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1008.3169
Don't 'have a clue'? Unsupervised co-learning of downward-entailing operators
cs.CL
Researchers in textual entailment have begun to consider inferences involving 'downward-entailing operators', an interesting and important class of lexical items that change the way inferences are made. Recent work proposed a method for learning English downward-entailing operators that requires access to a high-quality collection of 'negative polarity items' (NPIs). However, English is one of the very few languages for which such a list exists. We propose the first approach that can be applied to the many languages for which there is no pre-existing high-precision database of NPIs. As a case study, we apply our method to Romanian and show that our method yields good results. Also, we perform a cross-linguistic analysis that suggests interesting connections to some findings in linguistic typology.
1008.3187
Polynomial-Time Approximation Schemes for Knapsack and Related Counting Problems using Branching Programs
cs.DS cs.CC cs.LG
We give a deterministic, polynomial-time algorithm for approximately counting the number of {0,1}-solutions to any instance of the knapsack problem. On an instance of length n with total weight W and accuracy parameter eps, our algorithm produces a (1 + eps)-multiplicative approximation in time poly(n,log W,1/eps). We also give algorithms with identical guarantees for general integer knapsack, the multidimensional knapsack problem (with a constant number of constraints) and for contingency tables (with a constant number of rows). Previously, only randomized approximation schemes were known for these problems due to work by Morris and Sinclair and work by Dyer. Our algorithms work by constructing small-width, read-once branching programs for approximating the underlying solution space under a carefully chosen distribution. As a byproduct of this approach, we obtain new query algorithms for learning functions of k halfspaces with respect to the uniform distribution on {0,1}^n. The running time of our algorithm is polynomial in the accuracy parameter eps. Previously even for the case of k=2, only algorithms with an exponential dependence on eps were known.
1008.3196
Coded DS-CDMA Systems with Iterative Channel Estimation and no Pilot Symbols
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we describe direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems with quadriphase-shift keying in which channel estimation, coherent demodulation, and decoding are iteratively performed without the use of any training or pilot symbols. An expectation-maximization channel-estimation algorithm for the fading amplitude, phase, and the interference power spectral density (PSD) due to the combined interference and thermal noise is proposed for DS-CDMA systems with irregular repeat-accumulate codes. After initial estimates of the fading amplitude, phase, and interference PSD are obtained from the received symbols, subsequent values of these parameters are iteratively updated by using the soft feedback from the channel decoder. The updated estimates are combined with the received symbols and iteratively passed to the decoder. The elimination of pilot symbols simplifies the system design and allows either an enhanced information throughput, an improved bit error rate, or greater spectral efficiency. The interference-PSD estimation enables DS-CDMA systems to significantly suppress interference.
1008.3199
General Auction-Theoretic Strategies for Distributed Partner Selection in Cooperative Wireless Networks
cs.IT math.IT
It is unrealistic to assume that all nodes in an ad hoc wireless network would be willing to participate in cooperative communication, especially if their desired Quality-of- Service (QoS) is achievable via direct transmission. An incentivebased auction mechanism is presented to induce cooperative behavior in wireless networks with emphasis on users with asymmetrical channel fading conditions. A single-object secondprice auction is studied for cooperative partner selection in singlecarrier networks. In addition, a multiple-object bundled auction is analyzed for the selection of multiple simultaneous partners in a cooperative orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) setting. For both cases, we characterize equilibrium outage probability performance, seller revenue, and feedback bounds. The auction-based partner selection allows winning bidders to achieve their desired QoS while compensating the seller who assists them. At the local level sellers aim for revenue maximization, while connections are drawn to min-max fairness at the network level. The proposed strategies for partner selection in self-configuring cooperative wireless networks are shown to be robust under conditions of uncertainty in the number of users requesting cooperation, as well as minimal topology and channel link information available to individual users.
1008.3222
Proofs for an Abstraction of Continuous Dynamical Systems Utilizing Lyapunov Functions
cs.SY
In this report proofs are presented for a method for abstracting continuous dynamical systems by timed automata. The method is based on partitioning the state space of dynamical systems with invariant sets, which form cells representing locations of the timed automata. To enable verification of the dynamical system based on the abstraction, conditions for obtaining sound, complete, and refinable abstractions are set up. It is proposed to partition the state space utilizing sub-level sets of Lyapunov functions, since they are positive invariant sets. The existence of sound abstractions for Morse-Smale systems and complete and refinable abstractions for linear systems are proved.
1008.3282
Modeling Spammer Behavior: Na\"ive Bayes vs. Artificial Neural Networks
cs.IR cs.AI
Addressing the problem of spam emails in the Internet, this paper presents a comparative study on Na\"ive Bayes and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) based modeling of spammer behavior. Keyword-based spam email filtering techniques fall short to model spammer behavior as the spammer constantly changes tactics to circumvent these filters. The evasive tactics that the spammer uses are themselves patterns that can be modeled to combat spam. It has been observed that both Na\"ive Bayes and ANN are best suitable for modeling spammer common patterns. Experimental results demonstrate that both of them achieve a promising detection rate of around 92%, which is considerably an improvement of performance compared to the keyword-based contemporary filtering approaches.
1008.3289
Analyzing the Social Structure and Dynamics of E-mail and Spam in Massive Backbone Internet Traffic
cs.SI
E-mail is probably the most popular application on the Internet, with everyday business and personal communications dependent on it. Spam or unsolicited e-mail has been estimated to cost businesses significant amounts of money. However, our understanding of the network-level behavior of legitimate e-mail traffic and how it differs from spam traffic is limited. In this study, we have passively captured SMTP packets from a 10 Gbit/s Internet backbone link to construct a social network of e-mail users based on their exchanged e-mails. The focus of this paper is on the graph metrics indicating various structural properties of e-mail networks and how they evolve over time. This study also looks into the differences in the structural and temporal characteristics of spam and non-spam networks. Our analysis on the collected data allows us to show several differences between the behavior of spam and legitimate e-mail traffic, which can help us to understand the behavior of spammers and give us the knowledge to statistically model spam traffic on the network-level in order to complement current spam detection techniques.
1008.3295
Optimal relay location and power allocation for low SNR broadcast relay channels
cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
We consider the broadcast relay channel (BRC), where a single source transmits to multiple destinations with the help of a relay, in the limit of a large bandwidth. We address the problem of optimal relay positioning and power allocations at source and relay, to maximize the multicast rate from source to all destinations. To solve such a network planning problem, we develop a three-faceted approach based on an underlying information theoretic model, computational geometric aspects, and network optimization tools. Firstly, assuming superposition coding and frequency division between the source and the relay, the information theoretic framework yields a hypergraph model of the wideband BRC, which captures the dependency of achievable rate-tuples on the network topology. As the relay position varies, so does the set of hyperarcs constituting the hypergraph, rendering the combinatorial nature of optimization problem. We show that the convex hull C of all nodes in the 2-D plane can be divided into disjoint regions corresponding to distinct hyperarcs sets. These sets are obtained by superimposing all k-th order Voronoi tessellation of C. We propose an easy and efficient algorithm to compute all hyperarc sets, and prove they are polynomially bounded. Using the switched hypergraph approach, we model the original problem as a continuous yet non-convex network optimization program. Ultimately, availing on the techniques of geometric programming and $p$-norm surrogate approximation, we derive a good convex approximation. We provide a detailed characterization of the problem for collinearly located destinations, and then give a generalization for arbitrarily located destinations. Finally, we show strong gains for the optimal relay positioning compared to seemingly interesting positions.
1008.3301
Modelling the Dynamics of an Aedes albopictus Population
cs.CE cs.FL q-bio.PE
We present a methodology for modelling population dynamics with formal means of computer science. This allows unambiguous description of systems and application of analysis tools such as simulators and model checkers. In particular, the dynamics of a population of Aedes albopictus (a species of mosquito) and its modelling with the Stochastic Calculus of Looping Sequences (Stochastic CLS) are considered. The use of Stochastic CLS to model population dynamics requires an extension which allows environmental events (such as changes in the temperature and rainfalls) to be taken into account. A simulator for the constructed model is developed via translation into the specification language Maude, and used to compare the dynamics obtained from the model with real data.
1008.3303
An Individual-based Probabilistic Model for Fish Stock Simulation
cs.FL cs.MA q-bio.PE
We define an individual-based probabilistic model of a sole (Solea solea) behaviour. The individual model is given in terms of an Extended Probabilistic Discrete Timed Automaton (EPDTA), a new formalism that is introduced in the paper and that is shown to be interpretable as a Markov decision process. A given EPDTA model can be probabilistically model-checked by giving a suitable translation into syntax accepted by existing model-checkers. In order to simulate the dynamics of a given population of soles in different environmental scenarios, an agent-based simulation environment is defined in which each agent implements the behaviour of the given EPDTA model. By varying the probabilities and the characteristic functions embedded in the EPDTA model it is possible to represent different scenarios and to tune the model itself by comparing the results of the simulations with real data about the sole stock in the North Adriatic sea, available from the recent project SoleMon. The simulator is presented and made available for its adaptation to other species.
1008.3304
An Analysis on the Influence of Network Topologies on Local and Global Dynamics of Metapopulation Systems
cs.CE q-bio.PE
Metapopulations are models of ecological systems, describing the interactions and the behavior of populations that live in fragmented habitats. In this paper, we present a model of metapopulations based on the multivolume simulation algorithm tau-DPP, a stochastic class of membrane systems, that we utilize to investigate the influence that different habitat topologies can have on the local and global dynamics of metapopulations. In particular, we focus our analysis on the migration rate of individuals among adjacent patches, and on their capability of colonizing the empty patches in the habitat. We compare the simulation results obtained for each habitat topology, and conclude the paper with some proposals for other research issues concerning metapopulations.
1008.3305
Celer: an Efficient Program for Genotype Elimination
cs.DS cs.CE
This paper presents an efficient program for checking Mendelian consistency in a pedigree. Since pedigrees may contain incomplete and/or erroneous information, geneticists need to pre-process them before performing linkage analysis. Removing superfluous genotypes that do not respect the Mendelian inheritance laws can speed up the linkage analysis. We have described in a formal way the Mendelian consistency problem and algorithms known in literature. The formalization helped to polish the algorithms and to find efficient data structures. The performance of the tool has been tested on a wide range of benchmarks. The results are promising if compared to other programs that treat Mendelian consistency.
1008.3306
Modelling of Multi-Agent Systems: Experiences with Membrane Computing and Future Challenges
cs.MA cs.FL
Formal modelling of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) is a challenging task due to high complexity, interaction, parallelism and continuous change of roles and organisation between agents. In this paper we record our research experience on formal modelling of MAS. We review our research throughout the last decade, by describing the problems we have encountered and the decisions we have made towards resolving them and providing solutions. Much of this work involved membrane computing and classes of P Systems, such as Tissue and Population P Systems, targeted to the modelling of MAS whose dynamic structure is a prominent characteristic. More particularly, social insects (such as colonies of ants, bees, etc.), biology inspired swarms and systems with emergent behaviour are indicative examples for which we developed formal MAS models. Here, we aim to review our work and disseminate our findings to fellow researchers who might face similar challenges and, furthermore, to discuss important issues for advancing research on the application of membrane computing in MAS modelling.
1008.3314
Maximum entropy models and subjective interestingness: an application to tiles in binary databases
cs.AI
Recent research has highlighted the practical benefits of subjective interestingness measures, which quantify the novelty or unexpectedness of a pattern when contrasted with any prior information of the data miner (Silberschatz and Tuzhilin, 1995; Geng and Hamilton, 2006). A key challenge here is the formalization of this prior information in a way that lends itself to the definition of an interestingness subjective measure that is both meaningful and practical. In this paper, we outline a general strategy of how this could be achieved, before working out the details for a use case that is important in its own right. Our general strategy is based on considering prior information as constraints on a probabilistic model representing the uncertainty about the data. More specifically, we represent the prior information by the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) distribution subject to these constraints. We briefly outline various measures that could subsequently be used to contrast patterns with this MaxEnt model, thus quantifying their subjective interestingness.
1008.3346
A Miniature-Based Image Retrieval System
cs.CV
Due to the rapid development of World Wide Web (WWW) and imaging technology, more and more images are available in the Internet and stored in databases. Searching the related images by the querying image is becoming tedious and difficult. Most of the images on the web are compressed by methods based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) including Joint Photographic Experts Group(JPEG) and H.261. This paper presents an efficient content-based image indexing technique for searching similar images using discrete cosine transform features. Experimental results demonstrate its superiority with the existing techniques.
1008.3402
Modeling Corporate Epidemiology
cs.CY cs.SI
Corporate responses to illness is currently an ad-hoc, subjective process that has little basis in data on how disease actually spreads at the workplace. Additionally, many studies have shown that productivity is not an individual factor but a social one: in any study on epidemic responses this social factor has to be taken into account. The barrier to addressing this problem has been the lack of data on the interaction and mobility patterns of people in the workplace. We have created a wearable Sociometric Badge that senses interactions between individuals using an infra-red (IR) transceiver and proximity using a radio transmitter. Using the data from the Sociometric Badges, we are able to simulate diseases spreading through face-to-face interactions with realistic epidemiological parameters. In this paper we construct a curve trading off productivity with epidemic potential. We are able to take into account impacts on productivity that arise from social factors, such as interaction diversity and density, which studies that take an individual approach ignore. We also propose new organizational responses to diseases that take into account behavioral patterns that are associated with a more virulent disease spread. This is advantageous because it will allow companies to decide appropriate responses based on the organizational context of a disease outbreak.
1008.3408
Good Random Matrices over Finite Fields
cs.IT math.CO math.IT
The random matrix uniformly distributed over the set of all m-by-n matrices over a finite field plays an important role in many branches of information theory. In this paper a generalization of this random matrix, called k-good random matrices, is studied. It is shown that a k-good random m-by-n matrix with a distribution of minimum support size is uniformly distributed over a maximum-rank-distance (MRD) code of minimum rank distance min{m,n}-k+1, and vice versa. Further examples of k-good random matrices are derived from homogeneous weights on matrix modules. Several applications of k-good random matrices are given, establishing links with some well-known combinatorial problems. Finally, the related combinatorial concept of a k-dense set of m-by-n matrices is studied, identifying such sets as blocking sets with respect to (m-k)-dimensional flats in a certain m-by-n matrix geometry and determining their minimum size in special cases.
1008.3437
Rate Region Frontiers for n-user Interference Channel with Interference as Noise
cs.IT math.IT
This paper presents the achievable rate region frontiers for the n-user interference channel when there is no cooperation at the transmit nor at the receive side. The receiver is assumed to treat the interference as additive thermal noise and does not employ multiuser detection. In this case, the rate region frontier for the n-user interference channel is found to be the union of n hyper-surface frontiers of dimension n-1, where each is characterized by having one of the transmitters transmitting at full power. The paper also finds the conditions determining the convexity or concavity of the frontiers for the case of two-user interference channel, and discusses when a time sharing approach should be employed with specific results pertaining to the two-user symmetric channel.
1008.3443
On weakly optimal partitions in modular networks
cs.SI cond-mat.stat-mech physics.soc-ph
Modularity was introduced as a measure of goodness for the community structure induced by a partition of the set of vertices in a graph. Then, it also became an objective function used to find good partitions, with high success. Nevertheless, some works have shown a scaling limit and certain instabilities when finding communities with this criterion. Modularity has been studied proposing several formalisms, as hamiltonians in a Potts model or laplacians in spectral partitioning. In this paper we present a new probabilistic formalism to analyze modularity, and from it we derive an algorithm based on weakly optimal partitions. This algorithm obtains good quality partitions and also scales to large graphs.
1008.3450
Bottleneck of using single memristor as a synapse and its solution
cs.NE
It is now widely accepted that memristive devices are perfect candidates for the emulation of biological synapses in neuromorphic systems. This is mainly because of the fact that like the strength of synapse, memristance of the memristive device can be tuned actively (e.g., by the application of volt- age or current). In addition, it is also possible to fabricate very high density of memristive devices (comparable to the number of synapses in real biological system) through the nano-crossbar structures. However, in this paper we will show that there are some problems associated with memristive synapses (memristive devices which are playing the role of biological synapses). For example, we show that the variation rate of the memristance of memristive device depends completely on the current memristance of the device and therefore it can change significantly with time during the learning phase. This phenomenon can degrade the performance of learning methods like Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP) and cause the corresponding neuromorphic systems to become unstable. Finally, at the end of this paper, we illustrate that using two serially connected memristive devices with different polarities as a synapse can somewhat fix the aforementioned problem.
1008.3551
Inventory Allocation for Online Graphical Display Advertising
cs.CE
We discuss a multi-objective/goal programming model for the allocation of inventory of graphical advertisements. The model considers two types of campaigns: guaranteed delivery (GD), which are sold months in advance, and non-guaranteed delivery (NGD), which are sold using real-time auctions. We investigate various advertiser and publisher objectives such as (a) revenue from the sale of impressions, clicks and conversions, (b) future revenue from the sale of NGD inventory, and (c) "fairness" of allocation. While the first two objectives are monetary, the third is not. This combination of demand types and objectives leads to potentially many variations of our model, which we delineate and evaluate. Our experimental results, which are based on optimization runs using real data sets, demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed model.
1008.3585
Ultrametric and Generalized Ultrametric in Computational Logic and in Data Analysis
cs.LO cs.LG stat.ML
Following a review of metric, ultrametric and generalized ultrametric, we review their application in data analysis. We show how they allow us to explore both geometry and topology of information, starting with measured data. Some themes are then developed based on the use of metric, ultrametric and generalized ultrametric in logic. In particular we study approximation chains in an ultrametric or generalized ultrametric context. Our aim in this work is to extend the scope of data analysis by facilitating reasoning based on the data analysis; and to show how quantitative and qualitative data analysis can be incorporated into logic programming.
1008.3597
Quantization of Discrete Probability Distributions
cs.IT math.IT
We study the problem of quantization of discrete probability distributions, arising in universal coding, as well as other applications. We show, that in many situations this problem can be reduced to the covering problem for the unit simplex. This setting yields precise asymptotic characterization in the high-rate regime. We also describe a simple and asymptotically optimal algorithm for solving this problem. Performance of this algorithm is studied and compared with several known solutions.
1008.3608
Crystallized Rates Region of the Interference Channel via Correlated Equilibrium with Interference as Noise
cs.IT math.IT
Treating the interference as noise in the n-user interference channel, the paper describes a novel approach to the rates region, composed by the time-sharing convex hull of 2^n-1 corner points achieved through On/Off binary power control. The resulting rates region is denoted crystallized rates region. By treating the interference as noise, the n-user rates region frontiers has been found in the literature to be the convex hull of n hyper-surfaces. The rates region bounded by these hyper-surfaces is not necessarily convex, and thereby a convex hull operation is imposed through the strategy of time-sharing. This paper simplifies this rates region in the n-dimensional space by having only an On/Off binary power control. This consequently leads to 2^n-1 corner points situated within the rates region. A time-sharing convex hull is imposed onto those corner points, forming the crystallized rates region. The paper focuses on game theoretic concepts to achieve that crystallized convex hull via correlated equilibrium. In game theory, the correlated equilibrium set is convex, and it consists of the time-sharing mixed strategies of the Nash equilibriums. In addition, the paper considers a mechanism design approach to carefully design a utility function, particularly the Vickrey-Clarke-Groves auction utility, where the solution point is situated on the correlated equilibrium set. Finally, the paper proposes a self learning algorithm, namely the regret-matching algorithm, that converges to the solution point on the correlated equilibrium set in a distributed fashion.
1008.3614
Control and Optimization Meet the Smart Power Grid - Scheduling of Power Demands for Optimal Energy Management
cs.NI cs.SY
The smart power grid aims at harnessing information and communication technologies to enhance reliability and enforce sensible use of energy. Its realization is geared by the fundamental goal of effective management of demand load. In this work, we envision a scenario with real-time communication between the operator and consumers. The grid operator controller receives requests for power demands from consumers, with different power requirement, duration, and a deadline by which it is to be completed. The objective is to devise a power demand task scheduling policy that minimizes the grid operational cost over a time horizon. The operational cost is a convex function of instantaneous power consumption and reflects the fact that each additional unit of power needed to serve demands is more expensive as demand load increases.First, we study the off-line demand scheduling problem, where parameters are fixed and known. Next, we devise a stochastic model for the case when demands are generated continually and scheduling decisions are taken online and focus on long-term average cost. We present two instances of power consumption control based on observing current consumption. First, the controller may choose to serve a new demand request upon arrival or to postpone it to the end of its deadline. Second, the additional option exists to activate one of the postponed demands when an active demand terminates. For both instances, the optimal policies are threshold based. We derive a lower performance bound over all policies, which is asymptotically tight as deadlines increase. We propose the Controlled Release threshold policy and prove it is asymptotically optimal. The policy activates a new demand request if the current power consumption is less than a threshold, otherwise it is queued. Queued demands are scheduled when their deadline expires or when the consumption drops below the threshold.
1008.3618
Bayesian Hypothesis Testing for Sparse Representation
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we propose a Bayesian Hypothesis Testing Algorithm (BHTA) for sparse representation. It uses the Bayesian framework to determine active atoms in sparse representation of a signal. The Bayesian hypothesis testing based on three assumptions, determines the active atoms from the correlations and leads to the activity measure as proposed in Iterative Detection Estimation (IDE) algorithm. In fact, IDE uses an arbitrary decreasing sequence of thresholds while the proposed algorithm is based on a sequence which derived from hypothesis testing. So, Bayesian hypothesis testing framework leads to an improved version of the IDE algorithm. The simulations show that Hard-version of our suggested algorithm achieves one of the best results in terms of estimation accuracy among the algorithms which have been implemented in our simulations, while it has the greatest complexity in terms of simulation time.
1008.3629
Combining Clustering techniques and Formal Concept Analysis to characterize Interestingness Measures
cs.IT math.IT
Formal Concept Analysis "FCA" is a data analysis method which enables to discover hidden knowledge existing in data. A kind of hidden knowledge extracted from data is association rules. Different quality measures were reported in the literature to extract only relevant association rules. Given a dataset, the choice of a good quality measure remains a challenging task for a user. Given a quality measures evaluation matrix according to semantic properties, this paper describes how FCA can highlight quality measures with similar behavior in order to help the user during his choice. The aim of this article is the discovery of Interestingness Measures "IM" clusters, able to validate those found due to the hierarchical and partitioning clustering methods "AHC" and "k-means". Then, based on the theoretical study of sixty one interestingness measures according to nineteen properties, proposed in a recent study, "FCA" describes several groups of measures.
1008.3641
Capacity Limits of Multiuser Multiantenna Cognitive Networks
cs.IT math.IT
Unlike point-to-point cognitive radio, where the constraint imposed by the primary rigidly curbs the secondary throughput, multiple secondary users have the potential to more efficiently harvest the spectrum and share it among themselves. This paper analyzes the sum throughput of a multiuser cognitive radio system with multi-antenna base stations, either in the uplink or downlink mode. The primary and secondary have $N$ and $n$ users, respectively, and their base stations have $M$ and $m$ antennas, respectively. We show that an uplink secondary throughput grows with $\frac{m}{N +1}\log n$ if the primary is a downlink system, and grows with $\frac{m}{M +1}\log n$ if the primary is an uplink system. These growth rates are shown to be optimal and can be obtained with a simple threshold-based user selection rule. Furthermore, we show that the secondary throughput can grow proportional to $\log n$ while simultaneously pushing the interference on the primary down to zero, asymptotically. Furthermore, we show that a downlink secondary throughput grows with $m\log \log n$ in the presence of either an uplink or downlink primary system. In addition, the interference on the primary can be made to go to zero asymptotically while the secondary throughput increases proportionally to $\log \log n$. Thus, unlike the point-to-point case, multiuser cognitive radios can achieve non-trivial sum throughput despite stringent primary interference constraints.
1008.3651
Accuracy guarantees for L1-recovery
math.ST cs.SY math.OC stat.TH
We discuss two new methods of recovery of sparse signals from noisy observation based on $\ell_1$- minimization. They are closely related to the well-known techniques such as Lasso and Dantzig Selector. However, these estimators come with efficiently verifiable guaranties of performance. By optimizing these bounds with respect to the method parameters we are able to construct the estimators which possess better statistical properties than the commonly used ones. We also show how these techniques allow to provide efficiently computable accuracy bounds for Lasso and Dantzig Selector. We link our performance estimations to the well known results of Compressive Sensing and justify our proposed approach with an oracle inequality which links the properties of the recovery algorithms and the best estimation performance when the signal support is known. We demonstrate how the estimates can be computed using the Non-Euclidean Basis Pursuit algorithm.
1008.3654
Minimax-optimal rates for sparse additive models over kernel classes via convex programming
math.ST cs.IT math.IT stat.TH
Sparse additive models are families of $d$-variate functions that have the additive decomposition $f^* = \sum_{j \in S} f^*_j$, where $S$ is an unknown subset of cardinality $s \ll d$. In this paper, we consider the case where each univariate component function $f^*_j$ lies in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS), and analyze a method for estimating the unknown function $f^*$ based on kernels combined with $\ell_1$-type convex regularization. Working within a high-dimensional framework that allows both the dimension $d$ and sparsity $s$ to increase with $n$, we derive convergence rates (upper bounds) in the $L^2(\mathbb{P})$ and $L^2(\mathbb{P}_n)$ norms over the class $\MyBigClass$ of sparse additive models with each univariate function $f^*_j$ in the unit ball of a univariate RKHS with bounded kernel function. We complement our upper bounds by deriving minimax lower bounds on the $L^2(\mathbb{P})$ error, thereby showing the optimality of our method. Thus, we obtain optimal minimax rates for many interesting classes of sparse additive models, including polynomials, splines, and Sobolev classes. We also show that if, in contrast to our univariate conditions, the multivariate function class is assumed to be globally bounded, then much faster estimation rates are possible for any sparsity $s = \Omega(\sqrt{n})$, showing that global boundedness is a significant restriction in the high-dimensional setting.
1008.3667
Pattern Classification In Symbolic Streams via Semantic Annihilation of Information
cs.SC cs.CL cs.IT math.IT
We propose a technique for pattern classification in symbolic streams via selective erasure of observed symbols, in cases where the patterns of interest are represented as Probabilistic Finite State Automata (PFSA). We define an additive abelian group for a slightly restricted subset of probabilistic finite state automata (PFSA), and the group sum is used to formulate pattern-specific semantic annihilators. The annihilators attempt to identify pre-specified patterns via removal of essentially all inter-symbol correlations from observed sequences, thereby turning them into symbolic white noise. Thus a perfect annihilation corresponds to a perfect pattern match. This approach of classification via information annihilation is shown to be strictly advantageous, with theoretical guarantees, for a large class of PFSA models. The results are supported by simulation experiments.
1008.3705
Techniques for Enhanced Physical-Layer Security
cs.NI cs.IT math.IT
Information-theoretic security--widely accepted as the strictest notion of security--relies on channel coding techniques that exploit the inherent randomness of propagation channels to strengthen the security of communications systems. Within this paradigm, we explore strategies to improve secure connectivity in a wireless network. We first consider the intrinsically secure communications graph (iS-graph), a convenient representation of the links that can be established with information-theoretic security on a large-scale network. We then propose and characterize two techniques--sectorized transmission and eavesdropper neutralization--which are shown to dramatically enhance the connectivity of the iS-graph.
1008.3730
Poisoned Feedback: The Impact of Malicious Users in Closed-Loop Multiuser MIMO Systems
cs.IT math.IT
Accurate channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter is critical for maximizing spectral efficiency on the downlink of multi-antenna networks. In this work we analyze a novel form of physical layer attacks on such closed-loop wireless networks. Specifically, this paper considers the impact of deliberately inaccurate feedback by malicious users in a multiuser multicast system. Numerical results demonstrate the significant degradation in performance of closed-loop transmission schemes due to intentional feedback of false CSI by adversarial users.
1008.3742
Optimally Training a Cascade Classifier
cs.CV
Cascade classifiers are widely used in real-time object detection. Different from conventional classifiers that are designed for a low overall classification error rate, a classifier in each node of the cascade is required to achieve an extremely high detection rate and moderate false positive rate. Although there are a few reported methods addressing this requirement in the context of object detection, there is no a principled feature selection method that explicitly takes into account this asymmetric node learning objective. We provide such an algorithm here. We show a special case of the biased minimax probability machine has the same formulation as the linear asymmetric classifier (LAC) of \cite{wu2005linear}. We then design a new boosting algorithm that directly optimizes the cost function of LAC. The resulting totally-corrective boosting algorithm is implemented by the column generation technique in convex optimization. Experimental results on object detection verify the effectiveness of the proposed boosting algorithm as a node classifier in cascade object detection, and show performance better than that of the current state-of-the-art.
1008.3743
Data Cleaning and Query Answering with Matching Dependencies and Matching Functions
cs.DB
Matching dependencies were recently introduced as declarative rules for data cleaning and entity resolution. Enforcing a matching dependency on a database instance identifies the values of some attributes for two tuples, provided that the values of some other attributes are sufficiently similar. Assuming the existence of matching functions for making two attributes values equal, we formally introduce the process of cleaning an instance using matching dependencies, as a chase-like procedure. We show that matching functions naturally introduce a lattice structure on attribute domains, and a partial order of semantic domination between instances. Using the latter, we define the semantics of clean query answering in terms of certain/possible answers as the greatest lower bound/least upper bound of all possible answers obtained from the clean instances. We show that clean query answering is intractable in some cases. Then we study queries that behave monotonically wrt semantic domination order, and show that we can provide an under/over approximation for clean answers to monotone queries. Moreover, non-monotone positive queries can be relaxed into monotone queries.
1008.3746
Belief Propagation Algorithm for Portfolio Optimization Problems
q-fin.PM cond-mat.stat-mech cs.LG math.OC q-fin.RM
The typical behavior of optimal solutions to portfolio optimization problems with absolute deviation and expected shortfall models using replica analysis was pioneeringly estimated by S. Ciliberti and M. M\'ezard [Eur. Phys. B. 57, 175 (2007)]; however, they have not yet developed an approximate derivation method for finding the optimal portfolio with respect to a given return set. In this study, an approximation algorithm based on belief propagation for the portfolio optimization problem is presented using the Bethe free energy formalism, and the consistency of the numerical experimental results of the proposed algorithm with those of replica analysis is confirmed. Furthermore, the conjecture of H. Konno and H. Yamazaki, that the optimal solutions with the absolute deviation model and with the mean-variance model have the same typical behavior, is verified using replica analysis and the belief propagation algorithm.
1008.3751
ElasTraS: An Elastic Transactional Data Store in the Cloud
cs.DB
Over the last couple of years, "Cloud Computing" or "Elastic Computing" has emerged as a compelling and successful paradigm for internet scale computing. One of the major contributing factors to this success is the elasticity of resources. In spite of the elasticity provided by the infrastructure and the scalable design of the applications, the elephant (or the underlying database), which drives most of these web-based applications, is not very elastic and scalable, and hence limits scalability. In this paper, we propose ElasTraS which addresses this issue of scalability and elasticity of the data store in a cloud computing environment to leverage from the elastic nature of the underlying infrastructure, while providing scalable transactional data access. This paper aims at providing the design of a system in progress, highlighting the major design choices, analyzing the different guarantees provided by the system, and identifying several important challenges for the research community striving for computing in the cloud.
1008.3760
Formal-language-theoretic Optimal Path Planning For Accommodation of Amortized Uncertainties and Dynamic Effects
cs.RO cs.SY math.OC
We report a globally-optimal approach to robotic path planning under uncertainty, based on the theory of quantitative measures of formal languages. A significant generalization to the language-measure-theoretic path planning algorithm $\nustar$ is presented that explicitly accounts for average dynamic uncertainties and estimation errors in plan execution. The notion of the navigation automaton is generalized to include probabilistic uncontrollable transitions, which account for uncertainties by modeling and planning for probabilistic deviations from the computed policy in the course of execution. The planning problem is solved by casting it in the form of a performance maximization problem for probabilistic finite state automata. In essence we solve the following optimization problem: Compute the navigation policy which maximizes the probability of reaching the goal, while simultaneously minimizing the probability of hitting an obstacle. Key novelties of the proposed approach include the modeling of uncertainties using the concept of uncontrollable transitions, and the solution of the ensuing optimization problem using a highly efficient search-free combinatorial approach to maximize quantitative measures of probabilistic regular languages. Applicability of the algorithm in various models of robot navigation has been shown with experimental validation on a two-wheeled mobile robotic platform (SEGWAY RMP 200) in a laboratory environment.
1008.3776
Green Modulations in Energy-Constrained Wireless Sensor Networks
cs.IT math.IT
Due to the unique characteristics of sensor devices, finding the energy-efficient modulation with a low-complexity implementation (refereed to as green modulation) poses significant challenges in the physical layer design of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Toward this goal, we present an in-depth analysis on the energy efficiency of various modulation schemes using realistic models in the IEEE 802.15.4 standard to find the optimum distance-based scheme in a WSN over Rayleigh and Rician fading channels with path-loss. We describe a proactive system model according to a flexible duty-cycling mechanism utilized in practical sensor apparatus. The present analysis includes the effect of the channel bandwidth and the active mode duration on the energy consumption of popular modulation designs. Path-loss exponent and DC-DC converter efficiency are also taken into consideration. In considering the energy efficiency and complexity, it is demonstrated that among various sinusoidal carrier-based modulations, the optimized Non-Coherent M-ary Frequency Shift Keying (NC-MFSK) is the most energy-efficient scheme in sparse WSNs for each value of the path-loss exponent, where the optimization is performed over the modulation parameters. In addition, we show that the On-Off Keying (OOK) displays a significant energy saving as compared to the optimized NC-MFSK in dense WSNs with small values of path-loss exponent.
1008.3788
Doubly Exponential Solution for Randomized Load Balancing Models with General Service Times
cs.DM cs.IT cs.NI cs.PF math.IT
In this paper, we provide a novel and simple approach to study the supermarket model with general service times. This approach is based on the supplementary variable method used in analyzing stochastic models extensively. We organize an infinite-size system of integral-differential equations by means of the density dependent jump Markov process, and obtain a close-form solution: doubly exponential structure, for the fixed point satisfying the system of nonlinear equations, which is always a key in the study of supermarket models. The fixed point is decomposited into two groups of information under a product form: the arrival information and the service information. based on this, we indicate two important observations: the fixed point for the supermarket model is different from the tail of stationary queue length distribution for the ordinary M/G/1 queue, and the doubly exponential solution to the fixed point can extensively exist even if the service time distribution is heavy-tailed. Furthermore, we analyze the exponential convergence of the current location of the supermarket model to its fixed point, and study the Lipschitz condition in the Kurtz Theorem under general service times. Based on these analysis, one can gain a new understanding how workload probing can help in load balancing jobs with general service times such as heavy-tailed service.
1008.3795
Machine Science in Biomedicine: Practicalities, Pitfalls and Potential
cs.IR cs.CE physics.data-an physics.med-ph
Machine Science, or Data-driven Research, is a new and interesting scientific methodology that uses advanced computational techniques to identify, retrieve, classify and analyse data in order to generate hypotheses and develop models. In this paper we describe three recent biomedical Machine Science studies, and use these to assess the current state of the art with specific emphasis on data mining, data assessment, costs, limitations, skills and tool support.
1008.3798
Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) allows the automatic identification of follicles in microscopic images of human ovarian tissue
cs.CV
Human ovarian reserve is defined by the population of nongrowing follicles (NGFs) in the ovary. Direct estimation of ovarian reserve involves the identification of NGFs in prepared ovarian tissue. Previous studies involving human tissue have used hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stain, with NGF populations estimated by human examination either of tissue under a microscope, or of images taken of this tissue. In this study we replaced HE with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and automated the identification and enumeration of NGFs that appear in the resulting microscopic images. We compared the automated estimates to those obtained by human experts, with the "gold standard" taken to be the average of the conservative and liberal estimates by three human experts. The automated estimates were within 10% of the "gold standard", for images at both 100x and 200x magnifications. Automated analysis took longer than human analysis for several hundred images, not allowing for breaks from analysis needed by humans. Our results both replicate and improve on those of previous studies involving rodent ovaries, and demonstrate the viability of large-scale studies of human ovarian reserve using a combination of immunohistochemistry and computational image analysis techniques.
1008.3800
Network Complexity of Foodwebs
nlin.AO cs.IT cs.SI math.IT
In previous work, I have developed an information theoretic complexity measure of networks. When applied to several real world food webs, there is a distinct difference in complexity between the real food web, and randomised control networks obtained by shuffling the network links. One hypothesis is that this complexity surplus represents information captured by the evolutionary process that generated the network. In this paper, I test this idea by applying the same complexity measure to several well-known artificial life models that exhibit ecological networks: Tierra, EcoLab and Webworld. Contrary to what was found in real networks, the artificial life generated foodwebs had little information difference between itself and randomly shuffled versions.
1008.3813
The Approximate Capacity of the Gaussian N-Relay Diamond Network
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the Gaussian "diamond" or parallel relay network, in which a source node transmits a message to a destination node with the help of N relays. Even for the symmetric setting, in which the channel gains to the relays are identical and the channel gains from the relays are identical, the capacity of this channel is unknown in general. The best known capacity approximation is up to an additive gap of order N bits and up to a multiplicative gap of order N^2, with both gaps independent of the channel gains. In this paper, we approximate the capacity of the symmetric Gaussian N-relay diamond network up to an additive gap of 1.8 bits and up to a multiplicative gap of a factor 14. Both gaps are independent of the channel gains and, unlike the best previously known result, are also independent of the number of relays N in the network. Achievability is based on bursty amplify-and-forward, showing that this simple scheme is uniformly approximately optimal, both in the low-rate as well as in the high-rate regimes. The upper bound on capacity is based on a careful evaluation of the cut-set bound. We also present approximation results for the asymmetric Gaussian N-relay diamond network. In particular, we show that bursty amplify-and-forward combined with optimal relay selection achieves a rate within a factor O(log^4(N)) of capacity with pre-constant in the order notation independent of the channel gains.
1008.3829
Approximate Judgement Aggregation
cs.GT cs.AI cs.LG
In this paper we analyze judgement aggregation problems in which a group of agents independently votes on a set of complex propositions that has some interdependency constraint between them(e.g., transitivity when describing preferences). We consider the issue of judgement aggregation from the perspective of approximation. That is, we generalize the previous results by studying approximate judgement aggregation. We relax the main two constraints assumed in the current literature, Consistency and Independence and consider mechanisms that only approximately satisfy these constraints, that is, satisfy them up to a small portion of the inputs. The main question we raise is whether the relaxation of these notions significantly alters the class of satisfying aggregation mechanisms. The recent works for preference aggregation of Kalai, Mossel, and Keller fit into this framework. The main result of this paper is that, as in the case of preference aggregation, in the case of a subclass of a natural class of aggregation problems termed `truth-functional agendas', the set of satisfying aggregation mechanisms does not extend non-trivially when relaxing the constraints. Our proof techniques involve Boolean Fourier transform and analysis of voter influences for voting protocols. The question we raise for Approximate Aggregation can be stated in terms of Property Testing. For instance, as a corollary from our result we get a generalization of the classic result for property testing of linearity of Boolean functions. An updated version (RePEc:huj:dispap:dp574R) is available at http://www.ratio.huji.ac.il/dp_files/dp574R.pdf
1008.3879
A formalism for causal explanations with an Answer Set Programming translation
cs.AI
We examine the practicality for a user of using Answer Set Programming (ASP) for representing logical formalisms. Our example is a formalism aiming at capturing causal explanations from causal information. We show the naturalness and relative efficiency of this translation job. We are interested in the ease for writing an ASP program. Limitations of the earlier systems made that in practice, the ``declarative aspect'' was more theoretical than practical. We show how recent improvements in working ASP systems facilitate the translation.
1008.3926
Stochastic blockmodels and community structure in networks
physics.soc-ph cond-mat.stat-mech cs.SI physics.data-an
Stochastic blockmodels have been proposed as a tool for detecting community structure in networks as well as for generating synthetic networks for use as benchmarks. Most blockmodels, however, ignore variation in vertex degree, making them unsuitable for applications to real-world networks, which typically display broad degree distributions that can significantly distort the results. Here we demonstrate how the generalization of blockmodels to incorporate this missing element leads to an improved objective function for community detection in complex networks. We also propose a heuristic algorithm for community detection using this objective function or its non-degree-corrected counterpart and show that the degree-corrected version dramatically outperforms the uncorrected one in both real-world and synthetic networks.
1008.3932
Multiple Timescale Dispatch and Scheduling for Stochastic Reliability in Smart Grids with Wind Generation Integration
cs.SY cs.PF
Integrating volatile renewable energy resources into the bulk power grid is challenging, due to the reliability requirement that at each instant the load and generation in the system remain balanced. In this study, we tackle this challenge for smart grid with integrated wind generation, by leveraging multi-timescale dispatch and scheduling. Specifically, we consider smart grids with two classes of energy users - traditional energy users and opportunistic energy users (e.g., smart meters or smart appliances), and investigate pricing and dispatch at two timescales, via day-ahead scheduling and realtime scheduling. In day-ahead scheduling, with the statistical information on wind generation and energy demands, we characterize the optimal procurement of the energy supply and the day-ahead retail price for the traditional energy users; in realtime scheduling, with the realization of wind generation and the load of traditional energy users, we optimize real-time prices to manage the opportunistic energy users so as to achieve systemwide reliability. More specifically, when the opportunistic users are non-persistent, i.e., a subset of them leave the power market when the real-time price is not acceptable, we obtain closedform solutions to the two-level scheduling problem. For the persistent case, we treat the scheduling problem as a multitimescale Markov decision process. We show that it can be recast, explicitly, as a classic Markov decision process with continuous state and action spaces, the solution to which can be found via standard techniques. We conclude that the proposed multi-scale dispatch and scheduling with real-time pricing can effectively address the volatility and uncertainty of wind generation and energy demand, and has the potential to improve the penetration of renewable energy into smart grids.
1008.3977
Collaborative Structuring of Knowledge by Experts and the Public
cs.DL cs.SI
There is much debate on how public participation and expertise can be brought together in collaborative knowledge environments. One of the experiments addressing the issue directly is Citizendium. In seeking to harvest the strengths (and avoiding the major pitfalls) of both user-generated wiki projects and traditional expert-approved reference works, it is a wiki to which anybody can contribute using their real names, while those with specific expertise are given a special role in assessing the quality of content. Upon fulfillment of a set of criteria like factual and linguistic accuracy, lack of bias, and readability by non-specialists, these entries are forked into two versions: a stable (and thus citable) approved "cluster" (an article with subpages providing supplementary information) and a draft version, the latter to allow for further development and updates. We provide an overview of how Citizendium is structured and what it offers to the open knowledge communities, particularly to those engaged in education and research. Special attention will be paid to the structures and processes put in place to provide for transparent governance, to encourage collaboration, to resolve disputes in a civil manner and by taking into account expert opinions, and to facilitate navigation of the site and contextualization of its contents.
1008.3998
Cognitive Radio Transmission Strategies for Primary Erasure Channels
cs.IT math.IT
A fundamental problem in cognitive radio systems is that the cognitive radio is ignorant of the primary channel state and the interference it inflicts on the primary license holder. In this paper we assume that the primary transmitter sends packets across an erasure channel and the primary receiver employs ACK/NAK feedback (ARQ) to retransmit erased packets. The cognitive radio can eavesdrop on the primary's ARQs. Assuming the primary channel states follow a Markov chain, this feedback gives the cognitive radio an indication of the primary link quality. Based on the ACK/NACK received, we devise optimal transmission strategies for the cognitive radio so as to maximize a weighted sum of primary and secondary throughput. The actual weight used during network operation is determined by the degree of protection afforded to the primary link. We study a two-state model where we characterize a scheme that spans the boundary of the primary-secondary rate region. Moreover, we study a three-state model where we derive the optimal strategy using dynamic programming. We also show via simulations that our optimal strategies achieve gains over the simple greedy algorithm for a range of primary channel parameters.
1008.4000
NESVM: a Fast Gradient Method for Support Vector Machines
cs.LG stat.ML
Support vector machines (SVMs) are invaluable tools for many practical applications in artificial intelligence, e.g., classification and event recognition. However, popular SVM solvers are not sufficiently efficient for applications with a great deal of samples as well as a large number of features. In this paper, thus, we present NESVM, a fast gradient SVM solver that can optimize various SVM models, e.g., classical SVM, linear programming SVM and least square SVM. Compared against SVM-Perf \cite{SVM_Perf}\cite{PerfML} (its convergence rate in solving the dual SVM is upper bounded by $\mathcal O(1/\sqrt{k})$, wherein $k$ is the number of iterations.) and Pegasos \cite{Pegasos} (online SVM that converges at rate $\mathcal O(1/k)$ for the primal SVM), NESVM achieves the optimal convergence rate at $\mathcal O(1/k^{2})$ and a linear time complexity. In particular, NESVM smoothes the non-differentiable hinge loss and $\ell_1$-norm in the primal SVM. Then the optimal gradient method without any line search is adopted to solve the optimization. In each iteration round, the current gradient and historical gradients are combined to determine the descent direction, while the Lipschitz constant determines the step size. Only two matrix-vector multiplications are required in each iteration round. Therefore, NESVM is more efficient than existing SVM solvers. In addition, NESVM is available for both linear and nonlinear kernels. We also propose "homotopy NESVM" to accelerate NESVM by dynamically decreasing the smooth parameter and using the continuation method. Our experiments on census income categorization, indoor/outdoor scene classification, event recognition and scene recognition suggest the efficiency and the effectiveness of NESVM. The MATLAB code of NESVM will be available on our website for further assessment.
1008.4049
Discriminating between Nasal and Mouth Breathing
cs.NE
The recommendation to change breathing patterns from the mouth to the nose can have a significantly positive impact upon the general well being of the individual. We classify nasal and mouth breathing by using an acoustic sensor and intelligent signal processing techniques. The overall purpose is to investigate the possibility of identifying the differences in patterns between nasal and mouth breathing in order to integrate this information into a decision support system which will form the basis of a patient monitoring and motivational feedback system to recommend the change from mouth to nasal breathing. Our findings show that the breath pattern can be discriminated in certain places of the body both by visual spectrum analysis and with a Back Propagation neural network classifier. The sound file recoded from the sensor placed on the hollow in the neck shows the most promising accuracy which is as high as 90%.
1008.4063
Nonlinear Quality of Life Index
cs.NE stat.AP
We present details of the analysis of the nonlinear quality of life index for 171 countries. This index is based on four indicators: GDP per capita by Purchasing Power Parities, Life expectancy at birth, Infant mortality rate, and Tuberculosis incidence. We analyze the structure of the data in order to find the optimal and independent on expert's opinion way to map several numerical indicators from a multidimensional space onto the one-dimensional space of the quality of life. In the 4D space we found a principal curve that goes "through the middle" of the dataset and project the data points on this curve. The order along this principal curve gives us the ranking of countries. Projection onto the principal curve provides a solution to the classical problem of unsupervised ranking of objects. It allows us to find the independent on expert's opinion way to project several numerical indicators from a multidimensional space onto the one-dimensional space of the index values. This projection is, in some sense, optimal and preserves as much information as possible. For computation we used ViDaExpert, a tool for visualization and analysis of multidimensional vectorial data (arXiv:1406.5550).
1008.4071
Hybrid tractability of soft constraint problems
cs.AI cs.DS
The constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) is a central generic problem in computer science and artificial intelligence: it provides a common framework for many theoretical problems as well as for many real-life applications. Soft constraint problems are a generalisation of the CSP which allow the user to model optimisation problems. Considerable effort has been made in identifying properties which ensure tractability in such problems. In this work, we initiate the study of hybrid tractability of soft constraint problems; that is, properties which guarantee tractability of the given soft constraint problem, but which do not depend only on the underlying structure of the instance (such as being tree-structured) or only on the types of soft constraints in the instance (such as submodularity). We present several novel hybrid classes of soft constraint problems, which include a machine scheduling problem, constraint problems of arbitrary arities with no overlapping nogoods, and the SoftAllDiff constraint with arbitrary unary soft constraints. An important tool in our investigation will be the notion of forbidden substructures.
1008.4115
Noise in Naming Games, partial synchronization and community detection in social networks
cs.MA cs.SI
The Naming Games (NG) are agent-based models for agreement dynamics, peer pressure and herding in social networks, and protocol selection in autonomous ad-hoc sensor networks. By introducing a small noise term to the NG, the resulting Markov Chain model called Noisy Naming Games (NNG) are ergodic, in which all partial consensus states are recurrent. By using Gibbs-Markov equivalence we show how to get the NNG's stationary distribution in terms of the local specification of a related Markov Random Field (MRF). By ordering the partially-synchronized states according to their Gibbs energy, taken here to be a good measure of social tension, this method offers an enhanced method for community-detection in social interaction data. We show how the lowest Gibbs energy multi-name states separate and display the hidden community structures within a social network.
1008.4135
Interpreting quantum discord through quantum state merging
quant-ph cs.IT math.IT
We present an operational interpretation of quantum discord based on the quantum state merging protocol. Quantum discord is the markup in the cost of quantum communication in the process of quantum state merging, if one discards relevant prior information. Our interpretation has an intuitive explanation based on the strong subadditivity of von Neumann entropy. We use our result to provide operational interpretations of other quantities like the local purity and quantum deficit. Finally, we discuss in brief some instances where our interpretation is valid in the single copy scenario.
1008.4153
Improvement of the Han-Kobayashi Rate Region for General Interference Channel
cs.IT math.IT
Allowing the input auxiliary random variables to be correlated and using the binning scheme, the Han- Kobayashi (HK) rate region for general interference channel is improved. The obtained new achievable rate region (i) is shown to encompass the HK region and its simplified description, i.e., Chong-Motani-Garg (CMG) region,considering a detailed and favorable comparison between different versions of the regions, and (ii) has an interesting and easy interpretation: as expected, any rate in our region has generally two additional terms in comparison with the HK region (one due to the input correlation and the other as a result of the binning scheme).
1008.4157
A New Achievable Rate Region for the Cognitive Radio Channel
cs.IT math.IT
Considering a general input distribution, using Gel'fand-Pinsker full binning scheme and the Han- Kobayashi (HK) jointly decoding strategy, we obtain a new achievable rate region for the cognitive radio channel (CRC) and then derive a simplified description for the region, by a combination of Cover superposition coding, binning scheme and the HK decoding technique. Our rate region (i) has an interesting interpretation, i.e., any rate in the region, as expected, has generally three additional terms in comparison with the KH region for the interference channel (IC): one term due to the input correlation, the other term due to binning scheme and the third term due to the interference dependent on the inputs, (ii) is really a generalization of the HK region for the IC to the CRC by the use of binning scheme, and as a result of this generalization we see that different versions of our region for the CRC are reduced to different versions of the previous results for the IC, and (iii) is a generalized and improved version of previous results ,i.g., the Devroye-Mitran-Tarokh (DMT) region.
1008.4161
Percolation and Connectivity in the Intrinsically Secure Communications Graph
cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
The ability to exchange secret information is critical to many commercial, governmental, and military networks. The intrinsically secure communications graph (iS-graph) is a random graph which describes the connections that can be securely established over a large-scale network, by exploiting the physical properties of the wireless medium. This paper aims to characterize the global properties of the iS-graph in terms of: (i) percolation on the infinite plane, and (ii) full connectivity on a finite region. First, for the Poisson iS-graph defined on the infinite plane, the existence of a phase transition is proven, whereby an unbounded component of connected nodes suddenly arises as the density of legitimate nodes is increased. This shows that long-range secure communication is still possible in the presence of eavesdroppers. Second, full connectivity on a finite region of the Poisson iS-graph is considered. The exact asymptotic behavior of full connectivity in the limit of a large density of legitimate nodes is characterized. Then, simple, explicit expressions are derived in order to closely approximate the probability of full connectivity for a finite density of legitimate nodes. The results help clarify how the presence of eavesdroppers can compromise long-range secure communication.
1008.4177
LDPC Codes from Latin Squares Free of Small Trapping Sets
cs.IT math.IT
This paper is concerned with the construction of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with low error floors. Two main contributions are made. First, a new class of structured LDPC codes is introduced. The parity check matrices of these codes are arrays of permutation matrices which are obtained from Latin squares and form a finite field under some matrix operations. Second, a method to construct LDPC codes with low error floors on the binary symmetric channel (BSC) is presented. Codes are constructed so that their Tanner graphs are free of certain small trapping sets. These trapping sets are selected from the Trapping Set Ontology for the Gallager A/B decoder. They are selected based on their relative harmfulness for a given decoding algorithm. We evaluate the relative harmfulness of different trapping sets for the sum product algorithm (SPA) by using the topological relations among them and by analyzing the decoding failures on one trapping set in the presence or absence of other trapping sets.
1008.4182
Exact Synchronization for Finite-State Sources
nlin.CD cs.IT math.DS math.IT stat.ML
We analyze how an observer synchronizes to the internal state of a finite-state information source, using the epsilon-machine causal representation. Here, we treat the case of exact synchronization, when it is possible for the observer to synchronize completely after a finite number of observations. The more difficult case of strictly asymptotic synchronization is treated in a sequel. In both cases, we find that an observer, on average, will synchronize to the source state exponentially fast and that, as a result, the average accuracy in an observer's predictions of the source output approaches its optimal level exponentially fast as well. Additionally, we show here how to analytically calculate the synchronization rate for exact epsilon-machines and provide an efficient polynomial-time algorithm to test epsilon-machines for exactness.
1008.4184
Direct Data Domain STAP using Sparse Representation of Clutter Spectrum
cs.IT math.IT
Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) is an effective tool for detecting a moving target in the airborne radar system. Due to the fast-changing clutter scenario and/or non side-looking configuration, the stationarity of the training data is destroyed such that the statistical-based methods suffer performance degradation. Direct data domain (D3) methods avoid non-stationary training data and can effectively suppress the clutter within the test cell. However, this benefit comes at the cost of a reduced system degree of freedom (DOF), which results in performance loss. In this paper, by exploiting the intrinsic sparsity of the spectral distribution, a new direct data domain approach using sparse representation (D3SR) is proposed, which seeks to estimate the high-resolution space-time spectrum with only the test cell. The simulation of both side-looking and non side-looking cases has illustrated the effectiveness of the D3SR spectrum estimation using focal underdetermined system solution (FOCUSS) and norm minimization. Then the clutter covariance matrix (CCM) and the corresponding adaptive filter can be effectively obtained. Since D3SR maintains the full system DOF, it can achieve better performance of output signal-clutter-ratio (SCR) and minimum detectable velocity (MDV) than current D3 methods, e.g., direct data domain least squares (D3LS). Thus D3SR is more effective against the range-dependent clutter and interference in the non-stationary clutter scenario.
1008.4185
Airborne Radar STAP using Sparse Recovery of Clutter Spectrum
cs.IT math.IT
Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) is an effective tool for detecting a moving target in spaceborne or airborne radar systems. Statistical-based STAP methods generally need sufficient statistically independent and identically distributed (IID) training data to estimate the clutter characteristics. However, most actual clutter scenarios appear only locally stationary and lack sufficient IID training data. In this paper, by exploiting the intrinsic sparsity of the clutter distribution in the angle-Doppler domain, a new STAP algorithm called SR-STAP is proposed, which uses the technique of sparse recovery to estimate the clutter space-time spectrum. Joint sparse recovery with several training samples is also used to improve the estimation performance. Finally, an effective clutter covariance matrix (CCM) estimate and the corresponding STAP filter are designed based on the estimated clutter spectrum. Both the Mountaintop data and simulated experiments have illustrated the fast convergence rate of this approach. Moreover, SR-STAP is less dependent on prior knowledge, so it is more robust to the mismatch in the prior knowledge than knowledge-based STAP methods. Due to these advantages, SR-STAP has great potential for application in actual clutter scenarios.
1008.4206
Comparative Study of Statistical Skin Detection Algorithms for Sub-Continental Human Images
cs.CV
Object detection has been a focus of research in human-computer interaction. Skin area detection has been a key to different recognitions like face recognition, human motion detection, pornographic and nude image prediction, etc. Most of the research done in the fields of skin detection has been trained and tested on human images of African, Mongolian and Anglo-Saxon ethnic origins. Although there are several intensity invariant approaches to skin detection, the skin color of Indian sub-continentals have not been focused separately. The approach of this research is to make a comparative study between three image segmentation approaches using Indian sub-continental human images, to optimize the detection criteria, and to find some efficient parameters to detect the skin area from these images. The experiments observed that HSV color model based approach to Indian sub-continental skin detection is more suitable with considerable success rate of 91.1% true positives and 88.1% true negatives.
1008.4220
Structured sparsity-inducing norms through submodular functions
cs.LG math.OC stat.ML
Sparse methods for supervised learning aim at finding good linear predictors from as few variables as possible, i.e., with small cardinality of their supports. This combinatorial selection problem is often turned into a convex optimization problem by replacing the cardinality function by its convex envelope (tightest convex lower bound), in this case the L1-norm. In this paper, we investigate more general set-functions than the cardinality, that may incorporate prior knowledge or structural constraints which are common in many applications: namely, we show that for nondecreasing submodular set-functions, the corresponding convex envelope can be obtained from its \lova extension, a common tool in submodular analysis. This defines a family of polyhedral norms, for which we provide generic algorithmic tools (subgradients and proximal operators) and theoretical results (conditions for support recovery or high-dimensional inference). By selecting specific submodular functions, we can give a new interpretation to known norms, such as those based on rank-statistics or grouped norms with potentially overlapping groups; we also define new norms, in particular ones that can be used as non-factorial priors for supervised learning.
1008.4221
Performance of Optimum and Suboptimum Combining Diversity Reception for Binary DPSK over Independent, Nonidentical Rayleigh Fading Channels
cs.IT math.IT
This paper is concerned with the error performance analysis of binary differential phase shift keying with differential detection over the nonselective, Rayleigh fading channel with combining diversity reception. Space antenna diversity reception is assumed. The diversity branches are independent, but have nonidentically distributed statistics. The fading process in each branch is assumed to have an arbitrary Doppler spectrum with arbitrary Doppler bandwidth. Both optimum diversity reception and suboptimum diversity reception are considered. Results available previously apply only to the case of first and second-order diversity. Our results are more general in that the order of diversity is arbitrary. Moreover, the bit error probability (BEP) result is obtained in an exact, closed-form expression which shows the behavior of the BEP as an explict function of the one-bit-interval fading correlation coefficient at the matched filter output, the mean signal-to-noise ratio per bit per branch and the order of diversity. A simple, more easily computable Chernoff bound to the BEP of the optimum diversity detector is also derived.
1008.4232
Online Learning in Case of Unbounded Losses Using the Follow Perturbed Leader Algorithm
cs.LG
In this paper the sequential prediction problem with expert advice is considered for the case where losses of experts suffered at each step cannot be bounded in advance. We present some modification of Kalai and Vempala algorithm of following the perturbed leader where weights depend on past losses of the experts. New notions of a volume and a scaled fluctuation of a game are introduced. We present a probabilistic algorithm protected from unrestrictedly large one-step losses. This algorithm has the optimal performance in the case when the scaled fluctuations of one-step losses of experts of the pool tend to zero.
1008.4249
Machine Learning Approaches for Modeling Spammer Behavior
cs.IR cs.AI
Spam is commonly known as unsolicited or unwanted email messages in the Internet causing potential threat to Internet Security. Users spend a valuable amount of time deleting spam emails. More importantly, ever increasing spam emails occupy server storage space and consume network bandwidth. Keyword-based spam email filtering strategies will eventually be less successful to model spammer behavior as the spammer constantly changes their tricks to circumvent these filters. The evasive tactics that the spammer uses are patterns and these patterns can be modeled to combat spam. This paper investigates the possibilities of modeling spammer behavioral patterns by well-known classification algorithms such as Na\"ive Bayesian classifier (Na\"ive Bayes), Decision Tree Induction (DTI) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs). Preliminary experimental results demonstrate a promising detection rate of around 92%, which is considerably an enhancement of performance compared to similar spammer behavior modeling research.
1008.4257
Learning from Profession Knowledge: Application on Knitting
cs.AI
Knowledge Management is a global process in companies. It includes all the processes that allow capitalization, sharing and evolution of the Knowledge Capital of the firm, generally recognized as a critical resource of the organization. Several approaches have been defined to capitalize knowledge but few of them study how to learn from this knowledge. We present in this paper an approach that helps to enhance learning from profession knowledge in an organisation. We apply our approach on knitting industry.
1008.4264
Network Protection Design Using Network Coding
cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
Link and node failures are two common fundamental problems that affect operational networks. Protection of communication networks against such failures is essential for maintaining network reliability and performance. Network protection codes (NPC) are proposed to protect operational networks against link and node failures. Furthermore, encoding and decoding operations of such codes are well developed over binary and finite fields. Finding network topologies, practical scenarios, and limits on graphs applicable for NPC are of interest. In this paper, we establish limits on network protection design. We investigate several network graphs where NPC can be deployed using network coding. Furthermore, we construct graphs with minimum number of edges suitable for network protection codes deployment.
1008.4268
An Influence Diagram-Based Approach for Estimating Staff Training in Software Industry
cs.SE cs.AI
The successful completion of a software development process depends on the analytical capability and foresightedness of the project manager. For the project manager, the main intriguing task is to manage the risk factors as they adversely influence the completion deadline. One such key risk factor is staff training. The risk of this factor can be avoided by pre-judging the amount of training required by the staff. So, a procedure is required to help the project manager make this decision. This paper presents a system that uses influence diagrams to implement the risk model to aid decision making. The system also considers the cost of conducting the training, based on various risk factors such as, (i) Lack of experience with project software; (ii) Newly appointed staff; (iii) Staff not well versed with the required quality standards; and (iv) Lack of experience with project environment. The system provides estimated requirement details for staff training at the beginning of a software development project.
1008.4296
Uncertainty Principles and Balian-Low type Theorems in Principal Shift-Invariant Spaces
math.FA cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we consider the time-frequency localization of the generator of a principal shift-invariant space on the real line which has additional shift-invariance. We prove that if a principal shift-invariant space on the real line is translation-invariant then any of its orthonormal (or Riesz) generators is non-integrable. However, for any $n\ge2$, there exist principal shift-invariant spaces on the real line that are also $\nZ$-invariant with an integrable orthonormal (or a Riesz) generator $\phi$, but $\phi$ satisfies $\int_{\mathbb R} |\phi(x)|^2 |x|^{1+\epsilon} dx=\infty$ for any $\epsilon>0$ and its Fourier transform $\hat\phi$ cannot decay as fast as $ (1+|\xi|)^{-r}$ for any $r>1/2$. Examples are constructed to demonstrate that the above decay properties for the orthormal generator in the time domain and in the frequency domain are optimal.
1008.4310
Mod\'elisation d'une analyse pragma-linguistique d'un forum de discussion
cs.AI cs.IR
We present in this paper, a modelling of an expertise in pragmatics. We follow knowledge engineering techniques and observe the expert when he analyses a social discussion forum. Then a number of models are defined. These models emphasises the process followed by the expert and a number of criteria used in his analysis. Results can be used as guides that help to understand and annotate discussion forum. We aim at modelling other pragmatics analysis in order to complete the base of guides; criteria, process, etc. of discussion analysis
1008.4326
Machine learning for constraint solver design -- A case study for the alldifferent constraint
cs.AI
Constraint solvers are complex pieces of software which require many design decisions to be made by the implementer based on limited information. These decisions affect the performance of the finished solver significantly. Once a design decision has been made, it cannot easily be reversed, although a different decision may be more appropriate for a particular problem. We investigate using machine learning to make these decisions automatically depending on the problem to solve. We use the alldifferent constraint as a case study. Our system is capable of making non-trivial, multi-level decisions that improve over always making a default choice and can be implemented as part of a general-purpose constraint solver.
1008.4328
Distributed solving through model splitting
cs.AI
Constraint problems can be trivially solved in parallel by exploring different branches of the search tree concurrently. Previous approaches have focused on implementing this functionality in the solver, more or less transparently to the user. We propose a new approach, which modifies the constraint model of the problem. An existing model is split into new models with added constraints that partition the search space. Optionally, additional constraints are imposed that rule out the search already done. The advantages of our approach are that it can be implemented easily, computations can be stopped and restarted, moved to different machines and indeed solved on machines which are not able to communicate with each other at all.
1008.4348
Collaborative Spectrum Sensing from Sparse Observations in Cognitive Radio Networks
cs.IT math.IT
Spectrum sensing, which aims at detecting spectrum holes, is the precondition for the implementation of cognitive radio (CR). Collaborative spectrum sensing among the cognitive radio nodes is expected to improve the ability of checking complete spectrum usage. Due to hardware limitations, each cognitive radio node can only sense a relatively narrow band of radio spectrum. Consequently, the available channel sensing information is far from being sufficient for precisely recognizing the wide range of unoccupied channels. Aiming at breaking this bottleneck, we propose to apply matrix completion and joint sparsity recovery to reduce sensing and transmitting requirements and improve sensing results. Specifically, equipped with a frequency selective filter, each cognitive radio node senses linear combinations of multiple channel information and reports them to the fusion center, where occupied channels are then decoded from the reports by using novel matrix completion and joint sparsity recovery algorithms. As a result, the number of reports sent from the CRs to the fusion center is significantly reduced. We propose two decoding approaches, one based on matrix completion and the other based on joint sparsity recovery, both of which allow exact recovery from incomplete reports. The numerical results validate the effectiveness and robustness of our approaches. In particular, in small-scale networks, the matrix completion approach achieves exact channel detection with a number of samples no more than 50% of the number of channels in the network, while joint sparsity recovery achieves similar performance in large-scale networks.
1008.4370
Fourier Domain Decoding Algorithm of Non-Binary LDPC codes for Parallel Implementation
cs.IT cs.AR math.IT
For decoding non-binary low-density parity check (LDPC) codes, logarithm-domain sum-product (Log-SP) algorithms were proposed for reducing quantization effects of SP algorithm in conjunction with FFT. Since FFT is not applicable in the logarithm domain, the computations required at check nodes in the Log-SP algorithms are computationally intensive. What is worth, check nodes usually have higher degree than variable nodes. As a result, most of the time for decoding is used for check node computations, which leads to a bottleneck effect. In this paper, we propose a Log-SP algorithm in the Fourier domain. With this algorithm, the role of variable nodes and check nodes are switched. The intensive computations are spread over lower-degree variable nodes, which can be efficiently calculated in parallel. Furthermore, we develop a fast calculation method for the estimated bits and syndromes in the Fourier domain.
1008.4406
Structural Solutions to Dynamic Scheduling for Multimedia Transmission in Unknown Wireless Environments
cs.MM cs.LG cs.SY
In this paper, we propose a systematic solution to the problem of scheduling delay-sensitive media data for transmission over time-varying wireless channels. We first formulate the dynamic scheduling problem as a Markov decision process (MDP) that explicitly considers the users' heterogeneous multimedia data characteristics (e.g. delay deadlines, distortion impacts and dependencies etc.) and time-varying channel conditions, which are not simultaneously considered in state-of-the-art packet scheduling algorithms. This formulation allows us to perform foresighted decisions to schedule multiple data units for transmission at each time in order to optimize the long-term utilities of the multimedia applications. The heterogeneity of the media data enables us to express the transmission priorities between the different data units as a priority graph, which is a directed acyclic graph (DAG). This priority graph provides us with an elegant structure to decompose the multi-data unit foresighted decision at each time into multiple single-data unit foresighted decisions which can be performed sequentially, from the high priority data units to the low priority data units, thereby significantly reducing the computation complexity. When the statistical knowledge of the multimedia data characteristics and channel conditions is unknown a priori, we develop a low-complexity online learning algorithm to update the value functions which capture the impact of the current decision on the future utility. The simulation results show that the proposed solution significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art scheduling solutions.
1008.4416
Registration-based Compensation using Sparse Representation in Conformal-array STAP
cs.IT math.IT
Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) is a well-known technique in detecting slow-moving targets in the presence of a clutter-spreading environment. When considering the STAP system deployed with conformal radar array (CFA), the training data are range-dependent, which results in poor detection performance of traditional statistical-based algorithms. Current registration-based compensation (RBC) is implemented based on a sub-snapshot spectrum using temporal smoothing. In this case, the estimation accuracy of the configuration parameters and the clutter power distribution is limited. In this paper, the technique of sparse representation is introduced into the spectral estimation, and a new compensation method is proposed, namely RBC with sparse representation (SR-RBC). This method first converts the clutter spectral estimation into an ill-posed problem with the constraint of sparsity. Then, the technique of sparse representation, like iterative reweighted least squares (IRLS), is utilized to solve this problem. Then, the transform matrix is designed so that the processed training data behaves nearly stationary with the test cell. Because the configuration parameters and the clutter spectral response are obtained with full-snapshot using sparse representation, SR-RBC provides more accurate clutter spectral estimation, and the transformed training data are more stationary so that better signal-clutter-ratio (SCR) improvement is expected.
1008.4474
An Algebraic View to Gradient Descent Decoding
cs.IT math.CO math.IT
There are two gradient descent decoding procedures for binary codes proposed independently by Liebler and by Ashikhmin and Barg. Liebler in his paper mentions that both algorithms have the same philosophy but in fact they are rather different. The purpose of this communication is to show that both algorithms can be seen as two ways of understanding the reduction process algebraic monoid structure related to the code. The main tool used for showing this is the Gr\"obner representation of the monoid associated to the linear code.
1008.4532
Switching between Hidden Markov Models using Fixed Share
cs.LG
In prediction with expert advice the goal is to design online prediction algorithms that achieve small regret (additional loss on the whole data) compared to a reference scheme. In the simplest such scheme one compares to the loss of the best expert in hindsight. A more ambitious goal is to split the data into segments and compare to the best expert on each segment. This is appropriate if the nature of the data changes between segments. The standard fixed-share algorithm is fast and achieves small regret compared to this scheme. Fixed share treats the experts as black boxes: there are no assumptions about how they generate their predictions. But if the experts are learning, the following question arises: should the experts learn from all data or only from data in their own segment? The original algorithm naturally addresses the first case. Here we consider the second option, which is more appropriate exactly when the nature of the data changes between segments. In general extending fixed share to this second case will slow it down by a factor of T on T outcomes. We show, however, that no such slowdown is necessary if the experts are hidden Markov models.
1008.4535
Explicit constructions of RIP matrices and related problems
math.NT cs.IT math.IT
We give a new explicit construction of $n\times N$ matrices satisfying the Restricted Isometry Property (RIP). Namely, for some c>0, large N and any n satisfying N^{1-c} < n < N, we construct RIP matrices of order k^{1/2+c}. This overcomes the natural barrier k=O(n^{1/2}) for proofs based on small coherence, which are used in all previous explicit constructions of RIP matrices. Key ingredients in our proof are new estimates for sumsets in product sets and for exponential sums with the products of sets possessing special additive structure. We also give a construction of sets of n complex numbers whose k-th moments are uniformly small for 1\le k\le N (Turan's power sum problem), which improves upon known explicit constructions when (\log N)^{1+o(1)} \le n\le (\log N)^{4+o(1)}. This latter construction produces elementary explicit examples of n by N matrices that satisfy RIP and whose columns constitute a new spherical code; for those problems the parameters closely match those of existing constructions in the range (\log N)^{1+o(1)} \le n\le (\log N)^{5/2+o(1)}.
1008.4564
Study on some interconnecting bilayer networks
physics.soc-ph cs.SI
We present a model, in which some nodes (called interconnecting nodes) in two networks merge and play the roles in both the networks. The model analytic and simulation discussions show a monotonically increasing dependence of interconnecting node topological position difference and a monotonically decreasing dependence of the interconnecting node number on function difference of both networks. The dependence function details do not influence the qualitative relationship. This online manuscript presents the details of the model simulation and analytic discussion, as well as the empirical investigations performed in eight real world bilayer networks. The analytic and simulation results with different dependence function forms show rather good agreement with the empirical conclusions.
1008.4565
On the Transmission-Computation-Energy Tradeoff in Wireless and Fixed Networks
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, a framework for the analysis of the transmission-computation-energy tradeoff in wireless and fixed networks is introduced. The analysis of this tradeoff considers both the transmission energy as well as the energy consumed at the receiver to process the received signal. While previous work considers linear decoder complexity, which is only achieved by uncoded transmission, this paper claims that the average processing (or computation) energy per symbol depends exponentially on the information rate of the source message. The introduced framework is parametrized in a way that it reflects properties of fixed and wireless networks alike. The analysis of this paper shows that exponential complexity and therefore stronger codes are preferable at low data rates while linear complexity and therefore uncoded transmission becomes preferable at high data rates. The more the computation energy is emphasized (such as in fixed networks), the less hops are optimal and the lower is the benefit of multi-hopping. On the other hand, the higher the information rate of the single-hop network, the higher the benefits of multi-hopping. Both conclusions are underlined by analytical results.
1008.4627
Matching Dependencies with Arbitrary Attribute Values: Semantics, Query Answering and Integrity Constraints
cs.DB
Matching dependencies (MDs) were introduced to specify the identification or matching of certain attribute values in pairs of database tuples when some similarity conditions are satisfied. Their enforcement can be seen as a natural generalization of entity resolution. In what we call the "pure case" of MDs, any value from the underlying data domain can be used for the value in common that does the matching. We investigate the semantics and properties of data cleaning through the enforcement of matching dependencies for the pure case. We characterize the intended clean instances and also the "clean answers" to queries as those that are invariant under the cleaning process. The complexity of computing clean instances and clean answers to queries is investigated. Tractable and intractable cases depending on the MDs and queries are identified. Finally, we establish connections with database "repairs" under integrity constraints.
1008.4654
Freezing and Sleeping: Tracking Experts that Learn by Evolving Past Posteriors
cs.LG
A problem posed by Freund is how to efficiently track a small pool of experts out of a much larger set. This problem was solved when Bousquet and Warmuth introduced their mixing past posteriors (MPP) algorithm in 2001. In Freund's problem the experts would normally be considered black boxes. However, in this paper we re-examine Freund's problem in case the experts have internal structure that enables them to learn. In this case the problem has two possible interpretations: should the experts learn from all data or only from the subsequence on which they are being tracked? The MPP algorithm solves the first case. Our contribution is to generalise MPP to address the second option. The results we obtain apply to any expert structure that can be formalised using (expert) hidden Markov models. Curiously enough, for our interpretation there are \emph{two} natural reference schemes: freezing and sleeping. For each scheme, we provide an efficient prediction strategy and prove the relevant loss bound.
1008.4658
A high speed unsupervised speaker retrieval using vector quantization and second-order statistics
cs.IR cs.SD
This paper describes an effective unsupervised method for query-by-example speaker retrieval. We suppose that only one speaker is in each audio file or in audio segment. The audio data are modeled using a common universal codebook. The codebook is based on bag-of-frames (BOF). The features corresponding to the audio frames are extracted from all audio files. These features are grouped into clusters using the K-means algorithm. The individual audio files are modeled by the normalized distribution of the numbers of cluster bins corresponding to this file. In the first level the k-nearest to the query files are retrieved using vector space representation. In the second level the second-order statistical measure is applied to obtained k-nearest files to find the final result of the retrieval. The described method is evaluated on the subset of Ester corpus of French broadcast news.
1008.4662
Automated Acanthamoeba polyphaga detection and computation of Salmonella typhimurium concentration in spatio-temporal images
q-bio.QM cs.CV q-bio.PE
Interactions between bacteria and protozoa is an increasing area of interest, however there are a few systems that allow extensive observation of the interactions. We examined a surface system consisting of non nutrient agar with a uniform bacterial lawn that extended over the agar surface, and a spatially localised central population of amoebae. The amoeba fed on bacteria and migrated over the plate. Automated image analysis techniques were used to locate and count amoebae, cysts and bacteria coverage in a series of spatial images. Most algorithms were based on intensity thresholding, or a modification of this idea with probabilistic models. Our strategy was two tiered, we performed an automated analysis for object classification and bacteria counting followed by user intervention/reclassification using custom written Graphical User Interfaces.
1008.4669
An Architecture of Active Learning SVMs with Relevance Feedback for Classifying E-mail
cs.IR cs.LG
In this paper, we have proposed an architecture of active learning SVMs with relevance feedback (RF)for classifying e-mail. This architecture combines both active learning strategies where instead of using a randomly selected training set, the learner has access to a pool of unlabeled instances and can request the labels of some number of them and relevance feedback where if any mail misclassified then the next set of support vectors will be different from the present set otherwise the next set will not change. Our proposed architecture will ensure that a legitimate e-mail will not be dropped in the event of overflowing mailbox. The proposed architecture also exhibits dynamic updating characteristics making life as difficult for the spammer as possible.
1008.4705
Trust and Partner Selection in Social Networks: An Experimentally Grounded Model
physics.soc-ph cs.SI
This paper presents an experimentally grounded model on the relevance of partner selection for the emergence of trust and cooperation among individuals. By combining experimental evidence and network simulation, our model investigates the link of interaction outcome and social structure formation and shows that dynamic networks lead to positive outcomes when cooperators have the capability of creating more links and isolating free-riders. By emphasizing the self-reinforcing dynamics of interaction outcome and structure formation, our results cast the argument about the relevance of interaction continuity for cooperation in new light and provide insights to guide the design of new lab experiments.
1008.4733
Gelfand-Pinsker coding achieves the interference-free capacity
cs.IT math.IT
For a discrete memoryless channel with non-causal state information available only at the encoder, it is well-known that Gelfand-Pinsker coding achieves its capacity. In this paper, we analyze Gelfand-Pinsker coding scheme and capacity to bring out further understandings. We show that Gelfand-Pinsker capacity is equal to the interference-free capacity. Thus the capacity of a channel with non-causal state information available only at the encoder is the same as if the state information is also available at the decoder. Furthermore, the capacity-achieving conditional input distributions in these two cases are the same. This lets us connect the studied channel with state to the multiple access channel (MAC) with correlated sources and show that under certain conditions, the receiver can decode both the message and the state information. This dual decoding can be obtained in particular if the state sequences come from a known codebook with rate satisfying a simple constraint. In such a case, we can modify Gelfand-Pinsker coding by pre-building multiple codebooks of input sequences $X^n$, each codebook is for a given state sequence $S^n$, upon generating the auxiliary $U^n$ sequences. The modified Gelfand-Pinsker coding scheme achieves the capacity of the MAC with degraded message set and still allows for decoding of just the message at any state information rate. We then revisit dirty-paper coding for the Gaussian channel to verify our analysis and modified coding scheme.
1008.4747
Entanglement-assisted quantum low-density parity-check codes
cs.IT math.CO math.IT quant-ph
This paper develops a general method for constructing entanglement-assisted quantum low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, which is based on combinatorial design theory. Explicit constructions are given for entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (EAQECCs) with many desirable properties. These properties include the requirement of only one initial entanglement bit, high error correction performance, high rates, and low decoding complexity. The proposed method produces infinitely many new codes with a wide variety of parameters and entanglement requirements. Our framework encompasses various codes including the previously known entanglement-assisted quantum LDPC codes having the best error correction performance and many new codes with better block error rates in simulations over the depolarizing channel. We also determine important parameters of several well-known classes of quantum and classical LDPC codes for previously unsettled cases.
1008.4815
Recommender Systems by means of Information Retrieval
cs.IR
In this paper we present a method for reformulating the Recommender Systems problem in an Information Retrieval one. In our tests we have a dataset of users who give ratings for some movies; we hide some values from the dataset, and we try to predict them again using its remaining portion (the so-called "leave-n-out approach"). In order to use an Information Retrieval algorithm, we reformulate this Recommender Systems problem in this way: a user corresponds to a document, a movie corresponds to a term, the active user (whose rating we want to predict) plays the role of the query, and the ratings are used as weigths, in place of the weighting schema of the original IR algorithm. The output is the ranking list of the documents ("users") relevant for the query ("active user"). We use the ratings of these users, weighted according to the rank, to predict the rating of the active user. We carry out the comparison by means of a typical metric, namely the accuracy of the predictions returned by the algorithm, and we compare this to the real ratings from users. In our first tests, we use two different Information Retrieval algorithms: LSPR, a recently proposed model based on Discrete Fourier Transform, and a simple vector space model.
1008.4831
Foundations of Inference
math.PR cs.AI math.LO math.ST physics.data-an stat.TH
We present a simple and clear foundation for finite inference that unites and significantly extends the approaches of Kolmogorov and Cox. Our approach is based on quantifying lattices of logical statements in a way that satisfies general lattice symmetries. With other applications such as measure theory in mind, our derivations assume minimal symmetries, relying on neither negation nor continuity nor differentiability. Each relevant symmetry corresponds to an axiom of quantification, and these axioms are used to derive a unique set of quantifying rules that form the familiar probability calculus. We also derive a unique quantification of divergence, entropy and information.
1008.4870
On Euclidean Norm Approximations
cs.NA cs.CV
Euclidean norm calculations arise frequently in scientific and engineering applications. Several approximations for this norm with differing complexity and accuracy have been proposed in the literature. Earlier approaches were based on minimizing the maximum error. Recently, Seol and Cheun proposed an approximation based on minimizing the average error. In this paper, we first examine these approximations in detail, show that they fit into a single mathematical formulation, and compare their average and maximum errors. We then show that the maximum errors given by Seol and Cheun are significantly optimistic.
1008.4873
Spiking Neurons with ASNN Based-Methods for the Neural Block Cipher
cs.CR cs.NE
Problem statement: This paper examines Artificial Spiking Neural Network (ASNN) which inter-connects group of artificial neurons that uses a mathematical model with the aid of block cipher. The aim of undertaken this research is to come up with a block cipher where by the keys are randomly generated by ASNN which can then have any variable block length. This will show the private key is kept and do not have to be exchange to the other side of the communication channel so it present a more secure procedure of key scheduling. The process enables for a faster change in encryption keys and a network level encryption to be implemented at a high speed without the headache of factorization. Approach: The block cipher is converted in public cryptosystem and had a low level of vulnerability to attack from brute, and moreover can able to defend against linear attacks since the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) architecture convey non-linearity to the encryption/decryption procedures. Result: In this paper is present to use the Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) with spiking neurons as its basic unit. The timing for the SNNs is considered and the output is encoded in 1's and 0's depending on the occurrence or not occurrence of spikes as well as the spiking neural networks use a sign function as activation function, and present the weights and the filter coefficients to be adjust, having more degrees of freedom than the classical neural networks. Conclusion: In conclusion therefore, encryption algorithm can be deployed in communication and security applications where data transfers are most crucial. So this paper, the neural block cipher proposed where the keys are generated by the SNN and the seed is considered the public key which generates the both keys on both sides In future therefore a new research will be conducted on the Spiking Neural Network (SNN) impacts on communication.
1008.4895
LIFO-Backpressure Achieves Near Optimal Utility-Delay Tradeoff
math.OC cs.SY
There has been considerable recent work developing a new stochastic network utility maximization framework using Backpressure algorithms, also known as MaxWeight. A key open problem has been the development of utility-optimal algorithms that are also delay efficient. In this paper, we show that the Backpressure algorithm, when combined with the LIFO queueing discipline (called LIFO-Backpressure), is able to achieve a utility that is within $O(1/V)$ of the optimal value, while maintaining an average delay of $O([\log(V)]^2)$ for all but a tiny fraction of the network traffic. This result holds for general stochastic network optimization problems and general Markovian dynamics. Remarkably, the performance of LIFO-Backpressure can be achieved by simply changing the queueing discipline; it requires no other modifications of the original Backpressure algorithm. We validate the results through empirical measurements from a sensor network testbed, which show good match between theory and practice.
1008.4896
Optimal Routing with Mutual Information Accumulation in Wireless Networks
math.OC cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
We investigate optimal routing and scheduling strategies for multi-hop wireless networks with rateless codes. Rateless codes allow each node of the network to accumulate mutual information from every packet transmission. This enables a significant performance gain over conventional shortest path routing. Further, it outperforms cooperative communication techniques that are based on energy accumulation. However, it requires complex and combinatorial networking decisions concerning which nodes participate in transmission, and which decode ordering to use. We formulate three problems of interest in this setting: (i) minimum delay routing, (ii) minimum energy routing subject to delay constraint, and (iii) minimum delay broadcast. All of these are hard combinatorial optimization problems and we make use of several structural properties of their optimal solutions to simplify the problems and derive optimal greedy algorithms. Although the reduced problems still have exponential complexity, unlike prior works on such problems, our greedy algorithms are simple to use and do not require solving any linear programs. Further, using the insight obtained from the optimal solution to a line network, we propose two simple heuristics that can be implemented in polynomial time and in a distributed fashion and compare them with the optimal solution. Simulations suggest that both heuristics perform very close to the optimal solution over random network topologies.
1008.4916
Random road networks: the quadtree model
cs.DM cs.SI
What does a typical road network look like? Existing generative models tend to focus on one aspect to the exclusion of others. We introduce the general-purpose \emph{quadtree model} and analyze its shortest paths and maximum flow.
1008.4941
Pairwise Optimal Discrete Coverage Control for Gossiping Robots
cs.RO math.OC
We propose distributed algorithms to automatically deploy a group of robotic agents and provide coverage of a discretized environment represented by a graph. The classic Lloyd approach to coverage optimization involves separate centering and partitioning steps and converges to the set of centroidal Voronoi partitions. In this work we present a novel graph coverage algorithm which achieves better performance without this separation while requiring only pairwise ``gossip'' communication between agents. Our new algorithm provably converges to an element of the set of pairwise-optimal partitions, a subset of the set of centroidal Voronoi partitions. We illustrate that this new equilibrium set represents a significant performance improvement through numerical comparisons to existing Lloyd-type methods. Finally, we discuss ways to efficiently do the necessary computations.