OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
Unitless Frobenius quantales
Venue: arXiv cs.LO 2022
Year: 2022

It is often stated that Frobenius quantales are necessarily unital. By taking negation as a primitive operation, we can define Frobenius quantales that may not have a unit. We develop the elementary theory of these structures and show, in particular, how to define nuclei whose quotients are Frobenius quantales. This yields a phase semantics and a representation theorem via phase quantales. Important examples of these structures arise from Raney's notion of tight Galois connection: tight endomaps of a complete lattice always form a Girard quantale which is unital if and only if the lattice is completely distributive. We give a characterisation and an enumeration of tight endomaps of the diamond lattices Mn and exemplify the Frobenius structure on these maps. By means of phase semantics, we exhibit analogous examples built up from trace class operators on an infinite dimensional Hilbert space. Finally, we argue that units cannot be properly added to Frobenius quantales: every possible extention to a unital quantale fails to preserve negations.
On Generalisability of Machine Learning-based Network Intrusion Detection Systems
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2022
Year: 2022

Many of the proposed machine learning (ML) based network intrusion detection systems (NIDSs) achieve near perfect detection performance when evaluated on synthetic benchmark datasets. Though, there is no record of if and how these results generalise to other network scenarios, in particular to real-world networks. In this paper, we investigate the generalisability property of ML-based NIDSs by extensively evaluating seven supervised and unsupervised learning models on four recently published benchmark NIDS datasets. Our investigation indicates that none of the considered models is able to generalise over all studied datasets. Interestingly, our results also indicate that the generalisability has a high degree of asymmetry, i.e., swapping the source and target domains can significantly change the classification performance. Our investigation also indicates that overall, unsupervised learning methods generalise better than supervised learning models in our considered scenarios. Using SHAP values to explain these results indicates that the lack of generalisability is mainly due to the presence of strong correspondence between the values of one or more features and Attack/Benign classes in one dataset-model combination and its absence in other datasets that have different feature distributions.
Improved-Flow Warp Module for Remote Sensing Semantic Segmentation
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2022
Year: 2022

Remote sensing semantic segmentation aims to assign automatically each pixel on aerial images with specific label. In this letter, we proposed a new module, called improved-flow warp module (IFWM), to adjust semantic feature maps across different scales for remote sensing semantic segmentation. The improved-flow warp module is applied along with the feature extraction process in the convolutional neural network. First, IFWM computes the offsets of pixels by a learnable way, which can alleviate the misalignment of the multi-scale features. Second, the offsets help with the low-resolution deep feature up-sampling process to improve the feature accordance, which boosts the accuracy of semantic segmentation. We validate our method on several remote sensing datasets, and the results prove the effectiveness of our method..
High Performance Consensus without Duplication: Multi-pipeline Hotstuff
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2022
Year: 2022

The state-of-the-art HotStuff operates an efficient pipeline in which a stable leader drives decisions with linear communication and two round-trips of message. However, the unifying proposing-voting pattern is not sufficient to improve the bandwidth and concurrency performance of the modern system. In addition, the delay corresponding to two rounds of message to produce a certified proposal in that scheme is a significant performance bottleneck. Thus, this study developed a new consensus protocol, Multi-pipeline HotStuff, for permissioned blockchain. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first protocol that combines multiple HotStuff instances to propose batches in order without a concurrent proposal, such that proposals are made optimistically when a correct replica realizes that the current proposal is valid and will be certified by quorum votes in the near future. Because simultaneous proposing and voting are allowed by the proposed protocol without transaction duplication, it produced more proposals in every two rounds of messages. In addition, it further boosted the throughput at a comparable latency with that of HotStuff. The evaluation experiment conducted confirmed that the throughput of Multi-pipeline HotStuff outperformed that of the state-of-the-art protocols by approximately 60\% without significantly increasing end-to-end latency under varying system sizes. Moreover, the proposed optimization also performed better when it suffers a bad network condition.
Finite-State Semi-Markov Channels for Nanopore Sequencing
Venue: arXiv cs.IT 2022
Year: 2022

Nanopore sequencing is an emerging DNA sequencing technology that has been proposed for use in DNA storage systems. We propose the noisy nanopore channel model for nanopore sequencing. This model captures duplications, inter-symbol interference, and noisy measurements by concatenating an i.i.d. duplication channel with a finite-state semi-Markov channel. Compared to previous models, this channel models the dominant distortions of the nanopore while remaining tractable. Anticipating future coding schemes, we derive MAP detection algorithms and estimate achievable rates. Given that finite-state semi-Markov channels are a subclass of channels with memory, we conjecture that the achievable rate of the noisy nanopore channel can be optimised using a variation of the generalised Blahut-Arimoto algorithm.
The Role of Idle Waves, Desynchronization, and Bottleneck Evasion in the Performance of Parallel Programs
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2022
Year: 2022

The performance of highly parallel applications on distributed-memory systems is influenced by many factors. Analytic performance modeling techniques aim to provide insight into performance limitations and are often the starting point of optimization efforts. However, coupling analytic models across the system hierarchy (socket, node, network) fails to encompass the intricate interplay between the program code and the hardware, especially when execution and communication bottlenecks are involved. In this paper we investigate the effect of "bottleneck evasion" and how it can lead to automatic overlap of communication overhead with computation. Bottleneck evasion leads to a gradual loss of the initial bulk-synchronous behavior of a parallel code so that its processes become desynchronized. This occurs most prominently in memory-bound programs, which is why we choose memory-bound benchmark and application codes, specifically an MPI-augmented STREAM Triad, sparse matrix-vector multiplication, and a collective-avoiding Chebyshev filter diagonalization code to demonstrate the consequences of desynchronization on two different supercomputing platforms. We investigate the role of idle waves as possible triggers for desynchronization and show the impact of automatic asynchronous communication for a spectrum of code properties and parameters, such as saturation point, matrix structures, domain decomposition, and communication concurrency. Our findings reveal how eliminating synchronization points (such as collective communication or barriers) precipitates performance improvements that go beyond what can be expected by simply subtracting the overhead of the collective from the overall runtime.
Timed Games with Bounded Window Parity Objectives
Venue: arXiv cs.GT 2022
Year: 2022

The window mechanism, introduced by Chatterjee et al. for mean-payoff and total-payoff objectives in two-player turn-based games on graphs, refines long-term objectives with time bounds. This mechanism has proven useful in a variety of settings, and most recently in timed systems. In the timed setting, the so-called fixed timed window parity objectives have been studied. A fixed timed window parity objective is defined with respect to some time bound and requires that, at all times, we witness a time frame, i.e., a window, of size less than the fixed bound in which the smallest priority is even. In this work, we focus on the bounded timed window parity objective. Such an objective is satisfied if there exists some bound for which the fixed objective is satisfied. The satisfaction of bounded objectives is robust to modeling choices such as constants appearing in constraints, unlike fixed objectives, for which the choice of constants may affect the satisfaction for a given bound. We show that verification of bounded timed window objectives in timed automata can be performed in polynomial space, and that timed games with these objectives can be solved in exponential time, even for multi-objective extensions. This matches the complexity classes of the fixed case. We also provide a comparison of the different variants of window parity objectives.
Multimodel Sensor Fusion for Learning Rich Models for Interacting Soft Robots
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2022
Year: 2022

Soft robots are typically approximated as low-dimensional systems, especially when learning-based methods are used. This leads to models that are limited in their capability to predict the large number of deformation modes and interactions that a soft robot can have. In this work, we present a deep-learning methodology to learn high-dimensional visual models of a soft robot combining multimodal sensorimotor information. The models are learned in an end-to-end fashion, thereby requiring no intermediate sensor processing or grounding of data. The capabilities and advantages of such a modelling approach are shown on a soft anthropomorphic finger with embedded soft sensors. We also show that how such an approach can be extended to develop higher level cognitive functions like identification of the self and the external environment and acquiring object manipulation skills. This work is a step towards the integration of soft robotics and developmental robotics architectures to create the next generation of intelligent soft robots.
Worst-case Analysis for Interactive Evaluation of Boolean Provenance
Venue: arXiv cs.DB 2022
Year: 2022

In recent work, we have introduced a framework for fine-grained consent management in databases, which combines Boolean data provenance with the field of interactive Boolean evaluation. In turn, interactive Boolean evaluation aims at unveiling the underlying truth value of a Boolean expression by frugally probing the truth values of individual values. The required number of probes depends on the Boolean provenance structure and on the (a-priori unknown) probe answers. Prior work has analyzed and aimed to optimize the expected number of probes, where expectancy is with respect to a probability distribution over probe answers. This paper gives a novel worst-case analysis for the problem, inspired by the decision tree depth of Boolean functions. Specifically, we introduce a notion of evasive provenance expressions, namely expressions, where one may need to probe all variables in the worst case. We show that read-once expressions are evasive, and identify an additional class of expressions (acyclic monotone 2-DNF) for which evasiveness may be decided in PTIME. As for the more general question of finding the optimal strategy, we show that it is coNP-hard in general. We are still able to identify a sub-class of provenance expressions that is "far from evasive", namely, where an optimal worst-case strategy probes only log(n) out of the n variables in the expression, and show that we can find this optimal strategy in polynomial time.
An Effective Scheme for Maize Disease Recognition based on Deep Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2022
Year: 2022

In the last decades, the area under cultivation of maize products has increased because of its essential role in the food cycle for humans, livestock, and poultry. Moreover, the diseases of plants impact food safety and can significantly reduce both the quality and quantity of agricultural products. There are many challenges to accurate and timely diagnosis of the disease. This research presents a novel scheme based on a deep neural network to overcome the mentioned challenges. Due to the limited number of data, the transfer learning technique is employed with the help of two well-known architectures. In this way, a new effective model is adopted by a combination of pre-trained MobileNetV2 and Inception Networks due to their effective performance on object detection problems. The convolution layers of MoblieNetV2 and Inception modules are parallelly arranged as earlier layers to extract crucial features. In addition, the imbalance problem of classes has been solved by an augmentation strategy. The proposed scheme has a superior performance compared to other state-of-the-art models published in recent years. The accuracy of the model reaches 97%, approximately. In summary, experimental results prove the method's validity and significant performance in diagnosing disease in plant leaves.
Enough Hot Air: The Role of Immersion Cooling
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2022
Year: 2022

Air cooling is the traditional solution to chill servers in data centers. However, the continuous increase in global data center energy consumption combined with the increase of the racks' power dissipation calls for the use of more efficient alternatives. Immersion cooling is one such alternative. In this paper, we quantitatively examine and compare air cooling and immersion cooling solutions. The examined characteristics include power usage efficiency (PUE), computing and power density, cost, and maintenance overheads. A direct comparison shows a reduction of about 50% in energy consumption and a reduction of about two-thirds of the occupied space, by using immersion cooling. In addition, the higher heat capacity of used liquids in immersion cooling compared to air allows for much higher rack power densities. Moreover, immersion cooling requires less capital and operational expenditures. However, challenging maintenance procedures together with the increased number of IT failures are the main downsides. By selecting immersion cooling, cloud providers must trade-off the decrease in energy and cost and the increase in power density with its higher maintenance and reliability concerns. Finally, we argue that retrofitting an air-cooled data center with immersion cooling will result in high costs and is generally not recommended.
On Designing Data Models for Energy Feature Stores
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2022
Year: 2022

The digital transformation of the energy infrastructure enables new, data driven, applications often supported by machine learning models. However, domain specific data transformations, pre-processing and management in modern data driven pipelines is yet to be addressed. In this paper we perform a first time study on generic data models that are able to support designing feature management solutions that are the most important component in developing ML-based energy applications. We first propose a taxonomy for designing data models suitable for energy applications, explain how this model can support the design of features and their subsequent management by specialized feature stores. Using a short-term forecasting dataset, we show the benefits of designing richer data models and engineering the features on the performance of the resulting models. Finally, we benchmark three complementary feature management solutions, including an open-source feature store suitable for time series.
Machine Learning Based Propagation Loss Module for Enabling Digital Twins of Wireless Networks in ns-3
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2022
Year: 2022

The creation of digital twins of experimental testbeds allows the validation of novel wireless networking solutions and the evaluation of their performance in realistic conditions, without the cost, complexity and limited availability of experimental testbeds. Current trace-based simulation approaches for ns-3 enable the repetition and reproduction of the same exact conditions observed in past experiments. However, they are limited by the fact that the simulation setup must exactly match the original experimental setup, including the network topology, the mobility patterns and the number of network nodes. In this paper, we propose the Machine Learning based Propagation Loss (MLPL) module for ns-3. Based on network traces collected in an experimental testbed, the MLPL module estimates the propagation loss as the sum of a deterministic path loss and a stochastic fast-fading loss. The MLPL module is validated with unit tests. Moreover, we test the MLPL module with real network traces, and compare the results obtained with existing propagation loss models in ns-3 and real experimental results. The results obtained show that the MLPL module can accurately predict the propagation loss observed in a real environment and reproduce the experimental conditions of a given testbed, enabling the creation of digital twins of wireless network environments in ns-3.
Do You Think You Can Hold Me? The Real Challenge of Problem-Space Evasion Attacks
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2022
Year: 2022

Android malware is a spreading disease in the virtual world. Anti-virus and detection systems continuously undergo patches and updates to defend against these threats. Most of the latest approaches in malware detection use Machine Learning (ML). Against the robustifying effort of detection systems, raise the \emph{evasion attacks}, where an adversary changes its targeted samples so that they are misclassified as benign. This paper considers two kinds of evasion attacks: feature-space and problem-space. \emph{Feature-space} attacks consider an adversary who manipulates ML features to evade the correct classification while minimizing or constraining the total manipulations. \textit{Problem-space} attacks refer to evasion attacks that change the actual sample. Specifically, this paper analyzes the gap between these two types in the Android malware domain. The gap between the two types of evasion attacks is examined via the retraining process of classifiers using each one of the evasion attack types. The experiments show that the gap between these two types of retrained classifiers is dramatic and may increase to 96\%. Retrained classifiers of feature-space evasion attacks have been found to be either less effective or completely ineffective against problem-space evasion attacks. Additionally, exploration of different problem-space evasion attacks shows that retraining of one problem-space evasion attack may be effective against other problem-space evasion attacks.
Effectively Using Long and Short Sessions for Multi-Session-based Recommendations
Venue: arXiv cs.IR 2022
Year: 2022

It is not accurate to make recommendations only based one single current session. Therefore, multi-session-based recommendation(MSBR) is a solution for the problem. Compared with the previous MSBR models, we have made three improvements in this paper. First, the previous work choose to use all the history sessions of the user and/or of his similar users. When the user's current interest changes greatly from the past, most of these sessions can only have negative impacts. Therefore, we select a large number of randomly chosen sessions from the dataset as candidate sessions to avoid over depending on history data. Then we only choose to use the most similar sessions to get the most useful information while reduce the noise caused by dissimilar sessions. Second, in real-world datasets, short sessions account for a large proportion. The RNN often used in previous work is not suitable to process short sessions, because RNN only focuses on the sequential relationship, which we find is not the only relationship between items in short sessions. So, we designed a more suitable method named GAFE based on attention to process short sessions. Third, Although there are few long sessions, they can not be ignored. Not like previous models, which simply process long sessions in the same way as short sessions, we propose LSIS, which can split the interest of long sessions, to make better use of long sessions. Finally, to help recommendations, we also have considered users' long-term interests captured by a multi-layer GRU. Considering the four points above, we built the model ENIREC. Experiments on two real-world datasets show that the comprehensive performance of ENIREC is better than other existing models.
Online Unsupervised Domain Adaptation for Person Re-identification
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2022
Year: 2022

Unsupervised domain adaptation for person re-identification (Person Re-ID) is the task of transferring the learned knowledge on the labeled source domain to the unlabeled target domain. Most of the recent papers that address this problem adopt an offline training setting. More precisely, the training of the Re-ID model is done assuming that we have access to the complete training target domain data set. In this paper, we argue that the target domain generally consists of a stream of data in a practical real-world application, where data is continuously increasing from the different network's cameras. The Re-ID solutions are also constrained by confidentiality regulations stating that the collected data can be stored for only a limited period, hence the model can no longer get access to previously seen target images. Therefore, we present a new yet practical online setting for Unsupervised Domain Adaptation for person Re-ID with two main constraints: Online Adaptation and Privacy Protection. We then adapt and evaluate the state-of-the-art UDA algorithms on this new online setting using the well-known Market-1501, Duke, and MSMT17 benchmarks.
TeamX@DravidianLangTech-ACL2022: A Comparative Analysis for Troll-Based Meme Classification
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2022
Year: 2022

The spread of fake news, propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, and harmful content online raised concerns among social media platforms, government agencies, policymakers, and society as a whole. This is because such harmful or abusive content leads to several consequences to people such as physical, emotional, relational, and financial. Among different harmful content \textit{trolling-based} online content is one of them, where the idea is to post a message that is provocative, offensive, or menacing with an intent to mislead the audience. The content can be textual, visual, a combination of both, or a meme. In this study, we provide a comparative analysis of troll-based memes classification using the textual, visual, and multimodal content. We report several interesting findings in terms of code-mixed text, multimodal setting, and combining an additional dataset, which shows improvements over the majority baseline.