OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
A further study on the linear complexity of new binary cyclotomic sequence of length $p^r$
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2018
Year: 2018

Recently, a conjecture on the linear complexity of a new class of generalized cyclotomic binary sequences of period $p^r$ was proposed by Z. Xiao et al. (Des. Codes Cryptogr., DOI 10.1007/s10623-017-0408-7). Later, for the case $f$ being the form $2^r$ with $r\ge 1$, Vladimir Edemskiy proved the conjecture (arXiv:1712.03947). In this paper, under the assumption of $2^{p-1} \not\equiv 1 \bmod p^2$ and $\gcd(\frac{p-1}{\rm {ord}_{p}(2)},f)=1$, the conjecture proposed by Z. Xiao et al. is proved for a general $f$ by using the Euler quotient. Actually, a generic construction of $p^r$-periodic binary sequence based on the generalized cyclotomy is introduced in this paper, which admits a flexible support set and includes Xiao's construction as a special case, and then an efficient method to compute the linear complexity of the sequence by the generic construction is presented, based on which the conjecture proposed by Z. Xiao et al. could be easily proved under the aforementioned assumption.
Recurrent Meta-Structure for Robust Similarity Measure in Heterogeneous Information Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.DB 2018
Year: 2018

Similarity measure as a fundamental task in heterogeneous information network analysis has been applied to many areas, e.g., product recommendation, clustering and Web search. Most of the existing metrics depend on the meta-path or meta-structure specified by users in advance. These metrics are thus sensitive to the pre-specified meta-path or meta-structure. In this paper, a novel similarity measure in heterogeneous information networks, called Recurrent Meta-Structure-based Similarity (RMSS), is proposed. The recurrent meta-structure as a schematic structure in heterogeneous information networks provides a unified framework to integrate all of the meta-paths and meta-structures. Therefore, RMSS is robust to the meta-paths and meta-structures. We devise an approach to automatically constructing the recurrent meta-structure. In order to formalize the semantics, the recurrent meta-structure is decomposed into several recurrent meta-paths and recurrent meta-trees, and we then define the commuting matrices of the recurrent meta-paths and meta-trees. All of the commuting matrices of the recurrent meta-paths and meta-trees are combined according to different weights. Note that the weights can be determined by two kinds of weighting strategies: local weighting strategy and global weighting strategy. As a result, RMSS is defined by virtue of the final commuting matrix. Experimental evaluations show that the existing metrics are sensitive to different meta-paths or meta-structures and that the proposed RMSS outperforms the existing metrics in terms of ranking and clustering tasks.
Leveraging Long and Short-term Information in Content-aware Movie Recommendation
Venue: arXiv cs.IR 2018
Year: 2018

Movie recommendation systems provide users with ranked lists of movies based on individual's preferences and constraints. Two types of models are commonly used to generate ranking results: long-term models and session-based models. While long-term models represent the interactions between users and movies that are supposed to change slowly across time, session-based models encode the information of users' interests and changing dynamics of movies' attributes in short terms. In this paper, we propose an LSIC model, leveraging Long and Short-term Information in Content-aware movie recommendation using adversarial training. In the adversarial process, we train a generator as an agent of reinforcement learning which recommends the next movie to a user sequentially. We also train a discriminator which attempts to distinguish the generated list of movies from the real records. The poster information of movies is integrated to further improve the performance of movie recommendation, which is specifically essential when few ratings are available. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed model has robust superiority over competitors and sets the state-of-the-art. We will release the source code of this work after publication.
Brain Tumor Segmentation Based on Refined Fully Convolutional Neural Networks with A Hierarchical Dice Loss
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2018
Year: 2018

As a basic task in computer vision, semantic segmentation can provide fundamental information for object detection and instance segmentation to help the artificial intelligence better understand real world. Since the proposal of fully convolutional neural network (FCNN), it has been widely used in semantic segmentation because of its high accuracy of pixel-wise classification as well as high precision of localization. In this paper, we apply several famous FCNN to brain tumor segmentation, making comparisons and adjusting network architectures to achieve better performance measured by metrics such as precision, recall, mean of intersection of union (mIoU) and dice score coefficient (DSC). The adjustments to the classic FCNN include adding more connections between convolutional layers, enlarging decoders after up sample layers and changing the way shallower layers' information is reused. Besides the structure modification, we also propose a new classifier with a hierarchical dice loss. Inspired by the containing relationship between classes, the loss function converts multiple classification to multiple binary classification in order to counteract the negative effect caused by imbalance data set. Massive experiments have been done on the training set and testing set in order to assess our refined fully convolutional neural networks and new types of loss function. Competitive figures prove they are more effective than their predecessors.
Improved Distributed Algorithms for Exact Shortest Paths
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2018
Year: 2018

Computing shortest paths is one of the central problems in the theory of distributed computing. For the last few years, substantial progress has been made on the approximate single source shortest paths problem, culminating in an algorithm of Becker et al. [DISC'17] which deterministically computes $(1+o(1))$-approximate shortest paths in $\tilde O(D+\sqrt n)$ time, where $D$ is the hop-diameter of the graph. Up to logarithmic factors, this time complexity is optimal, matching the lower bound of Elkin [STOC'04]. The question of exact shortest paths however saw no algorithmic progress for decades, until the recent breakthrough of Elkin [STOC'17], which established a sublinear-time algorithm for exact single source shortest paths on undirected graphs. Shortly after, Huang et al. [FOCS'17] provided improved algorithms for exact all pairs shortest paths problem on directed graphs. In this paper, we present a new single-source shortest path algorithm with complexity $\tilde O(n^{3/4}D^{1/4})$. For polylogarithmic $D$, this improves on Elkin's $\tilde{O}(n^{5/6})$ bound and gets closer to the $\tildeΩ(n^{1/2})$ lower bound of Elkin [STOC'04]. For larger values of $D$, we present an improved variant of our algorithm which achieves complexity $\tilde{O}\left( n^{3/4+o(1)}+ \min\{ n^{3/4}D^{1/6},n^{6/7}\}+D\right)$, and thus compares favorably with Elkin's bound of $\tilde{O}(n^{5/6} + n^{2/3}D^{1/3} + D ) $ in essentially the entire range of parameters. This algorithm provides also a qualitative improvement, because it works for the more challenging case of directed graphs (i.e., graphs where the two directions of an edge can have different weights), constituting the first sublinear-time algorithm for directed graphs. Our algorithm also extends to the case of exact $κ$-source shortest paths...
High-throughput Binding Affinity Calculations at Extreme Scales
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2018
Year: 2018

Resistance to chemotherapy and molecularly targeted therapies is a major factor in limiting the effectiveness of cancer treatment. In many cases, resistance can be linked to genetic changes in target proteins, either pre-existing or evolutionarily selected during treatment. Key to overcoming this challenge is an understanding of the molecular determinants of drug binding. Using multi-stage pipelines of molecular simulations we can gain insights into the binding free energy and the residence time of a ligand, which can inform both stratified and personal treatment regimes and drug development. To support the scalable, adaptive and automated calculation of the binding free energy on high-performance computing resources, we introduce the High- throughput Binding Affinity Calculator (HTBAC). HTBAC uses a building block approach in order to attain both workflow flexibility and performance. We demonstrate close to perfect weak scaling to hundreds of concurrent multi-stage binding affinity calculation pipelines. This permits a rapid time-to-solution that is essentially invariant of the calculation protocol, size of candidate ligands and number of ensemble simulations. As such, HTBAC advances the state of the art of binding affinity calculations and protocols.
On reciprocal systems and controllability
Venue: arXiv cs.SY 2018
Year: 2018

In this paper, we extend classical results on (i) signature symmetric realizations, and (ii) signature symmetric and passive realizations, to systems which need not be controllable. These results are motivated in part by the existence of important electrical networks, such as the famous Bott-Duffin networks, which possess signature symmetric and passive realizations that are uncontrollable. In this regard, we provide necessary and sufficient algebraic conditions for a behavior to be realized as the driving-point behavior of an electrical network comprising resistors, inductors, capacitors and transformers.
Field- and time-normalization of data with many zeros: An empirical analysis using citation and Twitter data
Venue: arXiv cs.DL 2018
Year: 2018

Thelwall (2017a, 2017b) proposed a new family of field- and time-normalized indicators, which is intended for sparse data. These indicators are based on units of analysis (e.g., institutions) rather than on the paper level. They compare the proportion of mentioned papers (e.g., on Twitter) of a unit with the proportion of mentioned papers in the corresponding fields and publication years (the expected values). We propose a new indicator (Mantel-Haenszel quotient, MHq) for the indicator family. The MHq goes back to the MH analysis. This analysis is an established method, which can be used to pool the data from several 2x2 cross tables based on different subgroups. We investigate (using citations and assessments by peers, i.e., F1000Prime recommendations) whether the indicator family (including the MHq) can distinguish between quality levels defined by the assessments of peers. Thus, we test the convergent validity. We find that the MHq is able to distinguish between quality levels (in most cases) while other indicators of the family are not. Since our study approves the MHq as a convergent valid indicator, we apply the MHq to four different Twitter groups as defined by the company Altmetric (e.g., science communicators). Our results show that there is a weak relationship between all four Twitter groups and scientific quality, much weaker than between citations and scientific quality. Therefore, our results discourage the use of Twitter counts in research evaluation.
On Convergence of some Gradient-based Temporal-Differences Algorithms for Off-Policy Learning
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2018
Year: 2018

We consider off-policy temporal-difference (TD) learning methods for policy evaluation in Markov decision processes with finite spaces and discounted reward criteria, and we present a collection of convergence results for several gradient-based TD algorithms with linear function approximation. The algorithms we analyze include: (i) two basic forms of two-time-scale gradient-based TD algorithms, which we call GTD and which minimize the mean squared projected Bellman error using stochastic gradient-descent; (ii) their "robustified" biased variants; (iii) their mirror-descent versions which combine the mirror-descent idea with TD learning; and (iv) a single-time-scale version of GTD that solves minimax problems formulated for approximate policy evaluation. We derive convergence results for three types of stepsizes: constant stepsize, slowly diminishing stepsize, as well as the standard type of diminishing stepsize with a square-summable condition. For the first two types of stepsizes, we apply the weak convergence method from stochastic approximation theory to characterize the asymptotic behavior of the algorithms, and for the standard type of stepsize, we analyze the algorithmic behavior with respect to a stronger mode of convergence, almost sure convergence. Our convergence results are for the aforementioned TD algorithms with three general ways of setting their $λ$-parameters: (i) state-dependent $λ$; (ii) a recently proposed scheme of using history-dependent $λ$ to keep the eligibility traces of the algorithms bounded while allowing for relatively large values of $λ$; and (iii) a composite scheme of setting the $λ$-parameters that combines the preceding two schemes and allows a broader class of generalized Bellman operators to be used for approximate policy evaluation with TD methods.
Platform Criminalism: The 'Last-Mile' Geography of the Darknet Market Supply Chain
Venue: arXiv cs.CY 2018
Year: 2018

Does recent growth of darknet markets signify a slow reorganisation of the illicit drug trade? Where are darknet markets situated in the global drug supply chain? In principle, these platforms allow producers to sell directly to end users, bypassing traditional trafficking routes. And yet, there is evidence that many offerings originate from a small number of highly active consumer countries, rather than from countries that are primarily known for drug production. In a large-scale empirical study, we determine the darknet trading geography of three plant-based drugs across four of the largest darknet markets, and compare it to the global footprint of production and consumption for these drugs. We present strong evidence that cannabis and cocaine vendors are primarily located in a small number of consumer countries, rather than producer countries, suggesting that darknet trading happens at the 'last mile', possibly leaving old trafficking routes intact. A model to explain trading volumes of opiates is inconclusive. We cannot find evidence for significant production-side offerings across any of the drug types or marketplaces. Our evidence further suggests that the geography of darknet market trades is primarily driven by existing consumer demand, rather than new demand fostered by individual markets.
Beyond Keywords and Relevance: A Personalized Ad Retrieval Framework in E-Commerce Sponsored Search
Venue: arXiv cs.IR 2018
Year: 2018

On most sponsored search platforms, advertisers bid on some keywords for their advertisements (ads). Given a search request, ad retrieval module rewrites the query into bidding keywords, and uses these keywords as keys to select Top N ads through inverted indexes. In this way, an ad will not be retrieved even if queries are related when the advertiser does not bid on corresponding keywords. Moreover, most ad retrieval approaches regard rewriting and ad-selecting as two separated tasks, and focus on boosting relevance between search queries and ads. Recently, in e-commerce sponsored search more and more personalized information has been introduced, such as user profiles, long-time and real-time clicks. Personalized information makes ad retrieval able to employ more elements (e.g. real-time clicks) as search signals and retrieval keys, however it makes ad retrieval more difficult to measure ads retrieved through different signals. To address these problems, we propose a novel ad retrieval framework beyond keywords and relevance in e-commerce sponsored search. Firstly, we employ historical ad click data to initialize a hierarchical network representing signals, keys and ads, in which personalized information is introduced. Then we train a model on top of the hierarchical network by learning the weights of edges. Finally we select the best edges according to the model, boosting RPM/CTR. Experimental results on our e-commerce platform demonstrate that our ad retrieval framework achieves good performance.
Signed Graph Analysis for the Interpretation of Voting Behavior
Venue: arXiv cs.SI 2018
Year: 2018

In a signed graph, each link is labeled with either a positive or a negative sign. This is particularly appropriate to model polarized systems. Such a graph can be characterized through the notion of structural balance, which relies on the partitioning of the graph into internally solidary but mutually hostile subgroups. In this work, we show that signed graphs can be used to model and understand voting behavior. We take advantage of data from the European Parliament to confront two variants of structural balance, and illustrate how their use can help better understanding the studied system.
Unifying Theories of Time with Generalised Reactive Processes
Venue: arXiv cs.LO 2018
Year: 2018

Hoare and He's theory of reactive processes provides a unifying foundation for the formal semantics of concurrent and reactive languages. Though highly applicable, their theory is limited to models that can express event histories as discrete sequences. In this paper, we show how their theory can be generalised by using an abstract trace algebra. We show how the algebra, notably, allows us to also consider continuous-time traces and thereby facilitate models of hybrid systems. We then use this algebra to reconstruct the theory of reactive processes in our generic setting, and prove characteristic laws for sequential and parallel processes, all of which have been mechanically verified in the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant.
Network Deployment for Maximal Energy Efficiency in Uplink with Multislope Path Loss
Venue: arXiv cs.IT 2018
Year: 2018

This work aims to design the uplink (UL) of a cellular network for maximal energy efficiency (EE). Each base station (BS) is randomly deployed within a given area and is equipped with $M$ antennas to serve $K$ user equipments (UEs). A multislope (distance-dependent) path loss model is considered and linear processing is used, under the assumption that channel state information is acquired by using pilot sequences (reused across the network). Within this setting, a lower bound on the UL spectral efficiency and a realistic circuit power consumption model are used to evaluate the network EE. Numerical results are first used to compute the optimal BS density and pilot reuse factor for a Massive MIMO network with three different detection schemes, namely, maximum ratio combining, zero-forcing (ZF) and multicell minimum mean-squared error. The numerical analysis shows that the EE is a unimodal function of BS density and achieves its maximum for a relatively small density of BS, irrespective of the employed detection scheme. This is in contrast to the single-slope (distance-independent) path loss model, for which the EE is a monotonic non-decreasing function of BS density. Then, we concentrate on ZF and use stochastic geometry to compute a new lower bound on the spectral efficiency, which is then used to optimize, for a given BS density, the pilot reuse factor, number of BS antennas and UEs. Closed- form expressions are computed from which valuable insights into the interplay between optimization variables, hardware characteristics, and propagation environment are obtained.
f-Divergence constrained policy improvement
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2018
Year: 2018

To ensure stability of learning, state-of-the-art generalized policy iteration algorithms augment the policy improvement step with a trust region constraint bounding the information loss. The size of the trust region is commonly determined by the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence, which not only captures the notion of distance well but also yields closed-form solutions. In this paper, we consider a more general class of f-divergences and derive the corresponding policy update rules. The generic solution is expressed through the derivative of the convex conjugate function to f and includes the KL solution as a special case. Within the class of f-divergences, we further focus on a one-parameter family of $α$-divergences to study effects of the choice of divergence on policy improvement. Previously known as well as new policy updates emerge for different values of $α$. We show that every type of policy update comes with a compatible policy evaluation resulting from the chosen f-divergence. Interestingly, the mean-squared Bellman error minimization is closely related to policy evaluation with the Pearson $χ^2$-divergence penalty, while the KL divergence results in the soft-max policy update and a log-sum-exp critic. We carry out asymptotic analysis of the solutions for different values of $α$ and demonstrate the effects of using different divergence functions on a multi-armed bandit problem and on common standard reinforcement learning problems.
A PDE-based log-agnostic illumination correction algorithm
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2018
Year: 2018

This report presents the results of a partial differential equation (PDE)-based image enhancement algorithm, for dynamic range compression and illumination correction in the absence of the logarithmic function. The proposed algorithm combines forward and reverse flows in a PDE-based formulation. The experimental results are compared with algorithms from the literature and indicate comparable performance in most cases.
Parameter-free online learning via model selection
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2018
Year: 2018

We introduce an efficient algorithmic framework for model selection in online learning, also known as parameter-free online learning. Departing from previous work, which has focused on highly structured function classes such as nested balls in Hilbert space, we propose a generic meta-algorithm framework that achieves online model selection oracle inequalities under minimal structural assumptions. We give the first computationally efficient parameter-free algorithms that work in arbitrary Banach spaces under mild smoothness assumptions; previous results applied only to Hilbert spaces. We further derive new oracle inequalities for matrix classes, non-nested convex sets, and $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ with generic regularizers. Finally, we generalize these results by providing oracle inequalities for arbitrary non-linear classes in the online supervised learning model. These results are all derived through a unified meta-algorithm scheme using a novel "multi-scale" algorithm for prediction with expert advice based on random playout, which may be of independent interest.
A Unified Method for First and Third Person Action Recognition
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2018
Year: 2018

In this paper, a new video classification methodology is proposed which can be applied in both first and third person videos. The main idea behind the proposed strategy is to capture complementary information of appearance and motion efficiently by performing two independent streams on the videos. The first stream is aimed to capture long-term motions from shorter ones by keeping track of how elements in optical flow images have changed over time. Optical flow images are described by pre-trained networks that have been trained on large scale image datasets. A set of multi-channel time series are obtained by aligning descriptions beside each other. For extracting motion features from these time series, PoT representation method plus a novel pooling operator is followed due to several advantages. The second stream is accomplished to extract appearance features which are vital in the case of video classification. The proposed method has been evaluated on both first and third-person datasets and results present that the proposed methodology reaches the state of the art successfully.