol error rates (SERs). It is explicitly shown that non-zero lower bounds on the OP and SER exist in the high-power regime---this stands in contrast to the special case of ideal hardware, where the OP and SER go asymptotically to zero.
1307.2958
Exact MIMO Zero-Forcing Detection Analysis for Transmit-Correlated Rician Fading
cs.IT math.IT
We analyze the performance of multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) communications systems employing spatial multiplexing and zero-forcing detection (ZF). The distribution of the ZF signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is characterized when either the intended stream or interfering streams experience Rician fading, and when the fading may be correlated on the transmit side. Previously, exact ZF analysis based on a well-known SNR expression has been hindered by the noncentrality of the Wishart distribution involved. In addition, approximation with a central-Wishart distribution has not proved consistently accurate. In contrast, the following exact ZF study proceeds from a lesser-known SNR expression that separates the intended and interfering channel-gain vectors. By first conditioning on, and then averaging over the interference, the ZF SNR distribution for Rician-Rayleigh fading is shown to be an infinite linear combination of gamma distributions. On the other hand, for Rayleigh-Rician fading, the ZF SNR is shown to be gamma-distributed. Based on the SNR distribution, we derive new series expressions for the ZF average error probability, outage probability, and ergodic capacity. Numerical results confirm the accuracy of our new expressions, and reveal effects of interference and channel statistics on performance.
1307.2965
Semantic Context Forests for Learning-Based Knee Cartilage Segmentation in 3D MR Images
cs.CV cs.LG q-bio.TO stat.ML
The automatic segmentation of human knee cartilage from 3D MR images is a useful yet challenging task due to the thin sheet structure of the cartilage with diffuse boundaries and inhomogeneous intensities. In this paper, we present an iterative multi-class learning method to segment the femoral, tibial and patellar cartilage simultaneously, which effectively exploits the spatial contextual constraints between bone and cartilage, and also between different cartilages. First, based on the fact that the cartilage grows in only certain area of the corresponding bone surface, we extract the distance features of not only to the surface of the bone, but more informatively, to the densely registered anatomical landmarks on the bone surface. Second, we introduce a set of iterative discriminative classifiers that at each iteration, probability comparison features are constructed from the class confidence maps derived by previously learned classifiers. These features automatically embed the semantic context information between different cartilages of interest. Validated on a total of 176 volumes from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) dataset, the proposed approach demonstrates high robustness and accuracy of segmentation in comparison with existing state-of-the-art MR cartilage segmentation methods.
1307.2967
Layer-switching cost and optimality in information spreading on multiplex networks
physics.soc-ph cond-mat.stat-mech cs.SI
We study a model of information spreading on multiplex networks, in which agents interact through multiple interaction channels (layers), say online vs.\ offline communication layers, subject to layer-switching cost for transmissions across different interaction layers. The model is characterized by the layer-wise path-dependent transmissibility over a contact, that is dynamically determined dependently on both incoming and outgoing transmission layers. We formulate an analytical framework to deal with such path-dependent transmissibility and demonstrate the nontrivial interplay between the multiplexity and spreading dynamics, including optimality. It is shown that the epidemic threshold and prevalence respond to the layer-switching cost non-monotonically and that the optimal conditions can change in abrupt non-analytic ways, depending also on the densities of network layers and the type of seed infections. Our results elucidate the essential role of multiplexity that its explicit consideration should be crucial for realistic modeling and prediction of spreading phenomena on multiplex social networks in an era of ever-diversifying social interaction layers.
1307.2968
Introduction to Queueing Theory and Stochastic Teletraffic Models
math.PR cs.IT math.IT
The aim of this textbook is to provide students with basic knowledge of stochastic models that may apply to telecommunications research areas, such as traffic modelling, resource provisioning and traffic management. These study areas are often collectively called teletraffic. This book assumes prior knowledge of a programming language, mathematics, probability and stochastic processes normally taught in an electrical engineering course. For students who have some but not sufficiently strong background in probability and stochastic processes, we provide, in the first few chapters, background on the relevant concepts in these areas.
1307.2971
Accuracy of MAP segmentation with hidden Potts and Markov mesh prior models via Path Constrained Viterbi Training, Iterated Conditional Modes and Graph Cut based algorithms
cs.LG cs.CV stat.ML
In this paper, we study statistical classification accuracy of two different Markov field environments for pixelwise image segmentation, considering the labels of the image as hidden states and solving the estimation of such labels as a solution of the MAP equation. The emission distribution is assumed the same in all models, and the difference lays in the Markovian prior hypothesis made over the labeling random field. The a priori labeling knowledge will be modeled with a) a second order anisotropic Markov Mesh and b) a classical isotropic Potts model. Under such models, we will consider three different segmentation procedures, 2D Path Constrained Viterbi training for the Hidden Markov Mesh, a Graph Cut based segmentation for the first order isotropic Potts model, and ICM (Iterated Conditional Modes) for the second order isotropic Potts model. We provide a unified view of all three methods, and investigate goodness of fit for classification, studying the influence of parameter estimation, computational gain, and extent of automation in the statistical measures Overall Accuracy, Relative Improvement and Kappa coefficient, allowing robust and accurate statistical analysis on synthetic and real-life experimental data coming from the field of Dental Diagnostic Radiography. All algorithms, using the learned parameters, generate good segmentations with little interaction when the images have a clear multimodal histogram. Suboptimal learning proves to be frail in the case of non-distinctive modes, which limits the complexity of usable models, and hence the achievable error rate as well. All Matlab code written is provided in a toolbox available for download from our website, following the Reproducible Research Paradigm.
1307.2982
Fast Exact Search in Hamming Space with Multi-Index Hashing
cs.CV cs.AI cs.DS cs.IR
There is growing interest in representing image data and feature descriptors using compact binary codes for fast near neighbor search. Although binary codes are motivated by their use as direct indices (addresses) into a hash table, codes longer than 32 bits are not being used as such, as it was thought to be ineffective. We introduce a rigorous way to build multiple hash tables on binary code substrings that enables exact k-nearest neighbor search in Hamming space. The approach is storage efficient and straightforward to implement. Theoretical analysis shows that the algorithm exhibits sub-linear run-time behavior for uniformly distributed codes. Empirical results show dramatic speedups over a linear scan baseline for datasets of up to one billion codes of 64, 128, or 256 bits.
1307.2991
Integrity Verification for Outsourcing Uncertain Frequent Itemset Mining
cs.DB
In recent years, due to the wide applications of uncertain data (e.g., noisy data), uncertain frequent itemsets (UFI) mining over uncertain databases has attracted much attention, which differs from the corresponding deterministic problem from the generalized definition and resolutions. As the most costly task in association rule mining process, it has been shown that outsourcing this task to a service provider (e.g.,the third cloud party) brings several benefits to the data owner such as cost relief and a less commitment to storage and computational resources. However, the correctness integrity of mining results can be corrupted if the service provider is with random fault or not honest (e.g., lazy, malicious, etc). Therefore, in this paper, we focus on the integrity and verification issue in UFI mining problem during outsourcing process, i.e., how the data owner verifies the mining results. Specifically, we explore and extend the existing work on deterministic FI outsourcing verification to uncertain scenario. For this purpose, We extend the existing outsourcing FI mining work to uncertain area w.r.t. the two popular UFI definition criteria and the approximate UFI mining methods. Specifically, We construct and improve the basic/enhanced verification scheme with such different UFI definition respectively. After that, we further discuss the scenario of existing approximation UFP mining, where we can see that our technique can provide good probabilistic guarantees about the correctness of the verification. Finally, we present the comparisons and analysis on the schemes proposed in this paper.
1307.2997
Conversion of Braille to Text in English, Hindi and Tamil Languages
cs.CV
The Braille system has been used by the visually impaired for reading and writing. Due to limited availability of the Braille text books an efficient usage of the books becomes a necessity. This paper proposes a method to convert a scanned Braille document to text which can be read out to many through the computer. The Braille documents are pre processed to enhance the dots and reduce the noise. The Braille cells are segmented and the dots from each cell is extracted and converted in to a number sequence. These are mapped to the appropriate alphabets of the language. The converted text is spoken out through a speech synthesizer. The paper also provides a mechanism to type the Braille characters through the number pad of the keyboard. The typed Braille character is mapped to the alphabet and spoken out. The Braille cell has a standard representation but the mapping differs for each language. In this paper mapping of English, Hindi and Tamil are considered.
1307.3003
Application of a cognitive-inspired algorithm for detecting communities in mobility networks
physics.soc-ph cs.SI
The emergence and the global adaptation of mobile devices has influenced human interactions at the individual, community, and social levels leading to the so called Cyber-Physical World (CPW) convergence scenario [1]. One of the most important features of CPW is the possibility of exploiting information about the structure of the social communities of users, revealed by joint movement patterns and frequency of physical co-location. Mobile devices of users that belong to the same social community are likely to "see" each other (and thus be able to communicate through ad-hoc networking techniques) more frequently and regularly than devices outside the community. In mobile opportunistic networks, this fact can be exploited, for example, to optimize networking operations such as forwarding and dissemination of messages. In this paper we present the application of a cognitive-inspired algorithm [2,3,4] for revealing the structure of these dynamic social networks (simulated by the HCMM model [5]) using information about physical encounters logged by the users' mobile devices. The main features of our algorithm are: (i) the capacity of detecting social communities induced by physical co-location of users through distributed algorithms; (ii) the capacity to detect users belonging to more communities (thus acting as bridges across them), and (iii) the capacity to detect the time evolution of communities.
1307.3004
Routing in Wireless Mesh Networks: Two Soft Computing Based Approaches
cs.NI cs.AI
Due to dynamic network conditions, routing is the most critical part in WMNs and needs to be optimised. The routing strategies developed for WMNs must be efficient to make it an operationally self configurable network. Thus we need to resort to near shortest path evaluation. This lays down the requirement of some soft computing approaches such that a near shortest path is available in an affordable computing time. This paper proposes a Fuzzy Logic based integrated cost measure in terms of delay, throughput and jitter. Based upon this distance (cost) between two adjacent nodes we evaluate minimal shortest path that updates routing tables. We apply two recent soft computing approaches namely Big Bang Big Crunch (BB-BC) and Biogeography Based Optimization (BBO) approaches to enumerate shortest or near short paths. BB-BC theory is related with the evolution of the universe whereas BBO is inspired by dynamical equilibrium in the number of species on an island. Both the algorithms have low computational time and high convergence speed. Simulation results show that the proposed routing algorithms find the optimal shortest path taking into account three most important parameters of network dynamics. It has been further observed that for the shortest path problem BB-BC outperforms BBO in terms of speed and percent error between the evaluated minimal path and the actual shortest path.
1307.3005
Computational Complexity Comparison Of Multi-Sensor Single Target Data Fusion Methods By Matlab
cs.SY
Target tracking using observations from multiple sensors can achieve better estimation performance than a single sensor. The most famous estimation tool in target tracking is Kalman filter. There are several mathematical approaches to combine the observations of multiple sensors by use of Kalman filter. An important issue in applying a proper approach is computational complexity. In this paper, four data fusion algorithms based on Kalman filter are considered including three centralized and one decentralized methods. Using MATLAB, computational loads of these methods are compared while number of sensors increases. The results show that inverse covariance method has the best computational performance if the number of sensors is above 20. For a smaller number of sensors, other methods, especially group sensors, are more appropriate..
1307.3011
Soft Computing Framework for Routing in Wireless Mesh Networks: An Integrated Cost Function Approach
cs.NI cs.AI
Dynamic behaviour of a WMN imposes stringent constraints on the routing policy of the network. In the shortest path based routing the shortest paths needs to be evaluated within a given time frame allowed by the WMN dynamics. The exact reasoning based shortest path evaluation methods usually fail to meet this rigid requirement. Thus, requiring some soft computing based approaches which can replace "best for sure" solutions with "good enough" solutions. This paper proposes a framework for optimal routing in the WMNs; where we investigate the suitability of Big Bang-Big Crunch (BB-BC), a soft computing based approach to evaluate shortest/near-shortest path. In order to make routing optimal we first propose to replace distance between the adjacent nodes with an integrated cost measure that takes into account throughput, delay, jitter and residual energy of a node. A fuzzy logic based inference mechanism evaluates this cost measure at each node. Using this distance measure we apply BB-BC optimization algorithm to evaluate shortest/near shortest path to update the routing tables periodically as dictated by network requirements. A large number of simulations were conducted and it has been observed that BB-BC algorithm appears to be a high potential candidate suitable for routing in WMNs.
1307.3014
A New Approach to the Solution of Economic Dispatch Using Particle Swarm Optimization with Simulated Annealing
cs.CE cs.NE
A new approach to the solution of Economic Dispatch using Particle Swarm Optimization is presented. It is the progression of allocating production amongst the dedicated units such that the restriction forced are fulfilled and the power needs are reduced. More just, the soft computing method has received supplementary concentration and was used in a quantity of successful and sensible applications. Here, an attempt has been made to find out the minimum cost by using Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm using the data of three generating units. In this work, data has been taken such as the loss coefficients with the max-min power limit and cost function. PSO and Simulated Annealing are functional to put out the least amount for dissimilar energy requirements. When the outputs are compared with the conventional method, PSO seems to give an improved result with enhanced convergence feature. All the methods are executed in MATLAB environment. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method were demonstrated by three generating units case study. Output gives hopeful results, signifying that the projected method of calculation is competent of economically formative advanced eminence solutions addressing economic dispatch problems.
1307.3040
Between Sense and Sensibility: Declarative narrativisation of mental models as a basis and benchmark for visuo-spatial cognition and computation focussed collaborative cognitive systems
cs.AI cs.CL cs.CV cs.HC cs.RO
What lies between `\emph{sensing}' and `\emph{sensibility}'? In other words, what kind of cognitive processes mediate sensing capability, and the formation of sensible impressions ---e.g., abstractions, analogies, hypotheses and theory formation, beliefs and their revision, argument formation--- in domain-specific problem solving, or in regular activities of everyday living, working and simply going around in the environment? How can knowledge and reasoning about such capabilities, as exhibited by humans in particular problem contexts, be used as a model and benchmark for the development of collaborative cognitive (interaction) systems concerned with human assistance, assurance, and empowerment? We pose these questions in the context of a range of assistive technologies concerned with \emph{visuo-spatial perception and cognition} tasks encompassing aspects such as commonsense, creativity, and the application of specialist domain knowledge and problem-solving thought processes. Assistive technologies being considered include: (a) human activity interpretation; (b) high-level cognitive rovotics; (c) people-centred creative design in domains such as architecture & digital media creation, and (d) qualitative analyses geographic information systems. Computational narratives not only provide a rich cognitive basis, but they also serve as a benchmark of functional performance in our development of computational cognitive assistance systems. We posit that computational narrativisation pertaining to space, actions, and change provides a useful model of \emph{visual} and \emph{spatio-temporal thinking} within a wide-range of problem-solving tasks and application areas where collaborative cognitive systems could serve an assistive and empowering function.
1307.3043
A two-layer Conditional Random Field for the classification of partially occluded objects
cs.CV
Conditional Random Fields (CRF) are among the most popular techniques for image labelling because of their flexibility in modelling dependencies between the labels and the image features. This paper proposes a novel CRF-framework for image labeling problems which is capable to classify partially occluded objects. Our approach is evaluated on aerial near-vertical images as well as on urban street-view images and compared with another methods.
1307.3046
Spatio-Temporal Queries for moving objects Data warehousing
cs.DB
In the last decade, Moving Object Databases (MODs) have attracted a lot of attention from researchers. Several research works were conducted to extend traditional database techniques to accommodate the new requirements imposed by the continuous change in location information of moving objects. Managing, querying, storing, and mining moving objects were the key research directions. This extensive interest in moving objects is a natural consequence of the recent ubiquitous location-aware devices, such as PDAs, mobile phones, etc., as well as the variety of information that can be extracted from such new databases. In this paper we propose a Spatio-Temporal data warehousing (STDW) for efficiently querying location information of moving objects. The proposed schema introduces new measures like direction majority and other direction-based measures that enhance the decision making based on location information.
1307.3047
Linear Codes over Z_4+uZ_4: MacWilliams identities, projections, and formally self-dual codes
math.RA cs.IT math.IT
Linear codes are considered over the ring Z_4+uZ_4, a non-chain extension of Z_4. Lee weights, Gray maps for these codes are defined and MacWilliams identities for the complete, symmetrized and Lee weight enumerators are proved. Two projections from Z_4+uZ_4 to the rings Z_4 and F_2+uF_2 are considered and self-dual codes over Z_4+uZ_4 are studied in connection with these projections. Finally three constructions are given for formally self-dual codes over Z_4+uZ_4 and their Z_4-images together with some good examples of formally self-dual Z_4-codes obtained through these constructions.
1307.3054
Contrast Enhancement And Brightness Preservation Using Multi- Decomposition Histogram Equalization
cs.CV
Histogram Equalization (HE) has been an essential addition to the Image Enhancement world. Enhancement techniques like Classical Histogram Equalization (CHE), Adaptive Histogram Equalization (ADHE), Bi-Histogram Equalization (BHE) and Recursive Mean Separate Histogram Equalization (RMSHE) methods enhance contrast, however, brightness is not well preserved with these methods, which gives an unpleasant look to the final image obtained. Thus, we introduce a novel technique Multi-Decomposition Histogram Equalization (MDHE) to eliminate the drawbacks of the earlier methods. In MDHE, we have decomposed the input sixty-four parts, applied CHE in each of the sub-images and then finally interpolated them in correct order. The final image after MDHE results in contrast enhanced and brightness preserved image compared to all other techniques mentioned above. We have calculated the various parameters like PSNR, SNR, RMSE, MSE, etc. for every technique. Our results are well supported by bar graphs, histograms and the parameter calculations at the end.
1307.3061
The technology of using a data warehouse to support decision-making in health care
cs.DB
This paper describes the technology of data warehouse in healthcare decision-making and tools for support of these technologies, which is used to cancer diseases. The healthcare executive managers and doctors needs information about and insight into the existing health data, so as to make decision more efficiently without interrupting the daily work of an On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) system. This is a complex problem during the healthcare decision-making process. To solve this problem, the building a healthcare data warehouse seems to be efficient. First in this paper we explain the concepts of the data warehouse, On-Line Analysis Processing (OLAP). Changing the data in the data warehouse into a multidimensional data cube is then shown. Finally, an application example is given to illustrate the use of the healthcare data warehouse specific to cancer diseases developed in this study. The executive managers and doctors can view data from more than one perspective with reduced query time, thus making decisions faster and more comprehensive.
1307.3091
Artificial Intelligence MArkup Language: A Brief Tutorial
cs.AI cs.SE
The purpose of this paper is to serve as a reference guide for the development of chatterbots implemented with the AIML language. In order to achieve this, the main concepts in Pattern Recognition area are described because the AIML uses such theoretical framework in their syntactic and semantic structures. After that, AIML language is described and each AIML command/tag is followed by an application example. Also, the usage of AIML embedded tags for the handling of sequence dialogue limitations between humans and machines is shown. Finally, computer systems that assist in the design of chatterbots with the AIML language are classified and described.
1307.3095
Fundamental Limits of Energy-Efficient Resource Sharing, Power Control and Discontinuous Transmission
cs.IT math.IT
The achievable gains via power-optimal scheduling are investigated. Under the QoS constraint of a guaranteed link rate, the overall power consumed by a cellular BS is minimized. Available alternatives for the minimization of transmit power consumption are presented. The transmit power is derived for the two-user downlink situation. The analysis is extended to incorporate a BS power model (which maps transmit power to supply power consumption) and the use of DTX in a BS. Overall potential gains are evaluated by comparison of a conventional SOTA BS with one that employs DTX exclusively, a power control scheme and an optimal combined DTX and power control scheme. Fundamental limits of the achievable savings are found to be at 5.5 dB under low load and 2 dB under high load when comparing the SOTA consumption with optimal allocation under the chosen power model.
1307.3099
Minimal average consumption downlink base station power control strategy
cs.IT math.IT
We consider single cell multi-user OFDMA downlink resource allocation on a flat-fading channel such that average supply power is minimized while fulfilling a set of target rates. Available degrees of freedom are transmission power and duration. This paper extends our previous work on power optimal resource allocation in the mobile downlink by detailing the optimal power control strategy investigation and extracting fundamental characteristics of power optimal operation in cellular downlink. We find that only a system wide allocation of transmit powers is optimal rather than on link level. The allocation strategy that minimizes overall power consumption requires the transmission power on all links to be increased if only one link degrades. Furthermore, we show that for mobile stations with equal channels but different rate requirements, it is power optimal to assign equal transmit powers with proportional transmit durations. To relate the effectiveness of power control to live operation, we take the power model into consideration which maps transmit power to supply power. We show that due to the affine mapping, the solution is independent of the power model. However, the effectiveness of power control measures is completely dependent on the underlying hardware and the load dependence factor of a base station (instead of absolute consumption values). Finally, we conclude that power control measures in base stations are most relevant in macro stations which have load dependence factor of more than 50%.
1307.3102
Statistical Active Learning Algorithms for Noise Tolerance and Differential Privacy
cs.LG cs.DS stat.ML
We describe a framework for designing efficient active learning algorithms that are tolerant to random classification noise and are differentially-private. The framework is based on active learning algorithms that are statistical in the sense that they rely on estimates of expectations of functions of filtered random examples. It builds on the powerful statistical query framework of Kearns (1993). We show that any efficient active statistical learning algorithm can be automatically converted to an efficient active learning algorithm which is tolerant to random classification noise as well as other forms of "uncorrelated" noise. The complexity of the resulting algorithms has information-theoretically optimal quadratic dependence on $1/(1-2\eta)$, where $\eta$ is the noise rate. We show that commonly studied concept classes including thresholds, rectangles, and linear separators can be efficiently actively learned in our framework. These results combined with our generic conversion lead to the first computationally-efficient algorithms for actively learning some of these concept classes in the presence of random classification noise that provide exponential improvement in the dependence on the error $\epsilon$ over their passive counterparts. In addition, we show that our algorithms can be automatically converted to efficient active differentially-private algorithms. This leads to the first differentially-private active learning algorithms with exponential label savings over the passive case.
1307.3103
On Minimizing Base Station Power Consumption
cs.IT math.IT
We consider resource allocation over a wireless downlink where Base Station (BS) power consumption is minimized while upholding a set of required link rates. A Power and Resource Allocation Including Sleep (PRAIS) method is proposed that combines resource sharing, Power Control (PC), and Discontinuous Transmission (DTX), such that downlink power consumption is minimized, which can be formed into a convex optimization problem. Unlike conventional approaches that aim at minimizing transmit power, in this work the BS mains supply power is chosen as the relevant metric. Based on a linear power model, which maps a certain transmit power to the necessary mains supply power, we quantify the fundamental limits of PRAIS in terms of achievable BS power savings. The fundamental limits are numerically evaluated on link level for four sets of BS power model parameters representative of envisaged future hardware developments. We establish an expected lower limit for PRAIS of 27W to 68W depending on load per link for BSs installed in 2014, which provides a 61% to 34% gain over conventional resource allocation schemes.
1307.3107
An improvement of the Feng-Rao bound for primary codes
cs.IT math.AC math.IT
We present a new bound for the minimum distance of a general primary linear code. For affine variety codes defined from generalised C_{ab} curves the new bound often improves dramatically on the Feng-Rao bound for primary codes. The method does not only work for the minimum distance but can be applied to any generalised Hamming weight
1307.3110
Minimizing Base Station Power Consumption
cs.IT math.IT
We propose a new radio resource management algorithm which aims at minimizing the base station supply power consumption for multi-user MIMO-OFDM. Given a base station power model that establishes a relation between the RF transmit power and the supply power consumption, the algorithm optimizes the trade-off between three basic power-saving mechanisms: antenna adaptation, power control and discontinuous transmission. The algorithm comprises two steps: a) the first step estimates sleep mode duration, resource shares and antenna configuration based on average channel conditions and b) the second step exploits instantaneous channel knowledge at the transmitter for frequency selective time-variant channels. The proposed algorithm finds the number of transmit antennas, the RF transmission power per resource unit and spatial channel, the number of discontinuous transmission time slots, and the multi-user resource allocation, such that supply power consumption is minimized. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm is capable of reducing the supply power consumption by between 25% and 40%, dependend on the system load.
1307.3121
A Modified Levenberg-Marquardt Method for the Bidirectional Relay Channel
cs.IT math.IT
This paper presents an optimization approach for a system consisting of multiple bidirectional links over a two-way amplify-and-forward relay. It is desired to improve the fairness of the system. All user pairs exchange information over one relay station with multiple antennas. Due to the joint transmission to all users, the users are subject to mutual interference. A mitigation of the interference can be achieved by max-min fair precoding optimization where the relay is subject to a sum power constraint. The resulting optimization problem is non-convex. This paper proposes a novel iterative and low complexity approach based on a modified Levenberg-Marquardt method to find near optimal solutions. The presented method finds solutions close to the standard convex-solver based relaxation approach.
1307.3125
Information Theoretic Adaptive Tracking of Epidemics in Complex Networks
physics.soc-ph cs.SI
Adaptively monitoring the states of nodes in a large complex network is of interest in domains such as national security, public health, and energy grid management. Here, we present an information theoretic adaptive tracking and sampling framework that recursively selects measurements using the feedback from performing inference on a dynamic Bayesian Network. We also present conditions for the existence of a network specific, observation dependent, phase transition in the updated posterior of hidden node states resulting from actively monitoring the network. Since traditional epidemic thresholds are derived using observation independent Markov chains, the threshold of the posterior should more accurately model the true phase transition of a network. The adaptive tracking framework and epidemic threshold should provide insight into modeling the dynamic response of the updated posterior to active intervention and control policies while monitoring modern complex networks.
1307.3142
Perfect Codes in the Discrete Simplex
cs.IT cs.DM math.IT
We study the problem of existence of (nontrivial) perfect codes in the discrete $ n $-simplex $ \Delta_{\ell}^n := \left\{ \begin{pmatrix} x_0, \ldots, x_n \end{pmatrix} : x_i \in \mathbb{Z}_{+}, \sum_i x_i = \ell \right\} $ under $ \ell_1 $ metric. The problem is motivated by the so-called multiset codes, which have recently been introduced by the authors as appropriate constructs for error correction in the permutation channels. It is shown that $ e $-perfect codes in the $ 1 $-simplex $ \Delta_{\ell}^1 $ exist for any $ \ell \geq 2e + 1 $, the $ 2 $-simplex $ \Delta_{\ell}^2 $ admits an $ e $-perfect code if and only if $ \ell = 3e + 1 $, while there are no perfect codes in higher-dimensional simplices. In other words, perfect multiset codes exist only over binary and ternary alphabets.
1307.3176
Fast gradient descent for drifting least squares regression, with application to bandits
cs.LG stat.ML
Online learning algorithms require to often recompute least squares regression estimates of parameters. We study improving the computational complexity of such algorithms by using stochastic gradient descent (SGD) type schemes in place of classic regression solvers. We show that SGD schemes efficiently track the true solutions of the regression problems, even in the presence of a drift. This finding coupled with an $O(d)$ improvement in complexity, where $d$ is the dimension of the data, make them attractive for implementation in the big data settings. In the case when strong convexity in the regression problem is guaranteed, we provide bounds on the error both in expectation and high probability (the latter is often needed to provide theoretical guarantees for higher level algorithms), despite the drifting least squares solution. As an example of this case we prove that the regret performance of an SGD version of the PEGE linear bandit algorithm [Rusmevichientong and Tsitsiklis 2010] is worse that that of PEGE itself only by a factor of $O(\log^4 n)$. When strong convexity of the regression problem cannot be guaranteed, we investigate using an adaptive regularisation. We make an empirical study of an adaptively regularised, SGD version of LinUCB [Li et al. 2010] in a news article recommendation application, which uses the large scale news recommendation dataset from Yahoo! front page. These experiments show a large gain in computational complexity, with a consistently low tracking error and click-through-rate (CTR) performance that is $75\%$ close.
1307.3181
Compressive sensing based beamforming for noisy measurements
cs.IT math.IT
Compressive sensing is the newly emerging method in information technology that could impact array beamforming and the associated engineering applications. However, practical measurements are inevitably polluted by noise from external interference and internal acquisition process. Then, compressive sensing based beamforming was studied in this work for those noisy measurements with a signal-to-noise ratio. In this article, we firstly introduced the fundamentals of compressive sensing theory. After that, we implemented two algorithms (CSB-I and CSB-II). Both algorithms are proposed for those presumably spatially sparse and incoherent signals. The two algorithms were examined using a simple simulation case and a practical aeroacoustic test case. The simulation case clearly shows that the CSB-I algorithm is quite sensitive to the sensing noise. The CSB-II algorithm, on the other hand, is more robust to noisy measurements. The results by CSB-II at $\mathrm{SNR}=-10\,$dB are still reasonable with good resolution and sidelobe rejection. Therefore, compressive sensing beamforming can be considered as a promising array signal beamforming method for those measurements with inevitably noisy interference.
1307.3185
Geography and similarity of regional cuisines in China
physics.soc-ph cs.SI physics.data-an
Food occupies a central position in every culture and it is therefore of great interest to understand the evolution of food culture. The advent of the World Wide Web and online recipe repositories has begun to provide unprecedented opportunities for data-driven, quantitative study of food culture. Here we harness an online database documenting recipes from various Chinese regional cuisines and investigate the similarity of regional cuisines in terms of geography and climate. We found that the geographical proximity, rather than climate proximity is a crucial factor that determines the similarity of regional cuisines. We develop a model of regional cuisine evolution that provides helpful clues to understand the evolution of cuisines and cultures.
1307.3195
Action-based Character AI in Video-games with CogBots Architecture: A Preliminary Report
cs.AI cs.SE
In this paper we propose an architecture for specifying the interaction of non-player characters (NPCs) in the game-world in a way that abstracts common tasks in four main conceptual components, namely perception, deliberation, control, action. We argue that this architecture, inspired by AI research on autonomous agents and robots, can offer a number of benefits in the form of abstraction, modularity, re-usability and higher degrees of personalization for the behavior of each NPC. We also show how this architecture can be used to tackle a simple scenario related to the navigation of NPCs under incomplete information about the obstacles that may obstruct the various way-points in the game, in a simple and effective way.
1307.3203
Moral foundations in an interacting neural networks society
physics.soc-ph cs.SI nlin.AO
The moral foundations theory supports that people, across cultures, tend to consider a small number of dimensions when classifying issues on a moral basis. The data also show that the statistics of weights attributed to each moral dimension is related to self-declared political affiliation, which in turn has been connected to cognitive learning styles by recent literature in neuroscience and psychology. Inspired by these data, we propose a simple statistical mechanics model with interacting neural networks classifying vectors and learning from members of their social neighborhood about their average opinion on a large set of issues. The purpose of learning is to reduce dissension among agents even when disagreeing. We consider a family of learning algorithms parametrized by \delta, that represents the importance given to corroborating (same sign) opinions. We define an order parameter that quantifies the diversity of opinions in a group with homogeneous learning style. Using Monte Carlo simulations and a mean field approximation we find the relation between the order parameter and the learning parameter \delta at a temperature we associate with the importance of social influence in a given group. In concordance with data, groups that rely more strongly on corroborating evidence sustains less opinion diversity. We discuss predictions of the model and propose possible experimental tests.
1307.3224
Negotiating the Probabilistic Satisfaction of Temporal Logic Motion Specifications
cs.RO
We propose a human-supervised control synthesis method for a stochastic Dubins vehicle such that the probability of satisfying a specification given as a formula in a fragment of Probabilistic Computational Tree Logic (PCTL) over a set of environmental properties is maximized. Under some mild assumptions, we construct a finite approximation for the motion of the vehicle in the form of a tree-structured Markov Decision Process (MDP). We introduce an efficient algorithm, which exploits the tree structure of the MDP, for synthesizing a control policy that maximizes the probability of satisfaction. For the proposed PCTL fragment, we define the specification update rules that guarantee the increase (or decrease) of the satisfaction probability. We introduce an incremental algorithm for synthesizing an updated MDP control policy that reuses the initial solution. The initial specification can be updated, using the rules, until the supervisor is satisfied with both the updated specification and the corresponding satisfaction probability. We propose an offline and an online application of this method.
1307.3271
Fuzzy Fibers: Uncertainty in dMRI Tractography
cs.CV
Fiber tracking based on diffusion weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) allows for noninvasive reconstruction of fiber bundles in the human brain. In this chapter, we discuss sources of error and uncertainty in this technique, and review strategies that afford a more reliable interpretation of the results. This includes methods for computing and rendering probabilistic tractograms, which estimate precision in the face of measurement noise and artifacts. However, we also address aspects that have received less attention so far, such as model selection, partial voluming, and the impact of parameters, both in preprocessing and in fiber tracking itself. We conclude by giving impulses for future research.
1307.3284
Sequential Selection of Correlated Ads by POMDPs
cs.IR
Online advertising has become a key source of revenue for both web search engines and online publishers. For them, the ability of allocating right ads to right webpages is critical because any mismatched ads would not only harm web users' satisfactions but also lower the ad income. In this paper, we study how online publishers could optimally select ads to maximize their ad incomes over time. The conventional offline, content-based matching between webpages and ads is a fine start but cannot solve the problem completely because good matching does not necessarily lead to good payoff. Moreover, with the limited display impressions, we need to balance the need of selecting ads to learn true ad payoffs (exploration) with that of allocating ads to generate high immediate payoffs based on the current belief (exploitation). In this paper, we address the problem by employing Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) and discuss how to utilize the correlation of ads to improve the efficiency of the exploration and increase ad incomes in a long run. Our mathematical derivation shows that the belief states of correlated ads can be naturally updated using a formula similar to collaborative filtering. To test our model, a real world ad dataset from a major search engine is collected and categorized. Experimenting over the data, we provide an analyse of the effect of the underlying parameters, and demonstrate that our algorithms significantly outperform other strong baselines.
1307.3290
Concatenated Coding Using Linear Schemes for Gaussian Broadcast Channels with Noisy Channel Output Feedback
cs.IT math.IT
Linear coding schemes have been the main choice of coding for the additive white Gaussian noise broadcast channel (AWGN-BC) with noiseless feedback in the literature. The achievable rate regions of these schemes go well beyond the capacity region of the AWGN-BC without feedback. In this paper, a concatenating coding design for the $K$-user AWGN-BC with noisy feedback is proposed that relies on linear feedback schemes to achieve rate tuples outside the no-feedback capacity region. Specifically, a linear feedback code for the AWGN-BC with noisy feedback is used as an inner code that creates an effective single-user channel from the transmitter to each of the receivers, and then open-loop coding is used for coding over these single-user channels. An achievable rate region of linear feedback schemes for noiseless feedback is shown to be achievable by the concatenated coding scheme for sufficiently small feedback noise level. Then, a linear feedback coding scheme for the $K$-user symmetric AWGN-BC with noisy feedback is presented and optimized for use in the concatenated coding scheme. Lastly, we apply the concatenated coding design to the two-user AWGN-BC with a single noisy feedback link from one of the receivers.
1307.3301
Optimal Bounds on Approximation of Submodular and XOS Functions by Juntas
cs.DS cs.CC cs.LG
We investigate the approximability of several classes of real-valued functions by functions of a small number of variables ({\em juntas}). Our main results are tight bounds on the number of variables required to approximate a function $f:\{0,1\}^n \rightarrow [0,1]$ within $\ell_2$-error $\epsilon$ over the uniform distribution: 1. If $f$ is submodular, then it is $\epsilon$-close to a function of $O(\frac{1}{\epsilon^2} \log \frac{1}{\epsilon})$ variables. This is an exponential improvement over previously known results. We note that $\Omega(\frac{1}{\epsilon^2})$ variables are necessary even for linear functions. 2. If $f$ is fractionally subadditive (XOS) it is $\epsilon$-close to a function of $2^{O(1/\epsilon^2)}$ variables. This result holds for all functions with low total $\ell_1$-influence and is a real-valued analogue of Friedgut's theorem for boolean functions. We show that $2^{\Omega(1/\epsilon)}$ variables are necessary even for XOS functions. As applications of these results, we provide learning algorithms over the uniform distribution. For XOS functions, we give a PAC learning algorithm that runs in time $2^{poly(1/\epsilon)} poly(n)$. For submodular functions we give an algorithm in the more demanding PMAC learning model (Balcan and Harvey, 2011) which requires a multiplicative $1+\gamma$ factor approximation with probability at least $1-\epsilon$ over the target distribution. Our uniform distribution algorithm runs in time $2^{poly(1/(\gamma\epsilon))} poly(n)$. This is the first algorithm in the PMAC model that over the uniform distribution can achieve a constant approximation factor arbitrarily close to 1 for all submodular functions. As follows from the lower bounds in (Feldman et al., 2013) both of these algorithms are close to optimal. We also give applications for proper learning, testing and agnostic learning with value queries of these classes.
1307.3310
Improving the quality of Gujarati-Hindi Machine Translation through part-of-speech tagging and stemmer-assisted transliteration
cs.CL
Machine Translation for Indian languages is an emerging research area. Transliteration is one such module that we design while designing a translation system. Transliteration means mapping of source language text into the target language. Simple mapping decreases the efficiency of overall translation system. We propose the use of stemming and part-of-speech tagging for transliteration. The effectiveness of translation can be improved if we use part-of-speech tagging and stemming assisted transliteration.We have shown that much of the content in Gujarati gets transliterated while being processed for translation to Hindi language.
1307.3332
Universal truncation error upper bounds in irregular sampling restoration
cs.IT math.IT
Universal (pointwise uniform and time shifted) truncation error upper bounds are presented in Whittaker--Kotel'nikov--Shannon (WKS) sampling restoration sum for Bernstein function class $B_{\pi,d}^q\,,\ q \ge 1,$ $d\in \mathbb N\,,$ when the sampled functions decay rate is unknown. The case of multidimensional irregular sampling is discussed.
1307.3336
Opinion Mining and Analysis: A survey
cs.CL cs.IR
The current research is focusing on the area of Opinion Mining also called as sentiment analysis due to sheer volume of opinion rich web resources such as discussion forums, review sites and blogs are available in digital form. One important problem in sentiment analysis of product reviews is to produce summary of opinions based on product features. We have surveyed and analyzed in this paper, various techniques that have been developed for the key tasks of opinion mining. We have provided an overall picture of what is involved in developing a software system for opinion mining on the basis of our survey and analysis.
1307.3337
Unsupervised Gene Expression Data using Enhanced Clustering Method
cs.CE cs.LG
Microarrays are made it possible to simultaneously monitor the expression profiles of thousands of genes under various experimental conditions. Identification of co-expressed genes and coherent patterns is the central goal in microarray or gene expression data analysis and is an important task in bioinformatics research. Feature selection is a process to select features which are more informative. It is one of the important steps in knowledge discovery. The problem is that not all features are important. Some of the features may be redundant, and others may be irrelevant and noisy. In this work the unsupervised Gene selection method and Enhanced Center Initialization Algorithm (ECIA) with K-Means algorithms have been applied for clustering of Gene Expression Data. This proposed clustering algorithm overcomes the drawbacks in terms of specifying the optimal number of clusters and initialization of good cluster centroids. Gene Expression Data show that could identify compact clusters with performs well in terms of the Silhouette Coefficients cluster measure.
1307.3346
Universal truncation error upper bounds in sampling restoration
cs.IT math.IT
Universal (pointwise uniform and time shifted) truncation error upper bounds are presented for the Whittaker--Kotel'nikov--Shannon (WKS) sampling restoration sum for Bernstein function classes $B_{\pi,d}^q,\, q>1,\, d\in \mathbb N$, when the decay rate of the sampled functions is unknown. The case of regular sampling is discussed. Extremal properties of related series of sinc functions are investigated.
1307.3360
Low-complexity Multiclass Encryption by Compressed Sensing
cs.IT math.IT
The idea that compressed sensing may be used to encrypt information from unauthorised receivers has already been envisioned, but never explored in depth since its security may seem compromised by the linearity of its encoding process. In this paper we apply this simple encoding to define a general private-key encryption scheme in which a transmitter distributes the same encoded measurements to receivers of different classes, which are provided partially corrupted encoding matrices and are thus allowed to decode the acquired signal at provably different levels of recovery quality. The security properties of this scheme are thoroughly analysed: firstly, the properties of our multiclass encryption are theoretically investigated by deriving performance bounds on the recovery quality attained by lower-class receivers with respect to high-class ones. Then we perform a statistical analysis of the measurements to show that, although not perfectly secure, compressed sensing grants some level of security that comes at almost-zero cost and thus may benefit resource-limited applications. In addition to this we report some exemplary applications of multiclass encryption by compressed sensing of speech signals, electrocardiographic tracks and images, in which quality degradation is quantified as the impossibility of some feature extraction algorithms to obtain sensitive information from suitably degraded signal recoveries.
1307.3388
Dynamic networks reveal key players in aging
cs.CE q-bio.MN
Motivation: Since susceptibility to diseases increases with age, studying aging gains importance. Analyses of gene expression or sequence data, which have been indispensable for investigating aging, have been limited to studying genes and their protein products in isolation, ignoring their connectivities. However, proteins function by interacting with other proteins, and this is exactly what biological networks (BNs) model. Thus, analyzing the proteins' BN topologies could contribute to understanding of aging. Current methods for analyzing systems-level BNs deal with their static representations, even though cells are dynamic. For this reason, and because different data types can give complementary biological insights, we integrate current static BNs with aging-related gene expression data to construct dynamic, age-specific BNs. Then, we apply sensitive measures of topology to the dynamic BNs to study cellular changes with age. Results: While global BN topologies do not significantly change with age, local topologies of a number of genes do. We predict such genes as aging-related. We demonstrate credibility of our predictions by: 1) observing significant overlap between our predicted aging-related genes and "ground truth" aging-related genes; 2) showing that our aging-related predictions group by functions and diseases that are different than functions and diseases of genes that are not predicted as aging-related; 3) observing significant overlap between functions and diseases that are enriched in our aging-related predictions and those that are enriched in "ground truth" aging-related data; 4) providing evidence that diseases which are enriched in our aging-related predictions are linked to human aging; and 5) validating all of our high-scoring novel predictions via manual literature search.
1307.3399
Social Networking Site For Self Portfolio
cs.SI cs.CY
Online social networking concept is a global phenomenon and there are millions of sites which help in being connected with friends and family. This project focuses on creating self-portfolios for the users which makes the users engaging with their skills. The users follow the other users to interact and communicate with them. Users can encourage the other users blogs and videos by clicking the hit button. The functionality of this site is designed to focus on both professional as well as academics. Each user is given a dashboard for uploading videos and writing blogs.