Understanding the generalization properties of heavy-tailed stochastic optimization algorithms has attracted increasing attention over the past years. While illuminating interesting aspects of stochastic optimizers by using heavy-tailed stochastic differential equations as proxies, prior works either provided expected generalization bounds, or introduced non-computable information theoretic terms. Addressing these drawbacks, in this work, we prove high-probability generalization bounds for heavy-tailed SDEs which do not contain any nontrivial information theoretic terms. To achieve this goal, we develop new proof techniques based on estimating the entropy flows associated with the so-called fractional Fokker-Planck equation (a partial differential equation that governs the evolution of the distribution of the corresponding heavy-tailed SDE). In addition to obtaining high-probability bounds, we show that our bounds have a better dependence on the dimension of parameters as compared to prior art. Our results further identify a phase transition phenomenon, which suggests that heavy tails can be either beneficial or harmful depending on the problem structure. We support our theory with experiments conducted in a variety of settings.
Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are widely used to describe dynamical systems in science, but identifying parameters that explain experimental measurements is challenging. In particular, although ODEs are differentiable and would allow for gradient-based parameter optimization, the nonlinear dynamics of ODEs often lead to many local minima and extreme sensitivity to initial conditions. We therefore propose diffusion tempering, a novel regularization technique for probabilistic numerical methods which improves convergence of gradient-based parameter optimization in ODEs. By iteratively reducing a noise parameter of the probabilistic integrator, the proposed method converges more reliably to the true parameters. We demonstrate that our method is effective for dynamical systems of different complexity and show that it obtains reliable parameter estimates for a Hodgkin-Huxley model with a practically relevant number of parameters.
Model specification searches and modifications are commonly employed in covariance structure analysis (CSA) or structural equation modeling (SEM) to improve the goodness-of-fit. However, these practices can be susceptible to capitalizing on chance, as a model that fits one sample may not generalize to another sample from the same population. This paper introduces the improved Lagrange Multipliers (LM) test, which provides a reliable method for conducting a thorough model specification search and effectively identifying missing parameters. By leveraging the stepwise bootstrap method in the standard LM and Wald tests, our data-driven approach enhances the accuracy of parameter identification. The results from Monte Carlo simulations and two empirical applications in political science demonstrate the effectiveness of the improved LM test, particularly when dealing with small sample sizes and models with large degrees of freedom. This approach contributes to better statistical fit and addresses the issue of capitalization on chance in model specification.
Variants of the GSEMO algorithm using multi-objective formulations have been successfully analyzed and applied to optimize chance-constrained submodular functions. However, due to the effect of the increasing population size of the GSEMO algorithm considered in these studies from the algorithms, the approach becomes ineffective if the number of trade-offs obtained grows quickly during the optimization run. In this paper, we apply the sliding-selection approach introduced in [21] to the optimization of chance-constrained monotone submodular functions. We theoretically analyze the resulting SW-GSEMO algorithm which successfully limits the population size as a key factor that impacts the runtime and show that this allows it to obtain better runtime guarantees than the best ones currently known for the GSEMO. In our experimental study, we compare the performance of the SW-GSEMO to the GSEMO and NSGA-II on the maximum coverage problem under the chance constraint and show that the SW-GSEMO outperforms the other two approaches in most cases. In order to get additional insights into the optimization behavior of SW-GSEMO, we visualize the selection behavior of SW-GSEMO during its optimization process and show it beats other algorithms to obtain the highest quality of solution in variable instances.
Anomaly synthesis strategies can effectively enhance unsupervised anomaly detection. However, existing strategies have limitations in the coverage and controllability of anomaly synthesis, particularly for weak defects that are very similar to normal regions. In this paper, we propose Global and Local Anomaly co-Synthesis Strategy (GLASS), a novel unified framework designed to synthesize a broader coverage of anomalies under the manifold and hypersphere distribution constraints of Global Anomaly Synthesis (GAS) at the feature level and Local Anomaly Synthesis (LAS) at the image level. Our method synthesizes near-in-distribution anomalies in a controllable way using Gaussian noise guided by gradient ascent and truncated projection. GLASS achieves state-of-the-art results on the MVTec AD (detection AUROC of 99.9\%), VisA, and MPDD datasets and excels in weak defect detection. The effectiveness and efficiency have been further validated in industrial applications for woven fabric defect detection. The code and dataset are available at: \url{//github.com/cqylunlun/GLASS}.
Proteins are fundamental components of biological systems and can be represented through various modalities, including sequences, structures, and textual descriptions. Despite the advances in deep learning and scientific large language models (LLMs) for protein research, current methodologies predominantly focus on limited specialized tasks -- often predicting one protein modality from another. These approaches restrict the understanding and generation of multimodal protein data. In contrast, large multimodal models have demonstrated potential capabilities in generating any-to-any content like text, images, and videos, thus enriching user interactions across various domains. Integrating these multimodal model technologies into protein research offers significant promise by potentially transforming how proteins are studied. To this end, we introduce HelixProtX, a system built upon the large multimodal model, aiming to offer a comprehensive solution to protein research by supporting any-to-any protein modality generation. Unlike existing methods, it allows for the transformation of any input protein modality into any desired protein modality. The experimental results affirm the advanced capabilities of HelixProtX, not only in generating functional descriptions from amino acid sequences but also in executing critical tasks such as designing protein sequences and structures from textual descriptions. Preliminary findings indicate that HelixProtX consistently achieves superior accuracy across a range of protein-related tasks, outperforming existing state-of-the-art models. By integrating multimodal large models into protein research, HelixProtX opens new avenues for understanding protein biology, thereby promising to accelerate scientific discovery.
Stochastic approximation is a class of algorithms that update a vector iteratively, incrementally, and stochastically, including, e.g., stochastic gradient descent and temporal difference learning. One fundamental challenge in analyzing a stochastic approximation algorithm is to establish its stability, i.e., to show that the stochastic vector iterates are bounded almost surely. In this paper, we extend the celebrated Borkar-Meyn theorem for stability from the Martingale difference noise setting to the Markovian noise setting, which greatly improves its applicability in reinforcement learning, especially in those off-policy reinforcement learning algorithms with linear function approximation and eligibility traces. Central to our analysis is the diminishing asymptotic rate of change of a few functions, which is implied by both a form of strong law of large numbers and a commonly used V4 Lyapunov drift condition and trivially holds if the Markov chain is finite and irreducible.
Forming oral models capable of understanding the complete dynamics of the oral cavity is vital across research areas such as speech correction, designing foods for the aging population, and dentistry. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies, capable of capturing oral data essential for creating such detailed representations, offer a powerful tool for illustrating articulatory dynamics. However, its real-time application is hindered by expense and expertise requirements. Ever advancing generative AI approaches present themselves as a way to address this barrier by leveraging multi-modal approaches for generating pseudo-MRI views. Nonetheless, this immediately sparks ethical concerns regarding the utilisation of a technology with the capability to produce MRIs from facial observations. This paper explores the ethical implications of external-to-internal correlation modeling (E2ICM). E2ICM utilises facial movements to infer internal configurations and provides a cost-effective supporting technology for MRI. In this preliminary work, we employ Pix2PixGAN to generate pseudo-MRI views from external articulatory data, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach. Ethical considerations concerning privacy, consent, and potential misuse, which are fundamental to our examination of this innovative methodology, are discussed as a result of this experimentation.
Structural equation models (SEMs) are commonly used to study the structural relationship between observed variables and latent constructs. Recently, Bayesian fitting procedures for SEMs have received more attention thanks to their potential to facilitate the adoption of more flexible model structures, and variational approximations have been shown to provide fast and accurate inference for Bayesian analysis of SEMs. However, the application of variational approximations is currently limited to very simple, elemental SEMs. We develop mean-field variational Bayes algorithms for two SEM formulations for data that present non-Gaussian features such as skewness and multimodality. The proposed models exploit the use of mixtures of Gaussians, include covariates for the analysis of latent traits and consider missing data. We also examine two variational information criteria for model selection that are straightforward to compute in our variational inference framework. The performance of the MFVB algorithms and information criteria is investigated in a simulated data study and a real data application.
We provide an algorithm for the simultaneous system identification and model predictive control of nonlinear systems. The algorithm has finite-time near-optimality guarantees and asymptotically converges to the optimal (non-causal) controller. Particularly, the algorithm enjoys sublinear dynamic regret, defined herein as the suboptimality against an optimal clairvoyant controller that knows how the unknown disturbances and system dynamics will adapt to its actions. The algorithm is self-supervised and applies to control-affine systems with unknown dynamics and disturbances that can be expressed in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. Such spaces can model external disturbances and modeling errors that can even be adaptive to the system's state and control input. For example, they can model wind and wave disturbances to aerial and marine vehicles, or inaccurate model parameters such as inertia of mechanical systems. The algorithm first generates random Fourier features that are used to approximate the unknown dynamics or disturbances. Then, it employs model predictive control based on the current learned model of the unknown dynamics (or disturbances). The model of the unknown dynamics is updated online using least squares based on the data collected while controlling the system. We validate our algorithm in both hardware experiments and physics-based simulations. The simulations include (i) a cart-pole aiming to maintain the pole upright despite inaccurate model parameters, and (ii) a quadrotor aiming to track reference trajectories despite unmodeled aerodynamic drag effects. The hardware experiments include a quadrotor aiming to track a circular trajectory despite unmodeled aerodynamic drag effects, ground effects, and wind disturbances.
The existence of representative datasets is a prerequisite of many successful artificial intelligence and machine learning models. However, the subsequent application of these models often involves scenarios that are inadequately represented in the data used for training. The reasons for this are manifold and range from time and cost constraints to ethical considerations. As a consequence, the reliable use of these models, especially in safety-critical applications, is a huge challenge. Leveraging additional, already existing sources of knowledge is key to overcome the limitations of purely data-driven approaches, and eventually to increase the generalization capability of these models. Furthermore, predictions that conform with knowledge are crucial for making trustworthy and safe decisions even in underrepresented scenarios. This work provides an overview of existing techniques and methods in the literature that combine data-based models with existing knowledge. The identified approaches are structured according to the categories integration, extraction and conformity. Special attention is given to applications in the field of autonomous driving.