OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
LACS: Learning-Augmented Algorithms for Carbon-Aware Resource Scaling with Uncertain Demand
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2024
Year: 2024

Motivated by an imperative to reduce the carbon emissions of cloud data centers, this paper studies the online carbon-aware resource scaling problem with unknown job lengths (OCSU) and applies it to carbon-aware resource scaling for executing computing workloads. The task is to dynamically scale resources (e.g., the number of servers) assigned to a job of unknown length such that it is completed before a deadline, with the objective of reducing the carbon emissions of executing the workload. The total carbon emissions of executing a job originate from the emissions of running the job and excess carbon emitted while switching between different scales (e.g., due to checkpoint and resume). Prior work on carbon-aware resource scaling has assumed accurate job length information, while other approaches have ignored switching losses and require carbon intensity forecasts. These assumptions prohibit the practical deployment of prior work for online carbon-aware execution of scalable computing workload. We propose LACS, a theoretically robust learning-augmented algorithm that solves OCSU. To achieve improved practical average-case performance, LACS integrates machine-learned predictions of job length. To achieve solid theoretical performance, LACS extends the recent theoretical advances on online conversion with switching costs to handle a scenario where the job length is unknown. Our experimental evaluations demonstrate that, on average, the carbon footprint of LACS lies within 1.2% of the online baseline that assumes perfect job length information and within 16% of the offline baseline that, in addition to the job length, also requires accurate carbon intensity forecasts. Furthermore, LACS achieves a 32% reduction in carbon footprint compared to the deadline-aware carbon-agnostic execution of the job.
Automatic Classification of Subjective Time Perception Using Multi-modal Physiological Data of Air Traffic Controllers
Venue: arXiv cs.HC 2024
Year: 2024

In high-pressure environments where human individuals must simultaneously monitor multiple entities, communicate effectively, and maintain intense focus, the perception of time becomes a critical factor influencing performance and well-being. One indicator of well-being can be the person's subjective time perception. In our project $ChronoPilot$, we aim to develop a device that modulates human subjective time perception. In this study, we present a method to automatically assess the subjective time perception of air traffic controllers, a group often faced with demanding conditions, using their physiological data and eleven state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers. The physiological data consist of photoplethysmogram, electrodermal activity, and temperature data. We find that the support vector classifier works best with an accuracy of 79 % and electrodermal activity provides the most descriptive biomarker. These findings are an important step towards closing the feedback loop of our $ChronoPilot$-device to automatically modulate the user's subjective time perception. This technological advancement may promise improvements in task management, stress reduction, and overall productivity in high-stakes professions.
Bottoms Up for CHCs: Novel Transformation of Linear Constrained Horn Clauses to Software Verification
Venue: arXiv cs.LO 2024
Year: 2024

Constrained Horn Clauses (CHCs) have conventionally been used as a low-level representation in formal verification. Most existing solvers use a diverse set of specialized techniques, including direct state space traversal or under-approximating abstraction, necessitating purpose-built complex algorithms. Other solvers successfully simplified the verification workflow by translating the problem to inputs for other verification tasks, leveraging the strengths of existing algorithms. One such approach transforms the CHC problem into a recursive program roughly emulating a top-down solver for the deduction task; and verifying the reachability of a safety violation specified as a control location. We propose an alternative bottom-up approach for linear CHCs, and evaluate the two options in the open-source model checking framework THETA on both synthetic and industrial examples. We find that there is a more than twofold increase in the number of solved tasks when the novel bottom-up approach is used in the verification workflow, in contrast with the top-down technique.
Re-Thinking Inverse Graphics With Large Language Models
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2024
Year: 2024

Inverse graphics -- the task of inverting an image into physical variables that, when rendered, enable reproduction of the observed scene -- is a fundamental challenge in computer vision and graphics. Successfully disentangling an image into its constituent elements, such as the shape, color, and material properties of the objects of the 3D scene that produced it, requires a comprehensive understanding of the environment. This complexity limits the ability of existing carefully engineered approaches to generalize across domains. Inspired by the zero-shot ability of large language models (LLMs) to generalize to novel contexts, we investigate the possibility of leveraging the broad world knowledge encoded in such models to solve inverse-graphics problems. To this end, we propose the Inverse-Graphics Large Language Model (IG-LLM), an inverse-graphics framework centered around an LLM, that autoregressively decodes a visual embedding into a structured, compositional 3D-scene representation. We incorporate a frozen pre-trained visual encoder and a continuous numeric head to enable end-to-end training. Through our investigation, we demonstrate the potential of LLMs to facilitate inverse graphics through next-token prediction, without the application of image-space supervision. Our analysis enables new possibilities for precise spatial reasoning about images that exploit the visual knowledge of LLMs. We release our code and data at https://ig-llm.is.tue.mpg.de/ to ensure the reproducibility of our investigation and to facilitate future research.
Multi-Tier Non-Terrestrial Networking for Disaster Communications: A Layered Clustering Approach
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2024
Year: 2024

It is crucial to deploy temporary non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in disaster situations where terrestrial networks are no longer operable. Deploying uncrewed aerial vehicle base stations (UAV-BSs) can provide a radio access network (RAN); however, the backhaul link may also be damaged and unserviceable in such disaster conditions. In this regard, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) spark attention as they can be deployed as super macro base stations (SMBS) and data centers. Therefore, in this study, we investigate a three-layer heterogeneous network with different topologies to prolong the lifespan of the temporary network by using UAV-BSs for RAN services and HAPS-SMBS as a backhaul. Furthermore, a two-layer clustering algorithm is proposed to handle the UAV-BS ad-hoc networking effectively.
Massively Annotated Datasets for Assessment of Synthetic and Real Data in Face Recognition
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2024
Year: 2024

Face recognition applications have grown in parallel with the size of datasets, complexity of deep learning models and computational power. However, while deep learning models evolve to become more capable and computational power keeps increasing, the datasets available are being retracted and removed from public access. Privacy and ethical concerns are relevant topics within these domains. Through generative artificial intelligence, researchers have put efforts into the development of completely synthetic datasets that can be used to train face recognition systems. Nonetheless, the recent advances have not been sufficient to achieve performance comparable to the state-of-the-art models trained on real data. To study the drift between the performance of models trained on real and synthetic datasets, we leverage a massive attribute classifier (MAC) to create annotations for four datasets: two real and two synthetic. From these annotations, we conduct studies on the distribution of each attribute within all four datasets. Additionally, we further inspect the differences between real and synthetic datasets on the attribute set. When comparing through the Kullback-Leibler divergence we have found differences between real and synthetic samples. Interestingly enough, we have verified that while real samples suffice to explain the synthetic distribution, the opposite could not be further from being true.
TOP-Nav: Legged Navigation Integrating Terrain, Obstacle and Proprioception Estimation
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2024
Year: 2024

Legged navigation is typically examined within open-world, off-road, and challenging environments. In these scenarios, estimating external disturbances requires a complex synthesis of multi-modal information. This underlines a major limitation in existing works that primarily focus on avoiding obstacles. In this work, we propose TOP-Nav, a novel legged navigation framework that integrates a comprehensive path planner with Terrain awareness, Obstacle avoidance and close-loop Proprioception. TOP-Nav underscores the synergies between vision and proprioception in both path and motion planning. Within the path planner, we present and integrate a terrain estimator that enables the robot to select waypoints on terrains with higher traversability while effectively avoiding obstacles. In the motion planning level, we not only implement a locomotion controller to track the navigation commands, but also construct a proprioception advisor to provide motion evaluations for the path planner. Based on the close-loop motion feedback, we make online corrections for the vision-based terrain and obstacle estimations. Consequently, TOP-Nav achieves open-world navigation that the robot can handle terrains or disturbances beyond the distribution of prior knowledge and overcomes constraints imposed by visual conditions. Building upon extensive experiments conducted in both simulation and real-world environments, TOP-Nav demonstrates superior performance in open-world navigation compared to existing methods.
Methodological Elements: Statistics and Digital Humanities. What Research Perspectives for the Early History of Islam?
Venue: arXiv cs.DL 2024
Year: 2024

The development of digital humanities has opened new perspectives in the history of Islam: whether dealing with thin or sometimes vast source corpora (such as Sīra, al-Tbarī, al-Dahabī, etc.), these tools allow us to approach texts much more effectively from a statistical perspective, in order to support more general hypotheses and move beyond case studies. Drawing on the work of a number of researchers as well as our own, we propose to study the potentialities and limitations posed by computer methods for the history of medieval Islam, keeping in mind that the conclusions may prove useful to researchers of other periods. We will particularly emphasize two tools: the construction and use of relational databases, and more recently, the tagging of sources, with the stated goal of addressing some of the problems posed by the previous method.
Exploring Convergence in Relation using Association Rules Mining: A Case Study in Collaborative Knowledge Production
Venue: arXiv cs.HC 2024
Year: 2024

This study delves into the pivotal role played by non-experts in knowledge production on open collaboration platforms, with a particular focus on the intricate process of tag development that culminates in the proposal of new glitch classes. Leveraging the power of Association Rule Mining (ARM), this research endeavors to unravel the underlying dynamics of collaboration among citizen scientists. By meticulously quantifying tag associations and scrutinizing their temporal dynamics, the study provides a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of how non-experts collaborate to generate valuable scientific insights. Furthermore, this investigation extends its purview to examine the phenomenon of ideological convergence within online citizen science knowledge production. To accomplish this, a novel measurement algorithm, based on the Mann-Kendall Trend Test, is introduced. This innovative approach sheds illuminating light on the dynamics of collaborative knowledge production, revealing both the vast opportunities and daunting challenges inherent in leveraging non-expert contributions for scientific research endeavors. Notably, the study uncovers a robust pattern of convergence in ideology, employing both the newly proposed convergence testing method and the traditional approach based on the stationarity of time series data. This groundbreaking discovery holds significant implications for understanding the dynamics of online citizen science communities and underscores the crucial role played by non-experts in shaping the scientific landscape of the digital age. Ultimately, this study contributes significantly to our understanding of online citizen science communities, highlighting their potential to harness collective intelligence for tackling complex scientific tasks and enriching our comprehension of collaborative knowledge production processes in the digital age.
Renting Servers for Multi-Parameter Jobs in the Cloud
Venue: arXiv cs.DS 2024
Year: 2024

We study the Renting Servers in the Cloud problem (RSiC) in multiple dimensions. In this problem, a sequence of multi-parameter jobs must be scheduled on servers that can be rented on-demand. Each job has an arrival time, a finishing time, and a multi-dimensional size vector that specifies its resource demands. Each server has a multi-dimensional capacity and jobs can be scheduled on a server as long as in each dimension the sum of sizes of jobs does not exceed the capacity of the server in that dimension. The goal is to minimize the total rental time of servers needed to process the job sequence. AF algorithms do not rent new servers to accommodate a job unless they have to. We introduce a sub-family of AF algorithms called monotone AF algorithms. We show this family have a tight competitive ratio of $Theta(d mu)$, where $d$ is the dimension of the problem and $mu$ is the ratio between the maximum and minimum duration of jobs in the input sequence. We also show that upper bounds for the RSiC problem obey the direct-sum property with respect to dimension $d$, that is we show how to transform $1$-dimensional algorithms for RSiC to work in the $d$-dimensional setting with competitive ratio scaling by a factor of $d$. As a corollary, we obtain an $O(d\sqrt{log mu})$ upper bound for $d$-dimensional clairvoyant RSiC. We also establish a lower bound of $\widetilde{Omega}(d mu)$ for both deterministic and randomized algorithms for $d$-dimensional non-clairvoyant RSiC, under the assumption that $mu \le log d - 2$. Lastly, we propose a natural greedy algorithm called Greedy. Greedy, is a clairvoyant algorithm belongs to the monotone AF family, achieves a competitive ratio of $Theta(d mu)$. Our experimental results indicate that Greedy performs better or matches all other existing algorithms, for almost all the settings of arrival rates and values of mu and $d$ that we implemented.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Exploring the Intersections of Mental Health, Eating Disorders, and Content Moderation on TikTok
Venue: arXiv cs.SI 2024
Year: 2024

Social media platforms actively moderate content glorifying harmful behaviors like eating disorders, which include anorexia and bulimia. However, users have adapted to evade moderation by using coded hashtags. Our study investigates the prevalence of moderation evaders on the popular social media platform TikTok and contrasts their use and emotional valence with mainstream hashtags. We notice that moderation evaders and mainstream hashtags appear together, indicating that vulnerable users might inadvertently encounter harmful content even when searching for mainstream terms. Additionally, through an analysis of emotional expressions in video descriptions and comments, we find that mainstream hashtags generally promote positive engagement, while moderation evaders evoke a wider range of emotions, including heightened negativity. These findings provide valuable insights for content creators, platform moderation efforts, and interventions aimed at cultivating a supportive online environment for discussions on mental health and eating disorders.
Evaluating the Efficacy of Large Language Models in Identifying Phishing Attempts
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2024
Year: 2024

Phishing, a prevalent cybercrime tactic for decades, remains a significant threat in today's digital world. By leveraging clever social engineering elements and modern technology, cybercrime targets many individuals, businesses, and organizations to exploit trust and security. These cyber-attackers are often disguised in many trustworthy forms to appear as legitimate sources. By cleverly using psychological elements like urgency, fear, social proof, and other manipulative strategies, phishers can lure individuals into revealing sensitive and personalized information. Building on this pervasive issue within modern technology, this paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of 15 Large Language Models (LLMs) in detecting phishing attempts, specifically focusing on a randomized set of "419 Scam" emails. The objective is to determine which LLMs can accurately detect phishing emails by analyzing a text file containing email metadata based on predefined criteria. The experiment concluded that the following models, ChatGPT 3.5, GPT-3.5-Turbo-Instruct, and ChatGPT, were the most effective in detecting phishing emails.
Drop-Connect as a Fault-Tolerance Approach for RRAM-based Deep Neural Network Accelerators
Venue: arXiv cs.ET 2024
Year: 2024

Resistive random-access memory (RRAM) is widely recognized as a promising emerging hardware platform for deep neural networks (DNNs). Yet, due to manufacturing limitations, current RRAM devices are highly susceptible to hardware defects, which poses a significant challenge to their practical applicability. In this paper, we present a machine learning technique that enables the deployment of defect-prone RRAM accelerators for DNN applications, without necessitating modifying the hardware, retraining of the neural network, or implementing additional detection circuitry/logic. The key idea involves incorporating a drop-connect inspired approach during the training phase of a DNN, where random subsets of weights are selected to emulate fault effects (e.g., set to zero to mimic stuck-at-1 faults), thereby equipping the DNN with the ability to learn and adapt to RRAM defects with the corresponding fault rates. Our results demonstrate the viability of the drop-connect approach, coupled with various algorithm and system-level design and trade-off considerations. We show that, even in the presence of high defect rates (e.g., up to 30%), the degradation of DNN accuracy can be as low as less than 1% compared to that of the fault-free version, while incurring minimal system-level runtime/energy costs.
Cross-Temporal Spectrogram Autoencoder (CTSAE): Unsupervised Dimensionality Reduction for Clustering Gravitational Wave Glitches
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2024
Year: 2024

The advancement of The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has significantly enhanced the feasibility and reliability of gravitational wave detection. However, LIGO's high sensitivity makes it susceptible to transient noises known as glitches, which necessitate effective differentiation from real gravitational wave signals. Traditional approaches predominantly employ fully supervised or semi-supervised algorithms for the task of glitch classification and clustering. In the future task of identifying and classifying glitches across main and auxiliary channels, it is impractical to build a dataset with manually labeled ground-truth. In addition, the patterns of glitches can vary with time, generating new glitches without manual labels. In response to this challenge, we introduce the Cross-Temporal Spectrogram Autoencoder (CTSAE), a pioneering unsupervised method for the dimensionality reduction and clustering of gravitational wave glitches. CTSAE integrates a novel four-branch autoencoder with a hybrid of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Vision Transformers (ViT). To further extract features across multi-branches, we introduce a novel multi-branch fusion method using the CLS (Class) token. Our model, trained and evaluated on the GravitySpy O3 dataset on the main channel, demonstrates superior performance in clustering tasks when compared to state-of-the-art semi-supervised learning methods. To the best of our knowledge, CTSAE represents the first unsupervised approach tailored specifically for clustering LIGO data, marking a significant step forward in the field of gravitational wave research. The code of this paper is available at https://github.com/Zod-L/CTSAE
Safe POMDP Online Planning among Dynamic Agents via Adaptive Conformal Prediction
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2024
Year: 2024

Online planning for partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) provides efficient techniques for robot decision-making under uncertainty. However, existing methods fall short of preventing safety violations in dynamic environments. This work presents a novel safe POMDP online planning approach that maximizes expected returns while providing probabilistic safety guarantees amidst environments populated by multiple dynamic agents. Our approach utilizes data-driven trajectory prediction models of dynamic agents and applies Adaptive Conformal Prediction (ACP) to quantify the uncertainties in these predictions. Leveraging the obtained ACP-based trajectory predictions, our approach constructs safety shields on-the-fly to prevent unsafe actions within POMDP online planning. Through experimental evaluation in various dynamic environments using real-world pedestrian trajectory data, the proposed approach has been shown to effectively maintain probabilistic safety guarantees while accommodating up to hundreds of dynamic agents.
Can Foundational Large Language Models Assist with Conducting Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Investigations?
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2024
Year: 2024

General purpose Large Language Models (LLM) such as the Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) and Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMA) have attracted much attention in recent years. There is strong evidence that these models can perform remarkably well in various natural language processing tasks. However, how to leverage them to approach domain-specific use cases and drive value remains an open question. In this work, we focus on a specific use case, pharmaceutical manufacturing investigations, and propose that leveraging historical records of manufacturing incidents and deviations in an organization can be beneficial for addressing and closing new cases, or de-risking new manufacturing campaigns. Using a small but diverse dataset of real manufacturing deviations selected from different product lines, we evaluate and quantify the power of three general purpose LLMs (GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and Claude-2) in performing tasks related to the above goal. In particular, (1) the ability of LLMs in automating the process of extracting specific information such as root cause of a case from unstructured data, as well as (2) the possibility of identifying similar or related deviations by performing semantic search on the database of historical records are examined. While our results point to the high accuracy of GPT-4 and Claude-2 in the information extraction task, we discuss cases of complex interplay between the apparent reasoning and hallucination behavior of LLMs as a risk factor. Furthermore, we show that semantic search on vector embedding of deviation descriptions can be used to identify similar records, such as those with a similar type of defect, with a high level of accuracy. We discuss further improvements to enhance the accuracy of similar record identification.