We consider a distributionally robust stochastic optimization problem and formulate it as a stochastic two-level composition optimization problem with the use of the mean--semideviation risk measure. In this setting, we consider a single time-scale algorithm, involving two versions of the inner function value tracking: linearized tracking of a continuously differentiable loss function, and SPIDER tracking of a weakly convex loss function. We adopt the norm of the gradient of the Moreau envelope as our measure of stationarity and show that the sample complexity of $\mathcal{O}(\varepsilon^{-3})$ is possible in both cases, with only the constant larger in the second case. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of our algorithm with a robust learning example and a weakly convex, non-smooth regression example.
In high-dimensional generalized linear models, it is crucial to identify a sparse model that adequately accounts for response variation. Although the best subset section has been widely regarded as the Holy Grail of problems of this type, achieving either computational efficiency or statistical guarantees is challenging. In this article, we intend to surmount this obstacle by utilizing a fast algorithm to select the best subset with high certainty. We proposed and illustrated an algorithm for best subset recovery in regularity conditions. Under mild conditions, the computational complexity of our algorithm scales polynomially with sample size and dimension. In addition to demonstrating the statistical properties of our method, extensive numerical experiments reveal that it outperforms existing methods for variable selection and coefficient estimation. The runtime analysis shows that our implementation achieves approximately a fourfold speedup compared to popular variable selection toolkits like glmnet and ncvreg.
Natural organized systems adapt to internal and external pressures and this happens at all levels of the abstraction hierarchy. Wanting to think clearly about this idea motivates our paper, and so the idea is elaborated extensively in the introduction, which should be broadly accessible to a philosophically-interested audience. In the remaining sections, we turn to more compressed category theory. We define the monoidal double category Org of dynamic organizations, we provide definitions of Org-enriched, or dynamic, categorical structures -- e.g. dynamic categories, operads, and monoidal categories -- and we show how they instantiate the motivating philosophical ideas. We give two examples of dynamic categorical structures: prediction markets as a dynamic operad and deep learning as a dynamic monoidal category.
Although a recent shift has been made in the field of predictive process monitoring to use models from the explainable artificial intelligence field, the evaluation still occurs mainly through performance-based metrics, thus not accounting for the actionability and implications of the explanations. In this paper, we define explainability through the interpretability of the explanations and the faithfulness of the explainability model in the field of process outcome prediction. The introduced properties are analysed along the event, case, and control flow perspective which are typical for a process-based analysis. This allows comparing inherently created explanations with post-hoc explanations. We benchmark seven classifiers on thirteen real-life events logs, and these cover a range of transparent and non-transparent machine learning and deep learning models, further complemented with explainability techniques. Next, this paper contributes a set of guidelines named X-MOP which allows selecting the appropriate model based on the event log specifications, by providing insight into how the varying preprocessing, model complexity and explainability techniques typical in process outcome prediction influence the explainability of the model.
Performance analysis is carried out in a near-field multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system for both discrete and continuous aperture antennas. The effective degrees of freedom (EDoF) is first derived. It is shown that near-field MIMO systems have a higher EDoF than free-space far-field ones. Additionally, the near-field EDoF further depends on the communication distance. Based on the derived EDoF, closed-form expressions of channel capacity with a fixed distance are obtained. As a further advance, with randomly deployed receivers, ergodic capacity is derived. Simulation results reveal that near-field MIMO has an enhanced multiplexing gain even under line-of-sight transmissions. In addition, the performance of discrete MIMO converges to that of continuous aperture MIMO.
Sampling a probability distribution with an unknown normalization constant is a fundamental problem in computational science and engineering. This task may be cast as an optimization problem over all probability measures, and an initial distribution can be evolved to the desired minimizer dynamically via gradient flows. Mean-field models, whose law is governed by the gradient flow in the space of probability measures, may also be identified; particle approximations of these mean-field models form the basis of algorithms. The gradient flow approach is also the basis of algorithms for variational inference, in which the optimization is performed over a parameterized family of probability distributions such as Gaussians, and the underlying gradient flow is restricted to the parameterized family. By choosing different energy functionals and metrics for the gradient flow, different algorithms with different convergence properties arise. In this paper, we concentrate on the Kullback-Leibler divergence after showing that, up to scaling, it has the unique property that the gradient flows resulting from this choice of energy do not depend on the normalization constant. For the metrics, we focus on variants of the Fisher-Rao, Wasserstein, and Stein metrics; we introduce the affine invariance property for gradient flows, and their corresponding mean-field models, determine whether a given metric leads to affine invariance, and modify it to make it affine invariant if it does not. We study the resulting gradient flows in both probability density space and Gaussian space. The flow in the Gaussian space may be understood as a Gaussian approximation of the flow. We demonstrate that the Gaussian approximation based on the metric and through moment closure coincide, establish connections between them, and study their long-time convergence properties showing the advantages of affine invariance.
To effectively process data across a fleet of dynamic and distributed vehicles, it is crucial to implement resource provisioning techniques that provide reliable, cost-effective, and real-time computing services. This article explores resource provisioning for computation-intensive tasks over mobile vehicular clouds (MVCs). We use undirected weighted graphs (UWGs) to model both the execution of tasks and communication patterns among vehicles in a MVC. We then study low-latency and reliable scheduling of UWG asks through a novel methodology named double-plan-promoted isomorphic subgraph search and optimization (DISCO). In DISCO, two complementary plans are envisioned to ensure effective task completion: Plan A and Plan B.Plan A analyzes the past data to create an optimal mapping ($\alpha$) between tasks and the MVC in advance to the practical task scheduling. Plan B serves as a dependable backup, designed to find a feasible mapping ($\beta$) in case $\alpha$ fails during task scheduling due to unpredictable nature of the network.We delve into into DISCO's procedure and key factors that contribute to its success. Additionally, we provide a case study that includes comprehensive comparisons to demonstrate DISCO's exceptional performance in regards to time efficiency and overhead. We further discuss a series of open directions for future research.
Graphs are used widely to model complex systems, and detecting anomalies in a graph is an important task in the analysis of complex systems. Graph anomalies are patterns in a graph that do not conform to normal patterns expected of the attributes and/or structures of the graph. In recent years, graph neural networks (GNNs) have been studied extensively and have successfully performed difficult machine learning tasks in node classification, link prediction, and graph classification thanks to the highly expressive capability via message passing in effectively learning graph representations. To solve the graph anomaly detection problem, GNN-based methods leverage information about the graph attributes (or features) and/or structures to learn to score anomalies appropriately. In this survey, we review the recent advances made in detecting graph anomalies using GNN models. Specifically, we summarize GNN-based methods according to the graph type (i.e., static and dynamic), the anomaly type (i.e., node, edge, subgraph, and whole graph), and the network architecture (e.g., graph autoencoder, graph convolutional network). To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the first comprehensive review of graph anomaly detection methods based on GNNs.
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.
Substantial efforts have been devoted more recently to presenting various methods for object detection in optical remote sensing images. However, the current survey of datasets and deep learning based methods for object detection in optical remote sensing images is not adequate. Moreover, most of the existing datasets have some shortcomings, for example, the numbers of images and object categories are small scale, and the image diversity and variations are insufficient. These limitations greatly affect the development of deep learning based object detection methods. In the paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the recent deep learning based object detection progress in both the computer vision and earth observation communities. Then, we propose a large-scale, publicly available benchmark for object DetectIon in Optical Remote sensing images, which we name as DIOR. The dataset contains 23463 images and 192472 instances, covering 20 object classes. The proposed DIOR dataset 1) is large-scale on the object categories, on the object instance number, and on the total image number; 2) has a large range of object size variations, not only in terms of spatial resolutions, but also in the aspect of inter- and intra-class size variability across objects; 3) holds big variations as the images are obtained with different imaging conditions, weathers, seasons, and image quality; and 4) has high inter-class similarity and intra-class diversity. The proposed benchmark can help the researchers to develop and validate their data-driven methods. Finally, we evaluate several state-of-the-art approaches on our DIOR dataset to establish a baseline for future research.
Image segmentation is still an open problem especially when intensities of the interested objects are overlapped due to the presence of intensity inhomogeneity (also known as bias field). To segment images with intensity inhomogeneities, a bias correction embedded level set model is proposed where Inhomogeneities are Estimated by Orthogonal Primary Functions (IEOPF). In the proposed model, the smoothly varying bias is estimated by a linear combination of a given set of orthogonal primary functions. An inhomogeneous intensity clustering energy is then defined and membership functions of the clusters described by the level set function are introduced to rewrite the energy as a data term of the proposed model. Similar to popular level set methods, a regularization term and an arc length term are also included to regularize and smooth the level set function, respectively. The proposed model is then extended to multichannel and multiphase patterns to segment colourful images and images with multiple objects, respectively. It has been extensively tested on both synthetic and real images that are widely used in the literature and public BrainWeb and IBSR datasets. Experimental results and comparison with state-of-the-art methods demonstrate that advantages of the proposed model in terms of bias correction and segmentation accuracy.